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Willie Nelson is headlining the Outlaw Music Festival at Merriweather Post Pavilion. (Sergio Flores for The Washington Post)
As a subgenre, outlaw country emerged as a handful of iconoclasts rebelled against the prevailing winds of Nashville’s country music assembly line. Nearly five decades after the sound and spirit of outlaw country were first established, one of its best-known proponents — Willie Nelson — is still flying its flag alongside a new generation of artists whose music speaks to the breadth and depth of country music. Joining the 89-year-old on this stop of the Outlaw Music Festival are Americana superstars the Avett Brothers; Zach Bryan, touring in support of his true-to-title triple album “American Heartbreak”; sisterly roots rockers Larkin Poe; and Brittney Spencer, a Baltimore-born upstart who is among a class of Black women who are country’s latest boundary breakers. Sept. 17 at 4:30 p.m. at Merriweather Post Pavilion, 10475 Little Patuxent Pkwy., Columbia. merriweathermusic.com. $79.50-$109.50.
In the second half of the aughts, Austin-based Voxtrot garnered acclaim and accolades with jangly, twee pop songs that benefited from frontman Ramesh Srivastava’s ear for timeless, softhearted melodies and the band’s feel for danceable beats that were all the rage during the “indie dance” era. After just one album, the band disbanded in 2010, with Srivastava describing Voxtrot’s career path as “one of long, simmering build, explosion and almost instantaneous decay.” But to paraphrase the oft-mangled F. Scott Fitzgerald quote, Voxtrot will get a second act. Earlier this year, the band released its first two buzz-building EPs as “Early Music” and an album of rarities and B-sides titled “Cut From the Stone,” and will return to one of the venues where it said farewell over a decade ago. Sept. 18 at 7:30 p.m. (doors open) at the Black Cat, 1811 14th St. NW. blackcatdc.com. $25-$28.
Like countless artists, Michelle Branch recorded her most recent album during early-covid lockdowns, a change in plans that forced the collaboration-friendly singer-songwriter to write songs on her own for the first time in years. As she told Billboard, “It was nice to use that muscle again, and force myself to finish things on my own.” The first taste of “The Trouble with Fever” (due out Sept. 16) is “I’m A Man,” a bluesy rocker that contrasts the struggles of men grappling with toxic masculinity (“I’m out of control / And I can’t help myself”) with those of women navigating its effects (“I’m so tired of being told by everybody / That I can’t make decisions ’bout my own d--- body”). Sept. 19 at 7 p.m. (doors open) at 9:30 Club, 815 V St. NW. 930.com. $35.
Founded in 2005 in Bogotá, Bomba Estéreo has been at the leading edge of the movement to globalize Latin American music by infusing rhythms from sounds like salsa and cumbia with elements of electronic music and hip-hop. The group scored a viral hit with 2015’s “Soy Yo,” which NPR described as “one of the most iconic anthems of Latinx identity,” and has continued to provide purpose-driven fuel for dance floor fires on the albums since. It also linked with a like-minded musician, Bad Bunny, for the sun-stroked “Ojitos Lindos” on the Puerto Rican megastar’s massive album “Un Verano Sin Ti.” Sept. 19 at 8 p.m. at the Fillmore Silver Spring, 8656 Colesville Rd., Silver Spring. fillmoresilverspring.com. $30. | 2022-09-14T11:54:15Z | www.washingtonpost.com | 4 concerts to catch in D.C.: Sept. 16-22 - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/music/2022/09/14/concerts-dc/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/music/2022/09/14/concerts-dc/ |
Lindsey Graham delivered a gift to Democrats: Proof of GOP’s abortion extremism
Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill on Sept. 13. (Mariam Zuhaib/AP)
At a moment when Republican candidates are furiously scrubbing evidence of their extreme anti-abortion views from their websites, Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.) has underscored the determination of Republicans to enact a regime of forced birth throughout the United States.
Graham introduced a bill on Tuesday — just eight weeks before Election Day — that would impose a nationwide abortion ban after 15 weeks of pregnancy (barely into the second trimester). While he provides an exception in cases where the pregnancy would kill the woman, he provides no other exceptions to protect the health of women. Given the overwhelming popularity of the pro-choice position — even in red states such as Kansas — the proposal is a gift to Democrats.
The Post reports: “The timing of Graham’s announcement is curious — two months before the midterm elections, after abortion has already shown to be a galvanizing issue for some Democratic voters.” In introducing the bill, Graham jerked attention away from the inflation numbers released on Tuesday. Why would he do this? After all, The Post reports, “Republicans have been forced to reckon with a growing trove of data suggesting that abortion could be a decisive issue in the midterms, motivating Democratic and independent voters far more than was widely expected.”
Perhaps Graham is more concerned with ingratiating himself with the far right than with helping his party regain the majority. Whatever the reason, he has certainly lent a hand to Democrats who’ve been focusing on slippery Republicans trying to deny ownership of their past radical views.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) tried to minimize the damage. “I think most of the members of my conference prefer that this be dealt with at the state level,” he weakly told reporters. Now, the Republican leader faces a dilemma: He cannot deny Republicans’ intentions without infuriating the right-wing base, and he cannot encourage Graham without driving Democrats to vote.
Democrats, eager to highlight Republicans’ dreadfully unpopular position, could hardly believe their political good fortune. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) went to the Senate floor to argue that Graham’s effort to introduce “a radical bill to institute a nationwide restriction on abortions.” Schumer continued, “Proposals like the one today send a clear message from MAGA Republicans to women across the country: your body, our choice.” He was only too happy to point out that “Republicans are twisting themselves into pretzels trying to explain why they want nationwide abortion bans when they said they’d leave it up to the states.” Schumer is right that “this has never been about states’ rights.”
The White House put out a statement as well. Graham’s bill “is wildly out of step with what Americans believe,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre argued. “The President and Vice President are fighting for progress, while Republicans are fighting to take us back.” The message was clear: Vote for Democrats or allow Republicans to put “personal health care decisions in the hands of politicians instead of women and their doctors, threatening women’s health and lives.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), in a statement, decried the bill as “the latest, clearest signal of extreme MAGA Republicans’ intent to criminalize women’s health freedom in all 50 states and arrest doctors for providing basic care.” She was equally clear: Unless voters want measures “criminalizing abortion nationwide, rejecting women’s right to travel for health care and even eliminating the right to birth control,” they should vote for Democrats.
Graham has provided a real service to the electorate. No voter need be confused about the two parties’ position on women’s autonomy, health care and constitutional rights. When Republicans tout a national abortion ban — or denounce the FBI or downplay Jan. 6 or oppose a slew of popular bills — they are telling us precisely what they stand for. Voters should listen. | 2022-09-14T11:54:21Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Lindsey Graham delivered a gift to Democrats: Proof of GOP’s abortion extremism - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/14/graham-abortion-ban-gift-to-democrats/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/14/graham-abortion-ban-gift-to-democrats/ |
My 5-year-old says scary things when he’s upset. Should we be worried?
Q: When my 5-year-old son gets upset or frustrated, he often uses language like, “Nobody loves me,” or, “I should just kill myself.” He has big emotions across the board, and although I sometimes think he may be using this language to get a rise out of me and my husband (or to get attention), we always address it head-on. We’ll ask why he says such things, reassure him that we love him and redirect him to more positive activities. A healthy snack is often the best solution, so we already recognize that some of his frustration is driven by hunger.
After the outburst has passed, we’ll talk to him again about these self-harm-type statements. (We remind him that we all love him so much, highlight characteristics that make him special, ask whether he really wants to hurt himself, etc.) He often says he was just sad or angry and didn’t really mean it.
Clearly, this sort of language is alarming; you never want to hear your child say such things. He’ll occasionally thump his head on the bed mattress or couch cushion, but he has never actively hurt himself. Still, we monitor him very closely when he starts talking this way.
We intend to schedule a meeting with the (outstanding) school counselor as soon as kindergarten starts this fall, but I would like to hear your thoughts/insights on these actions. Should we be more concerned? Is an immediate doctor’s appointment merited?
A: In every column where a parent asks whether they should go to their pediatrician, I recommend this: If you want to contact your pediatrician, do so. A good pediatrician should always be happy to see you and your child, as well as to listen to all of your concerns. Don’t let the doubts of, “This feels dumb,” or, “I don’t want to bother the doctor,” cloud your judgment. Do what feels right for you.
As for your son, it is highly unlikely that he is actively suicidal or having suicidal thoughts. Has it ever happened? Sure, in extreme cases, there are children who are severely depressed and have harmed themselves. Although I don’t know many details about your family, it does not appear that your son is depressed or wants to self-harm. In fact, when you ask him, he gives you a pretty honest answer: “He often says he was just sad or angry and didn’t really mean it.”
Developmentally, typical 5-year-olds have very big emotions, and they can sometimes swing from one extreme to another with alarming speed. You will start to see some reasoning, consideration, logic and patience from 5-year-olds, but do not be mistaken: They are still very immature and can become easily hijacked by emotions. This is not — I repeat, this is not — a sign that anything is wrong with your son. It is a child’s job to be young and immature; he is still growing and learning.
You mentioned his hunger as a trigger for these emotions, and this is the direction I want you to keep heading. Everything in your letter (other than the hunger) is geared toward what you do during and after the explosion: asking him why, telling him you love him, redirecting him to other activities, then revisiting it again, rehashing the statements and asking more questions. It is too much. He is 5, and although he is quickly developing an understanding of his interior world, he cannot give you the answers you are seeking, so stop with all of this reaction. Your reactions aren’t working.
Let’s instead respond with a proactive approach. Sit with your partner, and make a detailed list of when these outbursts occur. Where are you when the outbursts take place? When do they seem to occur the most? What leads up to the explosions? Is your son overstimulated, hungry, tired or bored? You may not get all of this information, but by taking on this kind of perspective, you are moving your parenting work away from the back end (where you really can’t do anything) and toward prevention (where and when you can), which involves having a deeper understanding of your son.
And although many 5-year-olds have big emotions, yours may be sensitive. Allergies, feeling his feelings more, giftedness and impulsivity can all be at play here, and although I’m not a big fan of early diagnoses, it is helpful to keep a record of what you are seeing to best support him as he gets older. There is nothing wrong with being more sensitive, and these children need a slightly different parenting approach from the typical child. Pick up Elaine Aron’s work on sensitive children and parents to discover whether your son fits the description.
You sound like loving parents, and I love that you are reassuring your son of this love. Never stop doing this. I am going to ask you to consciously connect with your son when he is not exploding. From your letter, it sounds as if he is getting tons of attention when he explodes, so switch the connection to special time, family meetings or walking to the park. (Really any other time than when he explodes.) Yes, you are going to stay close and quietly offer loving support and a hug when he does this, but otherwise, you don’t need to say anything. Notice whether the behavior lessens as you move the attention away from the explosions and toward everyday connection. Good luck. | 2022-09-14T11:54:27Z | www.washingtonpost.com | My 5-year-old says scary things when he’s upset. Should we be worried? - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/parenting/2022/09/14/young-child-angry-leahy-advice/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/parenting/2022/09/14/young-child-angry-leahy-advice/ |
Ukraine live briefing: Zelensky visits reclaimed Izyum, Biden warns of war ...
Fighting Russia’s war would not help Lukashenko stay in power
Analysis by Tatsiana Kulakevich
Russian military vehicles prepare to exit railway platforms after arriving in Belarus in January. (Russian Defense Ministry/AP)
Ukraine’s counteroffensive continues to reclaim territory held by Russian troops this week. It’s also a week when Belarus is conducting military drills with the support of Russia. The maneuvers fueled speculation that Belarus might expand its support for the Russian invasion in Ukraine.
Throughout the conflict, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko has allowed Russia to use Belarus as a launchpad for hundreds of airstrikes against Ukrainian targets. But Lukashenko has abstained from sending Belarusian troops into Ukraine.
Would Lukashenko reverse course, and send Belarus troops to aid the Russian invasion? Here are four reasons the likelihood of a military advance from Belarus, or the Belarusian army invading Ukraine, remains low.
A permanent Russian military presence isn’t in Lukashenko’s interest
Any Belarusian troops sent to Ukraine would rely on the Russian command infrastructure. With the Russian army already on Belarusian territory and deepening integration between Russia and Belarus moving toward uniting the two countries’ economies and military and political structures, losing control is not in Lukashenko’s interests.
In 1999, Lukashenko signed an agreement with Russian President Boris Yeltsin to create a political and economic union between the two countries. The agreement was never fully implemented. However, Belarus’ integration with Russia has deepened considerably since 2020, when Russian President Vladimir Putin sent assistance to aid the harsh crackdown on large-scale election protests in Belarus. Lukashenko’s acceptance of Russian assistance in putting down the protests marked a turning point in his attempts to balance between East and West.
In November 2021, alongside wide-ranging agreements on economic and regulatory issues related to taxation, banking, industry, agriculture and energy, Russian and Belarusian leaders approved a new joint military doctrine. Then in February, Russia and Belarus held joint military drills close to the Belarusian border with Ukraine — which served as a pretext to move some 30,000 Russian troops onto Belarusian territory in preparation for the Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine.
But Lukashenko has been actively demilitarizing the Belarusian army since the invasion, by handing over military equipment and ammunition to Putin. In August, Russia received over 12,000 tons of ammunition from Belarus. By distributing ammunition, Lukashenko reduces the threat of the Belarusian army intervening in the war against Ukraine on the side of Russia.
Such measures probably reflect Lukashenko’s wariness about allowing the Belarusian army to fall under Russian command, if troops are dispatched into Ukraine. That would give Russia an opportunity to establish a permanent military presence in Belarus, which would weaken Lukashenko even further and place Belarus firmly in Putin’s pocket.
The E.U. continues to sanction Belarus. Some Belarusians approve.
Sanctions have weakened Lukashenko’s support from domestic allies
Lukashenko continues to hang on to power. However, some of his close political insiders appear to oppose the decision to back Putin’s war against Ukraine. The protracted military conflict in Ukraine has led to ongoing sanctions pressure on the Belarusian economy and on business leaders — including sanctions that specifically target Belarus military leaders.
In April, Lukashenko unsuccessfully attempted to conduct secret negotiations with the West. On April 6, the Belarus minister of foreign affairs sent a confidential letter asking European Union countries to abandon the sanctions policy and restore dialogue with the Belarusian regime. The E.U. did not respond, and the letter was leaked to the media.
Russia’s war is not popular in Belarus
A majority of Belarusians do not want their country to take part in the war against Ukraine. According to a Chatham House poll conducted in August, only 5 percent of Belarusians favored sending troops to support Russia, while 2 percent wanted Belarus to side with Ukraine. About 70 percent of Belarusians indicated their refusal to engage in the conflict.
Lukashenko’s calls for peace reflect the preferences of a majority of the public. Keeping Belarusian troops out of the war allows Lukashenko to defuse some of the widespread anger that followed the 2020 presidential election — reflected in the months of protests over his fraudulent claim of victory.
Belarus forced down a plane because it couldn’t shut down an app
At the same time, Belarusians have also been expressing solidarity with Ukraine. For example, on March 26, some 200 Belarusian volunteers joined a battalion named after Kastus Kalinouski, a 19th-century Belarusian writer and revolutionary, and took an oath to join Ukraine’s Armed Forces. Two months later, on May 21, the Kalinouski battalion announced its expansion and transformation into a regiment.
Belarus can’t actually spare the troops
A majority of the troops who serve in the Belarus army are conscripts doing compulsory military service — many soldiers are probably interested only in serving out their term. Belarus’s active personnel count is around 45,500 (less than 1 percent of the total population), with about 25 percent serving as contractors.
A conscripted army remains largely a citizen army — which means many conscripts share the public dissatisfaction with the Lukashenko regime. It’s likely the Belarus military is well aware that any troops dispatched to join the fight in Ukraine might well refuse to serve, or seek to defect.
Belarusian special operations forces, an estimated group of between 4,000 and 6,000 officers, serve an important role at home. In 2020, together with the police, these forces took an active part in the suppression of mass protests after the presidential election. Two years later, Belarus special forces offer a strong deterrent to public protests. Lukashenko cannot afford to give up these troops as they ensure his grip on power.
With little room to maneuver between East and West and Belarus’s military far weaker than Russia’s, Lukashenko appears to have little choice but to follow Putin’s orders. However, the reluctance of Lukashenko to send Belarusian troops into Ukraine reflects his desire to continue his 28-year rule — and a keen awareness of the need to maintain distance from Russia and the military setbacks suffered by Putin’s army.
Tatsiana Kulakevich is an assistant professor of instruction in the School of Interdisciplinary Global Studies and research fellow at the Institute for Russian, European and Eurasian Studies at the University of South Florida. Follow her on Twitter @DrKulakevich. | 2022-09-14T11:54:33Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Putin ally Lukashenko unlikely to send Belarus forces to Ukraine - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/14/belarus-russia-ukraine-putin-lukashenko/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/14/belarus-russia-ukraine-putin-lukashenko/ |
The White House is releasing important cybersecurity guidance today
Welcome to The Cybersecurity 202! Mismatched music covers are a mixed bag of stunts and surprising effectiveness, but the Afghan Whigs' version of “Creep” by TLC won’t get out of my brain so for me it’s the latter. Although … since the Whigs have argued convincingly they’re an R&B band despite forming as a “grunge” group, maybe it’s not so mismatched.
Below: Peiter “Mudge” Zatko testifies on Capitol Hill, and the U.S. government calls out foreign influence operations by Russia. First:
First in The Cybersecurity 202: Much-awaited security guidance arrives today from the Biden administration
A White House office is publishing guidelines this morning for how federal agencies and government contractors will comply with President Biden’s demand last year that federal systems and vendors meet common cybersecurity standards.
The memo — which The Cybersecurity 202 is first reporting — is perhaps the most-awaited cybersecurity guidance from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) since Chief Information Security Officer Chris DeRusha joined the Biden administration at the beginning of 2021, he told me.
It stands to affect the security of government systems and therefore the ability of feds to provide services, as well as the process for billions of dollars worth of federal contracts. That, in turn, could pressure any company that might want to do business with the federal government to meet the government standards, as a senior administration official told reporters last year before rolling out Biden’s executive order that spawned today’s memo.
“We’re all using Outlook email. We’re all using Cisco and Juniper routers,” the official said. “So, essentially, by setting those secure software standards, we’re benefiting everybody broadly.”
Besides the memo, OMB is set to publish a blog post this morning from DeRusha.
“The guidance, developed with input from the public and private sector as well as academia, directs agencies to use only software that complies with secure software development standards … and will allow the federal government to quickly identify security gaps when new vulnerabilities are discovered,” he writes.
OMB hasn’t yet broadly shared the final draft with industry, which had expressed some nervousness about how details of the executive order, and today’s memo, might look.
Biden’s May 2021 cybersecurity executive order listed many mandates, ranging from requiring agencies to employ security tools like encryption to establishing a Cyber Safety Review Board to analyze major cyberattacks. The memo followed a series of high-profile hacks, one of which, the breach of software company SolarWinds, let spies worm their way into at least nine federal agencies.
One of the memo’s directives was for the National Institute of Standards and Technology to create a foundation for developing secure software. NIST’s final framework includes top-level steps like:
“Produce well-secured software with minimal security vulnerabilities in its releases.”
“Identify residual vulnerabilities in software releases and respond appropriately to address those vulnerabilities and prevent similar vulnerabilities from occurring in the future.”
OMB ordered agencies to begin adopting that framework this March, but left out some steps, which leads us to today’s memo.
What the memo hopes to achieve
“The number one thing that we heard from industry was, ‘We all want to follow secure development practices, but we need to ensure a consistent approach across agencies and treatment of vendors — we don’t want 100 agencies doing this a hundred different ways,’” DeRusha said. “Absolutely agree with that. And so that’s the goal of this memo.”
A somewhat controversial topic is at the center of one of the memo’s steps. Agencies must receive something called a “self-attestation” from a software producer before using that software. Essentially, the software provider vouches for the security of their product. If a provider is found to be out of compliance later, an agency could no longer use it, according to OMB.
A Defense Department program for vetting the cybersecurity of Pentagon contractors featured third-party auditors because the department determined that self-attestations weren’t a reliable indicator of contractor security, Nextgov reported. DOD has subsequently retreated from that requirement, to a degree.
Another major component of the memo is the amount of information agencies could collect under it. For instance, it states that federal agencies may require prospective contractors to supply an ingredients list for tech systems, known as a Software Bill of Materials. Some have touted that as a measure that could’ve helped quickly clean up the bug in a hugely popular piece of code known as log4j.
That’s data that “we can leverage to protect all other federal agencies,” DeRusha said.
It might take a while for all this guidance to become reality. The memo contains an appendix with a baker’s dozen deadlines for federal agencies, ranging from three months to two years.
But DeRusha touted the big picture in his blog post.
“The guidance released today will help us build trust and transparency in the digital infrastructure that underpins our modern world and will allow us to fulfill our commitment to continue to lead by example while protecting the national and economic security of our country,” he writes.
Twitter whistleblower highlights company’s cybersecurity practices in testimony before Senate panel
Former Twitter security chief Peiter “Mudge” Zatko told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee that executives at the company were financially incentivized to ignore key cybersecurity problems, and he also expanded on claims that foreign government operatives could have had access to sensitive data at the company, Cat Zakrzewski, Joseph Menn, Faiz Siddiqui and Cristiano Lima report. Zatko also grounded his testimony in examples that senators could understand — like their own Twitter accounts being hijacked.
“It doesn’t matter who has keys if you don’t have any locks on the doors,” he said. “It’s not far-fetched to say an employee inside the company could take over the accounts of all the senators in this room.”
In the hearing, Zatko also warned about insider threats at Twitter. “A week before his January firing, Zatko testified, the FBI had warned security staff that a Chinese agent for the Ministry of State Security was employed at the company,” my colleagues write. “Twitter ads paid for by the Chinese government also could have elicited information, including locations of users who click on them, he said.”
Russia secretly spent more than $300 million on foreign political campaigns since 2014, U.S. says
A new U.S. intelligence review said that the money was funneled to candidates and political parties in more than two dozen countries, Missy Ryan reports. The Biden administration declassified the review in an attempt to try to counter Russia’s attempts at foreign influence around the world, a senior U.S. official told reporters.
In a cable provided to reporters, the State Department named Russian oligarchs who it said were involved in “financing schemes.” The oligarchs include Yevgeniy Prigozhin, who U.S. officials charged in 2018 with trying to interfere in the 2016 election by funding a Russian troll farm.
The biggest election disinformation event of the 2022 midterm primaries: Text messages (NBC News)
EU intelligence chief cancels Taiwan trip after Beijing learns his secret plans (Politico Europe)
Buenos Aires legislature announces ransomware attack (The Record)
Indonesia set to pass new data privacy law after spate of leaks (Bloomberg)
Former NSA chief Keith Alexander accused of pump-and-dump investment scheme (The Intercept)
Current and former executives at social media companies testify before the Senate Homeland Security Committee today at 10 a.m.
A Senate Judiciary Committee panel holds a hearing on protecting Americans’ personal information from hostile foreign actors today at 3:30 p.m.
Deputy national security adviser Anne Neuberger speaks at a DefenseScoop event Thursday at 9 a.m.
The House Homeland Security Committee holds a hearing on the cybersecurity of industrial control systems Thursday at 10 a.m.
Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio), the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, speaks at a Heritage Foundation event on countering foreign misinformation and disinformation while protecting civil liberties Monday at 1 p.m. | 2022-09-14T11:54:45Z | www.washingtonpost.com | The White House is releasing important cybersecurity guidance today - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/14/white-house-is-releasing-important-cybersecurity-guidance-today/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/14/white-house-is-releasing-important-cybersecurity-guidance-today/ |
Gonzaga College High won four national championships after Lee Kelly became the school's director of rugby in 2002. (Courtesy of Connor Kelly). (Courtesy of Connor Kelly)
Among the high school rugby hamlets that populate the prep sports landscape, few have evolved into kingdoms. The sport’s violent perception and relative lack of popularity in the United States can make for an uphill battle. It can be difficult securing school support, and some kids are reluctant to trade pads and penalty kicks for rucks and mauls.
Despite those obstacles, Lee Kelly built not just a competitive program, but what some consider the nation’s best, transforming D.C.’s Gonzaga College High into a perennial title contender. Kelly, who won four national rugby championships at the I Street school, died at 72 on Aug. 31 after a battle with prostate cancer.
“Gonzaga rugby is pretty much synonymous with consistent excellence,” said Alex Goff, founder of the Goff Rugby Report, which covers American high school and college rugby. “If you ask almost anybody at any time in the last 10 to 15 years, ‘Name me the top teams in the country,’ they’re going to have Gonzaga on that list, and that is a direct reflection of the energy and the love of the game from Lee.”
For Kelly’s son Connor, it’s not easy to separate the coach from the father. Lee Kelly made a point to follow his sons from sport to sport, finding opportunities to coach them on the field, the court and the diamond. That custom led him to Gonzaga in 2000, when Kelly showed up to his oldest son Brendan’s rugby practice offering his services.
Kelly was hardly just some parent off the street. He started for the University of Maryland rugby team in the 1970s and later helped establish several local men’s and youth teams.
In 2000, Gonzaga’s rugby team had just 30 players. The team had begun as a club formed by a group of students in 1988, and it managed only one win in its first two seasons. Six years later, it became a varsity sport.
When Kelly became its director of rugby in 2002, he sought to elevate the program by proactively recruiting students and coaches, and by traveling beyond state and national borders to expose his players to consistent, quality competition.
During Kelly’s tenure, Gonzaga rugby saw a spike in interest and in wins.
In 2009, Kelly tapped former U.S. women’s rugby assistant Peter Baggetta to serve as the team’s head coach. The following year, Gonzaga became national runner-up, the school’s best finish to date. By 2011, nearly one out of every five Gonzaga students — around 180 out of 900 — played rugby, and in 2014, the school won its first national championship, the first of three consecutive and four total titles.
“Lee’s a legend,” said Dante Lopresti, a former team captain who won three national titles at Gonzaga. “He just had a presence. I don’t know how to explain it. He’s always there for you. He’s very loving, very caring, and he wants you to be a better man off the field. That just speaks to the type of character the guy was. He is Gonzaga rugby, and everyone knows it.”
Under Kelly, the program counts several professional athletes among its ranks of alumni, including former NFL cornerback Johnson Bademosi. Ben Cima, a onetime All-Met kicker for Gonzaga’s football team, played for Major League Rugby’s Seattle Seawolves and the U.S. national team. Cima’s former high school teammate Reggie Corbin starred as an all-Big Ten running back at Illinois before joining the USFL’s Michigan Panthers. Lopresti and Jack Iscaro play for MLR’s Old Glory DC.
Off the pitch, former players and coaches described Kelly as a “force of nature” who looked after those in his extended family.
Kelly was the person who sent messages of comfort to his players’ parents after their parents died. He once invited one of his coaches to drive to Maryland with him to check in on a former player institutionalized for substance abuse. Kelly also served as a member of the Boys High School Rugby National Championships Committee, where he dialed into meetings after rounds of treatment and shortly before his death, according to Goff, who also serves on that committee.
“That was typical Lee, saying, ‘Dammit, I’m still going to be involved,’” Goff said. “Our next meeting, I half-expect him to call. It’s like, ‘Lee, you’re not supposed to be on this Earth anymore.’ And he’d say, ‘I don’t care.’”
That approach to life, one in service of others, is one of the things Connor Kelly will remember most about his father.
Kelly’s son is only in kindergarten, but Kelly is hoping to follow in his father’s footsteps and someday start a rugby team at the school. If he does, he intends to channel his father’s philosophy.
“The biggest thing is it’s not just about going out and winning games,” Kelly said. “It’s about creating something more than that. It’s about creating something where people at that school — or whatever it may be — want to be involved with it. Where it can be something that you look back and it’s a big part of your life and you had some fun with it.” | 2022-09-14T11:54:51Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Lee Kelly, who helped build Gonzaga into a rugby power, dies at 72 - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/14/lee-kelly-gonzaga-rugby/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/14/lee-kelly-gonzaga-rugby/ |
Wednesday briefing: What’s next in Ukraine; Queen Elizabeth II; Kenneth Starr’s legacy; what to know about ketamine; and more
Russia’s military may have reached its limits, for now.
The details: Troop, logistics and equipment issues could force Russia to focus on defending its territory in Ukraine, rather than attacking, for the foreseeable future.
What’s next? Ukraine’s military will probably target Kherson, a strategic port city that fell to Russian troops at the start of the war.
What else to know: Russia has spent hundreds of millions of dollars since 2014 on a secret global political campaign, according to U.S. intelligence.
Food and housing are still getting more expensive.
What to know: Those were the two biggest factors driving inflation last month. Overall, prices increased 8.3% compared with the year before — still very high, but down from earlier this summer, new data showed yesterday.
What happens now? The U.S. central bank has been trying to bring down inflation by raising interest rates. It could announce another rate hike next week.
Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin will arrive at the seat of Parliament today.
What to know: The public will be able to pay their respects at Westminster Hall until Monday morning, the day of the longest-reigning British monarch’s funeral.
What we’re watching: Police have arrested some anti-monarchy protesters, alarming free speech activists.
Of note: Several countries that are part of the British Commonwealth are considering severing ties after the queen’s death.
West Virginia passed a strict abortion ban yesterday.
What to know: It’s the second state, after Indiana, to approve a bill banning nearly all abortions since the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade in June. It now goes to the governor to sign into law.
What else to know: A Republican senator introduced a bill yesterday to ban abortions nationwide after 15 weeks, but it has almost no chance of moving forward.
Kenneth Starr, whose investigations led to the Clinton impeachment, died yesterday.
The former U.S. solicitor general started multiple investigations of the Clinton administration. He died at 76 of complications from surgery in Houston.
His most well-known legacy: The best-selling Starr Report, which was published in 1998 and detailed the relationship between President Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky.
Thousands of temperature records were broken this summer.
The details: More than 7,000 daily records, 400 monthly records and 27 all-time records fell, according to a new Post analysis. (We mapped each one here.)
This fits a pattern: Over the past two decades of summers, far more record highs have been broken than record lows, showing the growing effects of climate change.
What else to know: 93 large fires are burning in seven states across the West.
A psychedelic drug is showing promise as a depression treatment.
What to know: Ketamine — a party drug officially approved as an anesthetic — made a big difference for patients in a year-long study, according to results published this week.
Why this matters: It adds to research that ketamine, under supervised conditions, may offer hope to people whose depression hasn’t responded to other drugs.
And now … get tips from our Well+Being editor on food, fitness and mental health: Sign up for the new weekly newsletter. | 2022-09-14T11:55:04Z | www.washingtonpost.com | The 7 things you need to know for Wednesday, Sept. 14 - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/the-seven/2022/09/14/what-to-know-for-september-14/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/the-seven/2022/09/14/what-to-know-for-september-14/ |
Not much changes in Fairfax Villa, and residents like it that way
The community in Fairfax County, Va., has 422 houses on 166 acres northwest of the George Mason University campus
Fairfax Villa, a community in the heart of Fairfax County, Va., has largely remained the same since it was built in the 1960s. In early advertisements, the neighborhood was described as “a town in the trees.” (Craig Hudson for The Washington Post)
Fairfax Villa, a community in the heart of Fairfax County, Va., has largely remained the same since it was built in the 1960s. Residents seem to like it that way.
“It’s just one of those neighborhoods where nobody is really knocking down houses and building bigger homes,” said Pat Tarasek, a resident since 2016 and the Fairfax Villa civic association president. “Very few people are even putting additions on their houses. They just kind of like the way they are,” she said.
Tarasek describes “the Villa” — as residents call it — as “quiet” and “homey.”
Shaded by mature trees, the 422 houses with brick and siding exteriors are on 166 acres northwest of the George Mason University campus in Fairfax. The three main styles of single-family houses are two-story ramblers, three-story split foyers, and three- or four-story split levels.
Fairfax Villa has a “mixture of people of all ages,” from GMU students to young couples with children to retirees, Tarasek said.
When Tarasek first moved in, she discovered the Haley Family Cemetery on a small, overgrown lot on San Carlos Drive, dating back to the mid-1700s. Among the people buried there is James Haley, who served as a sergeant in the First Virginia Regiment in the Revolutionary War.
Fairfax Villa residents, as well as the Daughters of the American Revolution, have taken responsibility for cleaning and maintaining the lot, Tarasek said.
Bill Muras and his wife, Lisa, moved to Fairfax Villa in 2002 because it is in walking distance to GMU, where Lisa attended classes at the time. It also was within their price range.
Fairfax Villa’s central location, with easy access to major highways — including Routes 50 and 29, Fairfax County Parkway and Interstate 66 — and its walkability are big advantages, Muras said.
Less than two miles away is Kamp Washington, Fairfax Pointe and Old Town Fairfax with retailers and restaurants, as well as a Walmart Supercenter.
The Villa Aquatic Club, which opened in 1963, is another perk, Muras said. The club has an Olympic-size swimming pool, which is available to residents of Fairfax Villa and surrounding communities. Memberships start at $200 annually with a one-time, nonrefundable fee of $250.
“The pool serves as a big focal point, and a lot of folks have been very involved in the Villa Aquatic Gorillas swim team,” Muras said, including his three children.
In early advertisements, the neighborhood was described as “a town in the trees.” Many of the trees can be found in the nearly 60-acre wooded Fairfax Villa Park, which is along the western border of the neighborhood and has walking and biking trails.
Maintained by the Fairfax County Park Authority, this undeveloped park is accessible only by pedestrians and bicyclists.
Like the neighborhood, the park contains slices of history. Native Americans came to what became Fairfax Villa Park for Popes Head Creek as well as the quartz, quartzite cobbles, and soapstone still found within the park. Parts of the Manassas Gap Railroad, constructed before the Civil War forced it into bankruptcy, are also visible.
When Chrysi Lopez and her husband, Hector, were house-hunting in 2006, they “stumbled upon the Villa,” she said. “It was a happy accident.”
Upon arriving, their neighbors brought them fudge and introduced themselves, Lopez said. The community “had that really nice, old-school vibe,” something that hasn’t really changed over the years, she said.
This is, in part, because of the involvement within the community and its feeling of safety, Lopez said. “We know a lot of our neighbors, and we take care of each other,” she said. “We’re lucky to have great people, and we make a point to be good neighbors, as well.”
Neighbors have coordinated movie nights and block parties on the cul-de-sacs.
The PTA at Fairfax Villa Elementary School also holds events. On Aug. 21, families “Chalked the Walk” by leaving positive messages on the sidewalks for kids walking to school, and each year, the PTA and the civic association work together to throw a Halloween parade, said Jennifer Snyder, the PTA president at Fairfax Villa Elementary, where her two sons attend school.
The civic association also hosts an annual New Year’s Eve luminaries display, where bags with candles line the streets, lighting the neighborhood, said Scott Snyder, vice president of the civic association and Jennifer’s husband.
To the south is the smaller Cavalier Woods subdivision that Fairfax Villa residents consider part of their voluntary civic association, which oversees community issues, as there is no homeowners association. The membership fee is $10 a year.
Because Fairfax Villa is just outside the city of Fairfax, residents don’t receive city services like trash collection and snow removal. Private collection companies handle trash and recycling, and the Virginia Department of Transportation takes care of snow removal.
Living there: Fairfax Villa is bounded by Byrd Drive to the north, Fairfax Villa Park to the west, and San Juan Drive and Fairfax Villa Elementary School to the east.
According to Malia Tarasek, a real estate agent of Lucido Global at Keller Williams and Pat Tarasek’s daughter, one property is on the market: a four-bedroom, three-bathroom rambler for $650,000. Over the past 12 months, 18 homes have sold in Fairfax Villa. The highest priced was a four-bedroom, three-bathroom renovated rambler for $780,000. The lowest priced was a three-bedroom, two-bathroom split foyer for $530,000. The average sales price over the past 12 months was $661,849, and the average number of days on the market was 11, Malia Tarasek said.
Schools: Fairfax Villa Elementary; Frost Middle; W.T. Woodson High.
Transit: The CUE Bus system provides free transit service within the city of Fairfax, including transportation to and from the Vienna/Fairfax-GMU Metro station (Orange Line), around six miles away, and the GMU Fairfax campus, around two miles away. The CUE Bus system has stops for the Gold 1 and Gold 2 routes about 1.5 miles away. WMATA Metrobus also has nearby stops. | 2022-09-14T12:50:06Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Neighborhood profile: Fairfax Villa - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/09/14/where-we-live-fairfax-villa/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/09/14/where-we-live-fairfax-villa/ |
Queen Elizabeth II touched lives for 70 years in ways big and small
Animal lovers related to her bond with dogs and horses. Britain’s money and national anthem made the queen part of routine life.
By Christina Barron
Britain's Queen Elizabeth II waves from the balcony of Buckingham Palace after her coronation on June 2, 1953. The queen, who died Thursday at age 96, will be remembered for the stability she brought during her long reign but also the impact she had on everyday life. (AP)
Millions of people will watch Monday’s funeral for Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, who died last week at age 96. You might wonder why so many people are saddened by the queen’s death, including people who never met her and even those who didn’t live in Britain or any of its current or former territories.
Much of the reason is that she did her job for a very long time — more than 70 years. She was just 25 years old when her father died unexpectedly, and she took on his role as monarch or head of state for the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) and several other countries, including Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Head of state is not a political leader. Queen Elizabeth had regular meetings with the country’s highest political leader, the prime minister. She could advise that person, but she couldn’t propose new laws, for example, and she was expected to not tell the public her opinions about political matters. Instead, she was more like an ambassador. She presided at official ceremonies, hosted world leaders and traveled in support of the British government.
Having a job for 70 years means you have seen a lot of world leaders come and go. The first British prime minister she worked with was Winston Churchill, who had governed the nation through World War II. The last was Liz Truss, who became Britain’s political leader just last week. There were 13 others in between. The United States had 14 presidents during the queen’s reign. France had 10. So the queen provided a sense of stability as politics changed.
But there were other things that the queen became known for over the past seven decades that have touched people’s lives in Britain and around the world.
Always an animal lover
The queen had a lifelong love of dogs and horses. She favored corgis, a herding dog from Wales with short legs and pointed ears. Elizabeth’s family had several corgis when she was a girl, and her father gave her one named Susan when she was 18 years old. Over the years, she raised about 30 corgis. They followed her around the palaces and were featured in photos and videos seen around the world. The queen also owned dorgis (a mix of a corgi and a dachshund) and cocker spaniels, but corgis became well-known, thanks to her.
The queen also had a strong bond with horses. Her first riding lesson was at age 3, and her grandfather King George V gave her a pony at age 4, according to the International Equestrian Federation. As queen she rode horseback in large parades and on casual outings around her estates. The queen also loved horse racing. She bred dozens of horses and entered them in famous races such as Royal Ascot. It was a serious business, but win or lose, the queen would be seen smiling at her horses and petting them on the nose.
The queen accompanied everyone to the store, restaurants or the movies for decades. She wasn’t there in person, but her picture was. The queen’s portrait has long been on all printed and minted money in Britain and several other countries. So just as you are used to seeing a dollar bill with George Washington’s face on it, people in Britain, Canada and Australia are used to seeing the queen’s face every time they pay in cash. The money won’t immediately feature the new monarch, King Charles III, but it will be a striking change when those new bills and coins appear.
Singing her praises
Sporting events and parades often feature the national anthem, a song kids usually learn in elementary school. In Britain, it’s difficult not to think of the queen at those times. That’s because the national anthem is called “God Save the Queen.” Or rather it has been for the past 70 years.
The British anthem is more personal that the United States’ national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner.” It starts with “God save our gracious Queen! Long live our noble Queen! God save the Queen!” The words have been changed to reflect whether a man or a woman was the monarch, but most Britons have never sung “God Save the King,” or at least not until the past week. Although the change in lyrics may seem sad to many, the queen encouraged people earlier this year to look to the future. “And when, in the fullness of time, my son Charles becomes King, I know you will give him and his wife Camilla the same support that you have given me.” | 2022-09-14T13:11:53Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Queen Elizabeth II touched lives for 70 years in ways big and small - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/kidspost/2022/09/14/queen-elizabeth-why-people-will-miss-her/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/kidspost/2022/09/14/queen-elizabeth-why-people-will-miss-her/ |
ESPN provides All-22 footage from the College Football Playoffs. It's one of the rare times the film is available for college football. (ESPN)
Those writers are in search of the precious and rare “All-22” tape. It’s the bird’s-eye, uncompromised panorama that, as the name implies, captures all 22 of the players on a football field. Unlike the regular television broadcasts — with varied camera angles and editorial direction, All-22 footage offers an uncompromised vantage. The footage is captured by a football program’s film division, and it’s used by coaches to prepare for weekly matchups and by NFL general managers who are agonizing over what to do with their fourth-round draft picks. For those outside that insulated fraternity, it’s kept under stringent lock and key.
“I have a buddy, Derrik Klassen at Football Outsiders, who also does quarterback charting. I don’t know how long Twitter DMs retain their history, but if you opened the annals with my DMs with Derrik over the years, you’d see some sicko stuff,” Solak said. “‘Yo, I cannot find Troy vs. ULM. Do you know anyone who has it?’” Or perhaps, “‘I don’t even want to watch this. This is a bad quarterback, and nobody will actually care if I don’t get the 12th game of him. But I committed to this, so do you have Tanner Lee vs. Iowa?’”
Solak is not an outlier. Ask anyone who covers college football, and especially the NFL draft, and they will recall the backroom deals for the unlisted YouTube videos and surreptitious Google Drive links brimming with smuggled All-22. It has become its own microeconomy, ballooning in size as the draft becomes a year-round spectacle. Leaks happen all the time. Maybe, said Solak, someone knows a guy on a D-I school’s video team, who passes them the All-22 of the program’s most recent games. That agent puts their newly acquired wares on the trading block, which sparks a chain reaction of favors, pacts and solicitations across an entire subculture of thirsty gridiron connoisseurs.
Tice said he developed the majority of his All-22 connections by befriending other film habitues in the media. He does not hold firsthand relationships with the original leakers and has no interest in doing so. (“I don’t ask, I don’t want to know anything.”) But what Tice might not know is that the art of the underground tape trade transcends the draft media. In fact, those who are on staff at college football programs engaged in their own version of the barter system for decades, until the system was formalized in 2020. Adam Niemeyer, director of football video at the University of Cincinnati, said that he was instructed to share All-22 footage of Bearcats games with the other schools in the American Athletic Conference. But for programs outside the division? Those negotiations were strictly off the books, and yet they still happened all the time.
The practice that Niemeyer is describing has largely gone extinct in 2022. Mike Ortiz, vice president of film operations at the Pac-12, and Tony Buyniski, senior director of officiating technology and services at the Big Ten, did the impossible and brokered consensus in college football. The pair wanted to legitimize the tape trade and they took the stage at a yearly Las Vegas convention for college video staffers in 2020 with a simple pitch — every program would make its All-22 available, using a sports-analytics firm called Catapult, for any university staff that wants to take a look.
“We said, ‘Let’s stop the backroom dealings, and let’s hit you with the statistics of what you’d get by opting in,’ ” Ortiz said. If everyone participated, the pair argued, all of the schools would have access to much more tape than they did in the past. Miraculously, Ortiz and Buyniski managed to get all 130 FBS teams on board — after hammering out a few details.
But like so many esteemed, exclusive institutions, the proprietors of the All-22 footage tend to be punitive when their treasures trickle into the possession of those who aren’t in the club. Nobody faces any serious consequences by hoarding game tape, but if it’s published on social media — by someone who is not associated with a school — you might be facing a quick, efficient DMCA complaint. In fact, those are the exact marching orders given to people like Niemeyer.
No, not really. “He goes, ‘some coaches are just weird,’” Tice said.
Ortiz doesn’t think Solak’s dream is out of the question. After all, he just managed to mediate a pledge with the entire FBS ecosystem. The impossible has already happened. | 2022-09-14T13:24:57Z | www.washingtonpost.com | In strange world of college football, All-22 is hot commodity - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/14/college-football-game-film-all-22/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/14/college-football-game-film-all-22/ |
Barnaby Woods is the best of both worlds
The Northwest Washington community has ‘all the advantages of living in the city, with all the advantages of living in the suburbs’
In the Barnaby Woods neighborhood of Northwest Washington, Unicorn Lane is a little looped road off Oregon Avenue NW that is notable for its fanciful name and the pair of white unicorn statues that guard the entrance. (Craig Hudson for The Washington Post)
Barnaby Woods, the Northwest Washington neighborhood west of Rock Creek Park and adjacent to the Chevy Chase enclave, is often overlooked by the popular D.C. blogs and news sites. But when they do write about the green hideaway, they mention Unicorn Lane.
The little looped road off Oregon Avenue NW is notable for its fanciful name and the pair of white unicorn statues that guard the entrance to townhouses. As TheHillIsHome blog wrote in 2017, the developer of the land parcel in 1972 picked the unicorn as “a mark of uniqueness, which characterizes the community.”
To the residents who love it, Barnaby Woods feels like a unicorn: a neighborhood with easy access to the heart of the District, but also one safe and secluded enough that parents feel comfortable letting their children ride bicycles in the streets and walk by themselves to school.
“It’s all the advantages of living in the city, with all the advantages of living in the suburbs,” said Sandra Cihlar, 77.
While Cihlar’s home on Nebraska Street NW is just outside the boundaries of Barnaby Woods and within the larger Chevy Chase neighborhood, she has lived in the area since 1971 and grew up playing in the neighborhood. She remembers biking down Barnaby Street to the edge of the park, where the residential side was still largely undeveloped. She and her friends would climb a huge mound of sand and then ride into Rock Creek Park to play in the Pinehurst Branch Stream.
“You know, one of those Norman Rockwell-like kinds of things,” she said.
While the 23-acre neighborhood has more houses than it did when Cihlar was a child, she finds it amazing how unchanged it remains from the place where she made her happiest early memories.
According to the Ward 4 Heritage Guide by the D.C. Office of Planning, the neighborhood dates to the 1920s. Some of the earliest homes were frame houses designed by architect Louis Justement, who also designed the historic E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse at Judiciary Square.
The neighborhood is now dominated by red brick Colonials, with a smattering of Sears bungalows and modern mansions. Kimberly Cestari, a real estate agent with Long and Foster who lived in Barnaby Woods for 23 years before moving just outside its boundaries three years ago, said the neighborhood sees less turnover than the D.C. average. Residents tend to build additions onto their homes if they need more space rather than move.
“It’s a little Mayberry,” Cestari said. “There are block parties. … There’s an annual Halloween parade that starts at Worthington and 32nd [Street] and goes down 32nd Place and ends at a potluck. Those are things that you can’t put a price tag on; it just speaks to the other people who live there and their sense of community that they create.”
Barnaby Woods has no dedicated neighborhood association. Instead, residents often take the initiative to meet their neighbors and organize events. The lush green spaces and the community that forms around the area’s well-regarded public schools can break down barriers.
Michael and Lauren Zelin, who moved to the neighborhood eight years ago with their three children, said the park at Lafayette Elementary School is a popular gathering place. Michael, 43, said he and other men in the neighborhood joined an informal running group called the Coywolves — after a small coyote-wolf hybrid found in Rock Creek Park — that regularly hits the trails.
“We can cover miles and miles and not be on concrete,” he said.
Those who care for the neighborhood are working to make sure it retains its quiet, pastoral charm. Lisa Gore, an advisory neighborhood commissioner who lives in neighboring Hawthorne and represents Barnaby Woods, said she has been working with the D.C. Department of Transportation to improve safety with traffic-calming measures, such as speed bumps.
“This area has a tendency to be a cut-through for traffic,” she said. “We've had a lot of traffic infrastructure issues going on to try to make the streets less of a speedway.”
Another focus is preserving the look of the neighborhood. True to its name, Barnaby Woods is dominated by massive, old-growth trees. They grow through sidewalks and tower over front doors — respected neighborhood residents in their own right.
“A lot of these 100-year-old oaks are at their life expectancy; they’re being taken down because they’re either diseased or dying, and it is changing the look of the neighborhood,” Cestari said. “But you know, it’s easy to remedy [that] by planting new trees and then letting them grow for future generations.”
Living there: Bounded by Rock Creek Park to the north and east, Tennyson Street NW to the south and Western Avenue and the Maryland state line to the west, Barnaby Woods is entirely residential and made up of single-family homes, apart from the townhouses on Unicorn Lane.
In the past 12 months, 32 homes have sold in Barnaby Woods, Cestari said, with sale prices ranging from $903,103 for a two-bedroom ranch in need of updates to $2.75 million for a five-bedroom, six-bathroom 1921 Tudor, fully updated and remodeled last year. The average sale price in that period was $1.46 million. No homes are on the market.
Schools: Lafayette Elementary; Deal Middle; Jackson-Reed High
Transportation: The M4 Metrobus stops along Western and Utah Avenues, running between Sibley Memorial Hospital and the Tenleytown station. The closest Metro station is Friendship Heights on the Red Line, about two miles southwest of Barnaby Woods. | 2022-09-14T13:25:03Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Neighborhood profile: Barnaby Woods in Northwest Washington - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/09/14/where-we-live-barnaby-woods/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/09/14/where-we-live-barnaby-woods/ |
Rep. Luria, member of Jan. 6 committee, gets Norfolk security detail
Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.), right, speaks next to Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) during the Jan. 6 House select committee’s prime-time hearing on July 21. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
Deputies in the Norfolk Sheriff’s Office have been providing Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.) a security detail this summer as she serves on the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, the sheriff said ahead of a Norfolk City Council vote to authorize payments to the deputies Tuesday.
The security is related to her work on the Jan. 6 committee, a spokesman for Luria confirmed; The Washington Post reported in June that all members of the committee were likely to receive their own security details as they faced a rise in violent threats against them and their family members.
Lawmakers on Jan. 6 committee ramp up their security as threats increase
On Tuesday, the Norfolk City Council voted to accept up to $68,000 from the U.S. Capitol Police that the Norfolk Sheriff’s Office will use to pay deputies for the security support for Luria when she is in Norfolk, where she lives. Sheriff Joseph Baron said the money will in part be used to pay the off-duty deputies for 24-hour security support they already provided Luria on days she was in the area earlier this summer, while the rest will be available for future use when needed.
A spokesman for Luria declined to discuss further details of the security arrangement, citing safety reasons, but said Luria had received threats throughout the duration of her service on the Jan. 6 committee. She and Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) were under the national spotlight as they co-led the committee’s prime-time hearing in July, in which they squarely placed the blame for the violence on Jan. 6 on former president Donald Trump’s shoulders.
Due to her work on the committee, "she and her family have been subjected to threats of violence as people continue to perpetuate dangerous election lies and conspiracy theories,” the spokesman, Jayce Genco, said in a statement. “Threats of violence against anyone is reprehensible, and it’s unfortunate that standing up for the truth in America today means risking the health and safety of you and your family.”
A spokesman for the U.S. Capitol Police said that “for safety reasons, the USCP does not discuss potential security measures for Members.”
Other members of the committee investigating the insurrection have been open about the threats they’ve received as the hearings picked up this summer. Kinzinger, for one, released a three-minute audio compilation of vitriol and threats called into his office, including from one caller who threatened his wife and newborn baby.
Threats against lawmakers in general have risen sharply in recent years, according to data from the U.S. Capitol Police. As The Post reported last week, there were 9,625 threats against lawmakers in 2021, up from 3,939 in 2017, and nearly 2,000 in the first three months of 2022 alone. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) detailed one frightening experience to The Post last week, after an armed man repeatedly drove past her Seattle home yelling vulgarities at her and her husband. | 2022-09-14T13:25:41Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Rep Elaine Luria, member of Jan. 6 committee, receives security detail - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/09/14/luria-security-jan-6-threats-norfolk/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/09/14/luria-security-jan-6-threats-norfolk/ |
FILE - Greek actress and recording artist Irene Papas working in the Italian film “Christo si e Fermato a Eboli” (Christ Stopped at Eboli) gestures during a press conference in Cannes, France on November 5, 1979. Papas who stared along side Hollywood greats acting alongside Hollywood stars Gregory Peck, Anthony Quinn and Kirk Douglas, died on Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2022, at the age of 93. (AP Photo, File) (Uncredited/AP) | 2022-09-14T13:25:48Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Greece's Irene Papas, who earned Hollywood fame, dies at 93 - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/greeces-irene-papas-who-earned-hollywood-fame-dies-at-93/2022/09/14/99e4b4b6-3425-11ed-a0d6-415299bfebd5_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/greeces-irene-papas-who-earned-hollywood-fame-dies-at-93/2022/09/14/99e4b4b6-3425-11ed-a0d6-415299bfebd5_story.html |
Fred Franzia holds a bottle of Charles Shaw chardonnay at the Bronco Wine Co. in Napa, Calif., in 2007. (Eric Risberg/AP)
Fred Franzia was known to say it often: No bottle of wine should cost more than $10. And for nearly two decades, he offered it for much, much less.
No, not the Capri Sun-like Franzia wine that comes in a plastic bladder inside a box. Fred Franzia was the mastermind behind the label Charles Shaw — best known as Two Buck Chuck — that once sold for $1.99 per bottle and took dinner tables across the country by storm.
“Who says we’re lower priced? We’re the best price,” he told the San Francisco Chronicle in 2009. “The others, I think, are overpriced.”
On Tuesday, Mr. Franzia died at his home in Denair, Calif., leaving behind one of the largest wine operations in the United States — and a legacy of pioneering one of the most ubiquitous cheap wines. He was 79, Mr. Franzia’s Bronco Wine Co. wrote in an announcement without specifying the cause of his death.
Some might be under the impression that a man named Charles Shaw is behind the $2 wine (now priced at upward of $4 per bottle) that appeared on Trader Joe’s shelves in 2002, and in some ways, he is. Shaw, a lover of French wine, started a Napa winery in the 1970s and won awards for his vintages until financial trouble forced him to sell the brand and its trademark in 1995, the New Yorker reported.
The buyer was Mr. Franzia, a scion of a large wine family, who had already founded Bronco Wine Co. with his brother and cousin in 1973, with the goal of producing quality wines to be sold at affordable prices. Two Buck Chuck came about in 2002, when a recession had caused a surplus in wine and Mr. Franzia decided to offload it for cheap under the Charles Shaw brand, the New Yorker reported.
The concept was considered “revolutionary.” Unlike the budget wines available at that time, Charles Shaw was delivered in a glass bottle with a cork and, despite not being particularly good, it tasted “truly dry,” The Washington Post’s Ben Giliberti wrote at the time. And it was a smashing success, selling 2 million cases in its first year and 5 million the following year, Wine Spectator reported.
In 2009, after 400 million bottles had been sold, Mr. Franzia remarked: “Take that and shove it, Napa,” according to the New Yorker.
The comment encapsulated Mr. Franzia’s ethos of pushing back against the preciousness of Northern California wine culture. He frequently asserted that wine should not only be affordable but also bargain cheap. Asked how Bronco could make wine that was at one point less expensive than a bottle of water, his company noted in its death announcement, Mr. Franzia replied: “They’re overcharging for the water — don’t you get it?”
With dozens of brands, Bronco Wine Co. is now the 13th-largest winemaker in the United States, having sold 3.4 million cases in 2021, Wine Spectator reported.
Fred Franzia was born on May 24, 1943, and grew up in California’s Central Valley, working at his family’s Franzia Brothers Winery, the Turlock Journal reported. As the vineyard expanded, it was eventually purchased by Coca-Cola, and the Franzia name is now emblazoned on — and synonymous with — boxes of cheap wine. Coca-Cola eventually sold the Franzia brand. Mr. Franzia’s uncle started another major California winemaker: E. & J. Gallo Winery.
Mr. Franzia attended Santa Clara University and eventually started Bronco with his brothers, the Journal reported. One of his strategies was to buy bankrupt labels. Mr. Franzia told CNN Money in 2007: “We buy wineries from guys from Stanford who go bankrupt.” (Shaw studied at Stanford.) Bronco also bought trademarks of wines that could advertise as being produced in Napa Valley while being made in the Central Valley — thanks to a state loophole that was later changed over Mr. Franzia’s resistance, the New Yorker reported.
And Mr. Franzia’s business practices sometimes went to extremes. In 1994, he was forced to step down as the head of his company for five years and personally pay a $500,000 fine after pleading guilty to fraud charges, the New Yorker reported. Mr. Franzia had misrepresented the quality of grapes in about a million gallons of wine, having employees scatter zinfandel leaves over cheaper grapes, which he allegedly called “blessing of the loads,” according to the New Yorker.
Despite the controversies, he developed a reputation as a “maverick” in the industry.
“His entrepreneurial spirit, tireless dedication, and his commitment to both his family and to the Bronco family will forever be remembered,” his company wrote Tuesday. “His legacy will endure for generations to come.” | 2022-09-14T13:25:54Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Fred Franzia obituary: Mastermind behind Two Buck Chuck wine dies at 79 - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/09/14/fred-franzia-obituary/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/09/14/fred-franzia-obituary/ |
John Oliver slammed ‘Law & Order’ as propaganda. One of its actors agreed.
Diane Neal, shown here in 2012, played prosecutor Casey Novak for seven seasons on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.” (Lionel Cironneau/AP)
Prosecutor Casey Novak’s job was simple — convict bad guys that New York City Police Department detectives had arrested and give rape victims some semblance of justice. And on more than 100 hour-long episodes of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” she almost always got it done.
Diane Neal, the actress who played Novak for seven seasons on the TV crime drama, thought that’s how it worked in real life. Police worked with victims to catch scumbags, rarely arrested the wrong guy and almost never left a case unsolved. Then, prosecutors sent the criminals to prison.
“I’m embarrassed to admit, I used to think the way it worked on the show was like real life,” Neal wrote on Twitter. “Then I found out the hard way I was wrong.”
Neal was reacting to the latest episode of HBO’s “Last Week Tonight,” in which host John Oliver spent nearly 30 minutes blasting the “Law & Order” franchise for having “propagandized” police and prosecutors for more than 30 years. More than 1,200 episodes of “Law & Order” and its numerous spinoffs have created a distorted view of how the American criminal justice system works — or doesn’t, Oliver told viewers in a clip that had racked up more than 2.8 million YouTube views by early Wednesday.
Representatives for Neal and “Law & Order” creator Dick Wolf did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Washington Post.
Over the course of dozens of seasons and hundreds of episodes, the “Law & Order” universe has delivered a core thesis to its viewers, Oliver said: “The cops deeply care about getting justice for victims, and their gut instincts mean that they almost always get the job done in the end.”
That’s not true. The vast majority of crimes reported to police in the United States go unsolved, although those include lower-profile property crimes like burglary and theft, according to a 2020 Pew Research Center report. But even when it comes to crimes dealing with the highest stakes — violent crime — law enforcement officials successfully clear less than half of the cases that are reported.
The dogged endurance of ‘Law & Order’
The criminal justice system’s track record with rape is particularly bad. Less than a third of sexual assaults are reported to law enforcement, according to the nonprofit advocacy group RAINN, or the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network. About 16 percent of those reports lead to an arrest, while 9 percent result in a felony conviction.
But viewers watching “SVU” wouldn’t know about low conviction rates or reports of understaffed special victims units. The show offers up a narrative with a consistent message: that the system holds bad people accountable, Oliver said.
During the segment, Oliver played one clip of Wolf, the “Law & Order” creator, in which he proclaimed himself “unabashedly pro-law enforcement” and then another in which Wolf called his shows “probably the best recruiting poster that you could have for being a New York City cop.”
Oliver agreed but noted that “a recruiting poster is always going to be a propagandized hero-washed version of the truth, a truth which is more often than not very ugly.”
That doesn’t mean people can’t watch it, Oliver added, but viewers should keep in mind they’re watching fiction. “It is important to remember just how far it is from representing anything resembling reality,” he said.
Those misconceptions can have real world impacts. Researchers found that “viewers of crime dramas are more likely to believe the police are successful at lowering crime, use force only when necessary, and that misconduct does not typically lead to false confessions,” according to a 2015 study in Criminal Justice and Behavior titled “The Role of Entertainment Media in Perceptions of Police Use of Force,” which Oliver cited on his program.
Those real world impacts cut the other way, too, said Mariska Hargitay, the “SVU” actress who plays Olivia Benson, the tough but empathetic detective at the heart of the show. In a 2020 interview, Hargitay said fans have told her that, because of “SVU,” they knew what to do when they were raped, made sure to report it and had a rape kit done — “and had faith in that.”
“Most of all they didn’t feel alone anymore,” Hargitay said, as her voice broke. “And to me, when I started hearing those stories is when I knew that it wasn’t just a TV show anymore.
“It was so much more,” she added.
Neal, the actress who played the hard-charging sex crimes prosecutor, said she learned “the hard way” that the criminal justice system she helped create on-screen is a fantasy, although she didn’t elaborate about how in her tweet. She asked people to tell her if “SVU” had given “victims who report sex crimes in real life unrealistic expectations that the cops will care or crimes will be solved.”
A woman replied that when she reported her case to police, she didn’t feel believed and that no one followed up on her case. “When I called to check on my case years later instead of being transferred to a detective I was hung up on,” she added. It’s been nine years since she reported what happened to police, “and I still have no information on my case.”
Neal thanked her for sharing and agreed that there would be “a LOT more justice” if Olivia Benson were a real detective. | 2022-09-14T13:26:01Z | www.washingtonpost.com | ‘Law & Order’ actress Diane Neal responds to John Oliver episode - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/09/14/law-and-order-john-oliver/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/09/14/law-and-order-john-oliver/ |
Green groups pivot after climate law to midterms, permitting fight
Good morning and welcome to The Climate 202! Today we're humming the tune to “Fire and Rain," which James Taylor sang at the White House yesterday. 🎶 On a related note:
Environmental groups pivot after climate law to permitting fight, midterms, executive action
Thousands of supporters from across the country flocked to the White House on Tuesday as President Biden staged a celebration of the Inflation Reduction Act, which marks the biggest investment in combating climate change in the nation's history.
But even as environmental groups celebrate the historic law, they're already turning their attention to looming battles that could determine the future trajectory of U.S. climate policy.
In other words, for climate advocates, the work to ensure a livable planet never stops, even after toiling for more than a year to push a landmark climate bill over the finish line.
The bill is “a huge step forward. It's a moment to celebrate. But the job is not yet done," Manish Bapna, president and CEO of the Natural Resources Defense Council, said in an interview Tuesday after attending the White House ceremony.
Here are three environmental battles on the horizon that we're watching:
Climate activists are gearing up to fight forthcoming legislation from Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) that would streamline the permitting process for energy infrastructure, including the Mountain Valley natural gas pipeline.
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) reiterated on Tuesday that Manchin's permitting bill would be attached to a stopgap funding bill that must pass by Sept. 30 to avoid a government shutdown.
At the White House event a couple of hours later, Schumer profusely thanked "our friends in the environmental movement who never gave up" on the Inflation Reduction Act. Yet many climate activists in the audience — including Sunrise Movement Executive Director Varshini Prakash, who wore a T-shirt that read "No New Fossil Fuels" — are vowing to block what they are calling Schumer's “dirty side deal” with Manchin on permitting.
"As we celebrate all that is good in this law, we know we must keep fighting to expel the parasitic influence of the fossil fuel industry from our politics and to ensure that the next climate bill that we pass delivers for those who have suffered the most," Jamal Raad, executive director of Evergreen Action, said in a statement. “That must begin with defeating the toxic side deal that would fast-track the Mountain Valley Pipeline over the objections of Appalachian frontline communities.”
Midterms mobilization
Environmental groups are racing to mobilize climate-conscious voters ahead of November's midterm elections, which will determine whether Democrats maintain their slim majority in the Senate.
On Aug. 30, roughly two weeks after Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law, the League of Conservation Voters Victory Fund and Climate Power Action Fund announced that they would spend $12 million on a new “climate voters mobilization” program.
Between now and Election Day, the program will target “voters who supported President Biden in 2020, are in jeopardy of not showing up and voting for pro-climate Democrats in 2022, and are uniquely mobilized by climate and environmental issues,” LCV said in a news release.
The $12 million will go toward digital ads and direct mail that educate voters about the climate law and the Democrats who supported it, including vulnerable incumbent Sens. Mark Kelly (Ariz.), Michael Bennet (Colo.), Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.), Raphael G. Warnock (Ga.) and Maggie Hassan (N.H.).
Climate Power Executive Director Lori Lodes, who helped pass and implement the Affordable Care Act in 2010, said she learned a vital lesson on the need to inform voters about landmark laws.
"One of the biggest lessons was that we did not have any sort of campaign to immediately explain to people what the Affordable Care Act was about," Lodes said in an interview after the White House event.
"We cannot miss this moment to really explain to voters and the entire country what a huge boon the Inflation Reduction Act is going to be for transforming our economy, creating millions of good-paying jobs, and lowering costs across the board," she said.
Executive action
The climate law will put the United States on a path toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions 40 percent by 2030 compared to 2005 levels, according to multiple independent modelers.
Yet Biden has pledged to cut emissions at least 50 percent within the next decade. To make up the difference, his administration will need to take bold executive action on climate, activists say.
On Monday, more than 160 groups launched a "Solutions for Pollution" campaign that outlines 20 specific steps across federal agencies that would help meet Biden's climate targets. For instance, the Environmental Protection Agency can finalize greenhouse gas regulations for power plants and cars, while the Energy Department can update appliance efficiency standards.
"Now that we have some momentum, the Biden administration now needs to seize that momentum and run with it," Bapna said. "Congress has done its job."
Democrats introduce bill to restrict new fossil fuel leasing on public lands and waters
House Natural Resources Committee Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) on Tuesday introduced a bill that would ban new fossil fuel leasing and permitting on public lands and waters until the Interior Department and the Forest Service can prove that the emissions from additional oil and gas projects are consistent with President Biden’s 2030, 2035 and 2050 climate targets.
The Public Lands and Waters Climate Leadership Act would also direct the agencies to develop, publish and regularly update a comprehensive strategy on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from federal lands and waters.
The House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee will hold a Sept. 20 hearing on the bill. Co-sponsors of the measure include Reps. Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif.), Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), Katie Porter (D-Calif.), Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), Mike Levin (D-Calif.), and A. Donald McEachin (D-Va.).
White House launches website on climate bill for consumers
The Biden administration on Tuesday launched Cleanenergy.gov, a website that explains how consumers can take advantage of the clean energy tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act.
The site provides information on the tax credits that are available for rooftop solar panels, heating and cooling systems, energy efficiency upgrades and electric vehicles. Consumers can also sign up to receive updates about incentives that will become available next year.
“About half of the energy costs for the average home come from HVAC units," a senior White House official told reporters Tuesday, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly. “For the first time, we've got a set of rebates and tax credits that will combine to help us reduce those costs by deploying electric heat pumps all across the country.”
A deadly fungus is driving these bats close to extinction, government says
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Tuesday announced that it will propose adding the tricolored bat to its list of endangered species after a fungus caused the bat's population to decline so dramatically over the past decade that it may soon disappear, The Washington Post’s Dino Grandoni reports.
White-nose syndrome — which is known to infect bats during their winter slumber, driving many to dehydration and starvation — underscores the threat of extinction facing hundreds of thousands of species across the globe that are vulnerable to disease and other harms, including climate change.
The nonnative fungus was first spotted in an Upstate New York cave about 15 years ago. Since then, it has spread across the nation, killing more than 90 percent of tricolored bats within the affected colonies, along with other bat species.
The creatures, which weigh less than a quarter, are also at risk from warming temperatures and shifts in precipitation trends that can disturb roosting and foraging. The new designation would protect the species from habitat destruction and poaching while researchers explore treatments for the disease, including genetic engineering.
King Charles III has been hailed by many commentators for his credentials on conservation and climate change, with some saying that he could be Britain's first “climate king.” But upon closer inspection, the king's environmental views prove to be more complex, The Post’s Shannon Osaka reports.
He has spent most of the past 50 years voicing his love for nature, trees, wild animals and organic farming. He has apparently retrofitted his Aston Martin to run on leftover wine and cheese. And at the United Nations climate summit in Scotland, Charles urged world leaders to adopt a “warlike footing” to swiftly curb greenhouse gas emissions.
At the same time, however, the new king has battled against wind energy on his own estate and has traveled the world in a private jet, contributing to a sizable carbon footprint. When he was Prince Charles, he echoed controversial claims that population growth is partly to blame for climate change, saying the Earth cannot “sustain us all, when the pressures on her bounty are so great” during a 2010 speech. Yet there is a long and fraught history of scholars in developed countries critiquing population growth in developing ones.
As 93 wildfires rage across seven Western states, alerts for hazardous air quality are in effect for parts of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, California, Wyoming and Montana, Zach Rosenthal reports for The Post.
In Oregon, the Cedar Creek Fire has grown to more than 86,000 acres after being sparked by lightning on Aug. 1. The blaze remains uncontained after spreading rapidly for days, forcing nearly 1,500 evacuations.
While the smoke is most dense and toxic in the West, it has expanded in lesser amounts all the way to the East Coast. Research has shown that wildfire smoke is surprisingly harmful even for people far from the source. A 2021 study found that three-quarters of smoke-related cases of asthma visits to emergency departments and deaths occurred east of the Rocky Mountains.
Typhoon Muifa forecast to hit Shanghai at hurricane strength — Matthew Cappucci for The Post
U.N. warns world is entering ‘uncharted territories of destruction’ from climate crisis — Emma Newburger for CNBC
Biden officials weigh buying oil at around $80 to refill reserves — Jennifer Jacobs, Saleha Mohsin and Annmarie Hordern for Bloomberg News | 2022-09-14T13:26:19Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Green groups pivot after climate law to midterms, permitting fight - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/14/green-groups-pivot-after-climate-law-midterms-permitting-fight/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/14/green-groups-pivot-after-climate-law-midterms-permitting-fight/ |
(Dana Neely/Getty Images)
LONDON — The British government’s decision to declare Monday, Sept. 19 a public holiday for Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral has led to a wave of closures, service disruptions and cancellations, including in essential industries such as transport and health care, and sparked a backlash among those with long-standing plans and appointments that day.
Hospitals have rescheduled non-urgent surgeries, funeral parlors delayed burials and organizers of major sports and cultural events have been forced to change their plans. The guidance from the government is to “allow individuals, businesses and other organisations to pay their respects to Her Majesty and commemorate Her reign, while marking the final day of the period of national mourning.”
There are typically eight so-called bank holidays per year in the United Kingdom, and business are used to working around them to maintain service, particularly because under British law businesses do not have to close on bank holidays and employees are not automatically entitled to the day off.
The last-minute decision to make Monday a holiday, coupled with the somber nature of the day, has left some employers scrambling as the government has encouraged them “to respond sensitively to requests from workers who wish to take time off” for what it called “a unique national moment.”
Below is a list of some of the major services and events being canceled or affected Monday.
Surgeries and doctors’ appointments
Many hospitals and general health practitioners have canceled long-standing appointments, including non-emergency procedures, and promised patients that they will reschedule them at a later date. But with the National Health Service (NHS) still facing covid-related backlogs, many patients fear they will have to wait months for another chance.
Rebecca Rose, a woman who called into Times Radio’s morning show on Wednesday, said her Monday appointment to see a mental health professional — which took over four months to secure — was canceled. She said she was told she would receive an email by Monday afternoon to reschedule her appointment, but hadn’t received it by Wednesday.
“It’s very disheartening if I’m being honest,” she said, describing therapy as “a life line.”
“When you have been struggling so much with your mental health, I thought, ‘oh finally, I’m going to be able to deal with this.’ To then just be canceled … it’s set me back quite a lot,” she continued.
Many took to Twitter to share their experiences of having long-standing appointments canceled unexpectedly.
Dentistry in the NHS is broken. Had an appointment to see @NHSWalesSurvey dentist on 19.09.22. This appointment with dentist had been made 4 months ago. Due to funeral of the Queen, appointment cancelled. New appointment 10.02.23.
Where is the resilience @Eluned_Morgan?
— David Morgan (@morgs4mountains) September 13, 2022
While some NHS trusts, which manage local hospitals, have said they will do their utmost to keep services going as close to normal as possible, others have warned patients they will have to delay most appointments.
The health board of Aneurin Bevan Hospital in Wales said in a statement that it was “postponing all planned appointments and clinics” on Monday, though it noted that some patients’ urgent appointments could be upheld “if agreed with patients and the teams.” The disruptions were “unavoidable,” it said.
Deborah Smith, spokeswoman for the National Association of Funeral Directors, said the directors of the more than 4,100 British funeral homes it represents have been advised that decisions to postpone funerals planned for Monday should be left entirely up to the family members of the deceased.
“Lots and lots of funerals are going ahead on Monday,” Smith told The Post. But in many cases, family members will prefer to postpone to avoid disruptions tied to traffic on roads or irregular train services on the bank holiday, or because schools and child-care centers will be closed, making it difficult for parents of small children to attend.
However, funerals involve more than just funeral directors, and may have to be postponed if crematoriums or cemetery operators are closed, or if faith leaders do not work or cannot travel to the location of the funeral. According to some media reports, families have already faced hugely disruptive last-minute cancellations due to local closures.
Postponing funerals Monday is also set to add to the existing national backlog. “There’s already quite a long wait in some parts of the country between death and the funeral” — typically, somewhere between two and four weeks, Smith said, due to delays in death registration and coroners’ investigations. “Inevitably, moving some funerals will have an impact on that.”
Many major sports, arts and entertainment events scheduled for Monday have also been pushed back, either because organizers worried going ahead would appear tone deaf, or because the disruptions caused by the holiday would make it difficult to move forward as planned.
The British Fashion Council has canceled all official events Monday as part of London Fashion Week, which runs from Sept. 16 to 20. It advised designers and brands to “respect the mood of the nation and period of national mourning by considering the timing of their image release.”
Performances of over a dozen hit West End shows such as “Hamilton,” “Mamma Mia!” and “Phantom of the Opera” have also been canceled, and many theaters will close, including the historic Globe theater, which also canceled its 25th anniversary celebration on Sunday. Most major museums, including the National Gallery and the Victoria & Albert Museum, will close.
The Premier League postponed three soccer games “due to events surrounding The Queen’s funeral,” but matches are set to resume over the weekend preceding the funeral, following a days-long hiatus announced after the queen’s death.
Some of the closures have proven controversial. Center Parcs, a network of holiday villages popular with families, said all its British villages would close Monday starting at 10 a.m. local time “as a mark of respect and to allow as many of our colleagues as possible to be part of this historic moment.” This would have meant that guests checked in for a longer stay that included Monday would have had to leave the parks for just 24 hours and then come back.
In response to furious backlash from holidaymakers, Center Parcs said Tuesday that it had “reviewed our position regarding the very small number of guests who are not due to depart on Monday, and we will be allowing them to stay on our villages rather than having to leave and return on Tuesday.”
Heathrow Airport has warned that some flights will be disrupted on Wednesday afternoon “to ensure silence over central London” as the queen’s coffin is transported from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall. The airport will also observe a minute of silence at 8 p.m. local time on Sunday and show the funeral on television screens Monday, it said in a statement. | 2022-09-14T13:27:39Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Funerals, surgeries disrupted by bank holiday for queen's funeral - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/14/queen-elizabeth-funeral-bank-holiday-closures/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/14/queen-elizabeth-funeral-bank-holiday-closures/ |
Far right anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats make election gains
By David Crouch
Jimmie Akesson, leader of the anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats, celebrates party gains in the general election early Monday at the Elite Hotel Marina Tower Tower in Nacka, near Stockholm. (Stefan Jerrevång/AP)
GOTHENBURG, Sweden — Three days after the polls closed, it’s still unclear who will prevail in Sweden’s too-close-to-call general election. But as officials count the final votes, there is already one winner: the country’s far right.
A party once considered fringe, the anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats, is on the brink of upending Swedish politics and the country’s reputation as a haven for progressive, pluralistic ideals.
With 95 percent of the vote counted by Tuesday night, the party had received a best-ever 20.6 percent, a result that would make it the Riksdag’s second-largest party and its leading voice on the right.
The SD, led by 43-year-old lawmaker Jimmie Akesson, and the Moderate, Christian Democrat and Liberal parties have a combined 49.7 percent of the vote, giving them a slim lead over the incumbent Social Democrats of Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and their Left, Center and Environment allies.
If the trend holds, the SD could lead a center-right coalition, possibly by a single seat. The final count is expected Wednesday. It could take weeks to form a government.
The European far right has welcomed the SD’s strong showing. “Everywhere in Europe, people aspire to take their destiny back into their own hands!” tweeted Marine Le Pen, France’s far-right firebrand.
The result could also shape Sweden’s standing on the world stage as the country works with partners to respond to the war in Ukraine, seeks NATO membership and takes up the rotating presidency of the European Union in 2023.
The SD gained support by taking a tougher stance against crime, particularly against the rising rates of gun violence in Sweden, and publishing a 30-point plan aimed at making Sweden’s immigration rules among the most restrictive in the E.U. They want to be able to reject asylum seekers based on religion, for instance, or based on gender or sexual identity.
A decade ago, Sweden’s liberal immigration policies were not a major political issue. The influx of migrants to Europe in 2015 started to change this. At that time, Sweden took more than 150,000 asylum seekers, including many newcomers from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. In the years since, concerns about immigration and their integration have come to the fore.
The Social Democrats maintain that they have reduced asylum claims by making it harder for migrants to get into the country and apply, stepped up the deportation of asylum seekers whose applications had been rejected and insisted that Sweden should receive no more asylum seekers than other E.U. countries. Party leaders also pledged to dilute the numbers of “non-Nordic” immigrants in areas where large numbers of immigrants live, promising an end to “Somalitowns,” “Chinatowns” and “Little Italies.”
Even a few years ago, the Sweden Democrats’ ascent would have seemed far-fetched.
Formed in 1988 by right-wing extremists and neo-Nazis, the Sweden Democrats did not manage enough votes to win seats in parliament until 2010. After that breakthrough, leaders began to exclude the most extreme members from the party.
Other parties and the media have kept their distance from the SD, refusing to talk to it or give it a platform. But support for the party grew rapidly over the past dozen years, culminating in its election showing Sunday.
Boycotted for so long by the mainstream media, the party has developed its own online news sites and is extremely effective on social media such as Facebook and YouTube.
Orban at CPAC brings the ‘far-right international’ into focus
The Moderates, the largest of the center-right parties, once shunned the SD. But it eventually opted to establish ties, with the aim of upending the political status quo and unseating the Social Democrats.
“If you want a government that is not based on the Social Democrats you need to cooperate with the SD,” said Anders Borg, a former finance minister for the Moderates. “I cannot see any other viable election strategy other that finding a way of cooperating with them.”
“In Sweden,” he said, “we isolated the SD and yet they grew to 20 percent as a lot of ordinary voters drifted towards them. At the same time, the SD has moved away from a fringe position towards being a more ordinary political party.”
Whether the SD is now an “ordinary party” is up for debate. Though the party has distanced itself from its neo-Nazi roots and has stepped away from some of its previous positions, its platform remains exclusionary.
Members want to end immigration from outside Europe and return Muslims to their countries of origin. A month before the election, an SD spokesman tweeted a photo of a subway train in the party’s blue and yellow colors with the words: “Welcome aboard the repatriation express. Here’s a one-way ticket. Next stop, Kabul!”
“They don’t include Islam in Swedishness,” said Andrej Kokkonen, a professor of politics at Gothenburg University who studies anti-immigrant parties. “You don’t get to be a Swede and a Muslim at the same time.”
Sweden Democrat voters tend to live in small towns and rural areas, and most are men, according to Ann-Cathrine Jungar, a professor at Sodertorn University who studies populist radical right parties.
They are less educated than the average voter, Jungar said, but many are small-scale entrepreneurs. The party has also attracted votes from the traditional working class and is increasing its support among the young.
“These voters have lower trust in the media — they believe there is biased information on their core issue of immigration,” Jungar said. “The SD use the populist rhetoric that there is a ‘left-liberal establishment,’ an elite that doesn’t understand the people.”
The party has cultivated links with Trump supporters and the alt-right in the United States, she said: “Previously it was the Moderates who had contacts with the Republicans, but now it is the SD who has taken over and the Moderates are connected with the Democrats.”
Rauhala reported from Brussels | 2022-09-14T13:27:45Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Sweden election: Anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats celebrate gains - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/14/sweden-democrats-election/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/14/sweden-democrats-election/ |
M'hammed Kilito
Halim Sbai remembers a time when the date palms were green and lush. The music teacher and conductor has lived in the oasis of M’hamid El Ghizlane in southeastern Morocco for most of his 52 years.
Decades ago, he recalls, a river flowed through the oasis year round. Gazelle and sheep would drink from its banks, shaded by the dense palm groves. Now there is no steady rush of water. The ground is cracked and parched.
FIRST: The last group of palm trees in the Tanseest Oasis. SECOND: Dead palm trees at the edge of the oasis of M'hamid El Ghizlane.
Seated in his home on a colorful rug, over a snack of tea and dates, Sbai says his oasis faces catastrophic change. “The droughts are more and more frequent. The palm trees surrounding the oasis are dying one after the other.”
Every year, he says, the oasis gets smaller. Hundreds of brittle palm trees now border M’hamid el Ghizlane. Part of the village is buried under sand, and once-rich agricultural lands have been abandoned.
(M'hammed Kilito/VII Program Mentee)
A ‘broken’ system
The crisis facing this oasis is no anomaly in Morocco, where droughts made worse by climate change are destroying once-robust ecosystems.
Oasis habitats are multilayered. Date palms provide shade for other arable crops, like wheat and vegetables. Livestock graze on the land and provide for the communities.
“These are systems that resisted all impacts of climate change across time,” said Youssef Brouziyne, the Middle East and North Africa representative of the International Water Management Institute. He noted that scientists study oases to understand how to make other ecosystems more resilient. But the lack of rain, as well as new intensive farming systems, have endangered the balance. “It’s broken,” he said.
“When the palm tree dies, the oasis is gone.”— Aomar Boum
Outside farmers have scooped up cheap land and introduced agricultural methods that suck water away from native plants. Families who worked the land for generations have lost their livelihood and left their homes.
There used to be hundreds of families in the village of Ait M’hanned, next to the southern oasis of Tighmert; only four remain, according to Mohammed Zriouili, a resident in his late 50s.
“There is no more work,” he said. Most of his neighbors who used to farm have moved north.
It may only get worse. By 2100, annual rainfall is expected to decline by 30 percent in Saharan regions, home to many of the country’s oases. The drying soil has contributed to the deaths of an estimated two-thirds of Morocco’s 14 million date palms in the past century.
“Date palms are very heat-tolerant crops, but their productivity may decline when temperatures exceed certain thresholds or hot conditions prevail for extended periods,” said Fatima Driouech, a Moroccan climate scientist and the vice-chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s working group I.
The shrinking of these oases is another grim omen for a warming world.
What could be lost
For centuries, Moroccan oases were part of the trade route that connected sub-Saharan economies to North Africa and the Mediterranean. This fostered a unique mixture of Amazigh, Jewish, Islamic, Arab and African identities imbued in all aspects of the communities, from farming techniques to music, Boum, the anthropologist, said.
Oases were exoticized by colonial literature as places of respite: a cold pool of water for the desert traveler to drink from, the glittering shadow of palm leaves promising safety and shelter from the brutal Saharan heat.
But really, Boum said, “these are some of the harshest places to live in.”
“These are systems that resisted all impacts of climate change across time.”— Youssef Brouziyne
Boum grew up in the southeastern province of Tata, in the Lamhamid Oasis.
His father used to wake up at 3 a.m. to tend to the carefully crafted canals that used centuries-old irrigation techniques to bring water from the ground to the greenery. They could harvest dates from the dense palm forest by jumping from one tree to another, never touching the ground.
“Now, you have holes all over the place,” Boum said.
“Now, you have holes all over the place.”— Aomar Boum
Older generations in oases across the country are mourning lost traditions unique to the land they once tilled, while younger people are trying to sow the seeds of a new future.
Hicham El Fissaoui, 27, who grew up in the desert city of Guelmim, is one of many who tried to find a new life abroad when opportunities ran out at home. He immigrated to France, where he lived for a year. After working difficult and poorly paying jobs, he decided to come home.
His family and friends in Morocco all thought it was a bad idea. But he found a job he likes, and a way to spread joy — working as a kindergarten teacher and volunteering as a clown for a children’s organization.
(M'hammed Kilito/M'hammed Kilito)
Efforts are underway to preserve the oases and their traditions.
Conservationists have launched initiatives to restore palm groves and improve the use of available water, Driouech said. In the town of Skoura, beekeepers work to protect the endangered yellow bee, which is vital to the area’s unique biodiversity.
Potters meld red clay using tools and techniques that date back generations. Sbai, the conductor, teaches children the music of their ancestors.
For those who stay, safeguarding what remains comes with the pain of knowing what has been lost.
“When I was young, the oasis was like a paradise on earth, so rich in water and so green,” said Mohammed Askaren, a retired primary school teacher who advocates for oasis preservation in Ifrane, a city in Morocco’s Anti-Atlas region.
“Today, we are witnessing its degradation.”
A well amid desert dunes at the Merzouga Oasis.
Design and development by Yutao Chen. Editing by Olivier Laurent, Joseph Moore, Reem Akkad and Jesse Mesner-Hage. | 2022-09-14T13:27:57Z | www.washingtonpost.com | How climate change is destroying the oases of Morocco - Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2022/climate-change-morocco-oasis-disappearing/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2022/climate-change-morocco-oasis-disappearing/ |
2 CARRIE SOTO IS BACK (Ballantine, $28). By Taylor Jenkins Reid. A formerly world-ranked tennis player attempts a comeback after having retired.
3 THE MARRIAGE PORTRAIT (Knopf, $28). By Maggie O’Farrell. A young Lucrezia de’ Medici fears her husband wants to murder her.
5 TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW (Knopf, $28). By Gabrielle Zevin. Two friends run a successful video design company while testing the boundaries of their relationship.
7 THE INK BLACK HEART (Mulholland Books, $32). By Robert Galbraith. Private detectives Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott investigate the murder of a cartoonist.
8 THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY (Viking, $26). By Matt Haig. A regretful woman lands in a library where she gets to play out her life had she made different choices.
9 ALL GOOD PEOPLE HERE (Bantam, $28). By Ashley Flowers. A journalist returns to her hometown, where she discovers a connection between a recent murder and a decades-old cold case.
10 SEA OF TRANQUILITY (Knopf, $25). By Emily St. John Mandel. The author of “Station Eleven” and “The Glass Hotel” explores the psychological implications of time travel for characters from different centuries.
1 I’M GLAD MY MOM DIED (Simon & Schuster, $27.99). By Jennette McCurdy. The former Nickelodeon actor details her dysfunctional childhood and the resulting psychological distress she faced during adulthood.
2 DINNER IN ONE (Clarkson Potter, $29.99). By Melissa Clark. Meals to cook in a single pan that can be ready in minimal time.
5 HAPPY-GO-LUCKY (Little, Brown, $29). By David Sedaris. Essays from the best-selling author detail his experiences during the pandemic.
6 ATOMIC HABITS (Avery, $27). By James Clear. How to make small changes that have a big impact.
7 THE BOY, THE MOLE, THE FOX AND THE HORSE (HarperOne, $22.99). By Charlie Mackesy. The British illustrator brings to life fables about unlikely friendships.
8 LIFE ON THE MISSISSIPPI (Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster, $32.50). By Rinker Buck. An adventure historian builds a 19th-century flatboat and sails it down the Mississippi River.
9 AN IMMENSE WORLD (Random House, $30). By Ed Yong. A science writer describes different ways sensory perception can be experienced in animals, including humans.
10 PATH LIT BY LIGHTNING (Simon & Schuster, $32.50). By David Maraniss. A chronicle of the accomplishments and struggles of transcendent athlete and Native American hero Jim Thorpe. | 2022-09-14T13:29:31Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Washington Post hardcover bestsellers - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/washington-post-hardcover-bestsellers/2022/09/13/292e8c7c-3396-11ed-9124-916646c4f969_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/washington-post-hardcover-bestsellers/2022/09/13/292e8c7c-3396-11ed-9124-916646c4f969_story.html |
Prince William, his stepmother, Camilla, and his father, King Charles III, attend the meeting of the Accession Council at St. James's Palace in London on Sept. 10. (Jonathan Brady/AFP/Getty Images)
LONDON — It’s a question that some people have been asking for years: Can the crown skip a generation to Prince William?
King Charles III has been monarch for less than a week. He has delivered well-received speeches, connected with crowds on his “walkabouts” and seen his approval ratings shoot up dramatically.
There has also been more than one problem with a pen and small anti-monarchist protests, while #NotMyKing has been trending on social media.
But overall, King Charles has had a good start.
There’s no escaping, though, that he is not beloved like his mother, Queen Elizabeth II — admired even by those ambivalent about the monarchy. And so the question persists about whether it would be best to leapfrog over Charles and give the crown to his eldest son, William.
Live Updates: Queen Elizabeth II's coffin transported to Westminster Hall
“A lot of people wouldn’t mind skipping Charles,” said Lucy Eden, 26, who was with her family at a pub in south London.
They were discussing a viral video of Charles, during his proclamation, pushing a pen tray toward an aide. Eden said Charles came across as “holier than thou” and “not appreciating the position he is. William and Harry, they feel like they understand their position of power, they talk about mental health, they seem respectful.”
For the past two years, when pollsters asked, “Who Should Succeed as King” after the queen died, the preferred royal has been William.
The queen always signaled her support for Charles’ accession, most recently when she issued a public statement saying that it was her wish that Camilla, his wife, be known as “queen consort.”
There are also laws around these things — the most important being the 1701 Act of Settlement, which states that the monarch’s heir must be the monarch’s director successor.
The laws have been tinkered with before, most recently in 2013, ending the rule where boys come ahead of girls in the line of succession. That makes William’s daughter, Charlotte, third in line for the throne.
Graphic: The British royal family succession
“Abdication” is a dirty word in the context of the British monarchy, but there are those who wish Charles would voluntarily “retire” at some point before his death.
Robert Lacey, a royal historian, said the idea gained traction after a royal trip to Canada in 2011. At the time, much was made of anti-monarchy sentiment in Quebec, where the queen had been booed in 1964 and Charles and Camilla faced protests in 2009. But when William and Catherine visited shortly after their blockbuster wedding, the crowds cheered.
“Ever since then, the idea of Charles being a caretaker king, or of it jumping a generation has been circulating,” Lacey said.
Robert Hazell, a professor of government and constitution at University College London, said that when Charles made his personal declaration as part of his accession ceremony on Saturday, his wording “indicated very clearly that he expects to be king for the rest of his life.”
“He didn’t say, ‘I am not planning to abdicate anymore than my mother was,’ but that’s what I understood him to be saying,” Hazell said.
At the same time, William can be expected to take on more royal responsibilities.
Charles has signaled that he wants a slimmed down monarchy — fewer people meeting dignitaries, handing out honors, representing the monarch on foreign trips. That could mean more leaning on William. (Even those his most recent trip to the Caribbean was a PR disaster.)
“Just as Charles, in the last 10 years, began to share the queen’s duties as she became very old, so William can be expected to assume a growing share of Charles’ duties as king,” Hazell said. “I would expect William increasingly to deputize for Charles in undertaking those overseas trips, as he’s already started to do.”
William and Catherine have new titles. Previously the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, they are now Prince and Princess of Wales, as well as Duke and Duchess of Cornwall — which comes with the Duchy of Cornwall, a huge collection of land holdings across the south of England worth around $1.2 billion, according to the most recent accounts.
In addition, William takes over his father’s Prince’s Trust charity. That means he can add an unofficial title to his growing list: chief fundraiser. (In this past, that role has gotten Charles into trouble).
There are rumors that an upcoming property reshuffle could see Charles and Camilla moving into Buckingham Palace, while William’s family moves to Windsor Castle, west of London. William and Catherine recently moved from London’s Kensington Palace to Adelaide Cottage, on the royal Windsor estate. Their three children — George, Charlotte and Louis — are enrolled at a local private school.
If Charles lives to the same age as his mother, William would be first in line to the throne for 23 years — a good chunk of time.
Theo Williams, 27, a salesman at a pub in south London, said people found William “more relatable because he goes to the rugby, he goes to the football, these things that people do.”
But he said there was no chance of the crown skipping, “I don’t think Charles would have let him, respectfully, I don’t think he would have even considered it. It’s passing up an opportunity to be CEO,” he said. “William’s time will come and, when it does, he will knock it out of the park.”
Queen Elizabeth live briefing: Thousands line up near Buckingham Palace to watch coffin procession | 2022-09-14T13:55:33Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Why Prince William can't leapfrog to become king - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/14/why-crown-wont-skip-prince-william-even-if-some-people-want-it/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/14/why-crown-wont-skip-prince-william-even-if-some-people-want-it/ |
Magazine • FALL HOME & DESIGN
Traditional homes in the United States devour energy, and most don’t produce any in return. This family is trying to rewrite that script.
By Chris Moody
Vanessa Bertelli, Stefano Negri and their children outside their nearly century-old Craftsman home in Northwest Washington. (Kevin Allen)
The atmosphere feels curiously different inside the remodeled Craftsman house in Northwest Washington, D.C., where Vanessa Bertelli and Stefano Negri live with their three children. The heavy humidity outdoors is replaced with a rush of clear, fresh air. The city noise evaporates into silence once the door is closed. In every room, from the basement to the attic, the temperature remains surprisingly consistent. The building, decorated in a Scandinavian minimalist style, has white, uncluttered walls and exposed wooden ceilings and looks like any well-designed home with fine modern touches. But this is no ordinary house.
For the past two years, Bertelli and Negri have worked to retrofit this nearly century-old house to bring it to “net-zero energy” status — meaning an environmentally sustainable dwelling that produces at least as much energy as it uses. Motivated by scientific consensus that the Earth’s temperature is reaching record-high levels because of climate change caused by human activity, the family has designed their home to drastically reduce their energy use. And they employ on-site solar energy production to offset what they do consume.
“I have three children. This is personal to me. I need to make sure that by our everyday actions we are not making this worse than it already is,” Bertelli says of the climate crisis. “It’s not a dream of having a net-zero home. It’s a need.”
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American homes devour energy, and most don’t produce any in return. Residential buildings account for more than 20 percent of the nation’s energy consumption, releasing an average of 8.7 tons of carbon dioxide per household every year — around 70 percent more than the average passenger car — according to data compiled by the U.S. Department of Energy. Temperature control, combined with appliances that heat water, chill our food and wash our clothes, account for a majority of that consumption. Meanwhile, the poorly insulated walls and thinly glazed windows that come standard in many American homes allow much of the controlled air to escape, requiring even more energy.
Bertelli and Negri have reinforced their walls and ceilings with thick insulation, sealed the house with an airtight layer, replaced appliances powered by fossil fuels with ones that run on electricity, and installed solar panels.
Yes, these measures reduce your carbon footprint, but they also yield a better quality of life, advocates say. “We can improve comfort and health at the same time that we are lowering operating expenses and improving our environmental impact,” says James Ball, co-coordinator of the National Capital Region chapter of the Net Zero Energy Coalition. “Health and comfort are bigger motivators because they’re personal.”
A new gold standard for green architecture
It’s typical — and sometimes exhausting — to hear environmental activists rattle off a list of pleasures people should give up to save the planet. Proposals for lowering carbon footprints often demand that people make lifestyle changes to reduce the effects of climate change, whether it’s eating less meat, bearing fewer children or even giving up keeping dogs as pets. Let’s face it: Americans do not always react positively to this messaging. But net-zero homes have the potential to flip that script. They don’t require giving up the joys of modern life; they increase them. The air is filtered and cleaner, the long-term heating and cooling costs are lower, and the comfort level inside is easier to maintain. Americans have only recently caught on to the idea that their homes could be more comfortable using these practices.
In February 2020, after a year of searching unsuccessfully for a net-zero home to buy in the District, Bertelli and Negri turned from 16th Street NW down a quiet side street lined with historical houses. The neighborhood culminated at the entrance to the city’s verdant Rock Creek Park. Along the park’s border stood a brick Craftsman almost hiding beneath the curtain of trees at the end of a stone path.
The old house, uninhabited since the previous owner died more than two years earlier, was desperate for a makeover. Thick mold grew over peeling walls. The roof leaked. Decades of soot caked the stone fireplace in the living room. The attic floor was covered with personal papers, and rooms were scattered with porcelain knickknacks and shoes. Sagging furniture filled the space. A damp unfinished basement housed the home’s primary energy source: a gas-powered furnace connected to rows of ducts lined with asbestos. Rooms contained dehumidifiers or small electrical air-purifier machines, evidence of attempts to maintain air quality.
Bertelli and Negri had toured dozens of homes in the city, but most had been freshly flipped and furnished with new appliances. They passed on all of them. While most net-zero projects involve new construction, Bertelli and Negri wanted to find a house they could refurbish. Building from scratch “felt like a cop-out,” Bertelli says, because of the resources required to construct it. “You’re still not dealing with this issue of our existing residential stock that’s going to have to find its way to net-zero over the next 20 years.”
But working with an existing structure brought extra challenges. “It’s pretty straightforward how to build new energy-efficient buildings,” says Catherine Fowlkes, who co-owns Fowlkes Studio with her husband, VW Fowlkes, and consulted on the architectural designs of Bertelli and Negri’s house. “But renovations are a whole different animal.”
Unlike new builds, which can be oriented to maximize the benefits of the patterns of the sun for energy retention, existing homes may face an undesirable direction. Renovators are stuck working within the form, shape and siding of the buildings. And masonry structures pose a challenge in terms of the physics of adapting passive building techniques — a set of construction concepts that lowers a home’s carbon footprint — to the stone.
There’s also the mystery of what lies beneath. “A lot of times you don’t know what the building is made of until you start opening it up. You can have all the best plans in the world, but you have to be ready to adapt to the actual condition when you open up a wall and realize that it’s crumbling or needs to be significantly improved,” says Ed May, a passive house specialist with the consulting company Bldgtyp.
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But for those looking to retrofit an existing structure, old homes can be more suitable for net-zero overhauls than those built in the past 50 years, says Lindsay Baker, CEO of the International Living Future Institute, which vets and certifies net-zero buildings. “Old buildings are the best,” Baker says. “Buildings from 100 years ago were built before modern air conditioning and lighting. They were built to be naturally ventilated, naturally cooled and naturally lit. It is great for people to invest in those older buildings because they have the bones for it.”
The techniques behind passive construction have been known and applied since the days of skyrocketing energy prices in the 1970s, but American homeowners have been slow to adopt them. Energy costs have been lower in the United States, generally, than elsewhere. That, combined with a divisive political debate over climate change, has kept the U.S. residential home sector from embracing the technology on a widespread level.
“We are almost inconceivably far behind,” May says, emphasizing the benefits in comfort and health that new building techniques provide.
The principles that drive passive home construction and retrofitting are simpler than you might think. They require thorough insulation, closing thermal bridges that allow air to escape, high-quality windows and doors, and a robust ventilation system to control temperature. “It’s really the basic tool kit on all buildings,” May says. Once the house is as efficient as possible, the addition of renewable energy to offset what the home uses makes it “net-zero.”
“Every person we spoke to said, ‘No, you cannot retrofit a 100-year-old Craftsman to net-zero,’ ” says Vanessa Bertelli. “It was outside the scope of their imagination.”
Bertelli and Negri closed on the house purchase in April 2020, just as the covid-19 pandemic took hold across the country. The organization where Bertelli worked closed down. Unemployed, she threw herself full time into retrofitting the house. She studied online architecture forums that discussed the process, but she was dismayed at how little information was available for those not versed in construction jargon. “They discussed things in words that I didn’t know,” she says. She found a few blog posts, but they mostly focused on new construction instead of retrofits. When she contacted architects and contractors, they advised her that her dream would not be possible. “We couldn’t find anyone. Every person we spoke to said, ‘No, you cannot retrofit a 100-year-old Craftsman to net-zero,’ ” she says. “It was outside the scope of their imagination.”
Bertelli’s frustration is common. “There just aren’t enough general contractors out there specializing in this yet,” says Nicole Tysvaer, CEO and co-founder of Symbi Homes, which builds sustainable housing in the Washington area. “We have the technology. What we’re lacking is the human resources to market, educate and install this new tech. That’s the thing we struggle with every day.”
Over time, Bertelli and Negri found people with expertise who were willing to help. The Brooklyn-based firm 475 High Performance Building Supply provided advice and products, and connected Bertelli with May, who helped guide them through the steps over video conference calls.
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Before they could add anything new, they had to remove all appliances that ran on fossil fuels. They ripped out the gas furnace in the basement, the old water heater and the clothes dryer. The 50-year-old gas cooking range went next, replaced with an induction stove.
Switching everything to electric is a crucial step. “It’s really simple. If you are burning fossil fuels in your home, you have machinery that will never be able to be converted to electricity, which can be sourced by renewable sources” such as solar energy, Bertelli says.
Although grids are currently powered through a variety of energy sources — including nonrenewable coal — many are shifting toward renewables over time. D.C., for instance, has set a target of running the city’s grid on 100 percent renewable energy by 2032.
In 2019, Mayor Muriel Bowser signed a bill mandating a list of energy-reduction goals, establishing the nation’s capital as an aggressive leader in advancing clean-energy construction. The law requires new commercial buildings to meet high-efficiency standards. It promotes net-zero retrofit projects and accelerated solar programs. In July, D.C. became the second East Coast city — after New York — to ban the installation of fossil fuel heating systems in new commercial buildings. New construction projects are required to be net-zero. As part of its Solar for All program, the city provides no-cost solar panel installation to income-qualified residents, including new roofing technology made of solar shingles. All of this is part of the city’s goal to reach carbon neutrality by 2050 and cut its greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2032.
“D.C. is the shining star right now,” says Mark Kresowik, who manages policy for the carbon-free buildings program at RMI, an energy-focused think tank. “That’s probably the best example around the country.”
The city offers financial assistance to people who are retrofitting their homes. Bertelli and Negri were eligible for up to $10,000 in incentives to make the improvements through the Net-Zero Energy Program, which also assisted with permits.
Bertelli’s full-fledged “deep” net-zero retrofit — doing it all at once — is not feasible for every homeowner. While the local government’s financial incentives help, they pay for only a small part of the retrofit. The family spent about $35,000 on replacing windows; two Minotair heat pumps cost $6,000 each, and they bought a Mitsubishi backup for $5,000. Replacing the range and water heater and installing solar panels were additional costs.
“We all have to look at transitioning to net-zero energy within our own finances and what we can accomplish in each of our homes,” says James Ball, of the Net Zero Energy Coalition.
But you don’t have to do everything at once. Most people work energy-efficient designs into home renovations gradually to spread out the cost. “We all have to look at transitioning to net-zero energy within our own finances and what we can accomplish in each of our homes,” says Ball, who is slowly bringing his house in Maryland toward net-zero by replacing fossil fuel appliances when they wear out. “As long as we’re using this as part of our decision-making process and aligning toward this outcome, we will find those ways to cost-effectively do it.”
At the same time that governments are supporting environmentally friendly building practices, Bertelli and Negri faced a roadblock from the federal government. Because their house borders Rock Creek Park, Bertelli had to submit plans for exterior changes to the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, which has the authority to reject building or alteration proposals based on appearance and effect on public land. The commission works to maintain the aesthetic integrity of buildings adjacent to certain federal land in the District, including the National Mall, the White House, Pennsylvania Avenue and several parks. “The environmental agenda and the historical agenda were in conflict,” says VW Fowlkes, a consulting architect on the Bertelli-Negri project.
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The commission pushed back against their request to install solar panels on the roof that would be visible from street level, Bertelli says — an important component to achieving their net-zero goals — and limited them to a small space above the house’s slanted dormers that couldn’t be seen from below. That allowed for only 15 panels, not nearly enough to power the house. To make up for it, she is planning to install more panels on a detached garage nearby, which the commission approved.
Installing new windows set the stage for another issue with the commission. Sealed, multipaned, high-performance windows are essential to maintaining a low-energy building, but the style of these newer models often conflicts with traditional aesthetic preferences.
About 30 to 40 percent of heating energy is lost through windows, says Craig Maierhofer, vice president of business development at Alpen High Performance Products, which manufactures windows that meet passive house standards.
No matter how thick your windows — which typically make up one-fifth of a structure’s facade — are, they will never hold in as much energy as insulated walls. Mitigating energy loss is best achieved with higher performing windows, in which the glass is tightly gasketed together and sealed. The U-Factor of a typical window — the standard measurement of its insulation value — is around 0.30. Bertelli’s triple-glazed high-efficiency windows, by contrast, have a U-Factor of just 0.14 to 0.17, an improvement of nearly 50 percent.
“It’s very important for everyone to be flexible on this so you can hit as many values successfully as possible,” says commission spokesman Thomas Luebke, who adds that the commission would consider future applicants for solar panels, especially as the use of the technology grows. “I think this is probably a pretty good example where everybody got what they were looking for in the end. You have a very high-performance house, and the character of the neighborhood and context was honored. There was no undue impact on the park.”
In the end, the family was able to secure permits for much of the project’s exterior work.
Meanwhile, Bertelli continued work inside, gutting and sealing the house. Passive home builders add several inches of insulation, as well as an extra layer of material to ensure airtightness and vapor control. She added a product called Intello Plus to create a membrane that stretched along the perimeter of the house, wrapping it beneath the drywall from the basement to the roof. “Once your home is airtight, that is the magic,” Bertelli says. “Then you control which air comes in from where, and you can more easily heat it or cool it.”
Buildings can measure energy efficiency by calculating what is called air changes per hour, which is how often all of the air inside the home escapes to the outside, mostly through leaky windows, crevices, roofs, doors, joists or poorly insulated ducts. A typical house of that size and vintage has 15 to 20 air changes per hour. “You are consuming an enormous amount of energy to heat air that gets dispersed to the outside, and you don’t have any control over where it comes from and where it goes,” she says. “Cold air comes in during the winter; the air you’ve heated seeps out to the outside. It’s just incredibly inefficient.”
After installing the airtight seal around the house, adding new windows and insulation, and closing off any other exposure to the outside, it tested at only 0.6 air changes per hour. Fresh outdoor air is brought in and filtered using the heat pumps, which also extract stale indoor air. “I promise you, you want that air to come out of my teenagers’ bathrooms,” Bertelli says.
She replaced the furnace and air conditioning system with two electric heat pumps, which fit in a small closet. Heat pumps pull in hot air from outside and disperse it in the house through ducts. When a home needs cooling, the heat pumps pull hot air from indoors and pump it outside. Heat pumps use about half the electricity that a traditional furnace consumes, according to the Energy Department, but only 14 percent of American homes use them for heating. In June, President Biden invoked the Defense Production Act to speed the manufacture of heat pumps. The Inflation Reduction Act, passed last month, provides rebates and credits for buying them, as well as other financial incentives toward green energy purchases that can reduce a home’s carbon footprint.
The family moved into the house in May 2021 and continued to work on it. Having laid the groundwork, Bertelli and Negri are eager to find out how close they’ve come to achieving net-zero. Once the systems have been in place for a calendar year, they will calculate their electricity use and compare it with what they’ve generated from their solar panels. If needed, they’ll add more panels.
Despite the steep learning curve, Bertelli was surprised by how simple the process was once she understood the basic principles behind greening her house. Not every family has the time, money and tenacity for a massive project like this, but she hopes that as awareness and financial incentives grow, Americans will be able to enjoy the benefits for their own lives.
“It is not only possible, it is really not rocket science. If I was able to figure it out with no background in building, anybody can,” Bertelli says. “I want to figure out how to do it for everyone.”
Chris Moody is a writer in Boone, N.C. He teaches journalism at Appalachian State University. | 2022-09-14T14:26:14Z | www.washingtonpost.com | The challenges — and benefits — of a net-zero home renovation - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/2022/09/14/net-zero-home-renovation-washington/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/2022/09/14/net-zero-home-renovation-washington/ |
Trump’s legal problems multiply as his excuses disappear
Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., in 2018. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)
U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart on Tuesday released a slightly less redacted version of the affidavit used to obtain a search warrant for Mar-a-Lago. That affidavit, plus a new Justice Department filing and a spate of subpoenas, adds to defeated former president Donald Trump’s legal woes.
The affidavit states that one of Trump’s lawyers said “he was not advised” that there were documents in “any private office space or other location” at Mar-a-Lago. This is the first sign that at least one attorney is not going to take the fall for misleading the Justice Department about the location of the documents. And the person advising the lawyer logically must be Trump or someone acting at his behest. In short, the lawyer seems to be pointing his finger at his client with regard to any alleged obstruction.
I previously explained this might be one of the rare times a lawyer could be put in front of a grand jury to testify against his client. If this lawyer has revealed some conversation with his client, the attorney-client privilege might already be gone. Moreover, the assertion of attorney-client privilege can in certain instances be countered with the government’s assertion of the crime-fraud exception (i.e., when the relevant communication actually advances the obstruction at hand). Whether that will happen in this case remains to be seen. Nevertheless, Trump might be upset to learn his attorney isn’t prepared to take the fall.
The other troubling development for Trump was the Justice Department’s blistering brief filed on Tuesday. Right upfront, the government makes clear that Trump never showed he had a property interest in the documents (because they don’t belong to him) and therefore cannot get relief from the judge. The Presidential Records Act makes clear these documents belong to the government. This simple and damning argument puts Judge Aileen Cannon, who granted Trump’s special master request, in the hot seat.
Furthermore, the Justice Department notes that the Trump team has provided no response to the department’s (definitive) argument that an ex-president cannot raise executive privilege against the current executive branch, especially when another part of the government is already conducting a security review. The department also underscores that Trump’s attorneys still do not claim the documents were ever declassified. (Even if they had somehow transformed the documents into “personal documents,” that means his executive privilege claim will definitionally fail, since “he cannot assert that the very same records are protected by executive privilege—i.e., that they are ‘Presidential communications.’ ”)
The tightly argued brief should remind us how little Trump’s attorneys have offered in the way of a defense and how far afield Cannon strayed in throwing a special master into the mix.
This does not mean that Cannon will back down. Her initial ruling reflected her overriding desire to lend Trump a hand, making privilege arguments for him and disregarding the basics of executive privilege. She might do it again and risk the embarrassment that comes with a highly likely reversal.
However, Trump has more to worry about than “just” the troubling revelation in the affidavit and the devastating Justice Department brief. As the New York Times first reported, the Justice Department has sent out roughly 40 new subpoenas, including some pertaining to “Trump’s postelection fund-raising and the so-called fake electors scheme.” Any concern that the Justice Department would pull its punches should have been erased long ago, but the breadth of the latest subpoenas shows the department is digging far beyond the violence of Jan. 6, 2021. And that’s before we get to the Espionage Act investigation at Mar-a-Lago.
Trump’s legal problems are multiplying. (Remember that the Fulton County, Ga., grand jury is at work, too.) His excuses are evaporating, and his own lawyer might be enlisted to testify. Even a stable personality facing this onslaught might come unglued. | 2022-09-14T14:47:43Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Trump’s legal problems multiply as his excuses disappear - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/14/trump-unsealed-affidavit-doj-brief/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/14/trump-unsealed-affidavit-doj-brief/ |
The China-Russia alliance is pushing Ukraine toward Taiwan
Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing in 2018. (Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP)
Almost seven months into the Russia-Ukraine war, China is still claiming to be a neutral party, despite the evidence. And when Vladimir Putin meets Xi Jinping this week, the falsity of that claim will come into full and dramatic view. China’s increasing support for Russia is driving some in Ukraine to push for closer cooperation with Taiwan, a fellow democracy under threat.
The Ukrainian government has been careful to walk a fine line in its relations with Beijing and Taipei. Even though Xi and Putin pledged a partnership with “no limits” when they last met in February, the idea that Ukraine should develop closer ties with Taipei has been controversial in Kyiv. Now, a leading Ukrainian lawmaker is publicly calling for just that, arguing it’s in the interest of both democracies. And what’s more, he’s right.
Oleksandr Merezhko, the chairman of the Ukrainian parliament’s foreign affairs committee and a member of the ruling party, told me in an interview that although Beijing is not directly supplying weapons to Russia, Beijing is aiding Moscow’s war effort in many ways. China, he said, is helping Russia evade sanctions; purchasing Russian food, energy and gold; and promoting Russian disinformation about Ukraine through its state-run propaganda machine. Given that, Beijing’s offer to be a peace mediator is a nonstarter.
“I view China as an ally of Russia, an ally of the enemy. They are not neutral,” Merezhko told me. “They are working in support of Russia. How can they be honest brokers? I don’t see it.”
The Ukrainian government’s resistance to calling out Beijing and explicitly embracing Taiwan is understandable. China remains Ukraine’s largest trading partner, and Beijing often uses economic coercion to punish countries that move closer to Taiwan. But the usefulness of that policy is now outweighed by the need for Ukraine and Taiwan to work together, Merezhko told me.
In Kyiv, Merezhko has started a Taiwan friendship caucus for Ukrainian lawmakers, prompting complaints and pressure from the Chinese Embassy there. That’s the least Ukraine can do, he said, considering how much Taiwan has supported Ukraine since the war began. Taipei has applied sanctions against Russia and provided Ukraine with money, food and medical supplies.
Some Ukrainian leaders fear that China could begin to arm Russia if Kyiv moves closer to Taiwan, but Merezhko said that that fear is misplaced. Beijing is restrained by the threat of U.S. sanctions, not because it is militarily neutral. In fact, more than 2,000 Chinese troops are training with the Russian military right now.
Also, several other European countries maintain relations with both China and Taiwan, he pointed out, so why should Ukraine (as an aspiring European Union member) be any different? Ukraine can’t claim to be fighting to defend global democracy but then leave Taiwan to be preyed on, he said.
“If you don't stand up for democracy when it is threatened in other countries, eventually all democracies will lose,” he said. “We should stick together.”
Merezhko is in Washington this week for the first U.S.-based summit of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, a grouping of international lawmakers who want to coordinate the democratic world’s response to China’s rise. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) are Congress’s top representatives to the group.
Menendez and Rubio are supporters of the Taiwan Policy Act, a new bill meant to bolster U.S. diplomatic and military support for Taiwan. The Biden administration is reportedly concerned that the legislation could inflame already tense relations between Washington and Beijing. But Rubio said time is running out to save Taiwan from a brutal attack that will have global reverberations.
“If the Chinese Communist Party is successful in subjecting the people of Taiwan to living under tyranny, it will be a moment that will steer the course of human events for generations,” he said at the summit.
While in Washington, Merezhko is also trying to convince U.S. policymakers that Ukraine should be provided with greater numbers of advanced weapons, especially considering the remarkable success of the Ukrainian army’s current counteroffensive. Congress is about to consider a spending bill that would include a new Ukraine aid package totaling $13.7 billion. Some GOP lawmakers and political groups have expressed concerns about the funding.
“We have proved that we cannot only survive, but we can defeat the enemy. But we need more support,” Merezhko said. “We are very grateful. We are alive because of your support. But please give us more heavy weaponry.”
National security adviser Jake Sullivan told the Aspen Security Forum in July that giving Ukraine additional advanced weapons could further provoke Putin and spark World War III. Merezhko rejected that argument, calling it a Russian narrative meant to stop the West from helping Ukraine more.
“World War III has already started; it’s just that it has taken hybrid forms,” he told me. “We are already in this global war between democracies and authoritarian regimes.”
As the authoritarian bloc organizes against the West, the democratic side can’t afford to straddle the fence between China and Taiwan. Ukraine is moving slowly but surely to recognize and treat Taiwan as the ally that it is. All other democracies should follow suit. | 2022-09-14T14:47:49Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | The China-Russia alliance is pushing Ukraine toward Taiwan - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/14/ukraine-taiwan-closer-democratic-alliance/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/14/ukraine-taiwan-closer-democratic-alliance/ |
A new reminder of how the political debate disadvantages reality
Misinformation burrows deep while accountability is still drafting subpoenas.
Mike Lindell does not have any evidence that the 2020 election was tainted by significant voter fraud.
He’ll argue with this, vociferously, claiming that he has indisputable electronic data showing interference from foreign powers. But on every occasion when he’s feinted toward allowing independent experts to review his purported evidence, it’s a dud. It was a dud last summer at a conference he held in South Dakota. It was a dud once again this summer.
I’ve long wondered why, if Lindell has all this evidence, he doesn’t simply turn it over to law enforcement. If you have any proof, anything at all, why not just make it public or hand it to the police? Lindell seems to think his data is unalterable (which isn’t true, but regardless), so why not loop in the FBI?
Well, there’s one good reason for that, as demonstrated to Lindell while he sat at a fast-food drive-through on Tuesday: the FBI works slowly. While he was at a Hardee’s grabbing food, FBI agents surrounded Lindell’s car and served him with a subpoena, seizing his phone, according to Lindell. The MyPillow CEO, warned not to discuss the encounter, readily announced that it was related to an investigation into a Colorado elections clerk’s alleged tampering with voting machines. An act that (allegedly) occurred in the spring of 2021.
All of the checks our culture has on misinformation work too slowly to be effective. Mark Twain’s well-worn adage about lies traveling halfway around the world was born in an era where getting halfway around the world took a few days. Now everything is faster, burrows deeper, spreads more widely than Twain could have imagined. But our processes for containing or counteracting false information haven’t changed much at all. It’s fighting the coronavirus with leeches.
It has been a particularly bad summer for some of the worst purveyors of misinformation polluting American politics.
Lindell’s encounter with the FBI was only the most prominent. He’s also still scrambling to figure out how he might defend himself in a massive defamation lawsuit brought against him by Dominion Voting Systems, a suit that seems destined to end badly for the pillow salesman. Meanwhile, misinformation enthusiast Alex Jones was slapped with a massive punitive settlement by a jury in Texas, a result of false claims he made about the mass school shooting in Newtown, Conn.
Also this week, a company called Konnech filed a defamation suit against the group True the Vote. True the Vote is the organization that purports to have uncovered evidence of a massive ballot-moving scheme in the 2020 election, the claim at the core of Dinesh D’Souza’s film “2000 Mules.” But True the Vote has never provided any actual evidence of their claim and the film offers no evidence of people dumping ballots in multiple drop boxes. So, at their own summit this summer, True the Vote tried to turn the page on “2000 Mules” — evidence still unseen — pointing their supporters instead at purported nefariousness from Konnech.
The lag between True the Vote’s claims about Konnech and the lawsuit was remarkably short — but, then, it is also unresolved. The suit could drag on for months; it could be thrown out. Meanwhile, True the Vote has been peddling its unproven claims about those ballots for months, earning the embrace of the political right (and a lot of cash) despite the lack of demonstrated evidence.
This, of course, is a central point. There is no demand for theories about malfeasance: that the government is deeply corrupt, that the election was stolen, that the left can’t be trusted. All of that is taken as fact by millions of Americans. So there’s a market for purported evidence to bolster those points. Wild assertions about “false flag” shootings. Claims about Chinese hackers changing votes. Complicated-sounding analyses of cellphone data. There’s lots of misinformation that never moves an inch because there’s no fuel for it. But these claims are exactly what some people want to hear, so they take off.
The people questioning the claims, meanwhile, have a smaller audience. The tools for holding false claims in check work more slowly. Dominion sued Lindell in February 2021, but, thanks to his pillow money, he’s been able to keep the fight going since. The shooting at the center of the Alex Jones lawsuit happened nearly a decade ago.
True the Vote has kept pushing forward in part because of the vagueness of its allegations. It claims nonprofits were involved in the ballot-moving scheme, but which ones? D’Souza appears to have named some of them in a book he is selling as an accompaniment to his movie, but, after arriving in bookstores, the publishers pulled the first draft. NPR got a copy; it seems that D’Souza named specific groups who, understandably, object vociferously to the allegations being made. In response, True the Vote walked away from the filmmaker. In a statement, a spokesperson claimed that the group had no knowledge of “any allegations of activities of any specific organizations made in the book.” So for the book, we’re asked to believe, D’Souza started freelancing on the data. (A question sent to D’Souza about the organizations was not answered by the time of publication.)
It’s vitally important that Americans be able to speak freely, of course. That free speech allows for the spread of false ideas is a hiccup in an essential system. The challenge is that we have no effective countervailing mechanism. Those who point out that misinformation is false or unsupported have no audience with the people who want to believe it. Legal tools for preventing the spread of falsehoods necessarily include stopgaps that slow the process down. So misinformation spreads.
Speaking on MSNBC over the weekend, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas pointed to misinformation as a specific danger. The department was focused (as it has been even before President Biden’s inauguration) on the threat of “domestic violent extremists,” people who, among other things, embrace “an ideology of hate, anti-government sentiment, false narratives propagated on online platforms, even personal grievances.” The department has issued various bulletins identifying the danger of “an online environment filled with false or misleading narratives and conspiracy theories.”
Mike Lindell is not a terrorist, of course. He doesn’t even appear to have been the direct target of the FBI’s search, though who knows? But he is pumping misinformation into the public discussion, misinformation centered on the idea that the federal government is illegitimate and the 2020 election flawed. It’s precisely the same misinformation that prompted hundreds of people to attack police as they sought to overrun the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
And here, 20 months later, Lindell is still amplifying the same idea without any immediate repercussions besides scolding newspaper articles. | 2022-09-14T14:56:25Z | www.washingtonpost.com | A new reminder of how the political debate disadvantages reality - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/14/election-misinformation-mike-lindell/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/14/election-misinformation-mike-lindell/ |
Don’t be fooled by Martin Edwards’s “The Life of Crime: Detecting the History of Mysteries and Their Creators.” Yes, it looks daunting, what with 55 substantial chapters, each one followed by detailed endnotes in small type; a 40-page index simply listing the books discussed; and an overall heft that calls to mind a collegiate dictionary. As all devotees of crime fiction know, appearances can be deceiving. Start reading this history of the detective story — from Poe to P.D. James — and you’ll soon find it hard to follow my heartfelt advice: Slow down and space out the book’s 724 pages so that you can enjoy it for more than a few days.
Of course, I’m assuming your willpower is greater than mine. I was up late three nights in a row, eager to find out what Edwards would say about some of my favorite writers. As the president of Britain’s almost legendary Detection Club, archivist of the Crime Writers’ Association, consultant for the British Library’s Crime Classics, and author of the award-winning “The Golden Age of Murder,” among many other books, Edwards is now the leading English advocate for the mystery in all its forms. He is also a generous critic, acknowledging how much he has learned from other scholars and even a few reviewers (myself among them).
Still, like Wordsworth who rejected Milton’s example but could never wholly break away from his presence in his work, Edwards writes under the shadow of one outstanding predecessor, Julian Symons, whose pronouncements he quotes regularly, if only to disagree with them. Symons’s “Bloody Murder” — retitled “Mortal Consequences” in the United States — has for half a century been, for all its flaws, the standard history of the detective story. Yet while admitting the ingenuity of an Agatha Christie and a John Dickson Carr, Symons scarcely hid his disdain for mysteries that were essentially puzzles, games with the reader and howdunits. Rather than cozy entertainments with tricky plots, what he preferred and promoted were crime novels — such as those by Ruth Rendell and Patricia Highsmith — that revolved around psychologically complex characters.
Compared to the opinionated Symons, Edwards certainly provides a more balanced, and much longer, history of the genre, but at a certain cost: By emphasizing the virtues of all kinds of writing, he sometimes sounds a bit too even-handed and mild. Admittedly, one can slowly gauge his personal taste — he deeply admires Francis Iles and the neglected Henry Wade — but in general Edwards avoids committing himself to particular authors. His book is a literary history, not a guide to the 100 mysteries you should read before you die — which, by the way, probably won’t be in a locked room, or on a mean street, or at an isolated country estate with greedy heirs in attendance, all of whom have airtight alibis.
As his subtitle suggests, Edwards also loves what Samuel Johnson called “the biographical part” of literature. Nearly all his chapters open with a dramatic, even sensationalistic account of some transformative event in the life of an important crime writer. Thus we learn about the murder in Anne Perry’s past; the growing hatred between Fred Dannay and his cousin Manfred Lee, the two halves of Ellery Queen; the Grand National race in which Dick Francis’s horse inexplicably collapsed near the finish line; the firing squad execution of Erskine Childers, author of the groundbreaking spy novel, “The Riddle of the Sands”; and the horrible accident caused by the psychologically disturbed daughter of Ross Macdonald and Margaret Millar.
How many of the top 100 crime novels of the early 20th century have you read?
Similarly, though Edwards doesn’t quote much from the books he discusses — and, thankfully, avoids spoilers when summarizing their plots — he can’t resist a good anecdote or factoid. Jim Thompson, author of “The Killer Inside Me,” once said that there were 32 ways to write a story and “I’ve used every one,” then added, “But there is only one plot — things are not as they seem.” As a publisher’s reader, Mary Francis — wife of Dick Francis — turned down Frederick Forsyth’s “The Day of the Jackal.” When the House Un-American Activities Committee asked Kenneth Fearing, author of “The Big Clock,” if he was a member of the Communist Party, he mumbled, ‘Not yet.’ ”
There are comparable goodies found in each chapter’s copious and highly entertaining endnotes, which often amplify points made in the main text. Agatha Christie, we are reminded, “casually discloses the solutions to four of her earlier novels in ‘Cards on the Table,’ presumably because she thought hardly anyone would read them in future,” while J.K. Rowling chose Margery Allingham’s “The Tiger in the Smoke” as her favorite mystery.
While concentrating on British and American fiction, Edwards does glance at the genre work of Jorge Luis Borges, Edogawa Rampo, Leo Perutz, Umberto Eco, Fred Vargas, Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo, and Stieg Larsson. One can nonetheless dispute the degree of attention he allocates to various writers. For example, he seems strangely lukewarm about Ernest Bramah’s brilliant stories featuring the blind Max Carrados and almost immune to the charm of Edmund Crispin’s comic mysteries (“The Moving Toyshop” being one of my all-time favorite books). No one would argue with chapters largely devoted to Dorothy L. Sayers, Raymond Chandler, Georges Simenon, Josephine Tey, Ian Fleming and John le Carré, but Edwards offers little beyond a courtesy nod to Rex Stout and Elmore Leonard.
Splashy mystery novels are not for me. Here’s what I’d pick instead.
To my mind, far greater attention should have been paid to writers such as Mickey Spillane and Donald E. Westlake (a.k.a. Richard Stark) and more said about a trio of vastly influential books from the 1970s, namely George V. Higgins’s vernacular tour-de-force “The Friends of Eddie Coyle,” James Crumley’s heartbreaking “The Last Good Kiss,” and Charles McCarry’s espionage masterpiece, “The Tears of Autumn.” These were the authors and books that defined mid to late 20th-century American crime fiction.
In the end, though, a magisterial work like “The Life of Crime” does more than just inform, entertain and provoke, it also sends new readers back to old books. Happily, many once out-of-print titles are now readily available because of several enlightened publishing programs. For instance, Christianna Brand’s ultra-ingenious “Death of Jezebel” is among the most recent offerings in the British Library Crime Classics series overseen by Edwards himself, Penzler Publishing’s wide-ranging American Mystery Classics has recently issued Frances Crane’s Southwestern whodunit, “The Turqoise Shop,” S.S. Van Dine’s first Philo Vance mystery, “The Benson Murder Case” and Cornell Woolrich’s suspense-filled, “Deadline at Dawn,” and our own Library of Congress’s Crime Classics program has reissued novels as varied as Rudolph Fisher’s pioneering African American mystery, “The Conjure-Man Dies,” and Hillary Waugh’s genre-establishing police procedural, “Last Seen Wearing.” Yet other imprints worth checking out include Crippen & Landru, which specializes in short stories; Stark House Press, Coachwhip Books and Altus Press’s Black Mask Library, all of which largely focus on pulp fiction; and Dean Street Press, which reprints traditional mysteries, often with exceptional introductions by Curtis Evans or Tony Medawar.
The Life of Crime
Detecting the History of Mysteries and their Creators
By Martin Edwards
Collins Crime Club. 724 pp. $32.99 | 2022-09-14T14:56:31Z | www.washingtonpost.com | The Life of Crime by Martin Edwards book review - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2022/09/14/life-of-crime-martin-edwards-review/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2022/09/14/life-of-crime-martin-edwards-review/ |
Ling Ma’s surreal stories explore the absurdity of labels
Review by Michele Filgate
Ling Ma’s prescient 2018 debut novel, “Severance” (no relation to the popular Apple TV Plus show), was set in a world where a virus turns people into zombies fated to repeat on a loop an action from their life. What differentiated it from most post-apocalyptic novels was how vividly Ma rendered the monotony and downfalls of the capitalistic workforce. Covid-19 didn’t turn anyone into zombies, but it did raise questions related to how we work and why.
Ma’s new short story collection, “Bliss Montage,” shares some of the themes she explored in her debut, including identity and the immigrant experience, but most of these stories are uncanny and haunting. In one, “Los Angeles,” a woman lives with her 100 ex-boyfriends, including a man who abused her; in another, “G,” a pill makes people invisible, allowing them to experience life without the constraints of a body. “Do you know how easily the world yields to you when you move through it in an invisibility cocoon?” Ma writes. “No one looks at you, no one assesses you. It lifts the tiny anvil of self-consciousness. You can go anywhere, unimpeded by the microaggressions of strangers, the obligatory, waterlogged civilities of friends and acquaintances.” But disembodiment can also be confusing for those whose identities are shaped by the views of others. That’s the case for Beatrice, whose self-image is wrapped up in the feedback of her friend Bonnie. “It doesn’t take much to come into your own; all it takes is someone’s gaze,” Beatrice thinks. “It’s not totally accurate to say that I felt seen. It was more that: Beheld by her, I learned how to become myself. Her interest actualized me.”
The acts of looking and being seen come up repeatedly in these pages, as does the idea of concealment. In “Office Hours,” a film and media studies professor named Marie learns that, in her office closet, there’s a portal to another reality she refers to as the chamber, a place she escapes to for cigarette breaks. When she attempts to bring flowers back from this other space, they disintegrate, emphasizing the idea that we can’t inhabit multiple realities at the same time. “The sanest way forward — you have to learn how to split yourself up into other selves, like an earthworm,” her mentor advised her years earlier, when she was about to graduate. And perhaps that’s what Marie is doing when she gives a lecture on “the space of fantasy” in “Stalker” and “The Wizard of Oz,” or engages with an obnoxious and condescending male colleague: moving closer toward a multiplicity of the self, allowing for possibility instead of stagnancy. In the acknowledgments, Ma says that the title of this collection comes from the film historian Jeanine Basinger. In “A Woman’s View,” Basinger writes: “And there is one unique convention that almost never appears anywhere except in a woman’s film, the Happy Interlude. This sequence, which might also be called the Bliss Montage, is familiar to anyone who watches old movies … Her Happy Interlude is a woman’s small piece of action, her marginal territory of joy.”
Montages are a way of condensing and collapsing time to emphasize pivotal moments. Yet they can also be a forced fantasy, taking the viewer further from the truth. The genius of Ma’s stories is unearthed in how she stretches the boundaries of the world while zooming in on the details that matter most. “Something he had once said in a lecture: ‘It is in the most surreal situations that a person feels the most present, the closest to reality,’ ” Ma writes in “Office Hours.” This is a perfect encapsulation of Ma’s approach to storytelling. Whether she’s writing about a pregnant woman walking around with her baby’s arm growing outside of the womb, extended between her legs (“Tomorrow”) or a woman who finds herself adrift in her husband’s home country during a festival that involves burying people alive for the night (“Returning”), these stories use fantastical situations to address the isolation and absurdity of being confined by labels.
The main character in “Peking Duck” is a writer who immortalizes some memories of her immigrant mother’s lived experiences in her fiction but assures her mom that the characters aren’t her. “There are so many mothers in your stories, what am I supposed to think?” the mother asks. “But they’re all so miserable. Does there have to be so much suffering?” In looking at her mother through the veil of fiction the daughter rewrites her mother’s narrative, raising the question of who is really in control of a story. “Bliss Montage” is a powerful reminder that there is more than one way to see — and really know — a person.
Michele Filgate is a writer and the editor of the essay collection “What My Mother and I Don’t Talk About.” | 2022-09-14T14:56:37Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Bliss Montage by Ling Ma book review - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2022/09/14/ling-ma-severance-author-story-collection/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2022/09/14/ling-ma-severance-author-story-collection/ |
If upheld by the appellate court and the Supreme Court, the Texas ruling would exempt an employer who refused to provide any health-care coverage of any kind on the ground that medical insurance encourages people to rely on medical science, not religious faith, in planning their lives.
The court sharply rejected HHS’s position. “Defendants [HHS] inappropriately contest the correctness” of Braidwood’s beliefs, the court wrote, “when courts may test only the sincerity of those beliefs.” [Emphasis original.] In other words, it doesn’t matter if the assertion is true; all that matters is that Braidwood believes it. Under this logic, once Braidwood, or anyone else seeking an exemption on religious grounds, asserts its sincere belief that something (anything!) burdens its religious belief, that’s the end of the story. The courts must accept whatever the party says. | 2022-09-14T14:56:50Z | www.washingtonpost.com | A Texas Judge Just Took Religious ‘Freedom’ Too Far - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/a-texas-judge-just-took-religious-freedomtoo-far/2022/09/14/72a936fe-3431-11ed-a0d6-415299bfebd5_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/a-texas-judge-just-took-religious-freedomtoo-far/2022/09/14/72a936fe-3431-11ed-a0d6-415299bfebd5_story.html |
It took scientists 30 years to create the first malaria vaccine, approved by the World Health Organization in 2021. A second, even better one is now almost ready to be deployed against the disease. Governments and philanthropies should be stepping up their funding to global health partners so they can build on that momentum in the battle against malaria, where progress has been stalled for years.
Malaria kills more than 600,000 people a year, the vast majority young children in sub-Saharan Africa. That makes it the third-leading cause of death each year among children under the age of 5, just after pneumonia and diarrhea. Developed by scientists at the University of Oxford, a new vaccine appeared remarkably effective at preventing malaria in a study of children in Burkina Faso, where the malaria season is short and intense — in 2019, nearly 8 million cases were reported in a population of roughly 20.3 million people, according to the WHO. In a trial of more than 400 children there, the vaccine was 80% effective. If those results hold up in a larger, longer study, they would exceed the WHO’s goal of achieving 75% or greater efficacy.
The Oxford vaccine is a close cousin of the world’s first malaria vaccine, developed by GlaxoSmithKline. Called Mosquirix, it was recommended by the World Health Organization in October 2021. Both vaccines train the immune system against the same protein from the malaria parasite, but they use different adjuvants (used to boost the immune response). Mosquirix was recommended based on a large study that showed four doses of the vaccine was 30% effective against serious infections, and reduced infections overall by 40%. Although the Oxford vaccine’s more robust protection still needs confirmation in a larger study, it so far also looks potentially safer than Mosquirix.
If larger studies pan out, the Oxford vaccine also offers a practical advantage over Mosquirix: It is cheaper and easier to make. Serum Institute of India is prepared to make 200 million doses of the vaccine should it be recommended by the WHO next year. By contrast, GlaxoSmithKline committed to making just 15 million doses of Mosquirix per year — far short of what is needed to vaccinate every child in countries where malaria is endemic. Recent media reports suggest even that target won’t be met due to lack of funding.
And there are still questions about the role these vaccines will play in reducing transmission of the infection. Researchers have yet to show how well the new vaccine works in a place where, instead of a short malaria season, transmission is relentless throughout the entire year. Malaria experts also suspect that after an initial multi-dose regimen, children will need annual boosters of this vaccine, and probably Mosquirix, too, for them to remain effective. That presents financial and logistical challenges in resource-poor countries.
In the end, those limitations mean these shots are a critical advance, but aren’t a quick fix to the heavy burden of malaria. Rather, they will be just one layer of a complex response.
“There need to be more vaccine options,” says Miriam Laufer, director of the Malaria Research Program at University of Maryland’s Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health. Even with these two vaccines, she says, it will be years before the world is able to make enough.
To be clear, any new tool for malaria is worth celebrating. After a period of rapid decline in infections and deaths thanks to a global push to address the disease, progress has stalled. More worrisome, progress began to reverse in the early part of the pandemic. Malaria experts say they’ve squeezed all they can out of the current tools — interventions like mosquito nets, insecticides, diagnostics and treatments. Without more funding, they’ll be left to make tough decisions about where to divert resources.
“No kid should die from malaria,” says Thomas Eisele, director of Tulane University’s Center for Applied Malaria Research and Evaluation. “It’s a matter of will.”
And will is a matter of funding. A WHO recommendation next year for the Oxford vaccine could mean significantly more children in Africa have access to immunization.
But that’s only the beginning of what is needed to move the field in the right direction. The world has fallen behind on the WHO’s goal of reducing malaria deaths from 2016 levels by 90% by 2030. In addition to supporting next-generation vaccines, more money is needed to ensure existing tools are being deployed in even the hardest-to-reach parts of Africa, and that efforts to develop new insecticides, preventative medicines and therapies are fully supported. To get there, the agency says funding for malaria prevention will need to be tripled to $10.3 billion. Consider the many billions in government funding that drove the speedy development of Covid vaccines. A fraction of that money and urgency could be transformative in malaria.
The parasite that causes this disease has vexed researchers for decades. Finally, scientific breakthroughs in malaria are arriving — but those only translate into breakthroughs in global health if they reach the people who need them. | 2022-09-14T14:56:56Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Breakthrough Malaria Shot Needs More Funding to Succeed - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/breakthrough-malaria-shot-needs-more-funding-to-succeed/2022/09/14/724053fa-3431-11ed-a0d6-415299bfebd5_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/breakthrough-malaria-shot-needs-more-funding-to-succeed/2022/09/14/724053fa-3431-11ed-a0d6-415299bfebd5_story.html |
Analysis by Karl W. Smith | Bloomberg
Senator Bernie Sanders has threatened to block a crucial government funding bill because it “would make it easier for the fossil fuel industry to receive permits to complete some of the dirtiest and most polluting oil and gas projects in America.” While Sanders’s passion cannot be denied, his analysis leaves much to be desired.
Specifically, Sanders — along with several dozen Democratic members of the House — objects to the Mountain Valley Pipeline, which would cut through West Virginia as it carries natural gas from Western Pennsylvania to Virginia and North Carolina. The project is part of a so-called side deal struck between Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Joe Manchin that was necessary to secure Manchin’s vote on the Inflation Reduction Act.
Sanders is missing the big picture. Between 2007 and 2019, total emissions in the US — not per-capita emissions or per-dollar-of-GDP emissions — fell from nearly 7.5 billion tons of CO2 equivalent to 6.5 billion. That drop was powered almost entirely by declines in the electricity sector as it switched from reliance on coal power to natural gas, which is both cleaner and more efficient.
Underscoring just how powerful the coal-to-natural-gas transformation is, Germany is on track to see its emissions from the power sector rise by more than 10% this year as a result of the reduced availability of Russian gas. Still, switching back to coal has not been enough to prevent record-breaking energy prices, which have fueled a rise in overall inflation and a decline in industrial output.
The US has a chance to avoid that same fate only because it produces a surplus of natural gas domestically. Otherwise, inflation would be even higher than it is today, while the underlying economy would be weaker. In truth, however, the US needs to produce more natural gas for three reasons.
First, the US can help its allies in Europe and the Pacific Rim be less reliant on potentially hostile regimes by exporting more natural gas. From 2014 to 2021, the extra capacity put on the US domestic market by US oil frackers balanced intentional supply cuts by Saudi Arabia and Russia. Oil prices are rising now because producers are reluctant to add additional capacity in today’s uncertain environment.
The effect of gas fracking on international markets was not as stark because the infrastructure to export natural gas is far more complex and expensive. By expanding its export capacity, the US can provide relief for its allies — and by expanding domestic infrastructure and production, it can ensure that domestic prices don’t rise dramatically.
Second, the transition to electric vehicles will increase the demand for electricity. This seems like a straightforward point, but it seems to have eluded Sanders, who said that was “hard for him to understand why anyone would vote” for such a pipeline “especially at a time when we are transitioning to electric vehicles.”
The transition is precisely why more relatively clean power will be needed. If the US does not want to find itself turning back to coal for the EV-driven demand, then it needs more natural gas.
Third, increasing natural gas production and building new infrastructure will create jobs for some of the communities hardest hit by the decline in coal. In West Virginia, the Mission Valley Pipeline is projected to create some 4,500 jobs and inject $811 million into an economy that is otherwise struggling. That economic investment — far more than any lobbying from the fossil-fuel industry — is why Manchin demanded the deal.
Remember, the climate-related provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act, which Manchin voted for, will hit coal production hard — and rightfully so. There is no way for the world to meet its climate goals without a reduction in global coal production. To get his constituents to support those reductions, Manchin needed to offer them something. His offer is natural gas infrastructure — which also helps the US and the world make the transition to a secure electrically powered economy.
• Natural Gas Is Better Than Many Environmentalists Admit: Matthew Yglesias
• Europe’s Natural-Gas Crisis Is Worse Than It Looks: Javier Blas
• Energy Pipelines Shouldn’t Be Political: Julian Lee | 2022-09-14T14:57:02Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Bernie Sanders Is Wrong About Natural Gas - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/energy/bernie-sanders-is-wrong-about-natural-gas/2022/09/14/58147bfa-3436-11ed-a0d6-415299bfebd5_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/energy/bernie-sanders-is-wrong-about-natural-gas/2022/09/14/58147bfa-3436-11ed-a0d6-415299bfebd5_story.html |
As the leader of a legendary, 19th-century African women’s fighting force, the actress is nothing less than magnificent
Whether Nanisca’s dilemma is literally true to life is beside the point in “The Woman King,” which takes its rousing action-and-adventure cues from such classics as “Braveheart,” “Gladiator” and the spectacular sword-and-sandal pictures of the 1950s, and elaborates on imaginative universes already primed by the likes of “Black Panther,” “Wonder Woman” and, more recently “The Northman.” In the hands of director Gina Prince-Bythewood, the combination is a winning one: “The Woman King” pulses with energy, tightly coiled intensity and Shakespearean filial drama, given added potency by Davis, who imbues Nanisca with the gravitas and unflinching focus that have become her signatures.
Gina Prince-Bythewood is the first Black woman to direct a major comic-book movie. It looks like the future.
As in so many of its predecessors, the ritualized combat and metronomic violence of “The Woman King” begin to feel repetitive, and a few of the fight sequences look more choreographed than spontaneous, but Prince-Bythewood largely overcomes these pitfalls by way of an exceedingly handsome production, one whose burnished palette and rich design are echoed by Terence Blanchard’s lovely musical score. With its action, adventure, mythic conflict and semi-fantastical storytelling, “The Woman King” proves to be an opulent addition to a form of filmmaking that has long been searching for a refresh. What’s more, it knows that the real spectacle doesn’t reside in special effects or brutality for its own sake, but in the woman who holds the center of the narrative through her singular brand of charisma, aching transparency and sheer indomitable will. “The Woman King” may be a fable, but its power is real: Her name is Viola Davis, and she’s nothing less than magnificent.
PG-13. At area theaters. Contains sequences of strong violence, some disturbing material, mature thematic elements, brief strong language and partial nudity. 146 minutes. | 2022-09-14T14:57:46Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Viola Davis rules in ‘The Woman King’ - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/movies/2022/09/14/the-woman-king-movie-review/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/movies/2022/09/14/the-woman-king-movie-review/ |
Public Figures makes music to amplify the imagination
The punk rock duo is performing at Songbyrd on Sept. 18
Public Figures is Van Hillard, left, and Chad McCall. (Marcela Morales)
Van Hillard grew up dreaming of aliens. His childhood in Caddo Parish, La., was spent staring at the night sky — what he calls “imagination fodder.” Decades later, the self-described “cryptid-head” makes music for the “amplified imagination” with D.C.-based punk rock band Public Figures. Its sophomore album, “Where to Find a Werewolf,” drops at the end of September.
It’s not Hillard’s first punk project in the DMV. He began performing with bassist Chad McCall in the first month of the millennium, and the two haven’t parted in almost 23 years, lending their talents to the quartet People Chasing People and the “activism-minded” Park Snakes. But the latter — in a tale artists know all too well — was disrupted by the pandemic, leaving McCall and Hillard with an abundance of free time. They used it to begin the thundering art punk duo Public Figures.
Named for John Keel’s paranormal “The Mothman Prophecies,” the band’s first release, “Year of the Garuda,” is musically intense — crashing drums, heavy bass rig and occasional synth — and lyrically easygoing; The raw vocals of the single “Shark Song” repeat endlessly, “All hail the shark.” Hillard says he uses that repetitive framework to “tell a story.”
“A lot of [lyrics] will come on walks, and I just kind of roll with it,” Hillard said. “Those weird little serendipitous moments, you have to wait for them, or posit yourself, work to enable them to happen.”
But the veteran of the local scene describes the group’s upcoming release as sleeker, more polished and fueled by a newfound band identity. Political and a bit nostalgic for a simpler time, the instrumental bits highlight the pair’s hard-earned confidence in their respective musicality, along with a willingness to try something newer and more experimental.
With lyrics about getting “X-filed” and “little green men,” it should come as no shock that Hillard is a devout field investigator for the International Mutual UFO Network, researching civilian claims of unidentified objects above. His upcoming novel, which he describes as a “wacky little read,” is a D.C.-based whodunit featuring interdimensional space travel.
Despite song names like “Death on Layaway” and “The Terrorist, He’s Watching,” Hillard says his primary inspiration on the new album — besides extraterrestrials and chilling creatures of the woods — is the search for fun and positivity.
“We try to keep it simple,” he said. “We’re entertainers. It’s still the best thing on the planet, to perform in front of others. I think just about all 8 billion of us would agree, whatever your medium is, it’s fun to share these things with people.”
Opening for Outerloop on Sept. 18 at 7 p.m. at Songbyrd, 540 Penn St. NE. songbyrddc.com. $14-$17. | 2022-09-14T14:57:52Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Punk rock duo Public Figures makes music to amplify the imagination - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/music/2022/09/14/public-figures-band/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/music/2022/09/14/public-figures-band/ |
Princess Anne: Overshadowed royal plays stoic role as U.K. mourns queen
Britain's Princess Anne looks at flowers placed outside Balmoral Castle, on Sept. 10, 2022, after the death of Queen Elizabeth II. (Andy Buchanan/AFP/Getty Images)
LONDON — Princess Anne, the only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II, has often kept a low profile in British public life, at times overshadowed by the personalities (and scandals) of her brothers.
But she is considered one of the hardest-working members of the royal family. And this week, she has been the only one of her siblings to accompany her mother’s coffin as it made its way on a six-hour car journey through Scotland, from Balmoral Castle to Edinburgh, and then on a flight to London.
“I was fortunate to share the last 24 hours of my dearest Mother’s life. It has been an honour and a privilege to accompany her on her final journeys,” Anne said in a statement late Tuesday. She said the experience on the queen’s final stretch among the crowds had been “both humbling and uplifting,” and she offered her “thanks to each and every one who share our sense of loss.”
Although she never served in the military, Anne, 72, known as the princess royal, holds a number of ceremonial titles and was seen in military regalia marching somberly behind her mother’s cortege in Scotland. She also took part in a traditional vigil in the church there, alongside her brothers Charles, Andrew and Edward. It was thought to be the first time a female member of the royal family has done so.
Anne has “always been hard-working, no nonsense,” Dickie Arbiter, a royal commentator and former press spokesman for the queen, told The Washington Post on Wednesday. “She’s been absolutely stoic and tremendous” since the death of her mother last week, he added.
In Arbiter’s view, Anne has not been “overshadowed” as much as she has been overlooked and “ignored by the media.” He recalled that she would add stops on trips to and from London to pack in extra work opportunities or visit charities, always arriving home late. Describing her as a “workaholic,” he said Anne is “very much someone who works for her charities,” adding: “She didn’t take them on just to be a figurehead.”
Anne, who undertook her first public engagement as a teenager, is involved with over 300 charities and military organizations, especially the Royal Navy and Royal Marines. Among the causes she supports are home aides, protection of cattle, heart health and the improvement of public transport. Most notably, she is a long-serving former president and current patron of the nonprofit Save the Children.
She competed in the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games as a member of the British equestrian team and still works to support riding for disabled people across the Commonwealth, according to Buckingham Palace. She also took part in London’s successful bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games. Her first husband, army Capt. Mark Phillips, was also an Olympic equestrian, and their daughter, Zara Tindall, followed in both her parents’ footsteps.
Anne also made tabloid front pages after being apparently scolded by her ever-diplomatic monarch mother during a 2019 visit to the United Kingdom by President Donald Trump. A video went viral online of the queen appearing to chastise her daughter with a subtle side-eye glance when greeting Trump and the first lady Melania Trump at a Buckingham Palace reception.
“She was funny,” said Arbiter of Anne, who often shared humor with her outspoken late father, Prince Philip, of whom she was a reported favorite. Queen Elizabeth was “proud” of her achievements, he added, and the two enjoyed “a very good relationship.”
“As the queen got older, [Anne] became a great companion and a great comfort to the queen,” Arbiter said. She has also has fairly good relations with her elder brother, Charles, despite a “rocky period” after his separation from Princess Diana in 1996, he said. “Underneath it all, there was always a good relationship,” Arbiter added.
This week, Anne, who is 16th in line to the throne, thanked her mother for her “contribution to our national identity.” She added in a statement: “I am also so grateful for the support and understanding offered to my dear brother Charles as he accepts the added responsibilities of The Monarch.”
Anne famously declined to give her two children royal titles when offered. She also survived an attempted kidnapping in 1974 after her vehicle was pulled over by a gunman near Buckingham Palace. As the attacker shouted at her to get out, she reportedly replied, “Not bloody likely,” before she eventually escaped.
Like many royals, she has not been immune to having her romantic life publicized in the press. She divorced Phillips in 1992 during the queen’s so-called “annus horribilis” and eight months later married Timothy Laurence, a navy commander charged with caring for the royal family’s horses.
Laurence walked behind his wife and the queen’s coffin in a procession through central London on Wednesday from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall, where the late monarch will lie in state until her funeral on Monday.
Millions are expected to flock to London to catch a glimpse of the historic farewell to the queen. The state funeral of Elizabeth’s mother took place at Westminster Abbey in 2002, as did that of Princess Diana in 1997. The last monarch to have a state funeral there was King George II in 1760.
After the funeral in London, Elizabeth will make her final journey to Windsor Castle, where she will be buried at St. George’s Chapel close to her husband, Prince Philip, and father, King George VI.
Annabelle Timsit and Ellen Francis contributed to this report.
Queen Elizabeth live briefing: Queen’s coffin reaches Westminster Hall after military procession | 2022-09-14T14:58:46Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Princess Anne, often overlooked, plays key role during queen's death - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/14/queen-elizabeth-death-princess-anne-funeral/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/14/queen-elizabeth-death-princess-anne-funeral/ |
Another bank heist in Beirut, another hero for Lebanon’s weary public
People gather in front of a bank after a woman allegedly stormed it demanding access to her sister's deposits to pay for her hospital fees, in Beirut on Sept. 14. (Anwar Amro/AFP/Getty Images)
BEIRUT — Sali Hafiz donned a black T-shirt and trousers and a pair of lime green sneakers. Mask askew, she charged into a bank in Lebanon’s capital on Wednesday, cocked a gun in the air and demanded her money.
She became an instant hero.
Hafiz is the second person in Beirut this summer to take hostages in a bank, where depositors have been prevented from accessing the money in their accounts for nearly two years. The two incidents, and the widespread public support for them, illustrate the deep disillusionment in Lebanon toward the state and banking institutions, fueled by mounting anger over the rising cost of living and a lack of public services.
In October 2019, amid a spiraling economic crisis, protests erupted across the country, demanding the resignation of the country’s political elite and an end to corruption. Fearing a run on the banks, branches shuttered their doors for weeks, then imposed ad hoc limitations on the amount of dollars that could be withdrawn — locking the Lebanese out of their own accounts.
Banks today allow depositors to take out a maximum of $400 per month, in addition to a more modest amount in Lebanese pounds.
It would have taken Hafiz more than four years to withdraw the $20,000 in her account, and time is not in her favor. She needs $50,000 to treat her sister’s cancer, she said, and has pleaded with the bank for months to access her funds. “My sister is dying in front of my eyes,” she said in an interview with a local channel, purportedly recorded shortly after the heist from an undisclosed location.
“The bank has robbed us publicly,” she continued, claiming she reached a point where she was going to sell her kidney to pay for the treatment. “I can’t hurt an ant,” she said, “but this person who can’t hurt an ant is watching a part of her melt in front of her, and the most people do is say, ‘may God heal her.’ I couldn’t stand idly by when there’s a bank right next to my house in which we have $20,000.”
After the heist, the Blom Bank put out a statement confirming that Hafiz was a depositor at the branch. It said she entered with a group of people, detaining customers and employees, sprinkled gasoline around the bank and threatened to set the people inside on fire. She then forced the manager and treasurer to open the safe and took the money inside. There were no reports of injuries.
One video shared by the Depositors’ Union showed Hafiz counting stacks of money. She only managed to get $12,000 out, she said later, and the equivalent of an extra $1,000 in local currency.
It was, in many ways, a replay of an incident last month, when a man entered a bank in Beirut with a can of gasoline, threatening to set himself on fire if he was not allowed to withdraw the $210,000 in his account, which he said he needed to pay his father’s medical bills. He later brandished a rifle, leading to hours of negotiations that ended with the bank agreeing to give his brother $35,000. The man was arrested, but released days later and never charged with a crime.
A man took hostages at a bank in Lebanon. People came to support him.
As in August, people were quick to celebrate the heist. On social media, many shared photos of Hafiz inside the bank, imposing an image of a crown atop her head. Others posted messages of support on her Facebook page. “A hero from my country,” one wrote. “Bravo,” wrote another user, “things only work this way.”
As Lebanon sinks deeper into economic malaise, people are resorting to desperate measures. The United Nation’s World Food Programme estimates 46 percent of households don’t have enough to eat. The World Bank has said the economic and financial crisis could rank in the top three most severe global crises since the mid-19th century.
The long-failing electricity grid has been worse than ever, with almost everyone in the country relying more than ever on generators, which run on expensive gas, spew toxic fumes into the air and fill the overcrowded capital with a constant thrum of noise. Many in Lebanon have simply opted to live without electricity, slowly learning to adapt to life with only a few hours of power a day.
Gas prices have also shot up this month, after the central bank ended a subsidy that it said had drained its reserves. The value of the Lebanese pound slid to a record low on Wednesday, reaching 37,000 pounds to the dollar, even though it remains officially pegged, as it has been for decades, at 1,500 to the dollar.
Salaries have not caught up, and unemployment is rampant. Amid the pound’s steady devaluation and triple-digit inflation, many households are unable to afford basics groceries, or even keep the water on.
Against this backdrop, many are rooting for Hafiz. Shortly after the heist, she posted on Facebook, writing “All of the police are under my house and I’m already at the airport, see you in Istanbul.”
A flight from Beirut to Istanbul was set to take off about an hour later. Lebanon’s General Security Directorate later said she had not left the country via the airport.
In her interview, she apologized for scaring anyone, adding that the gun was a toy she got from her young nephew.
As news broke of a warrant for her arrest, the interviewer asked what she would do if she was caught. “I want to ask whoever will interrogate me, or whoever will capture me,” Hafiz said, “to put themselves in my shoes. If something like this happened to their son or their sister, I want to see what they would do.”
“People are committing suicide,” she continued. “I tell them don’t pick up the gun and shoot yourself. Go get your money, even if it costs your life.”
As people followed Hafiz’s story, there were reports of another heist in a mountainous city not far from the capital. | 2022-09-14T15:40:00Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Armed woman stages heist at Blom Bank in Beirut to recover savings - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/14/beirut-armed-woman-gun-bank/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/14/beirut-armed-woman-gun-bank/ |
A defendant in a Mississippi welfare fraud case said Phil Bryant, the former governor, directed her to send $1.1 million in welfare money to Brett Favre. Bryant denies the allegation (Rogelio V. Solis/Associated Press File)
Former Mississippi governor Phil Bryant helped Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre obtain welfare funds to help build a volleyball center at the University of Southern Mississippi, according to an investigative report by Mississippi Today.
The outlet reviewed text messages from 2017 and 2019 that were filed Monday in Mississippi’s lawsuit over misspent welfare funds. The filing was by an attorney representing Nancy New, who founded the Mississippi Community Education Center that was to spend tens of millions in federal welfare funds to help the state. New has pleaded guilty to 13 felony counts of bribery, fraud and racketeering in what state auditors have determined to be the largest case of public fraud in Mississippi history, with at least $77 million misspent by nonprofit leaders.
The texts allegedly show Favre, New and Bryant conferring on how to divert at least $5 million for a volleyball stadium at Southern Miss, where Favre played college football and his daughter played volleyball at the time some texts were sent.
“If you were to pay me is there anyway the media can find out where it came from and how much?” a text showed Favre asked New in 2017. She replied that “we never have that information publicized” and told him the next day, “Wow, just got off the phone with Phil Bryant! He is on board with us! We will get this done!”
In a July 2019 text, Bryant told New that he had just met with Favre and asked if she could help him.
An attorney for Favre denied that his client knew he had received welfare funds. “Brett Favre has been honorable throughout this whole thing,” Bud Holmes told Mississippi Today. In 2020, Favre told the outlet that he had not discussed the stadium, which is not part of the state’s lawsuit, with Bryant.
Favre and Bryant, who left office in January 2020, have not been criminally charged, and Bryant did not address the texts in a statement to Mississippi Today. In it, he accused New’s defense team of being “more concerned with pretrial publicity than they are with civil justice.” The motion filed by New is the defendants’ first direct and public accusation of wrongdoing by Bryant.
Favre last year repaid the state $600,000 he had received for speeches he never gave as part of a $1.1 million deal he made in 2017 and 2018 to promote a poverty-fighting initiative. The state auditor reported that he initially repaid $500,000 and in May the Mississippi Department of Human Services filed a lawsuit against Favre, saying interest on the $1.1 million amounted to $228,000.
States are prohibited from using money from the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program on “brick and mortar” buildings and the effort to circumvent federal regulations to build the volleyball stadium has already resulted in a criminal conviction.
Zach New, Nancy New’s son, admitted in an April plea agreement to defrauding the government when he participated in a scheme “to disguise the USM construction project as a ‘lease’ as a means of circumventing the limited purpose grant’s strict prohibition against ‘brick and mortar’ construction projects in violation of Miss. Code Ann. 97-7-10.”
Favre briefly was questioned more than two years ago by the FBI, Mississippi Today reported last week. Holmes told the outlet that Favre was asked one question and he believes Favre has not been interviewed since. Mississippi Community Education Center hired Favre Enterprises in 2017 and 2018 to make appearances to promote Families First for Mississippi, a program designed to help needy families, and Favre was a no-show for those.
In 2020, the former NFL quarterback denied that he had “received monies for obligations I didn’t meet,” saying, “I love Mississippi and I would never knowingly do anything to take away from those that need it most.”
Mississippi had the highest poverty rate in the nation, with 20.3 percent living below the poverty line, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2019 American Community Survey. The U.S. poverty rate nationally is 13.4 percent. | 2022-09-14T15:48:43Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Phil Bryant helped Brett Favre get welfare funds for volleyball stadium - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/14/brett-favre-phil-bryant-welfare/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/14/brett-favre-phil-bryant-welfare/ |
Biden in Detroit to draw voter attention to the electric vehicle boom
Amid inflation concerns, the president will highlight administration actions to boost U.S. manufacturing of electric vehicles
President Biden arrives to board Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. (Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)
DETROIT — President Biden will try to refocus voter attention on the strides the nation is making in the transition to electric vehicles under his leadership when he drops in at the North American International Auto Show Wednesday afternoon in Detroit.
In a speech, Biden will highlight how consumers and the American economy could benefit from the climate package he recently signed, which infuses billions of dollars of new federal investment in the electric vehicle (EV) sector and pushes automakers to move their manufacturing plants onshore.
The president is also expected to promote the progress being made on the administration’s goal of installing more than 500,000 EV chargers, using $7.5 billion Congress authorized earlier in Biden’s term.
“President Biden’s economic plan has fueled an electric vehicle manufacturing boom in America,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, talking to a gaggle of reporters. “We will see that on full display in Detroit, Michigan, today.”
The remarks come as the administration faces tough economic and political head winds, with Tuesday’s discouraging inflation numbers and the corresponding plunge of the stock market adding to the challenges Democrats already faced in a tough midterm election.
The political stakes of today’s speech were underscored by Jean-Pierre, who sought to contrast Biden’s plans with those of some congressional Republicans who are working today to advance a federal abortion ban in the Senate.
“While President Biden is in Michigan focusing on strengthening our economy,” Jean-Pierre said, “extreme MAGA Republicans are consumed with their efforts to strip away rights from millions of women.”
The White House says companies have invested nearly $85 billion in the EV sector since he came to office.
The climate package promises to speed up the pace of such investment, as it includes provisions that hinge federal subsidies to companies moving their supply chains to the United States and a handful of other countries with which America has free trade agreements. In 2022, firms invested triple what they did in the sector in the United States in 2020, according to the White House. The number of EVs sold has also tripled since Biden took office.
Among the investments auto companies have announced recently are $2.5 billion by Toyota for North Carolina facility and $3.7 billion by Ford for new assembly plants in the industrial Midwest. The company Vinfast announced it will spend $5 billion on a battery factory in North Carolina that would create 13,000 jobs.
The address is part of a broader push by the White House to promote the climate package and make voters aware of how it will impact their everyday lives. Earlier this week, the administration launched its cleanenergy.gov website, a place consumers can go to see exactly what tax credits and rebates they can use to modernize their homes and transportation.
It provides a map to saving many thousands of dollars with new incentives that lower the cost of electric vehicles, solar panels, heat pumps and other efficient appliances. The site also outlines how the tax credits are helping ease the financial burden of individuals and families across the economic spectrum.
The Detroit address is also part of a White House push to make consumers more comfortable with EVs, assuring them that prices will come down and that charging stations will soon be more widely available. Only 5 percent of Americans currently drive EVs, and getting broader buy-in is crucial to the success of Biden’s plan for half of cars sold in the United States to be electric by 2030.
The White House is working toward a goal of locating chargers no farther than 50 miles apart for most drivers. The administration is also focusing on bringing costs down amid criticism that the new tax breaks for EV purchases favor affluent people who can afford to buy them.
The tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act aim to bring the prices of EVs closer to those of comparable gas-powered models, but there is still a significant price gap that is expected to persist for years.
The average price of an EV in the United States is $66,000, about $20,000 more than the average price of a regular car. Bringing prices down is challenging at a time of disrupted supply chains, when the computer chips and battery components needed to assemble the cars are in short supply. | 2022-09-14T15:53:24Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Biden in Detroit to tout his electric vehicle accomplishments - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/09/14/biden-detroit-electric-vehicles/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/09/14/biden-detroit-electric-vehicles/ |
A police search yielded no weapons and lockdown was lifted
Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, photographed in 2018, when a memorial of T-shirts was displayed for teenage victims of gun violence. (Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post)
Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School was placed on an hour-long lockdown Wednesday morning while police investigated a report that a student had pulled a gun on a classmate — a report that authorities have been unable to substantiate.
There was no gun seen or found on campus, according to police and school officials.
Police initially received information that a student had pulled out the gun, possibly in the bathroom, said Capt. Sean Gagen, commander of the Montgomery County Police Department’s Bethesda district. Officers raced to the school. “As of right now, our investigation indicates that no one saw a gun or weapon of any kind,” Gagen said.
Police also said that no gunshots were fired and no one was injured.
The school, which sits in the core of Bethesda near the intersection of Wisconsin Avenue and East-West Highway, was placed on lockdown at 10 a.m., according to school officials. The lockdown was downgraded to a shelter-in-place at 10:55 a.m.
Students were expected to be dismissed at noon, keeping with what was already a planned early dismissal day at the school, officials said. | 2022-09-14T16:14:50Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Bethesda-Chevy Chase High put on hour-long lockdown after gun scare - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/09/14/bcc-gun-scare-lockdown/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/09/14/bcc-gun-scare-lockdown/ |
Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan speaks alongside Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. before the House Appropriations Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee on March 7, 2019. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post)
First, she makes clear that the problem is undeniable. The public’s confidence in the court has cratered, and wide swaths of the public believe it is too partisan. Roberts would have us believe the public is simply reacting to a decision it does not like; Kagan scoffs at the suggestion. Something is very wrong, she acknowledges.
Second, she recognizes that there is no mass delusion underlying the public’s frustration with the court. Conservatives used to take responsibility for their actions, but that was before the MAGA era of victimhood in which all ills including their own debacles are blamed on “elites,” “liberal media” or “fake news.” Kagan understands there is a reason for the public’s repudiation of the Supreme Court, and that’s the court’s own conduct.
Third, she identifies the primary catalyst for the court’s present crisis: the gutting of precedent by the newest justices. The dissent in Dobbs made plain the absence of any objective rationale for dispensing with nearly 50 years of precedent on abortion rights. As she and Justices Stephen G. Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor wrote, “The Court reverses course today for one reason and one reason only: because the composition of this Court has changed.” They continued, “Stare decisis, this Court has often said, ‘contributes to the actual and perceived integrity of the judicial process’ by ensuring that decisions are ‘founded in the law rather than in the proclivities of individuals.’ … Today, the proclivities of individuals rule. The Court departs from its obligation to faithfully and impartially apply the law.”
The dissenters called the majority opinion for what it is: partisan hackery. “The majority has overruled Roe and Casey for one and only one reason: because it has always despised them, and now it has the votes to discard them,” they wrote. “The majority thereby substitutes a rule by judges for the rule of law.” The dissenters correctly predicted the firestorm the decision would unleash, and warned that the majority in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which refused to overrule Roe v. Wade, had it right. “The American public, they thought, should never conclude that its constitutional protections hung by a thread — that a new majority, adhering to a new ‘doctrinal school,’ could ‘by dint of numbers’ alone expunge their rights.” But, the dissent concluded, “It is hard — no, it is impossible — to conclude that anything else has happened here.”
Kagan went one step further on Monday, pointing out that there is a price to be paid for the attitude that Roe can go by the wayside simply because the right-wing justices have the votes. They may have the votes, but they cannot control the widespread revulsion when the court rips through precedent it dislikes. For if “we’ve got the votes” is the controlling sentiment, then it follows that the justices should be treated like politicians with binding ethics rules, term limits and greater transparency (on decisions to recuse themselves from cases, for example).
Dobbs is not the only reason for the court’s plunge in credibility. The right-wing justices’ rewriting of voting rights law (Brnovich v. DNC), their assault on the administrative state (West Virginia v. EPA), their inconsistent application of state power (New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen) and their thumb-on-the-scale treatment of the Establishment Clause (Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, Carson v. Makin) have all taken their toll. So has the majority’s manipulation of the shadow docket and partisan screeds by right-wing justices in public settings.
The only question now is whether justices will follow Roberts’s effort to dissemble and blame others or whether they will listen to Kagan’s call for the court to act, well, like a court. If the former, the court’s stature is bound to decline further.
Ask Amy: My parents never told me I was conceived through a sperm donor | 2022-09-14T16:27:54Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Elena Kagan to her colleagues: You’re why the Supreme Court has lost legitimacy - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/14/kagan-speech-supreme-court-legitimacy-roberts/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/14/kagan-speech-supreme-court-legitimacy-roberts/ |
(Glenn Ligon; courtesy of the artist, Hauser & Wirth, New York, Regen Projects, Los Angeles, Thomas Dane Gallery, London, and Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris)
A painting that aims to frustrate you
With stencils and oil sticks, Glenn Ligon asks questions about visibility — and our ability to read one another
This painting, so like a weathered tombstone, is not hard to see but is very hard to read.
Glenn Ligon’s “White #15” was painted, but it was also written. Starting at the top left and finishing at the bottom right, Ligon used a plastic letter stencil and an oily paint stick to stencil words, one letter at a time, onto the canvas. He repeated the process until the letters became so dark and dense that our desire to read them is frustrated.
Even when I magnify a cellphone photo I took of this painting, which is at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, Conn., I can make out only fragments of sentences: “invisibility of whiteness,” for instance, and “it seemed a fascinating paradox.” But I find I’m drawn in by the oily matte-and-glossy textures, by the pattern made by the rows of black-on-black typeface, and by the work’s weird passive-aggressive intensity.
Born in New York in 1960, Ligon is a cerebral artist who nonetheless loves the materiality of paint. He is known for pitching well-known and often timeless-seeming texts — Ralph Ellison’s 1952 novel, “Invisible Man,” for example, or James Baldwin’s 1953 essay “Stranger in the Village” — into an immediate, physical present where their meanings become more and more elusive.
The text at the bottom of this work, which is part of a series, is from “Invisible Man.” But the words above it are from “White: Essays on Race and Culture,” a 1997 book by Richard Dyer. Dyer wrote his book in the belief that if White people are not seen in racial terms, they “function as a human norm. Other people are raced, we [White people] are just people.”
Obviously, there is power in being regarded as a norm, which could be seen as the power of invisibility. As Ligon himself once said (paraphrasing Dyer), “Things that seem normal are very difficult to see, but … things that seem special or different seem glaringly visible.”
I don’t know why Ligon presents us with texts that appear contradictory (Ellison’s “Invisible Man” is about a Black man’s invisibility, while Dyer writes about the invisibility of Whiteness). But I’m drawn in by the contradiction and by my desire to resolve it. By making me struggle to read the words he has so laboriously applied, Ligon makes laboriousness and struggle part of the work’s meaning.
But he also impedes meaning itself — and in the process, perhaps, removes some of the luster from what Baldwin called “the jewel” of my “naivete.” After all, is it not naive to think that artworks can be “solved,” as if they were equations or riddles?
White #15, 1994
Glenn Ligon (b. 1960). In the collection of the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art. | 2022-09-14T16:28:06Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Perspective | Glenn Ligon's 'White #15,' at the Wadsworth, aims to frustrate you - Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/interactive/2022/glenn-ligon-white-15/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/interactive/2022/glenn-ligon-white-15/ |
New Hampshire Shows GOP Isn’t Learning the Right Lessons
DOVER, NH - SEPTEMBER 10: Incumbent Democratic Senate candidate, U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) speaks during a campaign canvas kickoff event on September 10, 2022 in Dover, New Hampshire. Hassan is running for Senate reelection this year in New Hampshire and her Republican opponent will be chosen in the upcoming GOP primary. (Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images) (Photographer: Scott Eisen/Getty Images North America)
Republican Party dysfunction was on display in New Hampshire Tuesday. Democratic Senator Maggie Hassan and both the state’s House Democrats were considered highly vulnerable this year. So what did Republicans do, in this state that has voted for Democrats for president five times in a row and defeated Donald Trump by seven percentage points in 2020?
They rejected the kinds of relatively moderate Republicans who historically have been popular in the state. Instead, in all three contested seats, they chose Trump-aligned candidates.
It’s still possible that one or more of these candidates will win in the general election in November. But you can be sure that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi slept easier, while Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy are looking for walls to bang their heads against.
Cook Political Report Senate expert Jessica Taylor declared that Hassan might be “the luckiest Dem out there this cycle,” while Cook’s David Wasserman said that one of the House seats would move from the “toss-up” column to to “lean D.”
Political scientist Matt Glassman wondered how the Republican Party will interpret the results:
Will the post-mortem collective GOP understanding of a mid-term that misses expectations be more likely to blame Trump or Dobbs?
My gut is Trump (via bad candidates), but I really don’t know.
It’s a great question because it gets to the core of how democracy actually works. When parties lose elections, they normally try to learn useful lessons in order to do better next time. After Democrats were stunned when Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in 2016, they concluded that they needed a more electable candidate. While there wasn’t a consensus on what that meant, Democrats wound up deciding that Joe Biden fit the bill.
Political parties are reluctant to conclude that their ideas are just plain unpopular, but it sometimes happens. After the Republican landslide in the 1994 midterms, Democrats decided that their advocacy for gun control was at fault, and until well into Barack Obama’s presidency even those who supported restrictions tended to downplay the issue.
That’s what normal parties do. They don’t necessarily diagnose the situation correctly (they were almost certainly wrong about guns in 1994), but the mechanism is a healthy one: Lose, and attempt to adjust. All other things being equal, in a two-party system there is a strong incentive for the system to attempt to keep voters happy. That’s good!
Which brings us back to the Republicans and 2022. We don’t know how things will end up, but there is a good chance that even if the GOP does win majorities in both chambers of Congress they will still underperform compared with the margins they could have secured. There is every possibility that they’re going to fall far short of the expectations they themselves had at the start of this cycle.
My immediate response to Glassman’s tweet was that the Republicans won’t blame a disappointing showing in November on either Trump for helping nominate weak candidates or the Supreme Court’s decision on abortion. Instead, they will blame Mitch McConnell for cooperating too much with Senate Democrats. (Senate Republicans did support several bills that passed, but they still used whatever tools they had to obstruct the bulk of the Democratic agenda, sometimes successfully and sometimes failing because they just didn’t have the votes.)
But the scarier possibility is that many Republicans will learn nothing from defeat because they will simply assume that they were cheated.
Most of the focus on Donald Trump’s continued lies about the 2020 contest have to do with his active attempts to subvert the election and overturn the results. Understandably so. The republic depends on the peaceful transition of power, which requires the losing side to accept that it really lost. We saw the consequences on Jan. 6 and in the events surrounding the riot at the Capitol, from Election Day all the way through Biden’s inauguration and beyond.
But there is a secondary effect, which is that a party that refuses to believe it lost isn’t going to reconsider its policies or make other changes — except, perhaps, to try harder to eliminate fictional fraud (which, in reality, winds up being a push to disenfranchise those who support the other party). Republicans, after all, lost the popular vote for president in 1992, in 1996, in 2000, in 2008, in 2012, in 2016, and in 2020.(1) And yet there is little sign that they are taking steps to attract more voters.
Then there’s Trump: An Electoral College winner despite losing the popular vote in 2016, he went on to be unpopular throughout his presidency, which ended with a solid defeat and with Democrats having gained both chambers of Congress. Not to mention that he is facing all sorts of legal troubles. And yet he is still influential within the party, with candidates desperate for his endorsement who constantly invoke his name in primary contests. This may work out fine for candidates seeking nominations, but for the party in general elections it seems … suboptimal.
If Republican party actors convince themselves despite all evidence that Trump is actually popular and won easily in 2020, then why should they change? And if those who are aware of the truth are afraid to say it … well, they aren’t going to help the party get over dysfunction, either.
So it’s really no surprise that House Republican candidates are moving further to extremes, both in policy preferences and, more dangerously, in radicalism and refusal to compromise. No surprise — but a great threat to a properly functioning democracy.
Liz Truss Has Stolen the Labour Party’s Thunder: Therese Raphael
Right-Wing Parties Are Selling Out Across Europe, Too: Pankaj Mishra
(1) This can be overstated; after all, 2000 was really a tie, and there’s a case to be made that had Democrats held the White House in 2000 or 2016 they may well have been defeated soon after. Winning more than three consecutive presidential elections is historically rare, after all. And of course the goal is to win the Electoral College, not the most overall votes. Still, losing any kind of vote plurality in seven of eight presidential elections is still something one might suspect a political party would take note of. | 2022-09-14T16:28:13Z | www.washingtonpost.com | New Hampshire Shows GOP Isn’t Learning the Right Lessons - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/new-hampshire-shows-gop-isnt-learning-the-right-lessons/2022/09/14/b32f7f6c-3445-11ed-a0d6-415299bfebd5_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/new-hampshire-shows-gop-isnt-learning-the-right-lessons/2022/09/14/b32f7f6c-3445-11ed-a0d6-415299bfebd5_story.html |
"Self-portrait, Paris, 1993" (Painted contact 1995). (William Klein/Polka Galerie)
William Klein, a giant in the world of photography, died on Sept. 10 at the age of 96. Throughout his prodigious career, he worked in a staggering number of genres, including painting, graphic design, street photography, fashion photography, documentary film, fiction film and books. But he will perhaps be best known for the boisterous, bold and provocative work he made on the streets of New York, Paris, Rome, Moscow and Tokyo.
Klein was born and grew up in Manhattan, the son of European working-class immigrants. As a boy, he loved books, reading voraciously. He was also an early art enthusiast, spending large swaths of time hanging out in Manhattan’s art museums, including MOMA. He graduated high school at age 14 and went on to study sociology at the City College of New York.
College turned out to be less enthralling for Klein, and he dropped out a year before graduation and joined the Army, where he would go on to serve in Germany and France. After being discharged in 1948, he decided to stay overseas, in Paris. While there, he studied at the Sorbonne and briefly studied painting with Fernand Léger.
Around this time, Klein discovered photography and became enamored with the medium’s possibilities. He would experiment with exposure, blur and composition to come up with a style reminiscent of the abstract art he had studied in his forays into painting.
After spending eight years in Paris, Klein was lured back to the United States by Alexander Liberman, art director of Vogue. Once back in the United States, specifically New York, Klein immersed himself in the teeming life of the streets and would eventually produce the images that would populate his first book, “Life is Good and Good for You in New York.” Despite the fact that no U.S. publishers would touch the volume, it would go on to become one of the most influential photo books.
I first came across Klein’s work after a professor introduced him to me in graduate school. At the time, I was slowly learning the basic building blocks of photographic storytelling. Klein’s work, although made decades before I encountered it, was like a slap in the face — in a good way. It was so bold and in your face. It was the photographic equivalent of a take-no-prisoners attitude. Klein had zero compunction about making work that at times really pulled back the veil on the crassness of life.
Klein would actually end up finding a more open audience in Europe rather than the United States. That doesn’t surprise me, for as long as I’ve been attuned to the photographic world, the United States has always felt a bit more restrained — less welcoming to personal perspective and artistic expression. At least that has been my experience working in photojournalism. I can’t really comment on the art world.
Anyway, Klein didn’t always find the United States receptive to his work, and so he mostly showed it overseas. Recently, a landmark exhibition of his work was held at New York’s International Center of Photography (and has actually been extended to Thursday). The exhibit is curated by David Campany and is, according to a news release, “the first U.S. exhibition devoted to Klein’s work in more than a generation.” Speaking of Klein’s work, Campany said:
“For a long time, Klein was known as either a fashion photographer or a street photographer or a filmmaker, as different audiences knew and valued different aspects of his work. Only in recent years has the scope of his achievements begun to be recognized. … Versatility runs against the idea that artistic significance is based on single themes and recurring preoccupations. But artists like Klein, who ranged freely and avoided specialism, are key to understanding the culture of the last century.”
Campany worked with Klein for over a decade to “bring together the diverse strands of Klein’s global practice in painting, graphic design, street photography, fashion photography, documentary film, fiction film, and books.” In addition to the exhibit, the work will be published in a book titled “William Klein: Yes,” which is slated for a 2023 release. This will be an extraordinarily welcome publication, as all of Klein’s work is very expensive. Hopefully, the book will bring his work to an ever broader audience, and it can go on to inspire even more generations. | 2022-09-14T16:29:08Z | www.washingtonpost.com | William Klein photos - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/photography/2022/09/14/remembering-explosively-inventive-work-photography-legend/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/photography/2022/09/14/remembering-explosively-inventive-work-photography-legend/ |
A military procession taking Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall began on Wednesday, with large crowds gathered along the route in honor of the late monarch. It is the latest leg of a 500-mile ceremonial journey that takes the British monarch from Scotland, where she died, through London, and to her final resting place in Windsor, just outside the capital.
People gathered for hours for a chance to catch a glimpse.
Jenny Gillesie, 65, of Oxfordshire, England smiles as she waits for the procession to start. She is a retired nurse in the Air Force and traveled to London yesterday to witness the coffin arriving at Buckingham Palace.
Chris Imafidon, of Essex, waited all night in the rain. He said he wanted to be in the first group to say thank you and goodbye.
People lined up behind barricades near Westminster Hall.
Andrew Israels-Swenson, 55, of Morris, Minnesota, right, was number 19 in line and the first American in the line. He is giving a hug to Sarah Langley, 55, of North London who was 4th in line. His mother is British and she wanted him to go and witness the funeral.
Before the streets were closed for the procession, commuters crossed in front of Westminster Hall.
Grace Gothard, of London, smiles after getting her wristband for the viewing. She was third in line.
On the other side of the River Thames from Westminster Hall, people started waiting in line on Tuesday to be in the first group for the viewing.
Brian Flatman, 85, of West London, was the 39th person in line. He said he was cold and wet during the rainy night, but someone lent him a sleeping bag.
Ewa MacGibbon, center, of London, wipes a tear from her eye as she watches the procession on a large screen in Hyde Park.
Wren Mahy, 9, of Rayleigh, rests her head on the shoulder of her mother, Kate Mahy, 40, as she cries.
A large crowd gathered in Hyde Park to watch the procession of Queen Elizabeth II’s casket from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall on a large screen.
A woman reacts during the event.
A flag of the Queen is pictured in the crowd.
A large crowd of people gathered in Hyde Park to watch the procession of Queen Elizabeth II’s casket.
Sharon Sinclair Okpaire, 61, of Crawley, watches the procession on a large screen. | 2022-09-14T16:29:15Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Crowds pay tribute as Queen Elizabeth's coffin arrives at Westminster Hall - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/photography/interactive/2022/queen-elizabeth-death-crowds-tribute/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/photography/interactive/2022/queen-elizabeth-death-crowds-tribute/ |
No one wants to be in the middle
Benét J. Wilson isn’t sure what makes her a magnet for seat-swapping requests.
“I don’t know if I have that face that people think I will just do it,” said the longtime aviation journalist and aisle seat aficionado. “But it’s ridiculous. It’s almost become comical.”
Some people want to sit with a spouse or friend. Some are trying to stay close to children. Others just don’t want a middle seat. As someone who uses her frequent flier status — or pays extra — to choose a seat near the front Wilson is typically unmoved.
Unless it’s a parent-and-child situation, “because I’ve been there and done that,” Wilson said, her answer is a short and simple “no.”
“I’m sure there are good reasons, but in the end that’s not my problem,” she said.
No, I will not switch airplane seats with you
The scenario can become a problem, or at least a major annoyance. Social media posts and news accounts frequently provide examples of cheeky seat-swapping requests and rude responses — or completely reasonable requests and understandable responses, depending on whose side you take.
“It’s a stressful situation for everyone involved in the actual switch and everyone seated around the people trying to make the switch and the crew,” said Bobby Laurie, a former flight attendant and host of the syndicated travel talk show “The Jet Set.”
An Irish model and TV personality made headlines in August after using profanity on her podcast to describe a man who initially didn’t want to trade so her family could be together after she booked a wrong seat. In response, Daily Mail columnist Jaci Stephen wrote that she always refuses to give up her seat for families.
“Here’s the simple fact: if you want to travel as a family or in a group, book your seats together beforehand,” she wrote. “Your incompetency in failing to do so is no one else’s responsibility and you should certainly not be making others feel uncomfortable when they want to stick to their probably well organized plans.”
I just watched a man agree to switch his aisle seat for a middle seat on this plane and now I'm mad on his behalf.
— NJ's Glen Tickle (@glentickle) July 28, 2022
At least three Reddit threads this year, most recently in early September, have explored the question of whether a passenger was in the wrong because they wouldn’t change seats for families. (They were all validated.)
When it’s appropriate to ask
Etiquette expert Jacqueline Whitmore, founder of the Protocol School of Palm Beach and a former flight attendant, said an acceptable reason to ask for a swap is if a traveler is separated from someone who depends on them for care.
“Unless you have a minor child or perhaps even an elderly parent or someone you’re caring for that needs some special attention … I really don’t see where it’s mandatory or where you should ask to be moved,” she said.
“As a family you have to accept that maybe you’re not going to sit together because those people who have paid for those seats don’t want to give them up,” Whitmore said.
“You go to the gate, say, ‘This is the situation, is there anything you can do to help us out?’” she said. “When you wait until you’re on the plane, it puts everybody in a precarious position.”
Many fliers who responded to a Washington Post query on Twitter say they usually try to accommodate a family with kids — though some included the caveat that they would not move from the front to the back of the plane or switch to a middle seat. The U.S. Transportation Department issued a notice to airlines in July urging them “to do everything in their power to ensure that children who are age 13 or younger are seated next to an accompanying adult with no additional charge.”
“I was like, ‘Oh my God, I cannot in good conscience allow this guy to be crammed into the middle seat for 3½ hours,’” she said.
Several optimistic travelers said they would happily abandon their economy seat for one in business class or first class. Some fliers said it would be no big deal to make an even trade — aisle for aisle, window for window — in the same section, as long as they were flying solo that day.
“I guess it’s always okay to ask, but it’s never okay to be mad if someone says no,” Laurie said.
To allow families with young children or the elderly or immobile to sit together, sure. But now that you have to pay extra for any seat that's not in the last/lav row, that family better be SUPER cute and buy me a drink as thanks.
— Joshua Crouthamel (@JoshOnTheBus) September 13, 2022
When it’s just rude
No one should expect another passenger to give up their window or aisle for a dreaded middle seat; don’t even think about asking.
Asking someone to leave the front of the plane for the back is another hard sell. A nearly impossible mission: swapping a free seat in the main cabin for any selection that required a surcharge — especially one with extra legroom or in a higher fare category. And don’t expect another passenger to leave their group so you can be with yours.
Laurie said no one should expect the answer to their request will be “yes.”
“If you go in with that assumption, you go in kind of with that attitude that you deserve it and that person needs to give it to you,” he said. “That’s not a polite way of asking someone to give up what they planned for or what they were expecting.”
The worst approach, Whitmore said, is to preemptively sit in a seat that doesn’t belong to you.
“People make mistakes all the time, but if you intentionally sit in someone else’s seat, that’s wrong — that’s rude,” she said. “Then the flight attendant has to get involved. Then the flight attendant has to make you go back to your original seat. It’s causing delays.”
The illustrated encyclopedia of airport people
She said people who don’t plan their seat selection have to be prepared to either sit apart from each other, arrive early to talk to a gate agent or pay for an upgrade when they get to the airport.
Still, experts agree there may be circumstances when travelers are split up for reasons that don’t amount to cheap behavior or careless planning. Maybe they booked last-minute because of an emergency, or perhaps they were rebooked on a plane with a different layout after a cancellation and lost the seats they chose. Sometimes passengers don’t realize they booked the most restrictive fare that doesn’t allow for seat selection or guarantee all members of a party sit together.
“You don’t know if they’re going on vacation, you don’t know if they’re going to a funeral, you don’t know if they’re going to a wedding,” Laurie said. “It’s always best to just remember that we’re all in this together, we should all treat everybody the way you want to be treated.”
I beg y’all, stop asking people to switch seats with you on a plane and just pay extra to pick your seat if it’s that serious to sit next to your person🙄🙃
— Indy (@MsIndyBabii) July 4, 2022
How to ask — if you must
“Lead with the fact that you know it would be an inconvenience on the person you’re asking, understanding the position you’re putting them in,” he said.
He said it’s also okay to ask for a flight attendant to facilitate if the request is being made on the plane; they can sometimes help make the decision easier if the need to swap is extreme.
Laurie said on one United flight when he was asked to change seats, he was offered a $25 credit. He swapped. Other travelers told The Post on Twitter that they had agreed to switch and then got upgraded or were given free drinks or food for their good deed.
Gary Leff, author of the travel blog View from the Wing, said on Twitter that “good trade bait” was important.
“Don’t expect to trade a middle seat in back for an extra legroom aisle,” he wrote. “Offer a compelling reason. Ask nicely. Offer cash or gift cards.” | 2022-09-14T16:31:05Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Should you ask to switch seats? The great airplane debate. - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2022/09/14/switch-seats-flight-debate/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2022/09/14/switch-seats-flight-debate/ |
Republicans push Congressional intervention if rail talks fail
Labor Secretary Marty Walsh convenes negotiators in Washington to resolve impasse that could devastate nation’s transportation capacity
President Joe Biden stands with Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh before speaking at a United Steelworkers of America Labor Day event in West Mifflin, Pa., just outside Pittsburgh, Monday Sept. 5, 2022. (AP Photo/Rebecca Droke)
Sens. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Richard Burr (R-N.C.) have introduced legislation that would force both sides to accept the contract recommendations made last month by a nonpartisan panel appointed by President Biden. The unions have rejected those recommendations because they do not address workers’ fury over company penalties for missing time due to illness or family emergencies.
Republicans said they still prefer a voluntary deal between unions and railroads over a congressional intervention. The legislation would not codify the board’s recommendations until the deadline is reached on Friday.
Seeking to resolve the impasse, Labor Secretary Marty Walsh is hosting emerging meetings of the rail carriers and unions in Washington on Wednesday. But should those talks fail, Republicans are prepared to advance legislation that would force workers to accept the board’s recommendations. On Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said that he supports adoption of the board’s recommendations and called on the president to do so the same.
Biden aides have sought to resolve the conflict between the rail carriers and unions to avert the possibility of one of the most disruptive strikes in recent U.S. history. The deadline to reach an agreement is after midnight on Friday, when workers could strike or employers could impose a lockout that prevents employees from doing their jobs.
The stakes of the talks are high for the Biden administration, which is desperate to ensure America’s trains keep running but also does not want to undermine the demands of union workers. Walsh, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack have been in frequent communication with both sides of negotiations, and Biden has also personally called the unions and carriers to urge a deal.
Labor Department officials said in a statement that the “hands-on effort” would be held at the department’s offices in Washington, D.C. The remaining issues under dispute revolve around points-based attendance policies for conductors and engineers that penalize them for going to routine doctor visitors or responding to family medical emergencies. The two largest and politically powerful railway unions have said their members would not ratify a contract that does not address this issue, and so far the railroads have not made any movement on the matter. It is unclear how Walsh or the administration plans to untangle the difficult impasse.
The congressional jockeying comes amid a new poll that suggests most workers of one of the biggest railroad unions are prepared to reject the deal under consideration. A poll by SMART-TED, one of the biggest railroad unions, found that 78 percent of workers would reject the proposed settlement.
“I know for sure with covid out there nobody is even testing themselves because they don’t want to lose points,” said Jordan Boone, 41, a BNSF conductor in Galesburg, Illinois, and member of SMART-TED. “I have five kids, and I’ve always missed the kids’ soccer and baseball games and cheerleading, but the new attendance policies make it impossible to go to anything.”
Still, political pressure is mounting on Democrats to agree to end the standoff. White House aides have in recent days examined the potentially drastic impacts to the nation’s drinking water and energy supplies that could come from a shutdown.
“If it’s a day or two, it may not be that big a deal. If this went on for a week or two week, you’d see shortages of all sorts of things,” said Dean Baker, a White House ally and co-founder of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a left-leaning think tank. “You’re going to have erratic shortfalls — they’re trying hard to do this but it’s really hard to do on the fly. It’s not like they’ve been planning this for years.” | 2022-09-14T16:31:11Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Republicans push Congress to intervene if talks fail to stop freight rail strike - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2022/09/14/congress-freight-rail-strike/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2022/09/14/congress-freight-rail-strike/ |
Karoline Leavitt, a Republican candidate for the U.S. House, greets audience members during a Get Out the Vote Rally with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) on Sept. 8 in Londonderry, N.H. (Brian Snyder/Reuters)
Karoline Leavitt, a 25-year-old former Trump White House staffer who embraced the former president’s baseless claims of a stolen election, won the Republican primary Tuesday for New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District, according to the Associated Press.
Leavitt became the second Gen Z candidate to win a congressional primary this year and will face Rep. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.) in the general election, for a seat that Republicans see as one of their best opportunities to flip in their bid to regain the House majority.
In her victory speech Tuesday night, Leavitt attacked both Democrats and the Washington “establishment,” recalling how she had started her campaign with no name recognition, no money and little chance of defeating Republican Matt Mowers, who ran against Pappas in 2020 but lost by five percentage points.
“The media, the Washington establishment and the Democrats certainly counted us out,” Leavitt said. “They said I was too young, we could never raise the money to compete, and that we could never beat a former Republican nominee.”
Mowers, 33, who worked on Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign before joining his administration, also campaigned on his youth, vowing to bring “a new generation of conservative leadership to Washington.” Nevertheless, Leavitt attacked him as someone who had been the GOP establishment’s “handpicked puppet.”
With 95 percent of the votes counted, Leavitt had about 35 percent of the vote to Mowers’s 25 percent. Gail Huff Brown, a broadcast journalist, came in third with about 18 percent of the vote. About half a dozen other candidates in the crowded race trailed them.
The bitter primary campaign between Leavitt and Mowers divided GOP leadership. Mowers was endorsed by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) as a “tough and tested conservative,” as well as by House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) and Matt Schlapp, the chair of the Conservative Political Action Coalition. Leavitt, the former communications director for Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), was backed by the House GOP conference chairwoman and by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), who joined her for a campaign rally last week.
“I was proud to support Karoline early on in her race — no one knows more than I do that you should NEVER underestimate a young, hardworking conservative woman,” Stefanik said in a statement.
Both Leavitt and Mowers proudly advertised their experience in the Trump administration — she as a former White House assistant press secretary and he as a senior White House adviser in the State Department — but differed when it came to parroting Trump’s false claim that the 2020 presidential election was rigged. Leavitt wholeheartedly embraced it, saying she believed it was Trump who had won, while Mowers expressed “concerns” about the 2020 election but acknowledged President Biden “got the most votes.”
Trump did not endorse either candidate in the primary race but was quick to tout Leavitt’s win on Wednesday.
“Amazing job by Karoline Leavitt in her great New Hampshire victory,” Trump said in a post to his social media platform. “Against all odds, she did it — and will have an even greater victory on November 8th. Wonderful energy and wisdom!!!”
Leavitt has cast herself as a “homegrown” New Hampshire native from a “small business family” in Rockingham County. She attended Saint Anselm College in the state before landing a job in the Trump White House press shop. There, in her words, she “fought against the biased mainstream media, and proudly helped message President Trump’s America First agenda.” Throughout her campaign, Leavitt similarly embraced the rhetoric of hard-right Republicans and called Trump “the greatest president in the history of my life.”
“Everywhere you look, conservatives, myself included, are being censored and silenced,” she declared in one campaign ad. “And our freedoms to speak freely, think independently, bear arms, go to church and operate our own businesses are being infringed by radical Democrats.”
If Leavitt defeats Pappas, she would be the youngest woman ever elected to Congress, where members must be at least 25 years old. Her age was a target for her opponents and critics — including Defending Main Street, a super PAC that supports moderate Republicans, which launched an ad that featured a clip of Leavitt recording herself saying, “Listen up, hoe bags” and cracking up.
“She’s just a woke Gen Zer,” a narrator in the ad says. "... [who] wants to bring her generation’s new vision to Congress. You know, mooching off her parents, running up huge credit card debt. Woke, immature and irresponsible.”
Defending Main Street spent more than $1.2 million to attack Leavitt, while the McCarthy-aligned Congressional Leadership Fund super PAC spent more than $1.3 million boosting Mowers, according to the New York Times.
“Team Karoline may have been outspent, but we were NOT outworked,” Leavitt said Wednesday. “We won this election by pounding the pavement, knocking thousands of doors, meeting voters face to face and focusing on the issues that matter to our state.”
Colby Itkowitz and David Weigel contributed to this report.
This just in: Election denier Bolduc wins GOP Senate nomination in N.H. | 2022-09-14T16:49:41Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Who is Karoline Leavitt, GOP nominee for N.H. House seat? - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/14/leavitt-new-hampshire-republicans-trump/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/14/leavitt-new-hampshire-republicans-trump/ |
Locals get humanitarian aid in the recently recaptured city of Balakliia in Kharkiv's area, Ukraine. The Ukrainian army pushed Russian troops from occupied territory in the northeast of the country in a counterattack. (Sergey Kozlov/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
Republican senators are urging the Biden administration to move more quickly to spend funds authorized to blunt the global toll of the war in Ukraine, singling out the delivery of U.S. humanitarian aid as a major bottleneck.
Nine senators, including the ranking Republicans on the chamber’s Foreign Relations and Judiciary committees, urged the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to spend humanitarian aid funds totaling $7 billion allocated in two aid packages related to the war in Ukraine.
Seeking to assist Kyiv following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Feb. 24 invasion and mitigate the global effects of the war, Congress has passed several large packages, including funds for defense, trade and humanitarian activities, in part directed at helping refugees and stanching widespread food insecurity.
“We are worried … that the American people’s generosity is not being properly and swiftly used to help Ukraine,” the senators said in a Sept. 9 letter to USAID Administrator Samantha Power. “These extraordinary Congressional appropriations must be quickly and effectively mobilized to address the unfolding crisis.”
The letter said that as of this month USAID had allocated 73 percent of the first aid package toward specific activities or items, and 50 percent of the second, leaving nearly $3 billion unallocated.
The lawmakers, led by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), say that USAID has relied too heavily on the United Nations to deliver needed aid, and cited a staffing shortfall in USAID’s Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance, which they said had “the equivalent of four and a half full-time contracting officers overseeing billions of taxpayer dollars.”
They said requests for USAID to work through a more diversified group of aid organizations and accelerate food aid deliveries had not been adequately answered.
After the conflict erupted, Russia’s blockade of Ukrainian grain exports and spiraling inflation intensified food insecurity worldwide, with particular problems in places including the Horn of Africa. A Turkish-brokered deal to resume grain exports in July has provided some relief.
On Tuesday, a USAID spokesperson, speaking on the condition of anonymity under rules set by the agency, said the United States had provided almost $7.6 billion in global food security aid since the war began and was working to distribute a major “scale up” of aid levels in recent months.
The spokesperson said that USAID had decided to hold back some money into 2023 to ensure continued funding and make sure that, if additional supplemental funds are not provided again, the agency has the resources to help those in need.
“This will be a long-term crisis,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “We have to be prudent in our planning to ensure that we have enough funding to address emergency needs over at least the next six months.”
The lawmakers requested that USAID provide a detailed plan for spending the remaining money, asking that no more than a quarter of funds allotted for Ukraine be held over for the subsequent year. They also asked USAID for a staffing plan for contracting officers to match workloads to their staff. | 2022-09-14T17:11:28Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Republican senators push for faster spending of Ukraine funds - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/09/14/ukraine-aid/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/09/14/ukraine-aid/ |
Post Elizabeth: The secret to the queen’s global appeal; final procession from the palace
Grace Gothard on Sept. 14 in London. (Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post)
LONDON — Britain has lost its queen, but the world has lost the queen. The first three people in line to file past Elizabeth II’s coffin when lying in state begins Wednesday evening at Westminster Hall are from Ghana, Wales and Sri Lanka. As they view the flowers piling up in Green Park, tourists from Egypt and Northern Ireland are discussing royal nicknames (remember when Camilla was dubbed “the Rottweiler”?). Some 4 billion people are expected to watch the funeral Monday.
How did the queen stir such affection across the globe? The secret was partly in her silence. By never betraying her opinions, she allowed people to project onto her whatever they wished her to be. This also enabled people to feel a personal connection to someone they had never met.
Palace procession: The queen’s four children, several of her grandchildren and some members of staff followed her coffin as it processed through central London on Wednesday. Crowds lined the streets but maintained respectful silence; Heathrow, one of the world’s busiest airports, even disrupted some flights to minimize noise. Yes, Princes William and Harry walked side by side. The spectacle radiated duty and service.
Thanks, Mum: Princess Anne is not given to public emotion. She is a no-nonsense former Olympian who routinely carried out more official duties than the rest of the royals. She has been front and center lately, riding in the procession of her mother’s coffin across Scotland and then accompanying it back to England.
Royal social media accounts on Tuesday shared a poignant statement from Anne along with a photo of her and the queen — taken by Annie Leibovitz to mark the monarch’s 90th birthday — that’s striking for its mix of opulence and normalcy: A mother and daughter, casually together, in a gilded palace.
Beast vs. bus: Foreign leaders invited to the queen’s funeral have been asked to avoid complicating the logistical and security migraine that is arranging the service and accommodating hundreds of dignitaries amid ginormous crowds. Some requests: fly commercial, arrive the day before, keep entourages small. Oh, and share buses to Westminster Abbey. But security concerns are likely to allow President Biden to bring his armored vehicle, known as “the Beast.”
Symbolism explained: A guide to the Royal Standard (hint: looks like a flag), crown and other regalia you’re seeing.
“ ‘The British really don’t get free speech in the way that Americans do,’ ” a civil rights attorney told The Post about arrests of anti-monarchists. Takeaways from reporter Annabelle Timsit’s story: Although #NotMyKing has trended on social media, only a few incidents are known to have led to detentions. A few laws could be at issue, including the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act of 2022 (which has been criticized for its restrictions on protests) and the Treason Felony Act of 1848. “Detaining people for shouting republican slogans, even if they do so in a deliberately coarse and provocative way, is utterly un-British,” said one member of the House of Lords.
How rich was the queen, and who inherits what? Reporter Adam Taylor runs through these and other FAQs on the Windsors’ wealth. Note: The queen’s will is likely to be sealed for several decades. So a lot of specifics just won’t be known for a while. Among the things we do know: Under a 1993 agreement, “neither Charles nor his siblings will have to pay inheritance tax on whatever assets are passed down from their mother,” Taylor writes.
Britain's King Charles III appeared to be frustrated by a leaking pen during a visit to Northern Ireland's Hillsborough Castle on Sept. 13. (Video: Reuters)
Department of ink-credible mishaps: This watches like a “Saturday Night Live” skit, but it’s a video of what might have been a minor mishap — the new king’s frustration with a leaky pen — until it went viral. For context: This was Charles’s second incident in a week with writing instruments, and he apparently signed the wrong date on one document. Social media split over whether we’re seeing a coddled man’s tantrum or a grieving son with heavy new burdens. Less eye-catching but worth your notice: how Camilla kept calm and cool. That’s her role in their relationship.
A new approach to Defender of the Faith? “While public assertions of faith are second nature — if not required — for U.S. leaders, they are unusual in Britain, a highly secular nation,” write Kevin Sullivan and Michelle Boorstein. Whereas Elizabeth II was explicit about her Christian faith, the new king is expected to bring a broader vision of religion and spirituality to his roles as Defender of the Faith and Supreme Governor of the Church of England.
The queen embodied white supremacy and inequality for many Black Americans, especially those hailing from countries that had been ruled by the British monarchy, write Emmanuel Felton and Meena Venkataramanan. This sparked nuanced emotions amid a global outpouring of grief. “Even those who admired Elizabeth understood the impulse of the Black women who took to social media to express their disdain for the ruler of a monarchy that had oppressed millions, a stance that earned many of them scorn.”
The official account of Prince William and his wife, Catherine (@princeandprincessofwales), shared this from Wednesday’s procession. | 2022-09-14T17:20:11Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Post Elizabeth newsletter: The queen’s global appeal; how royal finances work - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/14/post-elizabeth-newsletter-queen-global-appeal-finances/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/14/post-elizabeth-newsletter-queen-global-appeal-finances/ |
Special counsel John Durham, the prosecutor appointed to investigate potential government wrongdoing in the early days of the Trump-Russia probe, arrives at the E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse on May 16 in Washington. (Evan Vucci/AP)
The first independent assessment of the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election came from the Justice Department’s inspector general. In December 2019, the office of Michael Horowitz published a lengthy report detailing its findings after digging into the probe. The short version? There was sufficient, valid reason for the FBI to open a probe centered on Russia’s efforts to influence the election and possible contacts with Donald Trump’s campaign.
“We did not find documentary or testimonial evidence that political bias or improper motivation influenced the decisions to open the four individual investigations,” the report read, referring to investigations of four people linked to Trump’s campaign. What’s more, the information provided by a “friendly foreign government” — Australia — that triggered the FBI probe was sufficient to do so.
The report was unquestionably critical at times, including in how the department handled a dossier of reports compiled by former British intelligence official Christopher Steele. But it was also unquestionable in how it dismantled Trump’s suggestions that the whole thing was contrived to take him down.
And yet! In April of that same year, newly appointed Attorney General William P. Barr had pointedly framed the ultimate results of that probe — the report from special counsel Robert S. Mueller III — as innocuous, waving away the myriad links between Trump’s campaign and Russian actors. When Horowitz’s assessment of the origins of the probe dropped, Barr once again tried to contextualize it in a manner favorable to his and Trump’s shared assessment of the Russia probe.
“The Inspector General’s report now makes clear that the FBI launched an intrusive investigation of a U.S. presidential campaign on the thinnest of suspicions,” Barr wrote in a statement, “that, in my view, were insufficient to justify the steps taken.”
“In my view.” A pointed and revealing inclusion. It was Barr’s view that the thing was a setup and he was not going to be dissuaded from that view by the inspector general’s report. He was going to see for himself, having assigned U.S. Attorney John Durham the task of casting a skeptical eye on the whole thing back in May. Durham released a statement about the inspector general’s report, too, in fact.
“Based on the evidence collected to date, and while our investigation is ongoing,” he wrote, “last month we advised the Inspector General that we do not agree with some of the report’s conclusions as to predication and how the FBI case was opened.”
Boom. The book was not yet closed. More to come.
But … there wasn’t. At least, not much. Durham and Barr literally traveled the world seeking to dig up evidence that the FBI probe was a function of anti-Trump bias. Instead, Durham’s central success has been getting a guilty plea from an FBI attorney for having altered an email as the bureau sought a warrant to surveil a former Trump campaign staffer. He also obtained an indictment against one of the sources for Steele’s dossier, Igor Danchenko. That case goes to trial in October.
Durham also spent months trying to build a case against a lawyer who worked for a firm hired by Hillary Clinton’s campaign, the idea apparently being that much of the Russia probe was downstream from Clinton’s involvement. But enthusiasm for the idea always outpaced the evidence. Durham was at one point forced to admit that right-wing theorizing that stemmed from vague claims his team had made in court filings was overblown. The lawyer was acquitted.
And that, it seems, is about it. The New York Times reported Wednesday that the grand jury seated to hear evidence is about to expire. A report is expected by the end of the year. The probe, the Times notes dryly, concludes “without anything close to the results Mr. Trump was seeking.”
That’s certainly true. The energetic boosting of Durham by Trump and Barr implied that big things were afoot. Barr made Durham a special counsel in October 2020, protecting his investigation into President Biden’s administration. To date, Durham’s been at work for about 29 months — months longer than the entirety of Mueller’s probe. And the result is one plea, one indictment and one acquittal, largely centered around an effort to obtain an ancillary surveillance warrant that the inspector general identified as flawed back in December 2019.
Yet that’s measuring Durham against the original expectation, not the adjusted one. The adjusted expectation in Trumpworld was that Durham would simply keep spinning off details that could embarrass the FBI and the establishment. At that task, Durham fared well.
On Tuesday night, for example, the Truth Social app — a Trump business venture — alerted its users about a development in the news, one centered on Danchenko. Clicking through brought up a message from Trump himself.
Notice that this is about the 2020 election. Durham claims in a filing that Danchenko was a paid FBI informant beginning in 2017, after Trump became president. It’s unrelated, in other words, to the 2016 campaign and the Russia probe — but it can be molded into arguments about sketchiness from the FBI (an effort of particular interest to Trump in the moment) and so it becomes a Durham bombshell, like others before it. A huge revelation in a particular conversational universe if not the universe at large.
Barr seems to have legitimately thought that Trump was unfairly targeted in 2016. He probably still does. He put Durham in place to prove the case. Durham didn’t. But Durham did accomplish one thing that is very important to Trump: He generated a lot of things that could become Fox News headlines in which anecdotes became indictments of the system.
In that sense, Durham was very successful indeed.
On our radar: Who is Karoline Leavitt, GOP nominee for U.S. House in N.H.?
4:43 PMAnalysis: The Trump movement takes hold — with or without Trump himself
4:25 PMThis just in: Election denier Bolduc wins GOP Senate nomination in N.H. | 2022-09-14T17:28:53Z | www.washingtonpost.com | John Durham was successful, just not in the way Barr first intended - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/14/trump-russia-durham-barr/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/14/trump-russia-durham-barr/ |
Architect Arthur Cotton Moore — pictured here in 2000 — moved through his native Washington with a pen in one hand and a notebook in the other. He died Sept. 4 at age 87. (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post)
I was sorry to learn of the death last week of Arthur Cotton Moore, an architect who really loved the city he grew up in, which — fortunately for us — happened to be Washington.
Arthur was 87 and I suspect he was working until the end. He used to email me every now and then, sharing architectural ideas that had come to him while he moved through his hometown.
“I used to ride around on a bike,” he once told me. “Now I walk around with a pen.”
That was in 2017, when Arthur called to share an idea he had for repurposing old Metro cars. He wanted to turn them into tiny houses.
“They are a very nice enclosure which is watertight and has lovely windows,” he told me. He had other ideas, too: for the District’s World War I Memorial, for a new FBI building, for the Kennedy Center …
“Take the Kennedy Center,” he said. “That's the largest flat roof in town. Why wouldn't that be a perfect place for solar panels?”
In his career, Arthur worked on celebrated renovations of the Library of Congress Jefferson Building and the Old Post Office. He designed Washington Harbour. He knew that architecture involved its share of compromises.
“Every project, there’s usually something that you're disappointed in,” he said. “One of the things I was most disappointed in in Washington Harbour was the fact that it was not a harbor.”
He’d wanted a protected space for boats to pull in and tie up, with a low bridge like the sort over an Amsterdam canal.
Just last December, Arthur emailed me his ideas for fitting the Smithsonian’s new women’s history and American Latino museums on the Mall.
“The search [for locations] is difficult in the typical Washington way,” he wrote. “Two museums with large constituencies and therefore great clout in Congress give it an urgency and a tension.”
The Smithsonian tells me a decision has yet to be made for placing the two new buildings. Arthur’s idea was to relocate the jumble of access roads south of the Washington Monument and put both museums between the monument and the Tidal Basin. A pedestrian bridge would let people amble over Independence Avenue SW, which, if you’ve ever tried to dodge traffic there, you know is not a bad idea.
“I love the city,” Arthur Cotton Moore once told me. “I want to make it as magnificent as it can be, as it should be.”
Sarah Manning O’Leary died in Columbia on Aug. 31 at age 91. In September 1946, a photograph of Sarah with her mother, Helen Manning, and her seven siblings ran in The Washington Post.
“That goofy picture had been hanging on the wall of my grandmother’s house all my life,” said Bill O’Leary, a Washington Post photographer.
One of the first things Bill did when was hired here in 1984 was go down to The Post’s archives and find the negative for that photo.
“It was a time-travel moment,” he said. “I’m holding a piece of film that was in the same room as my mother in 1946 in god-knows-what hotel.”
Perhaps I should explain the context. The photo shows the Manning brood gathered around an opened copy of The Post as their mother peruses the paper, looking for housing. Helen had fled her abusive husband, taking her eight kids and moving from Massachusetts to Washington.
Why Washington? She had managed to extract a promise from J. Edgar Hoover to hire her four oldest girls as clerk typists at the FBI. Helen believed she and Hoover were vaguely related.
But in those postwar days, housing was in short supply. Stuck in a hotel, Helen called the newspapers around town, desperate for help. The Post sent a photographer, the photo ran, and a landlord came forward with an offer of housing in Northeast.
One of Helen’s daughters, Alice, stayed at the FBI for her entire career. Two others, Joan and Claire, married FBI agents. Bill’s mother married his father, William O’Leary, then raised six children. Until last month, Sarah was the last living person in that photo.
Sarah’s husband, William, worked for the CIA, then went to NASA, where he did background checks. William’s father — Jeremiah Aloysius O’Leary Sr. — was a journalist who started at The Post in 1911, then moved to the Washington Evening Star, the better paper at the time. One of Jeremiah Sr.’s sons — Jeremiah Aloysius O’Leary Jr. — followed his father to the Star. One of Bill’s cousins, Timothy O’Leary, was a newspaper journalist in New Orleans and Dallas.
All those O’Learys — first at the Star and now at The Post, where you’ve probably seen Bill’s photos — represent more than 100 consecutive years of O’Leary bylines in Washington’s newspapers.
Said Bill: “I don’t know if there’s anyone else that can make that claim.” | 2022-09-14T17:46:18Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Remembering Arthur Cotton Moore, an architect who loved his home town - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/09/14/arthur-cotton-moore-ideas/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/09/14/arthur-cotton-moore-ideas/ |
The leases from a 2021 sale were given to oil and gas companies as part of a deal with Sen. Manchin over climate legislation
Tug boats tow the semi-submersible drilling platform Noble Danny Adkins through the Port Aransas Channel into the Gulf of Mexico in December 2020 in Port Aransas, Tex. The drilling platform was stacked at Harbor Island for several years before being sold to a new owner. (Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
Chevron submitted the highest sum of winning bids at $47 million. Other major successful bidders included Anadarko, BP, Shell and Exxon Mobil. | 2022-09-14T17:59:42Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Administration awards Gulf of Mexico drilling leases to oil giants - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/09/14/administration-awards-gulf-mexico-drilling-leases-oil-giants/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/09/14/administration-awards-gulf-mexico-drilling-leases-oil-giants/ |
By Dave Kolpack | AP
FARGO, N.D. — The Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation is accusing North Dakota officials of tampering with the tribes’ efforts to collect royalties from oil and gas production underneath a riverbed on the Fort Berthold Reservation. The state says the tribes have no legal claim. | 2022-09-14T18:00:33Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Tribes say North Dakota is tampering with mineral royalties - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/tribes-say-north-dakota-is-tampering-with-mineral-royalties/2022/09/14/246a6a30-3454-11ed-a0d6-415299bfebd5_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/tribes-say-north-dakota-is-tampering-with-mineral-royalties/2022/09/14/246a6a30-3454-11ed-a0d6-415299bfebd5_story.html |
Commanders running back Brian Robinson Jr. was shot twice in an armed robbery attempt in late August. (Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post)
Washington Commanders running back Brian Robinson Jr. attended practice Wednesday for the first time since he was shot twice in an attempted armed robbery Aug. 28.
Robinson, who is on the non-football injury list and ineligible to play in games through at least Week 4, had a large wrap around his right knee while he worked with an athletic trainer on the side field of the Commanders’ practice facility. During the media viewing portion of practice, Robinson warmed up on a stationary bike, then ran through agility and footwork drills on the ladder. He also did slow side squats under track hurdles, appearing smooth and quick with his feet.
The 2022 third-round draft pick was shot twice, in his knee and hip, less than three weeks ago during a robbery attempt on H Street NE in Washington. He underwent surgery and was up and walking without the aid of crutches a week later.
Robinson’s return to the field offers hope he could return in Week 5, as soon as he’s eligible, instead of needing a longer ramp-up period.
Robinson was expected to play a key role in the Commanders offense after he impressed in training camp with his powerful downhill running style. Alongside fellow backs Antonio Gibson and J.D. McKissic, Robinson’s skill set adds to a dynamic group and gives quarterback Carson Wentz yet another option.
“When Brian Robinson returns, you’ll get an opportunity to see us use [Gibson] a little bit more in space and try and create opportunities for him to get the ball in space,” Coach Ron Rivera said.
The Commanders are also dealing with injuries to star defenders Jonathan Allen (groin) and Kam Curl (thumb) and offensive lineman Wes Schweitzer (hamstring). Allen and Curl went through team stretching and participated in early individual drills Wednesday, then headed for the side field with trainers when team drills began. | 2022-09-14T18:00:39Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Commanders RB Brian Robinson Jr. returns to practice after being shot - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/14/brian-robinson-commanders-practice/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/14/brian-robinson-commanders-practice/ |
Despite objections, WADA set to keep ban on marijuana for Olympians
The suspension that kept Sha'Carri Richardson fro the Tokyo Olympics after winning the US. Olympic Trials 100 meter race led to requests that WADA reconsider its cannabis policy. (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
The World Anti-Doping Agency appears almost certain to keep cannabis on its list of banned substances, amid a continuing debate over the drug’s effect on athletic performance and the proper role of testing in Olympic and other top international athletic competitions.
A person with knowledge of the situation this week confirmed a Wall Street Journal report that cannabis remains on the list of banned substances for 2023 that will be approved at WADA’s executive committee meeting Sept. 23. Many athletes and sports officials have asked the agency to reconsider its cannabis rules, as attitudes about the drug have shifted in some countries.
Last year, United States sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson received a one-month suspension after testing positive for marijuana at the U.S. Olympic trials, where she won the 100-meter race. The suspension cost Richardson, who admitted using the drug days before her race, a spot in the Tokyo Olympics.
The doping rules that cost Sha’Carri Richardson have a debated, political history
In a statement, WADA said an advisory board, made up of experts from a number of fields, reviewed cannabis’s place on the list at the request of “a small number” of country’s anti-doping agencies. The agency also pointed out that marijuana policies have been made less stringent in recent years, with higher thresholds for positive tests and shorter suspensions for violations — as short as a month if an athlete can prove the use was out of competition and not intended to enhance performance.
The statement also said the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) did not ask for cannabis to be removed from the list.
USADA CEO Travis Tygart said WADA’s characterization of his organization’s position is misleading. Tygart said he does not believe athletes should be penalized for positive marijuana tests and that athletes should be held out of competition only if it can be proven they used cannabis to gain a significant competitive advantage or that the use created a health and safety risk.
He said even one-month suspensions such as Richardson’s are “unfair” because her cannabis use had nothing to do with her race
Tygart added he would like to see WADA adopt a policy similar to what USADA helps run with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, under which fighters are no longer punished for positive marijuana tests unless it can be proven they were using cannabis to gain a competitive advantage in an event. | 2022-09-14T18:01:16Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Despite objections, WADA set to keep ban on marijuana for Olympians - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2022/09/14/despite-objections-wada-set-keep-ban-marijuana-olympians/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2022/09/14/despite-objections-wada-set-keep-ban-marijuana-olympians/ |
Princes William and Harry walk behind the coffin carrying Queen Elizabeth II in London on Sept. 14. (Tristan Fewings/AP)
LONDON — Princes William and Harry walked behind their grandmother’s coffin on Wednesday, side-by-side, with stoic, stony faces, as Queen Elizabeth II’s cortege processed through streets lined with mourners.
The appearance of the brothers, following another coffin down the Mall, cast memories back to Princess Diana’s funeral procession 25 years ago.
Then, people worried about their grief. Now, there is sorrow for their strained relationship.
As boys aged 15 and 12, the two appeared almost lost in shock and sadness.
They were gangly, lean, dressed in black coats that looked two sizes too large.
They had just lost their mother — killed in a violent car crash in a Paris tunnel, pursued by paparazzi on motorcycles. She was 36, a year younger than Harry is today.
Harry said later he had tried to hide under his bangs from the throngs along the route. He told Angela Levin, author of “Conversations with the Prince,” that he didn’t think such a scene should ever be repeated. “I don’t think any child should be asked to do that, under any circumstances.”
He said, “No child should lose their mother at such a young age and then have his grief observed by thousands of people.”
His older brother, William, has spoken of his feelings of “numbness” that day.
The funeral for Diana was raw emotion. The crowds of British people revealed themselves sobbing, a few almost overcome, in a kind of tabloid fever dream.
Wednesday’s mourning was far more restrained. The queen was 96 years old, after all. The palace said she went peacefully. There was a catch of the breath when people heard she had died, but less shock.
Public interest in the two brothers remains high. In part because we know their lives have diverged.
William, 40, is the heir, a dutiful second to their father, the new king. He has taken on Charles’s former titles: Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall. And he will oversee the Duchy of Cornwall, a huge collection of land holdings across the south of England worth around $1.2 billion, according to the most recent accounts.
Harry, 37, is living in Southern California, making his own way and fortune, preparing to publish a memoir that will air royal family laundry and presumably feelings of hurt and his charges that his father cut him off financially and that someone in the family worried what color he and Meghan’s children might be.
Although he was a captain in the British Army and served in Afghanistan, having quit his royal duties, he was in civilian dress, as dictated by protocol.
In their interview with Oprah Winfrey last year, Harry and his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, asserted that the royal family had worked against them as newlyweds. The interview also revealed the distance that had grown between the brothers, with Harry saying he and William were not speaking much. He said he loved his brother, but they were on “different paths.”
Many watching the ritual mourning this week have looked for signs of reconciliation between them.
During the 30-minute walk from Buckingham Palace to the Palace of Westminster on Wednesday, it was hard to read any signs.
The brothers performed their duty.
They walked, solemnly. | 2022-09-14T18:01:41Z | www.washingtonpost.com | William and Harry walk together behind Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/14/william-harry-queen-coffin/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/14/william-harry-queen-coffin/ |
Virginia working to fix a leaky offensive line after Illinois debacle
The Cavaliers will host Old Dominion at 2 p.m. Eastern on Saturday (ACC Network)
Virginia quarterback Brennan Armstrong gets sacked by Illinois defensive lineman Keith Randolph Jr., Saturday in Champaign, Ill. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
In the immediate aftermath of his team’s loss this past weekend, first-year Virginia football coach Tony Elliott pointed to glaring breakdowns in protection along the rebuilt offensive line as among the most pressing concerns facing the Cavaliers.
A review of the game film on the heels of the 24-3 defeat against Illinois did nothing to sway Elliott’s perspective from a performance in Champaign, Ill., that included quarterback Brennan Armstrong getting sacked five times, hurried countless others and often scrambling to avoid crushing hits.
The offensive staff has been brainstorming on how best to keep the pocket as clean as possible heading into Saturday afternoon’s game against visiting Old Dominion, especially given Armstrong has been nursing a tender right (non-throwing) elbow.
“Yeah, there are some things we can do,” Elliott said in addressing offensive line deficiencies without revealing specific modifications. “We’re going to work on those things to help them out, but if you look at it, a lot of it is what [Illinois] did. They put a five-man front, and you go five-man front, it’s one-on-one blocks, so now it comes down to execution of your fundamentals.”
Under heavy duress for much of the game, Armstrong completed just 13 of 32 passes for 180 yards with two interceptions in one of the more forgettable outings in the career of the Cavaliers’ all-time leader in total offense and passing.
Rarely was the fifth-year senior able to set his feet and deliver an authoritative throw. Rather, he was forced to pass on the move, resulting in balls sailing high and wide of the intended target. In other instances Armstrong threw off his back foot with defenders bearing down on him.
The Fighting Illini was able to generate pressure without moving an extra defender to the line of scrimmage or via the blitz, underscoring the troubling regularity with which Virginia’s offensive line wound up on the losing end of one-on-one matchups in the Cavaliers’ Football Bowl Subdivision opener.
Toward the end of the game with Virginia (1-1) mounting a potential touchdown drive, Armstrong departed briefly when he absorbed a blow to his right elbow amid a collapsing pocket. Armstrong turned to the sideline, pointed to the area, and Elliott waved him off the field, sending in backup Jay Woolfolk.
Athletic trainers examined Armstrong on the sideline and cleared him to play. He went back into to the game on third down and goal from the 5 but threw consecutive incomplete passes.
“It’s a good eye-opener to what we need to actually work on because, shoot, teams could see what happened and come out and play us man every time,” Armstrong said. “I mean that’s a possibility, so we better figure out how to protect and how to get the ball out and how to get open in man.”
The offensive line comprises five players who are starting in a Cavaliers uniform for the first time this year. The only player in the group with previous starting experience is left guard John Paul Flores, a graduate transfer from Dartmouth.
Starting left tackle McKale Boley is a freshman. Right tackle Logan Taylor is a sophomore, as is center Ty Furnish, who was responsible for a high snap that forced Armstrong to retreat deep in Virginia territory for a sliding recovery resulting in a loss of 27 yards.
There was, however, one encouraging development regarding the offensive line, with Jonathan Leech reentering the lineup for the first time since a left arm injury in preseason camp. The senior came off the bench at right tackle against Illinois after starting twice last season, and Taylor moved to the left side.
“We have to be better,” Furnish said. “Everyone on offense has to be better. Us personally, we’re meeting at night more, going over everything, making sure we have the blitzes down, all that stuff, just getting on top of it. … I think it was just a lack of focus from us, and mental mistakes. I don’t think it was an out-physical thing.”
The Monarchs (1-1), meantime, have been opportunistic defensively this season, including collecting four sacks in a 39-21 loss to East Carolina on Saturday in Greenville, N.C. A week earlier Old Dominion forced five turnovers, four coming on interceptions, in upsetting Virginia Tech, 20-17.
Of particular concern for the Cavaliers offensive line is Monarchs linebacker Jason Henderson. The sophomore has 32 tackles, including 18, the most in a game by an FBS player this season, during the opener against the Hokies in Norfolk
“As coaches our job is to meet the kids where they are,” Elliott said. “At times as coaches you want to try to pull them up to where you are, but at the end of the day none of us go out on the field, so we’ve got to make sure and be honest with ourselves and evaluate what they’re capable of doing and help them be able to do it, and from there you build to some of the bigger things you have offensively.” | 2022-09-14T18:29:51Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Virginia offensive line struggling to protect Brennan Armstrong - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/14/virginia-football-offensive-line-struggles/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/14/virginia-football-offensive-line-struggles/ |
He pursued the Watergate burglars and two co-conspirators, G. Gordon Liddy and E. Howard Hunt, in an early investigation of the scandal that drove President Richard M. Nixon from office
Earl J. Silbert appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee in April 1974 as the panel considers his nomination as U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. (Bettmann Archive/Getty Images)
A colleague was on the other end of the line, calling to inform Mr. Silbert, then the principal assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, of the strange events that had transpired hours earlier at the Watergate complex on the banks of the Potomac River. Five men wearing business suits had been arrested in an attempt to bug the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee. One of them was James W. McCord Jr., the security chief for President Richard M. Nixon’s reelection campaign and a former CIA employee.
“It was going to be a hot case,” Mr. Silbert recalled years later. “The only thing open was how hot was hot going to be.”
By his own account, Mr. Silbert did not immediately grasp the case’s magnitude when, as the first prosecutor in the matter of the Watergate affair, he set out to obtain indictments of the five burglars and two key co-conspirators, former White House aides G. Gordon Liddy and E. Howard Hunt. He said he regarded the break-in as too clumsy to be the work of anyone but underlings, and too foolish to have been approved by anyone of real power.
“You always assume — and maybe that was a mistake — an underlying rationality,” he told the New York Times in 1975.
In the two years after the Watergate burglary, the investigation started by Mr. Silbert and carried forward by special prosecutors, inquiries by congressional panels, and reporting by newspapers including The Washington Post revealed a pattern of corruption and coverup reaching deep into the White House. On Aug. 9, 1974, confronted by overwhelming evidence of his role in the wrongdoing, Nixon became the first U.S. president in history to resign.
Mr. Silbert died Sept. 6 at a hospital in Keene, N.H., his family said. He was 86 and had suffered an aortic dissection. After Watergate, he served for five years as U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia and later established a private practice in Washington. But he remained forever associated with the case that began that summer morning in 1972, when he was a 36-year-old federal prosecutor known for his polished manner as “Earl the Pearl.”
During the Watergate prosecution and in the years since, Mr. Silbert’s critics have argued that he fell severely short by leading an investigation that focused narrowly on Liddy, Hunt and the burglars — known as the Watergate Seven — instead of pursuing higher-ranking Nixon associates who eventually went to prison for their role in the Watergate affair. They included, among others, former attorney general John N. Mitchell, former White House chief of staff H.R. Haldeman and former domestic affairs adviser John D. Ehrlichman.
Defenders of Mr. Silbert insist that his goal was to conduct the prosecution in an apolitical manner and that he performed ably under impossible conditions — including the interference of acting FBI director L. Patrick Gray III, who thwarted the Watergate investigation by furnishing information about the inquiry to John W. Dean III, the Nixon White House counsel who later pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice.
John Dean, Watergate’s golden boy, is back in the spotlight 50 years later
Mr. Silbert worked on the Watergate prosecutions with two co-counsels, Seymour Glanzer and Donald E. Campbell, as well as investigators including FBI agent Angelo J. Lano. They obtained indictments of the Watergate Seven in September 1972 and won convictions in January 1973 of McCord and Liddy, whom Mr. Silbert had identified as “the man in charge” of the burglary.
Hunt and four burglars, Bernard L. Barker, Frank A. Sturgis, Eugenio R. Martinez and Virgilio R. Gonzalez, all pleaded guilty. McCord later helped blow open the Watergate investigation by asserting in a letter to the judge in the Watergate case, John J. Sirica, and in testimony before the Senate Watergate Committee that perjury had occurred in the trial and that he had been told White House officials including Mitchell and Dean were complicit in the Watergate bugging scheme.
Mr. Silbert said his strategy was to first obtain indictments of the burglars and their immediate supervisors. Those indictments — and the convictions, plea deals and immunity to follow — would help investigators close in on higher-ranking conspirators.
“There is an unwritten rule in the Justice Department,” he told Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, who recorded his remarks in their 1974 book “All the President’s Men.” “The higher up you go, the more you have to have them by the balls.”
In his 2022 book “Watergate: A New History,” journalist and historian Garrett M. Graff wrote that Mr. Silbert and his two co-counsels regarded the appointment of the special prosecutor “as an insult — and too late to be of any help.”
“His whole goal was we follow the evidence and we go from there,” Campbell said. Meanwhile, Lano recalled, “we were getting lies from everyone.”
Asked about his handling of the Watergate investigation, Graff said in an interview that “I think to this day we don’t have a good sense of what kinds of internal pressures Earl Silbert was under,” and to what degree any shortcomings of the prosecution were due to his “not wanting to know the answers versus being told not to find the answers.”
“I think it is inescapable,” Graff also observed, “that Earl Silbert failed to answer any of the hard questions of the Watergate conspiracy at the time the case was in his control.”
Mr. Silbert became interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia in January 1974 and was later officially nominated for the post by Nixon. The nomination encountered resistance in the Senate, where Mr. Silbert was asked to defend the Watergate prosecution. He was renominated twice by President Gerald Ford, Nixon’s successor, before his ultimate confirmation — after a wait of nearly two years — in October 1975.
Mr. Silbert’s champions during the confirmation process included members of the Washington bar and judges of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia — as well as Cox and Jaworski.
“There are points on which my judgment might have varied from yours,” Cox had written to Mr. Silbert and his colleagues when they stepped down from the Watergate prosecution. But “thus far in the investigation,” Cox continued, “none of us has seen anything to show that you did not pursue your professional duties according to your honest judgment and in complete good faith.”
Earl Judah Silbert was born in Boston on March 8, 1936, and grew up nearby in Brookline. His mother was a social worker and homemaker. His father, a lawyer, had served briefly as a Republican member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives. The younger Mr. Silbert was a Democrat.
After graduating in 1953 from the private Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, Mr. Silbert enrolled at Harvard University, where he received a bachelor’s degree in history in 1957 and a law degree in 1960. He began his legal career in the Justice Department’s tax division and worked in private practice after stepping down as U.S. attorney in 1979. His clients included Kenneth L. Lay, the Enron founder who was convicted in 2006 on conspiracy and fraud charges related to the energy firm’s collapse.
Mr. Silbert’s survivors include his wife of 52 years, the former Patricia Allott of Chevy Chase, Md.; two daughters, Leslie Silbert of New York City and Sarah Silbert of Randolph, Vt.; a sister; and three grandchildren.
In recent years, Mr. Silbert worked with his daughter Leslie on a forthcoming memoir, “The Missing Watergate Story.” He recalled in the book that the Watergate prosecution made him a lightning rod not only in public, but also at home. His wife, who had worked on the campaign of George S. McGovern, Nixon’s Democratic opponent in the 1972 election, “loathed” Nixon, Mr. Silbert wrote, and “was convinced he was involved from the start.”
“She frequently proclaimed him guilty, and my stock response — ‘Show me the evidence’ — infuriated her,” Mr. Silbert wrote. “I sympathized. Sharing a home with one of the few people in the country who had inside information on the most-talked-about mystery of the day — and revealed none of it — could only have been maddening.”
One evening, he recalled, his wife became so frustrated by his reticence that “she lost all patience and emptied her glass of port onto my legal pad.” | 2022-09-14T18:47:17Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Watergate prosecutor Earl Silbert dies at 86 - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/09/14/watergate-prosecutor-earl-silbert-dead/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/09/14/watergate-prosecutor-earl-silbert-dead/ |
Biden’s Latest Oil Move Adds to His Energy Contradictions
And we also have Uncle Sam. Bloomberg News reports that the Biden administration is considering buying crude to refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve when prices drop below $80 a barrel (Nymex near month futures are just under $90 right now). This is not a complete surprise. Almost 140 million barrels, or 24%, have been drained from the SPR since March, when the International Energy Agency agreed an emergency release in response to Russia’s attack on Ukraine. Meanwhile, the Department of Energy has proposed modifying its procedures for refilling the SPR, including the use of fixed price contracts for future delivery.
Before getting to the specifics of that, it’s important to acknowledge the US has long been a huge interventionist in the oil market. How could it not given it is the biggest consumer and the de facto security guarantor of the seaborne oil trade and prominent Middle Eastern producers? In recent years, an ever-increasing proportion of global oil production has become subjected to US sanctions. The championing of markets to counter price-fixers has given way to dreams of “energy dominance.” Diplomacy, both quiet and overt — like Biden’s recent, and reluctant, visit to Riyadh — is a constant in this most vital of markets.
The novel aspect of this new approach to the SPR is the signaling of an effective put in oil prices (the reported $80 level). This is explicitly a bone thrown to US oil producers, as the White House laid out in July:
Rather, coming alongside a host of market interventions in the US, Europe and elsewhere, a dynamic SPR adds to the sense that we have entered a new age of intervention in global energy. This is, by reason of its extent, a sea change. While it has its roots in everything from climate change to the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, the primary motivation is to shield consumers from raw market forces. That can be justified in an emergency. As a permanent state of affairs, we can confidently expect unintended consequences.More from Bloomberg Opinion:
• Bernie Sanders Is Wrong About Natural Gas: Karl W. Smith
• Biden Should Give the Oil Industry a Bailout: Matthew Yglesias
• OPEC Sings the Same Old Song Just With New Lyrics: Julian Lee | 2022-09-14T19:27:01Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Biden’s Latest Oil Move Adds to His Energy Contradictions - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/energy/bidens-latest-oil-move-adds-to-his-energy-contradictions/2022/09/14/2bfc32ee-3457-11ed-a0d6-415299bfebd5_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/energy/bidens-latest-oil-move-adds-to-his-energy-contradictions/2022/09/14/2bfc32ee-3457-11ed-a0d6-415299bfebd5_story.html |
Newly formed tropical depression could bring heavy rain to Puerto Rico
The depression is likely to become Tropical Storm Fiona by some time Thursday.
(NHC)
A tropical depression has formed just east of the Caribbean Sea, according to the National Hurricane Center. This depression could strengthen into a tropical storm and bring heavy rain and strong winds to the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Haiti this weekend into early next week.
As soon as Friday, it could bring turbulent conditions to the northern Leeward Islands, which mark the divide between the eastern Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean.
At 11 a.m. Wednesday, the depression was positioned about 800 miles east of the Leeward Islands, headed steadily westward at 35 mph. Tropical storm watches may soon be required for portions of the Leeward Islands, the Hurricane Center wrote.
With maximum sustained winds of 35 mph, the depression was just 4 mph shy of tropical storm intensity. The Hurricane Center projects it will attain tropical storm status by Wednesday night. Should that occur, the storm will earn the name Fiona.
Forecasters have been tracking the disturbance that became a depression for days. Previously, its thunderstorms were rather disorganized but the Hurricane Center wrote that the system’s circulation was becoming “better defined” in its 11 a.m. update.
Although the depression is moving over warm waters favorable for additional development, the Hurricane Center said hostile high-altitude winds and dry air are “expected to prevent significant intensification.” Its forecast only calls for the depression to become a low-end tropical storm with peak winds of 45 mph before reaching the Leeward Islands.
The unfavorable winds are predicted to persist or even strengthen when the potential storm enters the Caribbean. The Hurricane Center noted some models “suggest that the system could struggle to maintain its closed circulation.” If the circulation unravels, it would no longer be considered a tropical storm.
If the storm survives its track through the eastern Caribbean, it may struggle to hold together when encountering the high terrain of the Dominican Republic early next week.
Irrespective of its exact strength, the potential storm is anticipated to produce very heavy rainfall along its path. Computer models show the potential for several inches of rain in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and potentially double digit totals in the mountains of the Dominican Republic. This could lead to flash flooding and mudslides.
The potential storm could well fall apart in the vicinity of Haiti. If it doesn’t, steering currents will probably direct it out to sea over the open Atlantic; however, there’s an outside chance it continues traveling westward toward the Gulf of Mexico.
The depression formed amid an otherwise very quiet Atlantic hurricane season. Through Sept. 14, overall activity is less than half the norm. | 2022-09-14T19:27:19Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Newly formed tropical depression could bring heavy rain to Puerto Rico - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/09/14/tropical-depression-storm-fiona-puertorico/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/09/14/tropical-depression-storm-fiona-puertorico/ |
U.S. indicts, sanctions Iranians for allegedly hacking systems
Cyberattackers demanded ransom from victims, and the attacks affected organizations in Russia, the United Kingdom and Israel
The Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building, in Washington, D.C. (Michael Reynolds/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
The Justice Department indicted three Iranian men who work for the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps over allegations that they hacked computer systems and demanded hundreds of thousands of dollars in ransom from entities in the United States and other countries, according to a federal grand jury indictment unsealed Wednesday in New Jersey.
The victims include a Pennsylvania-based domestic violence shelter, municipal governments in New Jersey and Wyoming and a public housing corporation in Washington state.
Justice Department officials said the suspects — who are not accused of disrupting any power or critical infrastructure — also allegedly targeted entities in Iran and Russia.
The men — Mansur Ahmadi, 34, Ahmad Khatibi Aghda, 45, and Amir Hossein Nickaein, 30 — were acting on their own and not on behalf of the Iranian government, Justice Department officials said. But the officials said they believe the Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) continues to ignore this type of malicious activity, enabling it to happen over and over again.
U.S. undertook cyber operation against Iran as part of effort to secure the 2020 election
Ahmadi, Aghda and Nickaein are believed to be living in Iran, making it highly unlikely that the United States would be able to take them into custody. But Justice Department officials say the indictment would prevent the suspects from easily leaving their country and would limit their career prospects — a consequence the officials said could dissuade others from committing similar crimes.
The federal government also said the Treasury Department would sanction 10 people and two entities affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard Corps over their roles in the cyberattacks. As part of the sanctions, any American assets affiliated with those individuals would be frozen.
“We are not going to sit quietly,” a Justice Department official said.
According to indictment unsealed Wednesday, the three Iranians illegally accessed hundreds of computer systems in the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, Iran, Israel and elsewhere between October 2020 and August 2022. They allegedly took control of those systems and demanded ransoms in exchange for allowing the victims to regain access to their computers. Some of the victims reportedly, according to the indictment, paid the ransoms.
In December 2021, for example, the suspects allegedly gained access to a domestic violence shelter’s computer system and then blocked the shelter’s access to some of its systems and data. They then allegedly used their access to print a note on a printer located in the domestic violence shelter that said: “Hi. Do not take any action for recovery. Your files may be corrupted and not recoverable. Just contact us.”
The hackers then demanded $13,000 paid in bitcoin so the shelter could restore access to its systems. The shelter sent the payment.
Cyberattack on Maryland Health Department was ransomware, officials say
A month later, hackers gained access to a housing authority’s computer system in Washington state. They stole data from the authority and, similar to what they allegedly did to the domestic violence shelter, launched an encryption attack that blocked the authority from accessing some of its data and systems.
In February, the accused hackers allegedly emailed with housing authority representatives and threatened to sell their data if they did not pay them.
“I want this to end,” Khatibi allegedly wrote in a February email, “and if you do not want to pay, let me know so that I can make money by selling data.”
The FBI did not say how much total had been paid in ransom in these attacks and said it did not freeze any of the bitcoin that was paid.
John Hulquist, vice president of intelligence analysis for Mandiant, a cybersecurity firm, warned that even though the suspects are not accused of performing the cyberattacks for the Revolutionary Guard Corp, the Iranian military group could still benefit from the alleged perpetrators’ online access.
“This is not just a ransomware issue. These are Iranian contractors who moonlight their skills but are ultimately associated with a dangerous state security organization,” Hulquist said. “The access they’re gaining is being used for crime, but the IRGC will likely also try to use it for its own interests, perhaps for disruptive attack.”
FBI seizes Mike Lindell's phone in probe of Colorado voting machine breach
Multiple U.S. government agencies and offices released an advisory Wednesday informing individuals and organizations how to protect themselves from cyberattacks. Among the tips are maintaining offline backups of data, creating a cyberattack response plan, running available updates on software, implementing multifactor authentication on logins and more.
This memo was jointly sent with the governments of Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom.
“This advisory points to specific instances in which IRGC-affiliated cyber actors have used publicly known vulnerabilities to gain access to U.S. critical infrastructure networks,” David Luber, deputy cybersecurity director at the National Security Agency, said in a statement. “We implore our net defenders and our partners to detect and mitigate this threat before your organization is the next ransomware victim.”
This is not the first time the United States has indicted Iranians for deploying cyberattacks on the country systems.
In November 2021, the Justice Department indicted two Iranians accused of a brazen hacking and disinformation campaign that targeted American voters in the run-up to the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Before these indictments, the U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency had taken actions to ensure that Iran and other foreign actors did not interfere in the 2020 election.
Overall, the Treasury Department reports that the amount of money American victims pay to cyberattacks has grown from $416 million in 2020 to $590 million in 2021. The government estimates that these payments reflect just a fraction of the economic cost of cyberattacks. | 2022-09-14T19:27:26Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Iranians accused of attacking U.S. computer systems, demanding ransom - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/09/14/iranian-ransomware-indictment/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/09/14/iranian-ransomware-indictment/ |
Why every conspiracy Republicans imagine eventually crumbles to dust
Kenneth W. Starr testifying before the House Judiciary Committee in 1998. (Ray Lustig for The Washington Post)
On the day after former independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr died, we learned that John Durham, the prosecutor who’s been investigating the investigation into the Russian attack on the 2016 election, is likely winding down his inquiry. Despite being wildly cheered on by the right, Durham has almost nothing to show for three-plus years of work and millions of dollars spent.
Republicans hoped Durham could become another Starr, and in some ways he did, albeit on a less extravagant scale. These two men’s stories tell us a great deal about the contemporary right’s obsession with imagined conspiracies, and why they never work out the way Republicans hope.
Durham failed to deliver, not because he’s incompetent but because there just isn’t much there there. He did not uncover a vast conspiracy within the government to stop Donald Trump from becoming president, or reveal that the entire investigation into Russian meddling should never have happened. Because those things aren’t true, no matter how much Republicans wish them to be.
The New York Times reports that “The grand jury that Mr. Durham has recently used to hear evidence has expired, and while he could convene another, there are currently no plans to do so, three people familiar with the matter said.” In other words, he’s just about wrapped up.
What does he have to show for his efforts? He indicted one Democratic lawyer for lying to the FBI; the case was almost comically weak, and the lawyer was acquitted in a unanimous jury verdict. Durham got a guilty plea from an FBI lawyer who falsified an email to justify a FISA warrant; he was sentenced to probation and community service. Finally, a researcher who was a source of information for the Steele dossier will be tried next month, also on charges of lying to the FBI.
In other words, Durham’s probe found almost nothing. If you gave me a staff of lawyers, a few million dollars and subpoena power, I could probably find more crimes committed last month at your neighborhood fast food joint. What Durham most certainly didn’t find was a vast conspiracy. Yet that’s exactly what many Republicans believed he would do.
Now, let’s consider Starr, whose story is similar in some ways. He was appointed as independent counsel in the Whitewater probe precisely because he was a well-known conservative whose zeal to nail the Clintons would not be in doubt. Whitewater was a failed land deal that Republicans believed concealed all manner of criminal activity by Bill and Hillary Clinton. But it didn’t; it too turned out to be a big nothingburger.
However, along the way, Starr did discover that Bill Clinton had an affair with a young staffer named Monica Lewinsky. That gave Starr his purpose — but it too was ultimately a failure, revealing as much about his (and other Republicans’) prurient obsession with Clinton’s sex life as did about the president himself.
It happened again with House GOP probes of Hillary Clinton’s role in the Benghazi controversy. Republicans were certain a conspiracy was waiting to be uncovered — perhaps the secretary of State personally ordered the killing of the four U.S. personnel who died there! — but there wasn’t, and their multiple investigations failed to produce evidence of any wrongdoing.
We see this so often: Republicans insist they’re about to reveal a nefarious conspiracy, and when given the opportunity, they can’t deliver. Just look at all the investigations and audits of the 2020 election. Every time, they say “Now you’ll see how the election was stolen!” But even their own probes can’t locate the fraud, no matter how many ballots they scan for traces of bamboo.
The tales Republicans tell about these controversies have several key elements. They begin from the assumption that in every situation, their opponents have only the most wicked of intentions. A Democratic president can only be seeking the literal destruction of America (or as Fox News’s Tucker Carlson recently said, President Biden aims to “completely destroy the West in order to make way for Chinese global dominance”). No Democrat can merely be trying to win an election to implement the party’s favored policies.
There is always a sinister hidden agenda that cannot be spoken aloud and must therefore be unearthed by brave conservatives. There are no ordinary facts, no mistakes and no coincidences. If there is an incorrect date on a form, it must be the key to the conspiracy. If some low-level official cut corners somewhere, it can only have been on orders from the very top.
Such fantasies are everywhere. Demographic change is making the country more diverse? That can’t just be something that’s happening — and a constant of American history — it must be the result of a nefarious plot by Democrats against White people.
There’s a feedback loop at work: Republican politicians and media figures feed their audiences an endless diet of conspiracy theorizing, to the point where believing in these conspiracies becomes part of what makes you a Republican. Knowing that’s what the audience wants, the Fox News hosts and GOP officeholders keep delivering more and more.
It makes for good TV, because it amps up the stakes and injects even the most mundane day’s news with drama and danger. And if they win Congress in November, Republicans will devote themselves to “uncovering” a whole new slate of imagined conspiracies.
But we know how every one will end. Because when Republicans themselves put their latest fantasy to the test, it always turns out to be fiction. | 2022-09-14T19:27:51Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Why every conspiracy Republicans imagine eventually crumbles to dust - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/14/kenneth-star-john-durham-conspiracy-theories/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/14/kenneth-star-john-durham-conspiracy-theories/ |
Transcript: 'Capehart’ with Ibram X. Kendi
MR. CAPEHART: Good morning, and welcome to the "Capehart" podcast in Washington Post Live. I am Jonathan Capehart, associate editor at The Washington Post.
Famed antiracism scholar and author Dr. Ibram X. Kendi is out with a new children's book. It's called "Magnolia Flower," and it is the reason he joins me now.
Dr. Kendi, welcome‑‑well, welcome back to "Capehart" on Washington Post Live.
DR. KENDI: Of course. Thank you for having me.
MR. CAPEHART: So "Magnolia Flower" marks the first of six books you'll adapt from the writings of Zora Neale Hurston in partnership with her descendants. For our viewers who might be unfamiliar, who was Zora Neale Hurston, and what drew you to her work?
DR. KENDI: So Zora Neale Hurston was a legendary, really leading light of the Harlem Renaissance, this incredible explosion of Black creativity in the 1920s and 1930s. She's most known for her novel, "Their Eyes Were Watching God," which was published in the late 1930s, but she also was a folklorist. She collected rural Black folklore. She also was an anthropologist and, of course, a short story writer, and I personally just wanted children to have access to the greatness of Zora Neale Hurston, the stories that she told and the folklore that she collected.
MR. CAPEHART: So, more generally, Dr. Kendi, what appeals to you about African American folklore?
DR. KENDI: It's to me a sort of‑‑when I think of folklore, whether it's African American folklore or the folklore of other groups, I'm thinking about the stories that people share that's reflective of their culture, that's reflective of their philosophy, that's reflective of the joy and pain and humor and banter. It's really reflective of a people, and so to be able to convey that or introduce children to that folklore, you know, is exciting through Zora Neale Hurston.
MR. CAPEHART: We should tell folks who are watching and listeners that you are kind enough‑‑you're in transit. You're coming to us from an airport. So, if they hear something in the background, that isn't your voice. That's what's‑‑that's what's going on.
Let's talk more about Zora Neale Hurston. She was writing a century ago, but what is it about our present circumstances that make her writing so important and resonant today?
DR. KENDI: So she once wrote, "I am not tragically colored." She wanted to show and tell stories that allow the American people, that even allow Black people to see that despite the pain, despite the atrocities and the violence, Black people were still able to find love and to find joy, and I think in this moment where I know many of us adults are really struggling with the tragedies of our time and, of course, our kids are feeling that anxiety, feeling that pain, feeling that fear, it's a time where we need stories that convey, despite pain, we're still going to find times of joy and love. And I think that was sort of indicative of particularly the story of "Magnolia Flower."
MR. CAPEHART: What do you hope parents and children get or learn and take away from this book, this series?
DR. KENDI: Wow. So much, Jonathan. You know, I hope that, certainly, children and parents are able to receive a beautiful love story as told by a mighty river to a dancing brook. I hope that people are able to think about the experience of Afro‑Indigenous people like Magnolia. I hope that people are able to learn about history. The story is set or starts really before the Civil War transitions, during the Civil War, and after it. So I'm hoping it allows our children to ask us questions and for those children and parents to seek out answers together. I have a lot of hopes, Jonathan.
MR. CAPEHART: Well, it's interesting that you bring up that you hope that it brings up questions for children. Like what?
DR. KENDI: Like what was slavery? Like how did Black people and other people find joy and love during slavery? Why was it that‑‑what was the Trail of Tears? Why were Native people driven from their land? Why is it that after the Civil War, in many ways, Black people felt that they were driven back towards freedom? Those are the questions that I hope kids would ask, kids will ask, and I'm already trying to prepare answers because I suspect they're coming from my daughter.
MR. CAPEHART: Well, speaking of your daughter, who is very cute, by the way, as we saw in the intro video, what questions has she asked?
DR. KENDI: So my daughter is still just incredibly captivated by the illustrations for "Magnolia Flower." Loveis Wise‑‑they just did an incredibly‑‑just an incredible job in designing and creating and illustrating "Magnolia Flower." So most of my daughter's questions have been about the illustrations, which have mainly been how did Loveis Wise do this? Like, how did she create so much beauty? She loves the flowers in particular. My daughter really already has a green thumb and really loves nature. So most of the questions has been about the illustrations, and that's typically how it goes with my daughter. Most of the questions start about the illustrations, and then as she hears the story over and over again, typically, the questions turn to some of the points in the story.
MR. CAPEHART: Mm‑hmm. And then I asked you what questions you were hoping children would ask. Now, what happens when children ask those questions? How should parents respond?
DR. KENDI: Well, I don't think that parents should feel uncomfortable. I think when our kids ask us questions about a difficult or even a joyful period that we‑‑that we don't know about, that we should use it as an opportunity to say to our children, "You know what? Let's go to the library on Saturday and learn about this. I don't know the answer," so to almost practice for the child, the process of research, you know, and learning or even if the child asks about‑‑"Well, I don't understand, you know, about slavery." This was an incredibly pivotal period in the nation's history, and so, at some point, our children are going to learn about it. Why not learn about slavery in the comfort of one's home and in the context of a love story like "Magnolia Flower"?
MR. CAPEHART: Well, it's interesting you say that children are going to learn about it, and when I hear the word "learn," I think in a classroom. But, as you and I both know, that even that is under attack. I mean, the new school year has just begun. We have to discuss some of the efforts by some state legislatures to restrict teaching about certain topics.
In a recent analysis, PEN America found that 19 states have laws targeting discussions of race, gender, and United States history, 36 other states introduced 137 similar bills in 2022 marking a significant increase compared to the 54 bills proposed last year. You yourself have had a book or two banned, although they have helped with your book sales. It's still troubling. Can you put these decisions by these state legislatures and school boards to ban books and restrict ideas in some historical context, put that into historical context for us?
DR. KENDI: Well, Jonathan, a century ago, organized efforts to ban books, particularly books that told the truth about the Civil War or even about slavery, it was rare for public schools in states like Mississippi and Florida to officially allow students, including Black students, to learn that the Civil War was about slavery, to learn that Jim Crow was maintaining racism, and even 200 years ago, during the enslavement era, enslavers routinely banned abolitionist literature in the South. Indeed, they banned schools for children in the South because they did not want children to learn the truth about slavery, even poor White children, and so there's a long history of segregationists and enslavers banning books.
MR. CAPEHART: That answers my follow‑up, which I forgot to ask, which is this isn't new, what we're going through and what you've been‑‑what you've been the target of.
DR. KENDI: It isn't new, and I think as someone who has studied really the history of what we now call "book banning," as someone who has studied all sorts of efforts to indoctrinate children into thinking that a particular race is superior or inferior and simultaneously calling those forms of indoctrination as education, you know, I think what's happening now for me is both normal and tragic, if you understand what I mean. And I personally think that as someone who didn't actually read as much when I was in middle school and high school as I wish I would have, just to think in particular that those young people are having books taken out of their hands, which can potentially‑‑it could be that book that could propel a life of reading and understanding, you know, and joy, I just think it's incredibly tragic.
MR. CAPEHART: Mm‑hmm. So the banning of your books is part of the larger thing that's happening in this country, the uproar over critical race theory or what people think is critical race theory, the 1619 Project, the Black Lives Matter movement, as I mentioned, your book, "How to Be an Antiracist," one of the books that people point to. I'm wondering what you make of such strong reactions by many folks in this country, in particular, White folks in this country, over calls for a reckoning with our history and calls for racial‑‑calls for greater racial equity.
DR. KENDI: What's fascinating, we were just talking specifically about the history of book bannings and now thinking about it within a larger context. Going back to the enslavement era, you had many pro‑slavery intellectuals and other enslavers who made the case, particularly by the 1830s and 1840s, that abolitionists were anti‑Southern, that abolitionists were indeed anti‑American. Similarly, you had Jim Crow segregationists who argued that Civil Rights activists like Martin Luther King Jr. were these outside agitators who were messing up the amical pro‑relations between the racists, and now, today, you have those who are saying that those who are pushing for the end of racism, those who are being antiracist are actually anti‑American, are actually anti‑White. It's the same line of thinking. It's the same image that unfortunately Americans have been experiencing, and so then you have people who don't know what to believe‑‑
DR. KENDI: ‑‑because they're being told opposite things by two different sides. And so that's why I encourage people to figure out things for themselves.
MR. CAPEHART: You know, I want to talk about something else. It's related to your book, and that's‑‑I mean, the importance of your book, which I have sitting right here next to me, you know, in books, it's important for children to be able to see themselves when they open a book or go to a movie. It's important for actually all of us, not just children, to see ourselves.
In The Atlantic, you recently wrote that, like books, dolls too can be great teaching tools. Talk more about that.
DR. KENDI: Well, I mean, let's say, for instance, if you are a parent of a White child and that White child primarily goes to a predominantly White school, and let's say you want to start talking to that child about race. Let's say you want to make sure that child does not connect, let's say, dark skin color with things that are bad and light skin color with things that are good, that kids by elementary school, if not preschool, are already unfortunately doing. How can you do that as a parent? How can you go about teaching the child? You see these different skin colors? Though they look differently, they're both part of the same human rainbow. They're both equal. How can you do that, or what can you use to do that? Dolls.
MR. CAPEHART: You know, you make a fascinating argument. In that Atlantic piece, you say we can follow the history of school segregation through the evolution of American toys. Connect those dots.
DR. KENDI: Yes. I mean, I think that recently, for instance‑‑and I say recently over the last few decades‑‑there has been an effort to diversify American toys to ensure that toys are reflective of all the different people, from different skin colors and religions and body sizes, but by the 1950s, in particular, when there was an effort and people believed that assimilation was going to bring about racial progress‑‑and what I mean, Jonathan, by assimilation is the efforts of all peoples of color to be White and look White‑‑what actually happened at that point is there was an effort to essentially make all the toys look like White people.
Before that, there were more effort‑‑there more, quote, "different‑looking toys," but they were‑‑those toys were carrying racist stereotypes, particularly in the 1890s when you started to have this mass manufacturing of toys. So you had toys that depicted Chinese people in a stereotypical way and Black people and Irish people, and so I think, in many ways, we can understand the way people are thinking about race by how toys are being created and marketed.
MR. CAPEHART: You know, you cite two studies prominently in your article, and I'm sure people listening to this conversation, their mind immediately goes to one that's really famous, the first being the Clark's survey in 1940 and then Margaret Beale Spencer's survey in 2010. What were their findings? Talk about those two studies.
DR. KENDI: Sure. So, in both studies, you had psychologists, social scientists, who brought children together. In the Clark's study in 1940, it was just Black children. In the study more recently, the social scientists brought both White and Black children, and they put dolls before them, a doll that depicted somebody as Black, a doll that looked White, and just asked those children, those young children basic questions, "Which doll do you prefer? Which doll is nice?" And what they found in both cases is that children, both Black‑‑Black children in 1940s and Black and White children recently preferred the White doll, considered that the nice doll, considered that the better doll.
And, recently, the researcher found that White children were even more likely to have what the researcher called "pro‑White bias" and Black parents are more likely to talk to their kids about race and protect them from messages that would cause them to connect positivity with a skin color.
MR. CAPEHART: So then what do‑‑what do they attribute their findings to? In 1940, I get it, but in 2010? What, 70 years later? What's feeding that?
DR. KENDI: It's hard to say something definitively, but let me give a major example. If you're a child, you're five years old, you're eight years old, and you can live in a community with widespread racial disparities where Black and brown people are disproportionately impoverished and then no one is talking to you or it's rare for people to talk to you about why that racial inequality exists and then you have messages on television and other places where you're seeing, let's say, White people more often or in better or more positive positions, it could cause you as a child to think that White people have more because they are more.
And then when you look at your schools and the curriculum and what writers and what pictures are being displayed, literally, White people are more in the curriculum.
So I'm saying this all to say by us not talking to our children about race and racism, by us not actively ensuring that our children are seeing a diverse segment of people in their schools and their literature and their media, it can cause a child to have pro‑White bias.
MR. CAPEHART: You know, you encountered a version of this, particularly the doll stories that we've been talking about, at your daughter's day care. Tell us what you discovered there and how it fits into your sound argument, because we've talked about this before, about the, quote/unquote, "smog" of white supremacy.
DR. KENDI: Yes. So, yeah, Jonathan. When my daughter, I think, was about one years old, she was going to a day care, and my wife and I typically alternate picking her up, and on a particular day, it was me, my job to pick her up, when I came and I noticed that she was playing with a White doll. And, you know, I didn't think much of it, you know, picked her up. We left. She was a little upset to have to leave the White doll.
But the next day, she was playing with that same doll, and she was even more resistant to leaving and no longer playing with that doll. And as the days went by, a whimper became a cry and a cry became a temper tantrum because she didn't want to go home and stop playing with this White doll.
And so my wife and I, we were trying to figure out what's going on here, and by the fifth day when my wife and I both came, she actually tossed the doll away and sprinted to hug us because she loves it when we both pick her up. But, on that day, I actually went around to look at the toy box, and I found that all of the dolls were pretty much White.
And I'm mentioning that, Jonathan, because I actually thought, my wife and I were thinking, does she have a preference for the White doll? But come to find out, she didn't have any other choice.
MR. CAPEHART: Hmm. And just to be clear, you don't live in‑‑do you live in the South? Where do you live?
DR. KENDI: This was in Washington, D.C.
MR. CAPEHART: I mean, we're kind of in the South, but this isn't‑‑we're not talking about a situation that happened in rural Georgia or rural Alabama or rural Mississippi where some people would think, oh, maybe that's where this is happening. No. This is something, this smog of white supremacy that you've written about and you talk about, it's smog. Talk about the smog because, the analogy, it permeates everything. You can't see it.
DR. KENDI: I think that's part of the difficulty, and I personally studied racist ideas, ideas that convey to people and people believing that, let's say, I mentioned earlier, that it's not racist policies that's causing Black and brown people to be disproportionately impoverished. We're taught through the‑‑[audio distortion]‑‑that it's because they don't want to work as hard. You know, it's not racist policies that are leading to Black people dying at higher rates at the hands of police. No. We're taught that they're just reckless with the police. It's not racist policies that‑‑[audio distortion]‑‑disproportionately incarcerated. No. We're taught that they are more criminal‑like and violent. All of those ideas, you know, are the smog that people are taking in, including our children.
MR. CAPEHART: All right. This is a perfect segue because I want to play devil's advocate here and sort of channel some of the counterarguments that I'm sure you've heard, that I've heard. A few recent studies illustrated deep‑seated racism in this country. One was around covid‑19, where it was shown that the more the media‑covered racial disparities around covid‑19, the less concerned or supportive White people became about protective measures.
There was also a recent study on the racial politics surrounding welfare in the United States. To sum up their conclusions, the authors write that, quote, "Racial animosity in the U.S. makes redistribution to the poor, who are disproportionately Black, unappealing to many voters."
Looking at these two examples, if we are outcome‑driven, then would it make more sense to minimize or at least not increase the salience of race in order to get the best results for people of color? Devil's advocate question.
DR. KENDI: I think that's an incredibly important question, and let me give an example. About a decade ago, there became an awareness that there were too many children, even in preschool, who were being suspended and expelled, and so there became an effort, particularly led by the Obama administration, to reduce, to stop using the punitive measure, you know, when children are acting out. And so what it actually led to, a pretty significant decline in the number of children, preschoolers, who were being suspended and expelled.
But you know what actually didn't happen? There wasn't a closing‑‑a significant closing in disparities of Black‑‑between Black and White, even preschool girls, who were being suspended, because there was no focus on that. The focus was only on suspension rates in general.
And so I think this is the challenge, because on the one hand, if we do not talk about racial disparities and put in place specific policies and practices that can eliminate them, if not reduce them, then they're not going to do it on their own. But then if we talk about racial disparities, it's going to cause a certain segment of Americans to be uninterested in those policy reforms we want to put forth, and I think this is part of the reason why we're still facing this issue of racism in this country.
MR. CAPEHART: Mm‑hmm. You know, Dr. Kendi, you were last on Washington Post Live a month after January 6th, 2021, the insurrection. Have you become more optimistic or less optimistic about the future of democracy in America?
DR. KENDI: So, Jonathan, I don't want to dodge your question, but I truly try not to answer that question. Like, I try not to measure my optimism or pessimism based on what's happening in society, and I suspect I do that because, as someone who's closely following, in this case, a tax on the maintenance or the establishment, you know, of a multiracial democracy, it's hard for me to not potentially be pessimistic‑‑or someone who is seeing that two years after the murder of George Floyd, we still don't have, you know, a federal policy that can protect Black people and brown people and even all of us from police violence. It can cause me to be pessimistic.
But I also know if I get pessimistic, then it's going to sort of set my fuel to push for a different type of nation, to push for an equitable and just sort of society. So I try not to become more passive or‑‑I'm sorry‑‑pessimistic or optimistic as a result of what's been happening.
MR. CAPEHART: I would think‑‑I mean, I get your answer‑‑or I should say non‑answer answer, but do you take hope and derive some modicum of optimism by the incremental‑‑as small as they might be, incremental gains that have happened?
DR. KENDI: So I do‑‑
MR. CAPEHART: And by that, I mean over the course of our history.
DR. KENDI: So, yes, I actually do‑‑I try to sort of swim in‑‑[audio distortion]‑‑hope from my reading of history, and there have been things that we as a people have accomplished, whether it's the elimination of child slavery, you know, a host of other things that people thought was impossible, and that sort of gives me hope. And I constantly have to go back to the pages of history to sort of refuel on that hope, particularly when times seem dire.
MR. CAPEHART: Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, director of the Boston University Center for Antiracist Research and author of "Magnolia Flower," thank you so much for coming to "Capehart" on Washington Post Live.
DR. KENDI: Thank you for having me.
MR. CAPEHART: And thank you for joining us. To check out what interviews we have coming up, go to WashingtonPostLive.com.
Once again, I'm Jonathan Capehart, associate editor at The Washington Post. Thank you for watching "Capehart" on Washington Post Live. | 2022-09-14T19:29:42Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Transcript: 'Capehart’ with Ibram X. Kendi - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/washington-post-live/2022/09/14/transcript-capehart-with-ibram-x-kendi/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/washington-post-live/2022/09/14/transcript-capehart-with-ibram-x-kendi/ |
Administration and industry leaders on the challenges of meeting America’s broadband needs
The $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law signed by President Biden last year includes $550 billion in new investments in roads, bridges, broadband and other public works. On Wednesday, Sept. 21 at 10:00 a.m. ET, join Washington Post Live for conversations focusing on the plans and the timetable for upgrading the country’s high-speed internet with Andy Berke, special representative for broadband at the Commerce Department, and Michael Powell, president and CEO of the National Cable & Television Association.
Special Representative for Broadband, U.S. Department of Commerce
President & CEO, NCTA — The Internet & Television Association
Content from Esri
Modernizing Infrastructure for Resilience & Equity
In a segment presented by Esri, Founder and President Jack Dangermond addresses the infrastructure bill, the digital divide, and how location and geography can help identify areas with the greatest need, while creating common ground between government, businesses, and society.
Dangermond discusses how modernizing infrastructure with resiliency, sustainability, and equity in mind requires a deep understanding of the location-based relationship of environmental and human-made systems.
Founder & President, Esri | 2022-09-14T19:29:56Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Administration and industry leaders on the challenges of meeting America’s broadband needs - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/washington-post-live/2022/09/21/administration-industry-leaders-challenges-meeting-americas-broadband-needs/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/washington-post-live/2022/09/21/administration-industry-leaders-challenges-meeting-americas-broadband-needs/ |
Syed’s case drew widespread attention after it was featured on the true-crime podcast “Serial,” which debuted in 2014.
Baltimore prosecutors asked a judge on Wednesday to vacate the conviction of Adnan Syed, whose murder case drew widespread attention after it was featured on the true crime podcast “Serial.”
Syed has long been seeking to overturn his conviction and get a new trial in the 1999 murder of Hae Min Lee, but has previously faced opposition from state authorities. But on Thursday, the Baltimore City state’s attorney office said in a motion in circuit court that — while its investigation is ongoing — it had lost confidence in the conviction.
“To be clear, the State is not asserting at this time that Defendant is innocent,” prosecutors wrote. “However, for all the reasons set forth below, the State no longer has confidence in the integrity of the conviction.”
Prosecutors wrote that Syed should “at a minimum, be afforded a new trial," and that he should be released while they continue to investigate.
Maryland court reinstates Adnan Syed’s murder conviction
Prosecutors said that a nearly year-long investigation by them and Syed’s defense uncovered new information about “the possible involvement of two alternative suspects," and violations in the government’s turning over evidence to the defense.
“Additionally, the parties have identified significant reliability issues regarding the most critical pieces of evidence at trial,” prosecutors wrote.
Syed was a 17-year-old high school student when he was arrested in late February 1999 in Lee’s killing.
Syed’s story was the subject of the true-crime podcast “Serial,” which launched its first season in 2014. Host Sarah Koenig detailed the events surrounding the death of Lee, Syed’s former girlfriend. Lee’s body was found in Baltimore’s Leakin Park. Syed was convicted of murder in 2000 and has since been serving a life sentence. Syed maintains his innocence.
In 2016, a circuit court vacated Syed’s conviction, citing the “ineffective assistance” of a former attorney who failed to investigate an alibi witness, and in March 2018, the Court of Special Appeals upheld the ruling granting Syed a new trial. But in March 2019, Maryland’s highest court reinstated to reinstate Syed’s murder conviction.
Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby said in a statement Wednesday that she came to conclude Syed deserves a new trial “where he is adequately represented and the latest evidence can be presented.”
“As stewards of the court, we are obligated to uphold confidence in the integrity of convictions and do our part to correct when this standard has been comprised,” Mosby said. “We have spoken with the family of Ms. Hae Min Lee and fully understand that the person responsible for this heinous crime must be held accountable.”
Syed’s defense attorney, Assistant Public Defender Erica Suter, praised the development.
“Given the stunning lack of reliable evidence implicating Mr. Syed, coupled with increasing evidence pointing to other suspects, this unjust conviction cannot stand,” Suter said. “Mr. Syed is grateful that this information has finally seen the light of day and looks forward to his day in court.”
Maryland Public Defender Natasha Dartigue took aim in particular at what she said were failures by the state to turn over evidence to Syed’s lawyers.
“The fact that information about motives and threats of alternate suspects were kept from defense counsel for more than 20 years should shock the conscience,” Dartigue said. “This is a true example of how justice delayed is justice denied. An innocent man spends decades wrongly incarcerated, while any information or evidence that could help identify the actual perpetrator becomes increasingly difficult to pursue.” | 2022-09-14T19:56:58Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Maryland prosecutors ask judge to vacate the conviction of Adnan Syed - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/09/14/adnan-syed-vacate-conviction-serial/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/09/14/adnan-syed-vacate-conviction-serial/ |
Victim’s mother says Britt Reid is getting a ‘slap on the wrist’ after plea deal
Britt Reid served as the Kansas City Chiefs linebackers coach before the team parted ways with him following the 2021 crash. (Mark Brown/Getty Images)
Two days after former Kansas City Chiefs assistant coach Britt Reid pleaded guilty to felony driving while intoxicated stemming from a 2021 crash that seriously injured a 5-year-old girl, the girl’s mother detailed the incident to ABC News.
Wearing a shirt that read “Ariel Strong,” Felicia Miller recounted the immediate moments before the incident, as her daughter, Ariel Young, sat in the back seat after Miller pulled over on the side of a road to help her cousin, whose car had broken down.
“I just remember looking in the mirror seeing him coming, like just full speed coming, and then all of a sudden everybody was knocked out,” Miller said of Reid, whose pickup truck slammed into both cars at about 84 mph on an entrance ramp. Reid, the son of Chiefs Coach Andy Reid, was one of six people injured in the accident, but Young suffered a traumatic brain injury.
In the ABC interview, Miller said she was relieved when Young awoke from a two-week coma following the accident, but she said her daughter didn’t recognize her: “She didn’t know who I was.” Now 7, Young is back in school, Miller said.
For the first time, Felicia Miller shared details about the night Britt Reid, the son of Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, crashed into her car in February 2021, leaving her daughter Ariel with a traumatic brain injury. https://t.co/uWoX6mDrL5
Britt Reid, 37, was placed on administrative leave by the Chiefs, and the team subsequently announced that his contract expired and he was no longer a member of the organization. He was charged in April 2021 with a felony offense and faced up to seven years in prison if convicted, but following the plea deal he faces a possible sentence of up to four years. Reid’s sentencing is scheduled for late October.
“He’s just getting a slap on the wrist,” Miller said. “If anybody else had did that, [if] we did that, if any of us hit his car, being drunk hitting his car and injured his kids, we would have been in jail.”
Reid in court on Monday expressed contrition.
“I really regret what I did,” he said. “I made a huge mistake. I apologize to the family. I didn’t mean to hurt anyone.”
An attorney for Young’s family, Tom Porto, said they opposed the deal.
Prosecutors have said medical records listed Young as having suffered injuries including severe traumatic brain injury, left parietal fracture, brain contusions and subdural hematomas during the crash. According to a GoFundMe campaign to benefit Young, she was described in April 2021 as out of the hospital and undergoing physical therapy while unable to “walk, talk or eat like a normal 5-year-old.”
Reid is accused of having a serum blood alcohol concentration of 0.113, above the legal limit of 0.08, approximately two hours after the crash occurred. He told a police officer the night of the crash that he was looking over his left shoulder to see where he could merge as he drove on the entrance ramp and that he did not see any lights on the car before he made impact. The officer “detected an odor of intoxicants and noted [Reid’s] eyes were bloodshot and red,” according to prosecutors.
Reid suffered a groin injury in the incident and required surgery. He did not travel with the Chiefs to Tampa for Super Bowl LV, which Kansas City lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Reid spent eight years on the Chiefs staff, the last two as a linebackers coach after holding other positions with the defensive unit.
In 2007, while out on bail in Pennsylvania following an incident of road rage in which he was accused of wielding a gun, Reid was charged with driving under the influence of a controlled substance and with drug possession after he allegedly drove into a shopping cart in a parking lot. He pleaded guilty to those charges and completed a 15-month drug court program in 2009. | 2022-09-14T20:18:44Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Ariel Young's family opposes Britt Reid plea deal - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/14/britt-reid-ariel-young-felicia-miller/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/14/britt-reid-ariel-young-felicia-miller/ |
Irene Papas, Greek actress of ‘Zorba’ and classical dramas, dies at 96
She appeared in films including ‘The Guns of Navarone’ and ‘Z,’ and gained acclaim for interpreting ancient Greek plays for modern audiences
Irene Papas at a news conference in Cannes, France, on Nov. 5, 1979. (AP)
Irene Papas, a Greek actress with riveting almond eyes who embodied roles of heroism and tragic dignity in films such as “Zorba the Greek” and “The Guns of Navarone,” and gained critical acclaim in classic Greek dramas including “Electra” and “Antigone,” has died. She was 96.
The death was announced Sept. 14 in a statement by Greece’s culture minister, Lina Mendoni, who called Ms. Papas “majestic, stately, dynamic … an international star who radiated Greekness.” The statement did not say when or where she died. No cause was given. Ms. Papas had symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease for nearly five years, according to Greek media.
Ms. Papas (sometimes spelled Pappas) appeared in more than 70 films and stage productions in Italy, France and the United States over a five-decade career. She was hailed by admirers as an ambassador of Greek culture and universal values for her powerful renderings of ancient plays.
She also was part of a generation of Greek artists and intellectuals forced into self-exile during the country’s military junta rule from 1967 to 1974. She lived in hotels in Rome and other cities, joining other Greek stars such as “Zorba” composer Mikis Theodorakis to denounce the regime in Athens.
In 1969’s “Z,” an Oscar-winning film by Greek-born director Costa-Gavras, Ms. Papas played the widow of a Greek politician slain by right-wing authorities. The film was based on the 1963 assassination of a left-leaning Greek political activist Grigoris Lambrakis.
Costa-Gavras and the art of provocation
The movie seems to end in triumph with the killers exposed and the government doomed to collapse. But when Ms. Papas’s character received the news, she only stares out to sea in suffering and despair, knowing no real victory was achieved.
In her career, too, she often cast herself as an outsider and pragmatist. She spoke of being worn down by the competition for parts and being repeatedly cast in roles that tried to exploit her expressive eyes and strong-jawed visage some reviewers likened to ancient Greek ideals of beauty.
She was outspoken in public about subjects such as politics and art but acknowledged that she often meekly obeyed her directors on the set or stage.
“Sometimes I think I should simply stop acting,” she told film critic Roger Ebert in 1969. “A person should change professions every so often. I keep repeating my same skills in film after film. My mind is so deep in laughter and tears.”
Ms. Papas appeared in several Greek films beginning in the late 1940s. A trip to the United States in 1954 brought her to the attention of director Elia Kazan, whose latest film, “On the Waterfront,” starred Marlon Brando. (Ms. Papas later said she and Brando shared a decades-long love affair.)
Ms. Papas landed a seven-year contract with MGM. It only led to a single film, “Tribute to a Bad Man” (1956), a Western starring James Cagney. Ms. Papas’s breakthrough in Hollywood came with “The Guns of Navarone” (1961), in which she plays a hardened Greek partisan who joins a mission to destroy a powerful Nazi fortress on a Greek island.
In one memorable scene, the men on the mission (played by stars including Anthony Quinn, Gregory Peck and David Niven) hesitate to kill a woman discovered to be a turncoat. Ms. Papas’s character pulls the trigger, showing she is as tough as the men and burnishing the image of Greek village women as unflinching and capable of taking charge.
Another side of village life for women was portrayed in “Zorba the Greek” (1964) by Greek Cypriot filmmaker Michael Cacoyannis, whom Ms. Papas described as her favorite artistic collaborator. Ms. Papas played a role in sharp contrast to Quinn’s devil-may-care Zorba: a widow who is killed by villagers in Crete as revenge for the apparent suicide of a young man who loved her. The proud woman was suddenly transformed into someone hunted and trapped by her own neighbors.
Some of Ms. Papas’s most celebrated work, however, was in film adaptations of ancient Greek dramas, including George Tzavellas’s “Antigone” (1961) and twice working with Cacoyannis on “Electra” (1962) and playing Helen in “The Trojan Women” in 1971 with co-stars Katharine Hepburn and Vanessa Redgrave.
“Her dark, ageless, almost masculine beauty gives real dimension to the role of the woman who was once the most beautiful in the world,” wrote critic Vincent Canby about Ms. Papas in a New York Times review of “The Trojan Women.”
In 1977’s “Iphigenia,” director Cacoyannis placed Ms. Papas in front of replicas of ancient Hellenic sculptures of women that resembled her profile.
Ms. Papas said she tried to look at ancient Greek dramas through a modern lens, such as “Antigone,” Sophocles’s tragic tale of a woman who struggles against the king to allow her brother an honorable burial.
“So the heroine is someone that represents an idea and it’s like in modern times a revolutionist,” she said in 1968, “a partisan, someone that goes against a thing that is fascistic, tyrannic and all of that.”
Drama student
Ms. Papas was born Eirini Lelekou on Sept. 3, 1926, in Chiliomodi, Greece, a village near Corinth, where her mother was a schoolteacher and her father taught classical drama.
The family moved to Athens when she was young, enrolling her in the Royal School of Dramatic Art — managing to keep her studies going during the years of Nazi occupation in the Greek capital during World War II. Soon after she graduated in 1948, Ms. Papas began to work in Greek films and stage productions.
Over the decades, her film roles included work with Kirk Douglas in the mafia story “The Brotherhood” in 1968; opposite Richard Burton as Catherine of Aragon in “Anne of the Thousand Days” (1969); and again with Quinn in “The Lion of the Desert” (1980), set during Italy’s colonial wars in Libya in the 1920s and ’30s. Ms. Papas also worked on many films in Italian.
In 2001 she appeared as the mother of a betrayed son in “Captain Corelli’s Mandolin” alongside Nicolas Cage and Penélope Cruz. Her final screen role was in Manoel de Oliveira’s “A Talking Picture” in 2003, playing a pampered actress on a sea voyage with co-stars Catherine Deneuve and John Malkovich.
“This great tragedienne,” de Oliveira called Ms. Papas. “She is the image of Greece of all time … the mother of Western civilization.”
Ms. Papas appeared on the New York stage in roles that included “Iphigenia in Aulis” in 1968 and “Medea” in 1973. She also found inspiration in singing, ranging from an album of songs by Theodorakis released by RCA in 1969 to background chants in 1972 for the Greek rock group Aphrodite’s Child.
She married twice: to actor Alkis Papas from 1947 to 1951 and briefly, in 1957, to producer José Kohn. The Greek Culture Ministry statement said she had no immediate survivors.
In 2004 after Brando’s death, Ms. Papas called him “the great passion of my life” despite keeping the affair mostly out of the public eye for decades. Her awards included Golden Lion at the 2009 Venice Biennale for lifetime achievement.
She was once asked about the difference of acting in classical dramas for film and stage. She replied that actors need a louder voice onstage, but “you always use the same soul.” | 2022-09-14T20:40:31Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Irene Papas, Greek actress from 'Antigone' to 'Zorba,' dies at 96 - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/09/14/irene-papas-actress-greek-dies/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/09/14/irene-papas-actress-greek-dies/ |
Camilla, Queen Consort, returns by car to Buckingham Palace after attending a service for the reception of Queen Elizabeth II's coffin at Westminster Hall on Sept. 14. (WPA Pool/Getty Images)
LONDON — As King Charles III signed the visitors book at the 18th Century Hillsborough Castle in Belfast on Tuesday, his fountain pen started leaking.
“Oh God, I hate this,” he said, clearly peeved. “I can’t bear this bloody thing … every stinking time!”
Camilla’s 50-year relationship with Charles has been messy, but after years of being vilified as the “other woman,” she appears to be easing into the affection of British public. Many see her as the no-fuss royal, with neither a temper nor elitist airs, the steady calm at Charles’s side.
A new YouGov poll shows that 53 percent of Britons approve of Camilla and say she will do a good job as queen consort, compared to 33 percent five years ago. Her highest ratings come from women and those over 50.
Justine Roberts, founder and chief executive of Mumsnet, the U.K.’s largest online forum for parents, said there had been a “sea change” in perceptions of Camilla.
In the nonstop media coverage since Queen Elizabeth II died last week, Camilla has been almost constantly in the public eye. She seems to have little interest in being the center of attention herself, preferring to stand just to the side.
Camilla and Charles have lived in the intertwined world of the British upper crust for their entire lives. They met at a polo match in 1970 and began dating. When Charles left to serve in the Navy in 1972 without asking for any commitment from Camilla, she didn’t wait.
Princess Diana went on TV in 1995 — a year before her divorce from Charles — and complained about “three of us” in her marriage. The British media reported that Camilla was even pelted with bread rolls at a supermarket.
BBC reporter used 'deceitful behaviour' to secure 1995 Princess Diana interview, investigation concludes
In what he called “Operation Ritz,” Bolland made sure every media outlet in the country knew that Charles and Camilla would be making their first public appearance together at her sister’s 50th birthday party at London’s Ritz Hotel. The photos taken that night dominated newspapers, magazines and TV broadcasts.
Five months later, Prince Harry rose to Camilla’s defense on his 21st birthday, telling the British press that she was “not the wicked stepmother.”
“Everyone has to understand that it’s very hard for her,” he said. “Look at the position she’s coming into. Don’t always feel sorry for me and William, feel sorry for her. … We are very grateful for her. She’s made our father very happy.”
Camilla’s mischievousness sense of humor went viral in 2019, during a visit to London by then-president Donald Trump.
Camilla winked behind Trump’s back. What was she telling us?
Now, as they assume their new roles — King Charles III, 73, and Camilla, Queen Consort, 75 — the public finds them as familiar as the furniture.
In a recent interview in the UK edition of Vogue to mark her 75th birthday in July, Camilla said she avoids wearing clothes in a color she describes as “menopausal mauve.” She said she plays Wordle every day on her iPad and comparing scores with her granddaughter.
“I quite like her,” said Jodie Barrett, 22, receptionist at a hair salon in the Chelsea neighborhood of London. Asked why, she said Camilla was not as memorable as Diana, but she found nothing to dislike.
Roberts said there has been much discussion of Camilla on the Mumsnet’s online forum, most of it favorable.
“She’s definitely won over what was initially a very skeptical crowd,” she said. “People think she’d be quite fun to go have a drink with — unlike him.” | 2022-09-14T20:40:32Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Camilla, with new title of Queen Consort, eases into British affection - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/14/king-charles-wife-camilla-queen-consort/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/14/king-charles-wife-camilla-queen-consort/ |
Ken Starr was more than a partisan hack. He was a tragic figure.
Journalists photograph Kenneth Starr, a member of President Donald Trump's impeachment defense team, as he leaves the Capitol in 2019. (Astrid Riecken for The Washington Post)
Kenneth Starr, who died Tuesday at 76, helped to impeach one president, then lead the impeachment defense of another. He is famous for his obsessive investigation of one case of sexual misconduct — but not for the allegations he failed to pursue with the rigor they deserved.
In a memoir published in 2018, Starr tried to have it both ways. He wrote that he “deeply regret[s]” taking the probe down the Lewinsky path. But he still maintained, having had two decades to put his actions in perspective, that “there was no practical alternative to my doing so.” And he ultimately blames Lewinsky herself for what he and his colleagues put her through, writing: “In her fierce but misguided loyalty, Monica allowed herself to become a tragic figure.” | 2022-09-14T20:45:04Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Ken Starr's failures, from Whitewater to Baylor - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/14/ken-starr-whitewater-baylor-lewinsky/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/14/ken-starr-whitewater-baylor-lewinsky/ |
In July, when President Biden visited Saudi Arabia and met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, known as MBS, the White House said the president raised human rights violations and the murder of our colleague, Post contributing columnist Jamal Khashoggi. Mr. Biden claimed he “received commitments with respect to reforms and institutional safeguards in place to guard against any such conduct in the future.” Now it is clear these “commitments” were a fiction.
Since Mr. Biden left, Saudi Arabia’s Specialized Criminal Court, which handles cases involving counterterrorism and cybercrime, and which is notorious for using vague laws to punish dissent, has handed down a series of draconian prison sentences against the regime’s critics.
According to human rights group Democracy for the Arab World Now, or DAWN, which Mr. Khashoggi helped found, Nourah bint Saeed al-Qahtani was sentenced last month to 45 years in jail, to be followed by a travel ban of the same duration. Court documents obtained by DAWN show that the 49-year-old mother of five was accused of using Twitter to criticize the king and crown prince and of following and retweeting others who did so. Ms. al-Qahtani was not widely known, and her Twitter account had only about 500 followers, yet her tweets were supposedly threats to the “security and stability of society and the state” that were responsible for “shaking the social fabric,” the court documents say. Moreover, she was found to possess a 2013 book by a now-imprisoned Saudi scholar, Salman al-Odah, titled, “Me … and Her Sisters: A Journey Into the Secrets of the Self,” which encourages introspection and getting beyond one’s ego. Can it be that MBS, the despot-monarch, is so threatened by a self-help book that Ms. al-Qahtani must serve the rest of her life in prison? Some might call MBS a strongman, but his actions against innocent women reflect pathetic weakness.
Ms. al-Qahtani’s sentence, increased from an initial penalty of 13 years, came as the court sentenced women’s rights activist Salma al-Shehab to a staggering 34 years for posts to her Twitter account. And there are still more. The human rights group ALQST reports that two men, Abdulilah al-Huwaiti and Abdullah Dukhail al-Huwaiti, were both sentenced in August to 50 years in prison by the Specialized Criminal Court. They had been supporting their family’s refusal to be forcibly evicted from their homes to make way for the crown prince’s fantasy city in the desert, known as Neom. And the group disclosed that a writer, translator and computer programmer, Osama Khaled, detained since 2020, was sentenced to a jail term of 32 years — increased on appeal from an initial five-year sentence — following “allegations relating to the right of free speech.”
The crown prince holds himself out as a modernizer, enabling women’s rights. But behind the curtain, he destroys individuals over the slightest trifle. These cases show Mr. Biden was duped in Jiddah. He must not remain silent. He should openly denounce such barbaric thuggery. | 2022-09-14T20:45:23Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Saudi Arabia's human rights violations show MBS duped Biden - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/14/saudi-arabia-human-rights-mbs-biden/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/14/saudi-arabia-human-rights-mbs-biden/ |
We agree: Something is wrong at the Supreme Court
Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch (R) speaks to supporters on Dec. 1 as antiabortion and abortion rights advocates protest outside the Supreme Court. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post)
Ruth Marcus’s arguments in her Sept. 12 op-ed about what “What Chief Justice Roberts misses” disarm her claim.
In paraphrasing Justice Elena Kagan, Ms. Marcus asserted three criteria for the legitimacy of a Supreme Court decision: “respecting precedent, applying judicial methodologies consistently and irrespective of outcome, and not lunging to make decisions more far-reaching than the pending case requires.” These three criteria demonstrate not why Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization was wrong but why Roe v. Wade was wrong.
Aware of the need to make this point unequivocal, the Dobbs decision goes to extraordinary lengths to demonstrate why Roe failed these criteria in 1973. If history is to judge the legitimacy of the court based on abortion decisions, it will judge that the court made the right call in 2022, even if it failed in 1973.
Patrick Rhoads, Alexandria
In “What Chief Justice Roberts misses,” Ruth Marcus correctly noted that “the inflamed public reaction” to the Supreme Court is because of recent changes in the law and the court’s membership. Changes in the court’s composition, controversial nominees to the court and divisive decisions are not unusual. But what makes the current circumstances different is how the court’s composition changed.
First, there was the hypocrisy of then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and the Republican Party in refusing to allow even a hearing on President Barack Obama’s nominee to the court during his last year in office, ostensibly because the 2016 election would provide an opportunity for citizens to consider the presidential candidates’ potential court nominees. Four years later, in a stunning volte-face, there was no such concern for the electorate when Senate Republicans pushed through the confirmation of President Donald Trump’s nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, days before the 2020 election.
Second, the three newest members of the court misled Congress, under oath and in private, by stating that they would respect well-established court precedent. Add to this unsavory mix recent revelations of blatantly partisan efforts of a sitting justice’s spouse to overturn the results of the 2020 election, and is it any wonder that public support for the court itself — apart from its decisions — has significantly diminished?
The chief justice undoubtedly understands that, even if he will not say so publicly. I wish him well in his defense of the tainted court, for the foundation of our government depends on a judicial branch that is both independent and worthy of the public’s respect.
Christine N. Kohl, Kensington
As the Supreme Court continues on its downward slide in public opinion, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. has joined other justices in reminding us that the court is nonpartisan. Ruth Marcus wrote that “Roberts’s defense of the institution falls short.” Ms. Marcus was absolutely right.
Chief Justice Roberts cannot defend the patent agenda of “The Five”: A states’-rights philosophy is ascendant; personal rights are descendant; and the deconstructing of federal regulatory agencies — agencies that, at the direction of Congress, are responsible for the health, safety, and welfare of the people — is in process. Moreover, any notion of the “rule of law,” the keystone of a free and democratic society, is lost in translation and demeaned by a doubting public. Other than that ...
Michael Katz, Washington
I read with great fascination the Sept. 11 Politics & The Nation article “Roberts defends court’s legitimacy after tumultuous term,” about Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. imploring the American public to respect the legitimacy of decisions made by the Supreme Court. It’s quite difficult to swallow since the existing court does not even respect the legitimacy of precedent established by that very body.
Todd Bolton, Smithsburg, Md. | 2022-09-14T20:45:29Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | We agree: Something is wrong at the Supreme Court - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/14/we-agree-something-is-wrong-supreme-court/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/14/we-agree-something-is-wrong-supreme-court/ |
With Metro supine, the D.C. region will not recover
New Metro General Manager Randy Clarke waits to board a train at the Foggy Bottom Metro station in Washington. (Gaya Gupta/TWP)
Pity Washington/Baltimore-area transit commuters. Their average wait time for trains and buses — 17 minutes, according to Moovit, a widely used transit app — is among the worst in the United States, among the lengthier in the Northern Hemisphere, and at least 50 percent longer than the wait times riders face in most of Western Europe, Australia and Russia. More than a quarter of local passengers in D.C. and Baltimore wait over 20 minutes for their ride; among major U.S. cities, only Los Angeles, San Diego and Miami are worse, and only slightly.
Much of the blame for Washington’s poor performance lies with Metrorail, the nation’s second-busiest — and episodically dysfunctional — subway system. Its health and the region’s economic vitality are inextricably linked; vibrant neighborhoods in Arlington, Bethesda, the District and elsewhere were all but dead before Metro stations opened nearly half a century ago. Now, the region’s post-pandemic revival depends critically on Metro’s own return to good health.
For that to happen, Maryland, Virginia and D.C. will have to open their wallets. Strategizing about how to do that must begin now.
The timing of severe service cuts facing Metrorail is a question; the hard reality of the system’s financial needs is not. Weekday subway ridership has remained stuck for months at 60 percent below its pre-pandemic levels. Even as drivers have returned to the roads — highway traffic in the D.C. area has rebounded nearly to its congested 2019 numbers — Metrorail remains lightly used.
Part of the reason is that many office employees remain telecommuters, working remotely from home. As government agencies and companies enforce back-to-office edicts, ridership should gradually pick up — or so Metro hopes. But the system’s own problems have compounded its woes. The long waits have been even worse since late last year, when a safety defect forced more than half the system’s rail cars out of commission. And just this month, more than 8,000 additional weekday riders were further inconvenienced when Metro shut down the Yellow Line for eight months. The system is making long-scheduled repairs to the Potomac bridge and tunnel that connects the Pentagon in Northern Virginia with L’Enfant Plaza in downtown D.C. Many of those passengers will turn to their cars rather than the slow shuttle buses Metro has offered; some might never return to subway commuting.
That’s a danger signal. Already, Metro is facing a $500 million annual shortfall — roughly 20 percent of its operating budget — starting next summer, when $2.4 billion in federal pandemic relief funds will run out. Metro’s new general manager, Randy Clarke, says he can defer major service cuts until mid-2024; he’s counting on improved ridership as suspended rail cars are restored to service. Whether or not he’s right, the clock is ticking.
Elsewhere, leaders are moving aggressively to shore up battered systems. In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) proposed $750 million in grants to promote free rides for three months. In Chicago, the city council greenlighted Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s (D) blueprint for fare card giveaways. In the Washington area, Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D), and the governors of Virginia and Maryland, will need similarly bold thinking. Without it, the region they serve will struggle to regain its former buoyancy.
Opinion|Metro riders are unhappy — and they have every right to be
Opinion|A new Metro chief faces a daunting future | 2022-09-14T20:58:02Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Washington's Metro system needs aid for it, and the region, to recover - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/14/metro-washington-dc-money/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/14/metro-washington-dc-money/ |
This image provided by the National Transportation Safety Board shows damage to a 2021 Tesla Model 3 Long Range Dual Motor electric car following a crash in September, 2021, in Coral Gables, Fla. The Tesla driver who died with a passenger in a fiery September crash near Miami accelerated to 90 mph (145 kph) in the seconds before he lost control and smashed into trees, federal investigators said in a preliminary report released Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021. (NTSB via AP) (Uncredited/National Transportation Safety Board) | 2022-09-14T21:02:30Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Report: Tesla driver lost scholarship before fiery crash - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/report-tesla-driver-lost-scholarship-before-fiery-crash/2022/09/14/e8350436-3466-11ed-a0d6-415299bfebd5_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/report-tesla-driver-lost-scholarship-before-fiery-crash/2022/09/14/e8350436-3466-11ed-a0d6-415299bfebd5_story.html |
Nerf toys, Breyer Horses, bingo among finalists for Toy Hall of Fame
The public can vote through September 21 for one of 12 finalists. Three will be added to the hall of fame at The Strong museum.
The Toy Hall of Fame on Wednesday announced the 2022 finalists for induction. The public can vote online once per day through September 21. Three top vote-getters will be announced November 10 and will be included in the hall of fame. (AP)
Voting opened Wednesday on which toys should go into the National Toy Hall of Fame this year. The class of 2022 finalists are: bingo, Breyer Horses, Catan, Lite-Brite, Nerf Toys, Masters of the Universe, Phase 10, Pound Puppies, Rack-O, Spirograph, the piñata and the top.
“These 12 toys span the history of play. The top is as old as civilization itself, and bingo has been played in some form for hundreds of years,” said Christopher Bensch. He is vice president for collections at The Strong museum in Rochester, New York, where the hall of fame is housed.
The public is invited to vote online through September 21 at museumofplay.org/players-choice-ballot. The three toys that receive the most votes will make up one “player’s choice” ballot. That ballot will be counted alongside those turned-in by a national selection committee whose members include industry experts, educators and others.
The inductees will be announced November 10.
Anyone can nominate a toy for the annual honor, but to be recognized by the hall of fame, toys have to have achieved icon status, be popular for a long time and foster learning or discovery. They also must have changed play or toy design.
The National Toy Hall of Fame opened at the Strong in 1998. So far, 77 toys have been inducted, including simple favorites such as the paper airplane, bubbles and sidewalk chalk. Last year’s honorees were American Girl Dolls, Risk and sand. | 2022-09-14T21:02:43Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Toy Hall of Fame 2022 finalists announced - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/kidspost/2022/09/14/toy-hall-of-fame-2022-finalists/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/kidspost/2022/09/14/toy-hall-of-fame-2022-finalists/ |
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver defended his one-year suspension of Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver following a lengthy investigation into the team's workplace culture. (Jeff Chiu/AP)
Facing a torrent of questions about the NBA’s investigation of Robert Saver, which found the Phoenix Suns owner had repeatedly used racist and misogynistic language and exposed himself to team employees, Commissioner Adam Silver defended his decision to levy a one-year suspension and $10 million fine rather than pursue a lifetime ban.
Silver, who addressed reporters following a meeting of the league’s Board of Governors in New York on Wednesday, said that he was “saddened and disheartened” by Sarver’s behavior, and he issued an apology to current and former Suns employees. Despite calls to force out Sarver, Silver said that the NBA’s owners hadn’t discussed banning Sarver while noting that his suspension was the “second-longest” in league history and his fine was the maximum allowed.
“The conduct is indefensible but I feel like we dealt with it in a fair manner,” said Silver, who acknowledged that he had the authority to suspend Sarver for a longer period. “I have access to information that the public doesn’t. I’m able to look at the totality of the circumstances around those events, in a way that we’re not able to completely bring to light, the nuance, when you read a report or deal with it in short bursts of news reporting. That puts me in a different position.”
Following an ESPN.com article about Sarver’s behavior last November, the Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz law firm conducted an independent investigation of the Suns, which produced a 43-page report, released Tuesday, that covered Sarver’s 18-year ownership tenure. In the report, investigators found that Sarver had “repeated or purported to repeat the n-word” at least five times “when recounting the statements of others” while also making countless crass comments toward women in the workplace.
Yet the report’s writers noted that they made “no finding that Mr. Sarver’s workplace misconduct was motivated by racial or gender-based animus,” chalking up much of his inappropriate behavior and comments to a “sophomoric” sense of humor and a desire to provoke.
Silver said that he would have considered a different punishment had the investigators reached a different conclusion on this point, and he drew a distinction between Sarver, who was found by investigators to have used the n-word on five separate occasions, and former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling, who was banned from the NBA by Silver in 2014.
Sterling was guilty of “blatant racist conduct directed at a select group of people” and had made additional comments after being contacted by the league, Silver said. By comparison, Sarver’s comments were “beyond the pale in every possible way” but were “wholly of a different kind than we saw in the earlier case.” The difference, it seemed, was the investigators’ conclusion that Sarver had “repeated or purported to repeat the n-word” after it had been used by Black people.
“I think all of us would want to be judged by the totality of all we’ve done, good and bad,” Silver said. “His track record of hiring, his track record of support for particular employees. There were many, many people who had very positive things to say about him. I took all of that into account.”
Meanwhile, The NCAAP called Silver’s ruling “shameful” and a “speeding ticket” on Tuesday, while the Rev. Al Sharpton said Wednesday that Silver’s “light punishment … greatly misses the mark.”
“Nobody can evolve from being a bigot,” Sharpton said. “This one-year suspension is a band-aid on a tumor. To say it is in remission while it grows will only make the entire league sicker. We must remove this cancer swiftly and precisely, while sending a message that hate has no place in American sports.”
Former NBA guard Jamal Crawford, who played for both Sterling’s Clippers and Sarver’s Suns, saw history repeating.
“Sterling 2.0,” he wrote Tuesday on Twitter.
Silver nevertheless repeatedly defended Sarver on Wednesday, asserting that the 60-year-old real estate developer had taken “complete accountability and seemed fully remorseful” during a recent conversation, and that he had done “many very positive things” as an owner. In a statement Tuesday, Sarver apologized but said that he “disagree[d] with some of the particulars of the NBA’s report.”
The commissioner also asserted that many of the incidents had come in the early stages of his 18-year ownership tenure and that Sarver has “evolved as a person” in recent years. However, investigators noted that Sarver had discussed oral sex during a 2021 business meeting, and that he had used the n-word repeatedly as recently as 2016, more than a decade after he was first told by associates not to do so.
Pressed on why Sarver would get to continue owning the Suns when any rank-and-file employee would be fired for similar behavior, Silver said that “there are particularly rights here for people who own an NBA team” and acknowledged that removing an owner is a “very involved process,” one that requires a three-quarter majority vote of the other owners and could lead to a legal battle.
“There’s no neat answer here,” Silver said. “Owning property, the rights that come with owning an team, how that’s set up within our constitution … is different than holding a job. It just is, when you own a team. It’s just a very different proposition. … The consequences are severe here for Mr. Sarver, reputationally. It’s hard to even make those comparisons to somebody who commits an inappropriate act in the workplace in an anonymous fashion, compared to what is a huge public issue.”
Per the terms of his suspension, Sarver will be barred from attending all NBA and WNBA games and from team facilities, and he cannot appear at public events on behalf of the Suns or the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury or participate in any of their business operations. Sarver must also complete a workplace training program “focused on respect and appropriate conduct,” while heeding the NBA’s stern warning.
“In terms of future behavior, he’s on notice,” Silver said. “He knows that.” | 2022-09-14T21:50:32Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Adam Silver defends punishment of Suns owner Robert Sarver - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/14/adam-silver-robert-sarver/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/14/adam-silver-robert-sarver/ |
Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver, center, was suspended for one year and fined $10 million by the NBA. (Ralph Freso/AP)
The greatest threat to the integrity of pro sports is the unchecked, immoral owner. He slithers across all of these leagues, rich and toxic and indestructible, profiting from sports’ charm without upholding their virtue. You can expose his misdeeds, shame him and force him to answer to people who are supposed to have real power. He will escape, though. And those like him will multiply.
Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver, the man currently in trouble, is not an outlier. He’s just the latest to get busted during a distressing period of abusive leadership throughout sports. The details of his alleged sins may differ from Daniel Snyder’s in Washington, or Stephen Ross’s in Miami, or any other recent scandal involving prominent stakeholders. But their insolence reeks just the same. And most of them outlast their troubles. It takes something as incendiary as audio of Donald Sterling making racist remarks to get an owner evicted.
To conclude its investigation of Sarver, the NBA released a damning 43-page report Monday and announced he would be suspended for one year and fined $10 million. It was a light punishment considering the league’s detailed findings of racism, misogyny and hostile behavior. Sadly, it must have been the best NBA Commissioner Adam Silver felt he could do.
Given the structure of major professional sports leagues, an overwhelming majority of franchise owners must unite and vote out one of their own. They shudder at establishing that level of accountability. The ousting of Sterling in 2014 may have been a once-in-a-lifetime comeuppance. If NBA owners opened that door again, they’d never be able to close it. They will absorb the humiliation Sarver has brought to the league for the same reason the NFL tolerated Snyder and gave him perfunctory discipline for fostering a similar culture. Many of them know that, because they also have skeletons, too much policing could be detrimental to their desire to avoid ever really having to answer to anyone for anything.
“There are particular rights here to someone who owns an NBA team as opposed to someone who is an employee,” Silver said Tuesday, trying to answer questions about why Sarver can get away with behavior that would be a fireable offense for others. “It’s different than holding a job.”
Sarver has left his partners around the NBA with an enormous mess two weeks before training camps open. The NBA and WNBA carry the social justice mantle in sports. It’s a wonderful thing when they use their influence for good. It’s a burden when they must react to bad within their walls. The expectation is higher, and the pushback reflects that. Civil rights leaders are appropriately calling out the sport for going easy on Sarver.
“The NBA’s response is shameful,” NAACP President Derrick Johnson said in a statement. “Fining a billionaire $1o million is nothing but a speeding ticket. They have failed to adequately address this man’s history of racism, sexism, and his years-long nourishment of a toxic culture.”
Johnson pointed out that the NBA cannot celebrate Bill Russell, its foundational winner and athlete activist who died in July, and leave the perception that Sarver is so easily worthy of redemption. Beyond details of Sarver’s liberal use of the n-word, the months-long investigation into his management style over 18 years owning the Suns included numerous examples of predatory and unprofessional behavior, from comments about oral sex to talking to a female employee about her breasts to emailing pornography to other men in the Suns organization.
The NBA seemed to have everything on him. The unfortunate reality is that, in a warring society that now considers most things nebulous, it probably needed audio or video of Sarver behaving badly to surface publicly.
“The fact that the NBA would hand down this so-called ‘punishment’ in the same year we lost a legend like Bill Russell, who fought racism his entire life, only underscores how prevalent racism still is today,” Johnson said. “The punishment doesn’t fit the crime whatsoever, and the NBA must do better than this. This is far from accountability.”
On the other side of this public outcry, there is Sarver’s reaction. ESPN reported a “largely acrimonious” punishment process. At the end of every sports investigation into an ownership group, there is always a “How dare you?” confrontation. Silver and the league office don’t govern the governors. In essence, they work for these 30 owners. Sarver is a boss, negotiating punishment as a significant stakeholder in this corporate sports conglomerate. There is no single authority that can fully check his power. That would require enough influence to pool owners who often have dissimilar passions but the same goal: to play with their toys as they please. When owners get in trouble, they all think of their commissioners as the highest-paid janitors in the world: Clean it up and move on.
“The conduct is indefensible, but I feel like we dealt with it in a fair manner,” Silver said Tuesday in defending the Sarver’s punishment.
The common belief seems to be that owners, in the background raking in the cash, can’t ruin our sports joy. To date, that may be true. But every generation gets to reassess old ways of thinking. And the sentiments of society control how businesses operate, especially in major pro sports, which rely so heavily on public funding.
Sally Jenkins: Brian Flores’s honor saved Dolphins owner Stephen Ross from himself
Right now, every tale of misconduct is viewed in isolation. Step back, however, and you see a pattern of troubling toxicity from leaders that extends from the professional ranks to colleges and down to the lower levels of sport. It rots the entire experience. At some point, the damage will become so severe and so obvious that people will look beyond what’s happening on the field of play and fight harder to protect the cultures in which these games exist. Some of the saccharine views about their value will be challenged, which can lead to a loosening of their grip.
It’s hard to know whether owners such as Sarver recognize the danger. They don’t have to look around. Their wealth affords them blinders.
“In terms of future behavior, he’s on notice,” Silver said of Sarver. “He knows that. Most of the inappropriate activity goes back many years. The Suns’ workplace is a very different environment today.”
Maybe he’s embarrassed and reformed. Maybe his colleagues will learn from his shame. However, the rhythm of the past decade has been that one shocking revelation begets another, and smart people with limited power are left to protect impervious owners one rationalization at a time.
The Sarver controversy should be a warning for other owners to get their houses in order. But they live in gated communities. How dare you think you can get to them? | 2022-09-14T21:50:38Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Robert Sarver is the latest sports owner to get away with bad behavior - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/15/robert-sarver-nba-punishment/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/15/robert-sarver-nba-punishment/ |
Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, the Democratic nominee for the state’s U.S. Senate seat, speaks during a rally in Erie, Pa., in August. (Gene J. Puskar/AP)
Fetterman’s spokesman, Joe Calvello, said to “facilitate a seamless conversation,” Nexstar Television, which is hosting the debate in Harrisburg, has “agreed to provide live, real-time closed captioning that will appear on monitors visible to the candidates and throughout the duration of the debate.”
The Oz campaign responded later that the Republican would agree to the debate, but asked for specific conditions, including that the debate moderator explain that Fetterman is using closed captioning and to extend the debate from 60 minutes to 90 minutes to accommodate any delays.
“Doctor Oz looks forward to being in Harrisburg on October 25th to share his vision for a better Pennsylvania and America, and he is ready to expose Fetterman’s record as the most radical far-left senate candidate in America,” said Casey Contres, Oz’s campaign manager, in a statement. “Doctor Oz will continue to push for more and sooner debates. Pennsylvania voters should not have to wait until October 25th to hear from their candidates.”
Katz said the Oz campaign was trying to “move the goal posts” by requesting the debate be extended by 30 minutes.
“Oz agreed to a 60 minute Nexstar debate. Then we agreed to a 60 minute Nexstar debate. Now, suddenly 60 minutes isn’t good enough, and he’s demanding 90,” she said in a statement. “Let’s be real: If we agreed to 10 debates, Oz would be demanding 20. He’s going to keep trying to move the goal posts, because this is his only play.”
The Pennsylvania Senate race is considered one of the most high-stakes contests in the country: Democrats see it as their best chance at flipping a Republican seat and keeping control of the chamber and Republicans are desperate to hold it in their quest to win back the majority.
Fetterman’s campaign spent most of the summer trolling Oz on social media over his celebrity wealth and longtime residency in New Jersey, trying to paint him as out of touch with Pennsylvanians. More recently, Oz has hit back, attacking Fetterman over not having committed — until now — to a debate and his positions on crime-related issues.
Fetterman has held a lead in most public polls, but the race is expected to tighten as November nears. A new poll from Monmouth University released Wednesday found 47 percent of voters surveyed held favorable views of Fetterman compared to 36 percent who held positive views of Oz.
The poll also found that more voters would definitely or probably support Fetterman than Oz, 49 percent to 39 percent. | 2022-09-14T22:03:17Z | www.washingtonpost.com | After weeks of debate, Fetterman and Oz agree to debate on Oct. 25 - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/14/fetterman-oz-debate-senate/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/14/fetterman-oz-debate-senate/ |
Former president Donald Trump speaks during the America First Policy Institute's America First Agenda Summit in Washington, D.C., on July 26. (Al Drago/Bloomberg)
President Trump once offered what he considered “a great deal” to Jordan’s King Abdullah II: control of the West Bank, whose Palestinian population long sought to topple the monarchy.
The unreported offer to Abdullah is among the startling new details about Trump’s chaotic presidency in the book, “The Divider: Trump in the White House 2017-2021” by Peter Baker, chief White House correspondent for the New York Times, and Susan Glasser, staff writer for the New Yorker.
The book, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post, is the latest in a long-running series of deeply-reported, behind-the-scenes books featuring, or written by, Trump insiders, with some claiming that they tried to curb the 45th president’s worst instincts.
Baker and Glasser write that their book is based on reporting they did for their respective outlets “as well as about 300 original interviews conducted exclusively for this book.” They added: “We obtained private diaries, memos, contemporaneous notes, emails, text messages, and other documents that shed new light on Trump’s time in office.”
Several top officials “were on the verge of quitting en masse,” according to the book, citing an October 2018 message Kirstjen Nielsen, the homeland security secretary, wrote to a top aide over the encrypted app Signal.
Chief of Staff John F. Kelly, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke “all” wanted to quit, Nielsen wrote, according to the book.
Ex-interior secretary Zinke lied to investigators in casino case, watchdog finds
Those officials ultimately left the administration, but not in unison over one single issue.
“The people who were most fearful of his reign were those in the room with him,” Baker and Glasser write.
While he was in the White House, Trump also tried to use his office to punish — demands his own aides saw as illegal and tried to stop, according to the book.
Trump not only tried to block a merger between CNN’s parent company, Time Warner, and the telecommunication giant AT&T, over his anger about the network’s coverage of him, but also tried to prevent a government contract from going to a company owned by Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon. (Bezos owns The Washington Post). “He’d do anything to get Bezos,” a senior Trump official told the book’s author.
Trump also targeted former intelligence officials James R. Clapper Jr. and John Brennan, demanding more than 50 times that they be stripped of security clearance. And when the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals blocked one of his policies, Trump told Nielsen he wanted to eliminate the court altogether. “Let’s just cancel it,” he told her, according to the book, adding, “get rid” of the judges and using a profanity.
Trump ordered that legislation be drafted and sent to Congress as soon as possible, they write. Nielsen, according to the book, “did what she and so many other administration officials did when Trump issued nonsensical demands — ignored it and hoped it would go away.”
Trump, who is eyeing another presidential run, also ruled out picking his former vice president Mike Pence as his running mate, telling Baker and Glasser, “It would be totally inappropriate.”
Pence’s refusal to block Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election, despite Trump’s false claim that the election was rigged, sparked a fissure between the two men. Trump, seething over what he considered a betrayal by Pence, told the authors, “Mike committed political suicide by not taking votes that he knew were wrong.”
On Jan. 6, 2021, when a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol to stop the counting of electoral votes for Joe Biden, several of the president’s supporters chanted “hang Mike Pence.”
The offer to Abdullah of the West Bank — which is bordered by Israel and Jordan, and which Trump had no control over — came in January 2018. Trump thought he would be doing the Jordanian king a favor, not realizing that it would destabilize his country, according to the book.
A previous excerpt of the book published in August in the New Yorker described how Trump once told a top adviser that he wanted “totally loyal” generals like the ones who had served Adolf Hitler — unaware that some of Hitler’s generals had tried to assassinate the Nazi leader several times.
Trump complained to Kelly, then his chief of staff and a retired Marine Corps general, “why can’t you be like the German generals?” When Kelly asked which generals he meant, Trump replied: “The German generals in World War II.”
Take a look: Senators introduce bill to designate Russia a state sponsor of terrorism | 2022-09-14T22:03:18Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Trump told Jordan’s king he would give him the West Bank, shocking Abdullah II, book says - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/14/trump-book-jordan-abdullah/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/14/trump-book-jordan-abdullah/ |
The minors are unionizing, a swift change for baseball. (Charlie Neibergall/AP Photo)
For the first time since Branch Rickey developed the modern farm system, minor league baseball players will be represented by a union. An independent arbiter found Wednesday that authorization cards submitted by minor league players this month yielded a majority in favor of unionizing under the supervision of the Major League Baseball Players Association, according to two people familiar with the matter. That means the minor league players are officially unionized, represented by the MLBPA.
This past Friday, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred made the somewhat unexpected declaration that the league and its owners would recognize a new minor league union voluntarily, rather than force minor leaguers to conduct a formal vote and prompt intervention from the National Labor Relations Board. By Monday, the owners and players association had a card-checking agreement in place, one by which both sides decided that if the neutral arbiter found minor leaguers were largely in favor of unionizing, MLB would recognize that union.
“Major League Baseball has a long history of bargaining in good faith with unions, including those representing minor and major league umpires, and major league players,” MLB said in a statement. “We respect the right of workers to decide for themselves whether to unionize.
“Based on the authorization cards gathered, MLB has voluntarily and promptly recognized the MLBPA as the representatives of minor league players. We are hopeful that a timely and fair collective bargaining agreement will be reached that is good for the game, minor league players and our fans.”
What comes next remains to be seen, but the obvious consequence of the sudden unionization effort will be collective bargaining. To this point, only major league players, who for 50 years have been represented by the vaunted MLBPA, have had the chance to negotiate with their employers for higher salaries or more tolerable working conditions. All of that is likely to change this offseason, as MLBPA Executive Director Tony Clark said last week that he hopes the sides will have their first collective bargaining agreement in place by spring training. Minor league players seem likely to negotiate for higher salaries, among many other priorities, in those talks. Whether those salaries will grow sparingly or exponentially remains unclear.
Clark’s timeline may be optimistic. While often hostile negotiations between the union and team owners seize the spotlight every five years, MLB collectively bargains with multiple unions to keep the sport running. Major League umpires and minor league umpires also negotiate such deals. But owners are notoriously uncomfortable parting with more money for the sake of player priorities at the major league level, let alone in the minors, where expenses have always been more controlled.
“This historic achievement required the right group of players at the right moment to succeed,” Clark said in a statement. “Minor leaguers have courageously seized that moment, and we look forward to improving their terms and conditions of employment through the process of good faith collective bargaining.”
Given that minor leaguers played at the whims of major league owners without a union since the 1930s, the idea that unionization happened quickly might be in the eye of the beholder. But since minor league players lost their season — and therefore, their paychecks — to the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, their oft-overlooked working conditions slowly worked their way into the mainstream sports consciousness in a way that forced quick and substantial change, even before the push to unionize.
Thanks in large part to the consistent efforts of advocacy groups, low salaries, travel tribulations, housing challenges and other concerns facing minor leaguers emerged as mainstream issues in a way they had not before.
When MLB staged a complete takeover of the minor league system ahead of the 2021 season, the owners’ swift elimination of 40 affiliated teams overshadowed the league’s efforts to implement some modernization. During its first year of full control of the minor leagues, MLB raised player salaries by 36 to 72 percent, though even those raises left most players making less than minimum wage and paid them nothing in the offseason. Ahead of this season, the league implemented a plan forcing major league teams to provide housing to most minor league players, alleviating one of the greatest economic and logistical stressors players face.
But even as MLB did its best to head off some public pressure with those changes, new pressures emerged from more formal avenues. A lawsuit filed by teams MLB contracted unilaterally and written to entice the Supreme Court threatens the league’s long-standing and long-contested antitrust exemption.
The Department of Justice filed a notice of interest in that case, meaning the questions had reached the radar of the executive branch, too. The Senate Judiciary Committee sent a letter of inquiry about that exemption to Manfred this summer, suggesting it may soon consider amending that exemption from the legislative side, too; Such a move would not have been without precedent. The Curt Flood Act of 1998 legislated that antitrust laws would apply to employment practices of major leaguers.
Fifty years ago, Curt Flood walked away from the Senators. He left baseball forever changed.
By recognizing a minor league union voluntarily and clearing the way for players to bargain for their conditions, MLB may be heading off some of that federal interest in the antitrust exemption that has facilitated key aspects of the league’s operations for decades.
The increased attention on the minor league experience was one reason MLBPA decided to seize the moment and act now. Clark said last week that the process began as early as 2020, when he made contact with the AFL-CIO and built connections with minor leaguers and organizing groups. Recently, the MLBPA’s executive subcommittee voted to support minor league unionization, clearing the way for the distribution of authorization cards, which gauged interest.
Earlier this month, the MLBPA announced it had more than the 30 percent support required by the NLRB, and that it had asked MLB to recognize the union voluntarily. Just weeks later, the union is official, and so is the affiliation of the MLBPA with the AFL-CIO, one of the more prominent labor unions in the country and a powerful organizing force.
People familiar with baseball negotiating wonder how much room minor leaguers will have to raise their salaries through bargaining, particularly since many people in the industry draw a line from the 2021 contraction of the minors to the increased expenses levied on owners by MLB’s new facility, nutrition, housing and pay standards. If players negotiate much higher salaries and more expensive operations, owners could see the increased expenses as a reason to further contract their minor league obligations — though MLB argues its takeover will allow minor league teams to accumulate more large-scale ad revenue and perhaps even peddle television rights that could bring in additional funds.
Whatever the eventual consequences, Wednesday’s news was already monumental: A minor league union once seemed unthinkable because of the pressures involved, and now one has materialized. The way the sport handles its young players will undoubtedly change forever as a result, likely sooner than later. | 2022-09-14T22:03:19Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Minor leaguers have a union after arbiter approves authorization cards - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/14/minor-league-baseball-union/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/09/14/minor-league-baseball-union/ |
Chicago jury convicts R. Kelly of sex crimes, including child pornography
R&B singer R. Kelly, pictured in June 2019, was convicted in the second federal trial stemming from sexual assault allegations against him. (Amr Alfiky/AP)
A Chicago jury on Wednesday convicted R. Kelly of multiple child pornography charges in the second federal trial looking into sexual assault allegations against him, according to the Associated Press. In June, the 55-year-old former R&B singer received a 30-year prison sentence from a Brooklyn judge.
The Chicago court proceedings followed the federal trial held last year in New York, where Kelly (whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly) faced racketeering and sex-trafficking charges stemming from nearly 30 years of abuse allegations from women and minors. After that guilty verdict, Kelly became one of the most high-profile figures in the entertainment industry to face legal repercussions for sexual misconduct allegations that came to light or resurfaced as a result of the #MeToo movement.
New York prosecutors chose to pursue racketeering charges, often involved in instances of organized criminal activity, as a means of broadening the scope of what could be presented to the jury as evidence. Prosecutors in the Chicago case — which involved numerous charges, including five counts of enticing a minor into criminal sexual activity and six related to child pornography — went another route by invoking two counts of conspiracy to obstruct a federal investigation, allegations connected to Kelly’s 2008 trial that also took place in Chicago, his hometown.
The 2008 trial, which marked the first time Kelly was indicted on counts related to sexual misconduct, resulted from child pornography charges brought in 2002 after the Chicago Sun-Times was anonymously sent a videotape that appeared to depict Kelly sexually abusing and urinating on a minor. Prosecutors believed the alleged victim in the tape to be Kelly’s goddaughter, who was a minor and refused to testify at the time; jurors voted to acquit Kelly on all counts after deciding they had no way of verifying the girl’s identity. One of them told the Chicago Tribune after Kelly was acquitted that it seemed as though the goddaughter’s family “was very divided over this from the beginning.”
In early 2019, Lifetime aired a six-part documentary series called “Surviving R. Kelly” that detailed stories from alleged victims and their families. It renewed public interest in the sexual abuse allegations against Kelly and became one of Lifetime’s highest-rated programs in two years. Amid the fallout, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx issued a call for potential victims and witnesses to come forward, stating that “we cannot seek justice without you.”
In this year’s Chicago trial, prosecutors argued that Kelly and his associates conspired to bribe witnesses so they would not cooperate with the investigation years ago. The alleged victim from the videotape, now 37, testified for hours during the trial, in which she went by the name “Jane.” Contradicting the story she and her family stuck to until more recently, Jane testified that she was, in fact, the person seen alongside Kelly in the footage, according to CBS News. She said she previously lied to a Cook County grand jury about it, and that she eventually decided to cooperate with investigators and speak about the time she spent with Kelly because, in her words, “I no longer wanted to carry his lies.”
Jane testified that Kelly abused her hundreds of times while she was a teenager. The AP reported that prosecutors played for the jury excerpts of the videotape they said depicted Kelly sexually abusing Jane. The man in the footage gives the girl graphic commands, according to the AP. At one point, she asks, “Daddy, do you still love me?”
Chicago prosecutors also accused Kelly and two of his associates, Derrel McDavid and Milton “June” Brown, of conspiring to buy back sex tapes to conceal Kelly’s alleged misconduct. One of Kelly’s former girlfriends, a 42-year-old woman named Lisa Van Allen, testified that McDavid told her in 2007 that she should have been killed instead of paid to return a 1990s videotape of Kelly participating in sexual activity with Van Allen and his underage goddaughter, according to the Chicago Tribune. Van Allen said she was pressured into the encounter and later told to lie about it to a lawyer.
Echoing other women who have accused Kelly of misconduct, Van Allen said she was barred from speaking with or looking directly at other men while Kelly was present, and that he would strike her if she didn’t obey his orders.
McDavid, Kelly’s former business manager, testified in his own defense toward the end of the trial. CBS News reported that McDavid said he believed Kelly’s claims of never having sexually abused Jane, noting that Jane and her family previously denied the allegations themselves. McDavid also dismissed that he was hired to buy back tapes.
Neither Kelly nor Brown, another longtime employee, testified during the trial. In addition to the New York and Chicago cases, Kelly was hit with charges in Minnesota in 2019 related to solicitation and engaging in prostitution with a minor.
Earlier this month, following Washington Post reporting on the matter, a federal judge in New York ordered the Bureau of Prisons to turn over nearly $28,000 from Kelly’s inmate account to cover some of the $140,000 he owed in court-ordered fines. The sum included a $40,000 penalty to be directed toward a fund for trafficking victims.
Kim Bellware contributed to this breaking news story, which will be updated. | 2022-09-14T22:25:02Z | www.washingtonpost.com | R. Kelly found guilty of sex crimes, including child pornography - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2022/09/14/r-kelly-verdict/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2022/09/14/r-kelly-verdict/ |
A Trump portrait that raises questions about the media’s role in his rise
Review by Jacob S. Hacker
President Donald Trump in April 2020. Arguing that Trump posed a unique threat to democracy, authors Peter Baker and Susan Glasser include fresh anecdotes and quotes from his tumultuous presidency. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
No president has ever been as obsessed with the media as Donald Trump. His top Twitter insult was “fake news,” which he never tired of directing at the “failing New York Times.” So consumed was he by his hatred of The Washington Post and its owner, Jeff Bezos, that he sought to deny Amazon federal contracts and access to the U.S. Postal Service. Trump tried for months to kill a merger that involved another detested media company, CNN, and even encouraged Rupert Murdoch to buy CNN’s parent company (at the fire-sale price his efforts had produced).
The obsession was mutual — and highly profitable, for the targets of Trump’s ire and admiration alike. Trump threw invective at mainstream media outlets, but readers, subscribers, viewers and advertisers all threw dollars at them. Digital subscriptions to the Times and The Post soared during Trump’s presidency. The combined viewership of CNN, MSNBC and Fox more than doubled between 2015 and 2020. The biggest beneficiary, of course, was Murdoch’s conservative media empire. While the bottom feeders of right-wing media feasted on the detritus, Fox News became the closest thing to state TV the United States has ever had. In a single year, Trump tweeted about stories on its shows 657 times.
This last gem comes from “The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021” by Peter Baker and Susan Glasser (he of the Times, she of the New Yorker). Given Trump’s decision to stuff his post-presidency residence with classified documents, not to mention the potential for a 2024 run, the book is exquisitely timed. A well-paced and engagingly written narrative, “The Divider” shows off the best of big-resource journalism in the Trump era. Yet it also makes vivid some of the shortcomings of the industry that Trump repeatedly exploited.
A new Trump book is worth reading only if its argument or its revelations break new ground. The thesis of Baker and Glasser’s book is unoriginal, if accurate: Trump posed a unique threat to American democracy. The threat was lessened by his ineptitude, the incompetence of many he relied on and the resistance of many others — some principled, some partisan, some self-preserving. But the threat was magnified by the anti-democratic swing of the GOP he exploited, the creakiness of the constitutional order he challenged and his increasing mastery of the loyalty-test politics he excelled at.
Trump’s assault on American democracy was also assisted, let us be honest, by the American media — and not just the right-wing sources that glorified his presidency and radicalized his voters. Trump would not have gotten into the White House at all were it not for the mainstream media routines that made classified messages on Hillary Clinton’s private email server the biggest character issue of the campaign. (The irony is too thick to cut.)
Even after Trump took power, journalists struggled to restrain old instincts: to broadcast every tweet, to focus on political fluff rather than policy substance, to give “both sides” equal say. Only with time and increased understanding of Trump’s intentions did we see meatier investigations of his finances, policies and manipulations, and how they were abetted by his increasingly cultish party. Baker and Glasser compare Trump to the velociraptors in “Jurassic Park” that gradually figure out how to corner their new human prey (the prey in this case being American democracy). The metaphor is apt for journalists as well. Under unprecedented attack, those covering Trump had to learn while hunting.
“The Divider” is, in many ways, a marker of how much journalism has adapted. It displays some of the old instincts: Notwithstanding its more than 650 pages of text, it has little to say about the policies pursued by Trump and his fellow Republicans, or about the political organizations that backed or battled his party or lobbied Washington during his presidency (the National Rifle Association, for example, is not mentioned once). Many anecdotes and backstories seem to be there only because Baker and Glasser know them. Still, the book is the most comprehensive and detailed account of the Trump presidency yet published, and it would not have been possible, as Baker and Glasser write in their acknowledgments, without the diligence and fortitude of their colleagues in the press corps “who worked to cover the Trump administration while being denigrated as ‘enemies of the people.’”
To this rich factual context, Baker and Glasser add fresh and frequently alarming stories, based in part on more than 300 interviews they conducted. If their argument treads familiar Trump-book ground, “The Divider” delivers new revelations aplenty. The biggest of the scoops provide vivid new details about Trump’s ever more dictatorial behavior. In a chapter titled “My Generals,” Baker and Glasser describe how Trump was so frustrated with his military commanders for refusing his various strong-arm orders that he asked Chief of Staff (and retired general) John Kelly why his generals couldn’t be more like Adolf Hitler’s during World War II. When Kelly retorted that those generals had tried to kill Hitler, Trump replied, “No, no, no, they were totally loyal to him” — as if that was what should be remembered about the Nazi regime.
As explosive as this new quote is, we’ve long known how Trump feels about Hitler-like power. Yet Baker and Glasser uncover many other episodes that make clear — well before Jan. 6, 2021 — how shockingly far he was willing to go to stay in office. The authors reveal a set of exchanges between Trump and Attorney General William Barr that suggest the president was truly serious about his tweet threats to lock up election rival Joe Biden. “That pissed me off,” Barr tells the authors, which is a bit like finally getting upset with your juvenile-delinquent kid when he disables the brakes in his teacher’s car.
Another revealing story concerns Trump’s strenuous attempts to get the Food and Drug Administration to approve a coronavirus vaccine before Election Day. The scale of the “bombardment” was unprecedented — meetings with and repeated phone calls from the president and his underlings, who accused the independent agency of “sabotaging the election effort.” Trump failed, of course, but not without damaging public confidence in the vaccine. If he hadn’t, he might still be president.
The fact that Trump ultimately lost makes it easy to look back with confidence that everything turned out as it should have. But, as Baker and Glasser say, recycling a quote about Waterloo used by Kelly, “it was a close-run thing.”
Reading that line, one can’t help but wonder if it would have been less close-run if Baker and Glasser had shared all the troubling facts they knew before the 2020 election. When a New Yorker piece based on “My Generals” ran in mid-August, there was criticism that the authors had kept some of the most explosive disclosures under wraps to make “The Divider” more newsworthy and potentially lucrative.
Evaluating this charge is hard, because Baker and Glasser rarely cite their own interviews and never say when any of them were conducted. So it’s not clear what information they could have made public before November 2020. But the concern is certainly valid. Journalism is a business, and journalists need to make a living. But they also have a responsibility to inform citizens before those citizens enter the election booth, and it’s deeply troubling when they seem to be holding back relevant information for commercial reasons.
Good journalism is indispensable in a democracy, and it needs defense now more than ever. “The Divider,” with its devastating portrait of a demagogue who still dominates his party, shows why. It also suggests that journalism needs to have a serious conversation about its role and responsibilities in today’s fraught politics. In this all-hands-on-deck moment, we need journalists focused on the horizon and shouting quickly and clearly about icebergs ahead.
Jacob S. Hacker is a professor of political science at Yale University and the co-author (with Paul Pierson) of “Let Them Eat Tweets: How the Right Rules in an Age of Extreme Inequality.”
Trump in the White House, 2017-2021
By Peter Baker and Susan Glasser
Doubleday. 725 pp. $32 | 2022-09-14T22:25:08Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Book review of The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021 by Peter Baker and Susan Glasser - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2022/09/14/trump-portrait-that-raises-questions-about-medias-role-his-rise/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2022/09/14/trump-portrait-that-raises-questions-about-medias-role-his-rise/ |
Ferocious feminism and film love fuel the first in-person TIFF since the coronavirus pandemic hit
Perspective by Ann Hornaday
Director Gina Prince-Bythewood and Viola Davis pose together at the premiere of the film “The Woman King” during the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 9. (Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)
TORONTO — “TIFF is exploding with woman power!”
Those were the words chief programming officer Anita Lee used to introduce Hillary Clinton on Saturday at the Toronto International Film Festival, where Clinton was representing not just one but two projects: the Netflix documentary “In Her Hands,” about one of the few women in Afghanistan to become the mayor of her town, and “Gutsy,” an Apple TV Plus series Clinton co-produced with her daughter, Chelsea.
As Lee noted, woman power had already been detonated before the Clintons took the stage. The night before, “The Woman King,” a rousing action-adventure starring Viola Davis as a ferocious warrior in 19th-century Africa, had electrified a packed festival audience at the cavernous Roy Thomson Hall. Earlier on Saturday, the more muted but no less galvanizing “Women Talking” had played to rapt viewers. Adapted from Miriam Toews’s novel by Sarah Polley, the dialogue-driven drama stars Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley and Rooney Mara as members of a religious sect who gather to discuss how to respond to years of sexist violence and oppression. (During the time it takes for them to debate the terms of their liberation, Davis’s ferocious Agojie general would no doubt have beheaded and disemboweled anyone foolish enough to underestimate her.)
Women talking turned out to be an apt description of this year’s edition of TIFF, the first to be held entirely in person since the coronavirus pandemic hit in 2020, which featured a notable number of movies made by and centering on women. Five years after the post-Weinstein reckoning of #MeToo, with Hollywood more sensitized to giving women artists a voice, it turns out they have quite a bit to say — about the vagaries of power and male entitlement, about being heard and silenced and, mostly, about what it feels like to be habitually ignored and gaslighted. “They made us disbelieve ourselves,” a character in “Women Talking” says of the generational abuse she and others have suffered. “That was worse.”
Filmmakers also really wanted to talk about mothers — theirs, ours and everybody else’s. Joanna Hogg’s “The Eternal Daughter,” something of a sequel to her Souvenir films, stars Tilda Swinton in a canny double performance within a gothic tale of grief and artistic inspiration. Steven Spielberg’s magnum autofiction opus “The Fabelmans” features Michelle Williams as the anarchic presence in his life who made it possible for him to become a director. (Both Williams’s Mitzi Fabelman and Julianne Nicholson’s Mary Yankovic in “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story” are presented as a crucial bulwark between their sons’ creative genius and the fathers who didn’t understand them.) Motherhood takes a decidedly darker turn in Alice Diop’s “Saint Omer,” which arrived in Toronto fresh from winning the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival. Diop’s absorbing but ultimately muddled film, about a novelist attending the trial of a woman accused of infanticide, features a mesmerizing performance by Guslagie Malanga as the alleged killer.
The maternal instinct isn’t reserved for the nuclear family, as two of the strongest films at TIFF proved: In Rebecca Zlotowski’s “Other People’s Children,” Virginie Efira delivers a luminous portrayal of a middle-aged heroine who is blindsided by her affection for the 4-year-old daughter of her divorced lover. Florence Pugh is just as captivating in “The Wonder,” Sebastián Lelio’s elegant adaptation of the Emma Donoghue novel, about an English nurse tending to a young would-be religious ascetic in 19th-century Ireland.
In “The Wonder,” as in so many offerings at TIFF this year, to scratch a dramatic conflict was to find generational trauma, which is just as true for men as for women. The concept could be deployed opportunistically and with maximum manipulation, as in “The Son,” Florian Zeller’s disappointing follow-up to 2020’s “The Father.” Or it could be addressed more artfully (if not more subtly), as in Martin McDonagh’s “The Banshees of Inisherin,” a fable set in 1920s Ireland brimming with the writer-director’s signature elixir of acid, operatic profanity and skeptical humanism.
As McDonagh noted during his brief introduction at the film’s North American premiere on Monday, it was at TIFF that his film “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” began its trek to the Oscars in 2017. “The Banshees of Inisherin” turned out to be just as enthusiastically received this year, joining a batch of bona fide crowd-pleasers that included “The Woman King,” the raunchy gay romcom “Bros,” the triumphant Brendan Fraser comeback vehicle “The Whale” and “Glass Onion,” Rian Johnson’s cheeky all-star sequel to his wildly successful 2019 parlor mystery “Knives Out.”
TIFF’s coveted audience award won’t be announced until Sunday, when the festival wraps up, and most of these films will open between now and Christmas. As voting continued this week, the pole position seemed to belong to Spielberg, who at Saturday’s premiere of “The Fabelmans” reminded the cheering crowd that this was the first film he’d ever brought to TIFF. Chances are good that he’ll be duly rewarded.
As a celebration of films through the lens of the man who makes them, “The Fabelmans” reinforces a familiar but increasingly dubious form of auteur-worship. On Monday, “Empire of Light” set that trope gently on its head. Sam Mendes’s cinematic valentine, set in a fading but glorious deco movie palace in an unnamed English seaside town, pays tender homage not just to the magic of movies but to the filmgoers who complete their alchemical circuit. The following day, news rippled through TIFF that the French New Wave director Jean-Luc Godard had died at 91. As someone who upended film grammar by rearranging its most basic elements, Godard famously said that all you needed to make a movie was “a girl and a gun.” The most affecting and memorable moments in Toronto this year proved that what you really need is an audience. | 2022-09-14T22:25:15Z | www.washingtonpost.com | At this Toronto film festival, women are doing the talking - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/movies/2022/09/14/toronto-film-festival-godard/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/movies/2022/09/14/toronto-film-festival-godard/ |
Ownership of the company, founded in 1973 and reportedly valued at about $3 billion, has been transferred to a trust created to protect the firm’s values, as well as a nonprofit organization
Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard. (Fabian Marelli/GDA/AP)
Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard announced Wednesday that he is giving away the outdoor-apparel company — an unorthodox move intended to help combat climate change and the environmental crisis.
Patagonia, REI blast national monument rollbacks; 'The President Stole Your Land'
Could not be more proud to serve on the board of directors of @patagonia. 💚 As of now, Earth is our only shareholder — ALL profits, in perpetuity, will go to our mission to “save our home planet.” https://t.co/SLTTTbao4y
— Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson 🐙 (@ayanaeliza) September 14, 2022 | 2022-09-14T22:33:51Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard gives away company - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2022/09/14/patagonia-yvon-chouinard-climate-change/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2022/09/14/patagonia-yvon-chouinard-climate-change/ |
BALTIMORE — Notre Dame of Maryland University, the nation’s first Catholic college to award a four-year degree to women, announced Tuesday that it will admit men to its traditional undergraduate program starting next fall.
The school was founded in 1895 as a college for women, but it established a weekend college for adult undergraduates open to men in 1975 and has offered coeducational graduate programs since 1984, according to the university. The NCAA Division III university plans to begin men’s athletics teams next year. | 2022-09-14T22:34:05Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Notre Dame of Maryland to go coeducational next year - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/notre-dame-of-maryland-to-go-coeducational-next-year/2022/09/14/95e3dd96-3476-11ed-a0d6-415299bfebd5_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/notre-dame-of-maryland-to-go-coeducational-next-year/2022/09/14/95e3dd96-3476-11ed-a0d6-415299bfebd5_story.html |
Mother charged with murder after 3 children drown on Coney Island shore
The children were 3 months old, 4 years old and 7 years old, according to police
Police work along a stretch of beach on Coney Island, which is a crime scene after three children died on Sept. 12. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
The mother of three children found unresponsive on Coney Island’s shore has been charged with murder, police said Wednesday.
Erin Merdy, 30, faces three counts of murder with intention and depraved indifference in the deaths of 3-month-old Oliver Bondarev, 4-year-old Lilana Merdy and 7-year-old Zachary Merdy, police said.
It is not immediately clear whether Merdy has an attorney.
The announcement came a day after the New York City chief medical examiner’s office ruled the cause of death as intentional drowning.
Police responded to a 911 call just before 2 a.m. Monday by a family member, who was concerned about the children’s safety. Authorities found Merdy barefoot, soaking wet and uncommunicative, along with family members, on Coney Island’s boardwalk, before later finding the children “unconscious and unresponsive” two miles away by the shoreline, police told The Washington Post.
The children were later pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.
Family members reached by The Post said they were still recovering from the shock of the news.
“No one expected this. No one saw this coming,” said Dine Stephen, 51, who said she was the mother’s aunt.
Eddy Stephen told The Post that the incident was a “tragedy.”
“We are mourning — three young children,” said Stephen, who said he was the mother’s uncle. “We are praying for our niece.”
The family member who called 911 told authorities that she was concerned about the children’s safety, said Kenneth Corey, NYPD chief of department, during a Monday news conference. “I believe she had called them and made statements to that effect,” he said of the mother, adding that the family had no prior reports or known history of abuse or neglect.
After the call, police were dispatched to the Brooklyn apartment where the mother and children lived. The father of one of the children was in the apartment building and told police he had “similar concerns” about the kids’ safety and “said that he believed that the woman and the children were on the boardwalk here in Coney Island,” said Corey.
For the next 90 minutes, officers searched the streets and beaches for the woman and three children. Then, another 911 call came in at 3:13 a.m., which directed police to Brighton Beach, two miles away, where the mother was found with several relatives, Corey said.
Police said that’s when the search intensified, with authorities employing sea, land and air crews. At 4:42 a.m., Corey said, the children were found unconscious about two miles from the mother’s location — less than a mile from their Brooklyn home.
Police lights flashed and sirens wailed as officers desperately tried to revive the children, a video published by the New York Post shows.
“The officers immediately initiated lifesaving measures, including CPR, on the children, and they were rushed to Coney Island Hospital, where they were regrettably pronounced deceased,” said Corey.
The siblings’ deaths have reverberated deeply in their community.
Alfred Brown, who was Zachary’s football coach at school, described the boy as “full of life. Just full of energy, you know you’d have to say ‘enough, enough,’ ” Brown told the New York Post.
Fellow coach Allen McFarland said Zachary loved playing football. Hours after his death, the team organized a final goodbye for the 7-year-old player, according to the New York Post.
Late Monday, balloons carrying his jersey’s number, 15, flew over Coney Island as his teammates yelled, “Zachary, we love you,” the paper reported. | 2022-09-14T22:34:12Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Coney Island deaths: Erin Merdy charged in drowning of her 3 children - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/09/14/coney-island-children-dead-mother/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/09/14/coney-island-children-dead-mother/ |
The Supreme Court in Washington. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)
The Supreme Court on Wednesday reversed course and said Yeshiva University in New York must for now comply with a state court’s order that it should recognize a campus gay rights organization.
“It appears that applicants have at least two further avenues for expedited or interim state court relief,” the court’s short order said. If those fail, Yeshiva can return to the Supreme Court. Though unsigned, it was the work of Sotomayor, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., and Justices Elena Kagan, Brett M. Kavanaugh and Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Four justices dissented, saying Yeshiva’s response to the student group was the result of “an interpretation of Torah … after careful study.”
“The First Amendment guarantees the right to the free exercise of religion, and if that provision means anything, it prohibits a State from enforcing its own preferred interpretation of Holy Scripture,” said the dissent, written by Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. and joined by Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil M. Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett. “Yet that is exactly what New York has done in this case, and it is disappointing that a majority of this Court refuses to provide relief.”
The school is represented by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which labeled the lower court ruling an “unprecedented” violation of the school’s First Amendment rights.
The student club called the lower court’s decision a straightforward interpretation of state law, saying the Supreme Court’s intervention was unwarranted — especially before New York’s appellate courts have weighed in.
“This ruling does not touch the University’s well-established right to express to all students its sincerely held beliefs about Torah values and sexual orientation,” the group said in its filing at the high court. At the same time, it says, “it may not deny certain students access to the non-religious resources it offers the entire student community on the basis of sexual orientation.” | 2022-09-14T22:35:07Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Supreme Court says Yeshiva University must recognize LGBTQ club, for now - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/14/supreme-court-yeshiva-lgbtq/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/09/14/supreme-court-yeshiva-lgbtq/ |
By Janie Har and Adam Beam | AP
FILE—Gov. Gavin Newsom, speaking at a mental health treatment center in San Jose, Calif., announces “Care Court,” a program that would let courts order treatment for some homeless people suffering from mental health disorders on Thursday, March 3, 2022. On Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2022, Newsom signed a law creating the program. He said it will take a few year to fully implement. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group via AP, File) | 2022-09-14T22:35:19Z | www.washingtonpost.com | California governor OKs mental health courts for homeless - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/california-governor-oks-mental-health-courts-for-homeless/2022/09/14/092a76b6-3477-11ed-a0d6-415299bfebd5_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/california-governor-oks-mental-health-courts-for-homeless/2022/09/14/092a76b6-3477-11ed-a0d6-415299bfebd5_story.html |
Transcript: Race in America: Giving Voice with Ada Limón
MS. HERNÁNDEZ: Good afternoon. I'm Arelis Hernández, national correspondent for The Washington Post, and welcome to Washington Post Live for another program in our Race in America series‑‑in our Race in America series.
Joining me today is the newest U.S. poet laureate, Ada Limón. Welcome, Ada.
MS. LIMÓN: Thank you so much. It's such a pleasure to be here.
MS. HERNÁNDEZ: And a quick note for our audience, we want to hear from you. So please send us your questions for Ada on Twitter using the handle @PostLive.
Let's get started. You are the first female U.S. poet laureate of Latina and Mexican heritage and will give your inaugural greeting at the Library of Congress later this month. Tell me‑‑
MS. LIMÓN: Yes.
MS. HERNÁNDEZ: ‑‑what does this moment mean for you?
MS. LIMÓN: It is a really incredible experience, and to be honest, it's‑‑every day, I feel like I have a new emotion about it. In fact, just earlier this morning, I was thinking about‑‑I sat down at my desk to write, and I have all of the pictures of my loved ones, my mother, my grandfather, my friends, my father. And I was thinking about how they're with me and how much work went into their lives and into allowing me to be an artist, and it feels really like an incredible moment that I'm not just experiencing for myself, but I'm experiencing with my ancestors and with my family and with my community. So it feels like a collective experience, and when I think of it that way, I can have that deep breath and actually feel like we're in this together and it's not just me on that stage.
MS. HERNÁNDEZ: Well, I'm curious about what you mean by that, so we can go a little bit deeper about what‑‑when you say that it feels like you're honoring your ancestors, that's something that's come up in multiple interviews that you've done. How does your poetry sort of convey, you know, the honoring of your ancestors?
MS. LIMÓN: Yeah. I think that part of my sort of personal philosophy as a human being and as an artist is to say thank you and to remember to say thank you, and I think a big part of when I first started out being a poet that I really wanted to find my identity and who I was and speak my truth and all of those beautiful things you want to do in your teens and twenties. And I think as I have grown older, I've really wanted to appreciate the people in my life that have supported me and got me to where I am today.
And I think a lot about my grandfather, Francisco Carlos Limón, who was from Mexico, was born in San Juan de los Lagos, and I think, you know, of him as a very creative soul. He was incredibly spirited and had an incredible voice, sang all the time, and yet I don't think he would have allowed himself to be fully an artist because I think, you know, he had to take things very seriously, being someone who had crossed the border, feeling that need to be sure that he's providing for his family and not taking the risk of art.
And, you know, I think about that not just in his generation but even in my own family. My mother is a painter and did risk being an artist, and yet I watched her wait tables, you know, as I was a kid, as she was, you know, making her art on the weekends. And I just think that is a big part of my life is thinking about what they went through and what they've overcome in many ways but also the way that they encourage me and their spirits to encourage me. That's been huge for me, and not everyone has always had that. So it's not something I take for granted.
MS. HERNÁNDEZ: Well, now you have a big job in front of you, and things that I've read where you've been granting interviews, you talk about making poetry more accessible. How do you hope to do that as the poet laureate, and how do you‑‑how will you make the role your own?
MS. LIMÓN: Yeah, that's a beautiful question. I think one of the things that I'm fully aware of is that the people that came before me in this position, the incredible Joy Harjo, Tracy K. Smith, Juan Felipe Herrera, you know, Natasha Trethewey, not to mention Robert Hass and Billy Collins and Rita Dove, of course. They've done that work, I think, the really good, deep groundwork of letting us know that poetry is there. They've done that work, and so what I would love to do is celebrate poetry's power.
And so I'm hoping that in my tenure, I am able to create some sort of public project that would bring poetry into public spaces and maybe allow us to have unexpected experiences with poetry so that it can surprise us sometimes, maybe delight us, maybe wound us in the right way.
So yeah. So I'm hoping that I can really address the usefulness of poetry, that poetry can be a tool to help us heal, to help us grieve, and to remember that we're human beings full of feelings and pain and laughter and joy, that I think we've been through a lot together and‑‑in the last few years here, and I feel like‑‑I don't know about you, but I have felt that we've been numb. We've had to go numb to a lot of things because there's been one crisis after the next, and poetry is sort of a place where we can reconnect with our feelings so that we don't go numb.
MS. HERNÁNDEZ: Well, let's talk about feelings as it pertains to your individual specific work. Your latest book, "The Hurting Kind," explores the relationship between humans and nature. What intrigues you about nature, first of all, and how does it parallel with the human experience?
MS. LIMÓN: Yeah. You know, even as a child, I've always been very connected to nature to where I've found most of my safe havens are in natural spots. I grew up in Sonoma, California. My‑‑there was a creek across the street from my house, the Calabazas Creek, that I would always go to and sit and watch the tadpoles and the little minnows, and it felt like a place of peace. And it felt like a secret place too and sacred, and so, you know, for me, that's always been a connection that I've had.
But I will say that this latest book, "The Hurting Kind," that came out in May really connects again to that idea of the interconnectedness that we have, and I think so often we feel like we are not nature, which is fascinating, right? We don't think of ourselves as animals, and yet we are. And so I think that this book is sort of celebrating that connection.
It's also, I think, recognizing that there will always be a mystery and wonder and awe that we have for the natural world, and that in and of itself can allow us to maybe take a breath and feel like there's something bigger at work, something larger at work, that here I am, just a poet on this planet in this moment. And it can get you out of your head a little bit, and nature has always done that for me. And I think this book is a way of giving back, not just to the people in my life that I wanted to thank but to the plants and animals and trees that I wanted to thank too.
MS. HERNÁNDEZ: So the title, you know, I'm still thinking about that, "The Hurting Kind." What do you mean by that, and what does it mean to be the hurting kind?
MS. LIMÓN: Thank you for that question. You know, I had a‑‑I had trouble coming up with this title, to be honest. I initially thought "The Hurting Kind" might be a good title for it, but I was a little scared that it might be off‑putting because it has the word "hurt" in there.
But, at the same time, the poem that titular poem that this title comes from is really about what it is to be someone who is sensitive to the world, to tender to the world, someone who allows themself to be pierced by emotions, by grief, by joy. And so I have sort of come to, in my life right now, recognize that so much of our conversations are about resilience and bravery and courage and strength and power, and all of those things are wonderful, and they're words I love. But I think there's also a time where we need to remember also to be tender, to be soft, to receive the world, and to allow ourselves to recognize all the emotions that we're going through and not just steal ourself against the wind of the world. So I think "The Hurting Kind," the title itself is really about honoring and speaking to those of us that allow ourselves to be hurt by the world and allow ourselves to be tender to it and celebrating that emotionality.
MS. HERNÁNDEZ: On the flip side of "The Hurting Kind," you talk that in your role as U.S. poet laureate that you want to show how poetry can be useful, how it can be a tool. In what ways do you think poetry today, right now, for those who are of the hurting kind can be useful?
MS. LIMÓN: Yeah. I think there is a lot of different ways, but one of the things that I am very proud of and as something I work on that was a project actually by Tracy K. Smith, which is The Slowdown, which is a podcast where you can listen to a poem every single day, and just being able to allow yourself five minutes to spend time with poetry in that way, having it read to you, being able to listen to it is beautiful.
I think that even just a moment of reading one poem, that's the great thing about poetry. You don't have to read a whole book of poems to have an experience with poetry. You can read one poem, and you can find it on Twitter and Instagram even, or you can find it in your library, however you want to engage with the work. But reading one poem allows you a little bit of breath, a little space.
You know, Lorca has that wonderful quote, "Poetry is like faith‑‑it isn't mean to be understood but to be received in a state of grace," and I think that's how I think of it is that it's just that one little moment you can spend with one page, you know, or maybe even a line that affects you and moves you. And so I would recommend reading one poem a day, personally.
MS. HERNÁNDEZ: Switching gears a little bit, at the top of this conversation, I identified you as the first Latina and Mexican‑‑poet laureate of Mexican and Latina heritage, but you said before that, labels based on race can really just compartmentalize and, in your words, "harm us." Can you talk to me about what is assumed and expected of you as a Latina poet?
MS. LIMÓN: Yeah. You know, and I think we all have our own individual experiences with our identity and with people around us that want to identify us in certain ways and what those‑‑what that means. And I always come back to that quote by Audre Lorde who said, you know, "If I didn't define myself for myself, I would be crunched into other people's fantasies for me and eaten alive." And I always think about that, eaten alive, right?
And so, for me, I'm very proud of my Mexican heritage. I'm very proud of being Latina. But I also feel like it's very important for all writers to recognize that we should be able to embrace whatever subjects we want, and we should be able to talk about whatever we want. And one of the things I have realized over my 20 years of writing poetry is that I do think that writers of color oftentimes get asked to address trauma and address injustices in ways that white poets do not get asked to do, and so I think it's really important that as Latinx writers that we remember that we have the full range of imagination, and that no one is allowed to cut us off and tell us, "Oh, because you're from El Salvador, you must write about this experience, or I must‑‑the only way I will celebrate you is because you write about this trauma," you know. I want all of the poets to recognize that we can also write about joy and we can also write about heartbreak, and that it's not just one experience, but that we are, all of us, individuals and having our own experiences and our own musicality. And I think that's incredibly‑‑I think that's taken for granted sometimes, and that can come from outside of our communities. People will want‑‑and sometimes very good‑heartedly want to, you know, celebrate inclusion and diversity but sometimes in doing so will also say, oh, we want you to speak about this, and I think that as writers of color, sometimes we have to be a little all elbows and say, hey, well, I want to write about a tree. And I especially see that as young people coming up, that I want to make sure they can‑‑they can write about trauma if they want and they can write about a tree if they want.
MS. HERNÁNDEZ: You mentioned your grandfather and your mother, first your grandfather not allowing himself the space to become an artist, your mom doing her art on the weekends, but you didn't start out as a poet either. You used to work in marketing. Why did you change career paths, and what did you learn from making that pivot?
MS. LIMÓN: Yeah, yeah. I think it's always important to talk about how we make a living as artists.
So I actually was a poet that whole time. It wasn't one or the other. You know, it's hard to make a living as a writer, as any kind of artist, and all artists and writers out there listening will know that. And for me, most of‑‑a lot of my friends beautifully went into teaching.
I was someone that, after I graduated with my master in fine arts from NYU in poetry, didn't feel like I was ready to teach. I didn't feel like I had anything to offer, and so I went into working for magazines. I worked for GQ. I was the copy director there. I worked for‑‑I was the creative services director for Travel + Leisure magazine, and they were wonderful jobs. But while I was doing that, I put three books out into the world. My first book, "Lucky Wreck," my second book, "This Big Fake World," and "Sharks in the Rivers." And when "Sharks in the Rivers" came out in 2010, I decided that I was going to try my hand at becoming a full‑time writer, whatever that means, whatever that looks like. But I decided to quit my jobs in magazine marketing. Yeah.
MS. HERNÁNDEZ: How does writing poetry allow you to be yourself, your full self?
MS. LIMÓN: I was thinking about that a lot in the last week, actually, because I was feeling off‑kilter myself. As you may know, you know, you get called to this wonderful position. It's not something you apply for. It's not something you know is coming. So there's no‑‑it wasn't what I expected for the next, you know, year, and so there's been a lot of readjustment and beautiful readjustment and reimagining my time and what it will look like and how I want to be of service.
But I was feeling off‑kilter, and I couldn't figure out how to fix it. And you know what I did? I literally sat down and I had this journal that I keep with me all the time. It's unlined, and I wrote a couple sort of drafts of poems, just little seeds of poems. And, immediately, I felt better because the poems were telling me what I was experiencing, you know. They were allowing me to sort of explore what I was going through in my body and my blood and my heart, and I look back and I go, "Oh, yes, this is what this is." And I immediately could breathe again, and I felt like, all right, I'm at home in my body, and I'm back in‑‑back in my heart, and I think poetry can do that, you know.
And I think oftentimes there are wonderful artists who I admire, who want to be sure that we caretake poetry as an art form and as a craft and as a serious craft, and I believe that too. But it doesn't mean that we can't talk about it as healing because I think it heals us every day, those of us that write it, and most of us that write it do it so that we can‑‑that we can stay alive and feel good and live in the world.
And I think that anytime someone wants to write a line or write a poem, it doesn't mean you have to publish it. It doesn't mean that it's perfect. It doesn't mean you have to send it to The New Yorker. But it might do something for you. It might open a door. It might be able to let you tap in to how you're actually feeling, and there's something about adding imagination and activating the imagination. You know, the poems aren't always about ideas or feelings. A lot of times, they're just about attention. They're about looking deeply at an object, looking deeply at the tree in front of you or, you know, whatever's happening. And I think that even just description, being present, looking at something and deeply looking at it is a way of loving the world again. So it's not always just about writing, but it's about writing yourself back into the world.
MS. HERNÁNDEZ: I mean, I know exactly what you're talking about. I mean, for me, it isn't poetry. It's just journaling, and the way I describe to my friends, it's like your soul is just exhaling, like whatever you're holding your breath and inside your heart, it's just an opportunity for you to exhale.
One of the things you said about poetry is that poetry is just telling somebody something. What did you mean by that?
MS. LIMÓN: Yeah. And sometimes it's just telling yourself something.
MS. LIMÓN: I think all I mean is that I think as artists and as writers, I think we can sometimes feel like the pressure of the poem, that it has to be divine, you know, that it has to be sort of other worldly and in some sort of different earthly vibration, you know, when in reality, a lot of times, poems can just be connecting. They can be, you know, slipping the note under someone's door, and I think oftentimes when we start out to write a poem‑‑and maybe the audience is just ourselves and we just need to write it to ourselves, or sometimes it's for a particular person.
A lot of the poems in "The Hurting Kind," you know, I sat down and wanted to say, oh, you know, I miss my father. I'm going to write a poem about my father, you know, and then I'm going to send it to him. And it's a real act of, like, this is an actual connection that I'm doing something, creating a gift, making a crafted piece, and then sending it to him to really connect. And I think sometimes we have these expectations that the poem has to do so much more than that, and I think it's important to remember that it can just connect to one person.
MS. HERNÁNDEZ: You write about personal topics like infertility, chronic pain from scoliosis, and aging. What is your writing process like?
MS. LIMÓN: Yeah. You know, it's funny. I write almost every day, but I keep saying that I don't write poems every day. But, like you, I do a lot of journaling, and I keep my notebook close. And then what happens is that I will have moments where I'm sure just like you, where the day is very packed and very full, and then moments where I have an hour or I have two hours, and I'm so excited. And I think, oh, okay, and I will open that journal that has those seeds or notes or lines or images, and from there, I'll start to unwrap, unravel a poem.
So I write‑‑I write often. I mean, I write daily, but I wouldn't ever say that I write a poem a day. I used to think that I needed to write a poem a day to call myself a poet, but I don't do that.
So I think that I probably write a few poems every month, maybe a little more than that, but yeah, I write a lot because to me it helps me stay grounded.
MS. HERNÁNDEZ: One of the things I‑‑writing styles that I love is rhythm, and your poems have been described as melodic. Is that intentional?
MS. LIMÓN: Yes. Thank you for saying that. For me, rhythm is incredibly important. Music has been a big part of my life. In fact, I was in a band once in Brooklyn. It was wonderful. I was the singer and a songwriter, and‑‑but I feel like one of the things that I have always loved is the music on the page. And some of my favorite poems have that kind of idiosyncratic rhythm that is only‑‑it only exists in that poem, and there's so much beauty to that, to create that music on the page.
I compose most of my poems out loud. That means that I‑‑I mean, I am writing them, but I also am saying them out loud, almost line by line, because I need to hear the music. And it's not just about how the poem is working or what it's saying but how it's‑‑how the line breaks are instructing the music of the poem and how the silence, the space, the caesuras and the stanza breaks and the white space around the page itself. All of that is breath work. So, yeah, music is incredibly important to me in not just how I compose my poems but how I receive other people's poems. And it makes for me, the poem, just all that more alive and vibrant.
MS. HERNÁNDEZ: And I mentioned that also applies when you read them, when you read your poems out loud. As a former theater major, am I correct on that? How do you‑‑
MS. LIMÓN: Yes. Undergraduate degree in theater, yes.
MS. HERNÁNDEZ: How do you incorporate that into the way that you read your poetry?
MS. LIMÓN: Yeah. You know, I hope that I do service to the music of the page and the music that I've created on the page, and I do believe that I would like to give someone who's listening maybe for the first time or maybe hearing a poem the like out loud‑‑I would love to bring that poem to life. So I try to give it my all and try to perform in a way that stays true to the integrity of the poem, and, you know, I will‑‑I will lean into the music, I think, when I read.
The one thing I try not to do is get to‑‑get so into the performance that I sort of forget the moment because a big part of me when I read is to be super present, and so that there is an exchange of energy between the audience and me on stage, that it's not just me with a set list performing, but instead that there's a back‑and‑forth. There is a reciprocal relationship between the audience and me. So that's a big part of what I do when I read on stage.
But I will say the undergraduate theater degree was a big help in reading poems. One is because we think about breath a lot. We think about the body a lot in theater, but also that you really pay attention to what it is to offer something, you know, to someone while you're on stage and to consider the audience. And I sometimes think as poets, you know, we spend a lot of time alone in our rooms writing. It's true, and, you know, then we get to hang out with each other and be in community with each other, and suddenly, we come to life. And I think sometimes we have to remember to, you know, bring that life to the stage too because oftentimes, you know, we forget we're in the small craft of making that small thing, and then, suddenly, we have to go‑‑[makes whooshing sound]‑‑and that goes out to the audience, right?
So, yeah, it's the two worlds. The self that writes the poem and the self that performs the poem are‑‑they're not necessarily divided, but they can be at odds sometimes because one of them really needs to protect the artist and be quiet and small and inward, and the other person needs to project and be outward and be‑‑and protect themselves a little bit too in a different way.
MS. HERNÁNDEZ: Well, so we're quickly running out of time, but I wanted to get to your podcast, The Slowdown. It was previously hosted by the U.S. poet laureate, Tracy K. Smith. What do you discuss on the show, and how did you get into podcasting?
MS. LIMÓN: Yeah. It was a real gift. They contacted me and asked me if I was interested in applying for the host job, and I said yes. And it's been‑‑it's been an incredible year of doing it. I just‑‑I love working with the two producers, Myka Kielbon and Jennifer Lai before Myka, and they're incredible people. And what we do is we just‑‑there's‑‑we choose one poem a day, and it's by‑‑there's so many different artists that we bring on, so many different poets from all over the world. And so that's been a beautiful gift, and then there's just a small little introduction. I think of it as providing a little‑‑a little‑‑a little space for the poem to be received in. So I just tell you a little something that may have to do with the poem, and then I read the poem. And it's only five minutes, and it's a‑‑to me, I think it's a really special experience. I listened to almost every single episode of Tracy when she did it, and stepping into her shoes has been a wonderful way to spend the last year.
MS. HERNÁNDEZ: I'm going to try to squeeze in one more question before our time runs out, and that's‑‑what do you want people to take away from your poetry? You know, we're on this, you know, "The Hurting Kind," and this being a moment when we need poetry. What do you want people to take away from it?
MS. LIMÓN: Yeah. I think a big thing for me would be just permission to feel. I think we‑‑we're in a real danger when we don't have access to our emotions, when we don't know how to name them, and we don't know how to speak how we're feeling. And I think that can really hurt us as humanity, and I really‑‑that worries me. So permission to feel and permission to be in wonder and permission to appreciate joy.
MS. HERNÁNDEZ: Well, unfortunately, that's all the time we have today. Ada Limón, thank you for joining us today.
MS. LIMÓN: Thank you so much. It's been such a pleasure to be with you.
MS. HERNÁNDEZ: And thanks to all of you for joining us, for tuning in today. To check out what interviews we have coming up, head to WashingtonPostLive.com to find more.
I'm Arelis Hernández, and thank you for joining Washington Post Live. | 2022-09-14T22:36:57Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Transcript: Race in America: Giving Voice with Ada Limón - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/washington-post-live/2022/09/14/transcript-race-america-giving-voice-with-ada-limn/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/washington-post-live/2022/09/14/transcript-race-america-giving-voice-with-ada-limn/ |
Typhoon Muifa threatens major Chinese port cities
A woman rides over a bridge in Shanghai as Typhoon Muifa bears down on the mainland. (Alex Plavevski/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)
Chinese authorities bracing for the violent winds and torrential rain of Typhoon Muifa canceled flights and trains in metropolitan Shanghai on Wednesday and shut down some of the country’s busiest commercial ports.
The closures suspended work for millions of people as China prepared for the storm, which by Wednesday evening had made landfall on Zhoushan Island in the eastern province of Zhejiang. The Chinese Meteorological Administration hoisted a red alert, the strongest warning in the country’s four-tier typhoon system. Winds were recorded at about 98 mph.
The typhoon is the 12th major storm to hit China this year and could affect up to 12 provinces, state media reported. Xinhua News reported that the threat of landslides forced the evacuation of more than 1.3 million people from Zhejiang, which has one of the world’s busiest ports.
Experts say the storm was caused in part by the record-high temperatures that have plagued China since June, among a series of extreme weather events that scientists link to climate change.
The worst drought on record continued in large parts of the country, exacerbated by suffocating temperatures up to 113 degrees Fahrenheit. At the same, the Western province of Qinghai was hit in August by flash floods that caused mountains to tumble, leaving at least 16 people dead and nearly 20 missing.
China hit by drought, floods, as Yangtze River runs dry
Then early this month, Super Typhoon Hinnamnor barely missed the coast as it barreled through the region and ended up pummeling the southern part of South Korea.
Collectively, these events have hurt China’s economy. Factories in southwestern China had to temporarily shut down to preserve energy. In some areas, authorities tried seeding clouds to stimulate rainfall.
The typhoon has already caused major disruptions to urban operations. On Tuesday, train services across eastern China were suspended with no details on when they would resume. Nearly 40 percent of China’s population lives in the eastern part of the country, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
Typhoon Muifa (formerly #IndayPH) made its landfall in Zhoushan, Zhejiang province, China at 8:30 p.m. (PH time) tonight, according to China Meteorological Administration. pic.twitter.com/YkoDwW4ng8
Shanghai’s two airports, Pudong and Hongqiao, canceled nearly 600 flights Wednesday, according to announcements made on the airport authority’s Weibo account. Pudong airport was once the country’s third-busiest airport, but the pandemic dramatically scaled-down air passenger traffic to and from the city.
In low-lying urban areas, storm surges from the Yellow Sea could spill water and cause severe flooding.
Typhoon Muifa is arriving ahead of the People’s Congress in Beijing — a key meeting for the Chinese Communist Party, which has prompted authorities to double-down on strict covid-19 protocols and enforce mandatory quarantine for millions of residents to ensure that the country is on track to achieve “zero covid."
The storm is expected to continue to drift northwestward in coming days and track along the coastline before turning to the northeast and dissipating near the northern Yellow Sea, according to Wednesday morning’s forecast discussion from the U.S. Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center.
Meteorologists are already watching a looming tropical system that could sweep through the Japanese Archipelago and the East China Sea next week.
Zach Rosenthal contributed to this report. | 2022-09-14T22:37:04Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Typhoon Muifa threatens major Chinese port cities - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/14/typhoon-muifa-china/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/14/typhoon-muifa-china/ |
In long-awaited report, the Lancet Covid-19 Commission also revives disputed claims about virus’s origins
EMS workers bring a patient to Hackensack Meridian Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen, N.J., in April 2020. (Bryan Anselm for The Washington Post)
A global panel of experts Wednesday blamed the World Health Organization, the U.S. government and others for serious failures in coordinating an international response to covid-19, while laying out recommendations to protect against future pandemics and reviving disputed claims about the virus’s origins.
In a 45-page editorial, the Lancet Covid-19 Commission warned that many governments proved “untrustworthy and ineffective” as the pandemic tore across the world, citing examples such as richer nations hoarding vaccine doses and failing to fund global response efforts, and politicians such as former U.S. president Donald Trump and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro playing down the virus’s risks, even as hundreds of thousands of their citizens died of it.
“What we saw — rather than a cooperative global strategy — was basically each country on its own,” Jeffrey Sachs, a Columbia University economist who chaired the commission, told reporters in a briefing convened by the respected medical journal. “National leaders deciding … the strategy and the fates of their countries in an incredibly haphazard way.”
As a result, the virus ripped through the world in “highly unequal” ways, the panel concluded, with severe consequences for the most vulnerable, among them children who suffered learning losses from disrupted schooling, people in low-income nations forced to wait for vaccine doses, and patients who endure continuing pain and other health problems attributed to long covid.
“Global and national decisions didn’t consider the less vocal voices of our communities — the ones who do not vote, like immigrants and refugees, or who do not have the energy to raise their concerns, like our elders. People that were too busy taking care of us, like essential workers and women that were at the front lines fighting the virus without professional equipment,” said Gabriela Cuevas Barrón, a Mexican politician and member of the Lancet commission.
The Lancet report also criticizes the WHO, saying the global health watchdog “acted too cautiously and too slowly” on several urgent matters, such as recognizing the virus was spreading through airborne transmission. The commission calls for strengthening the United Nations agency by giving it more financing and authority, and it also urges the creation of a new global health board to help the WHO make timely decisions.
In a statement, WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris said the organization welcomed the commission’s recommendations and concurred with its call for more funding. But Harris warned of “several key omissions and misinterpretations,” saying the panel had wrongly characterized “the speed and scope of WHO’s actions.”
As health providers around the world brace for a third coronavirus winter, the commission contends that “globally coordinated efforts” can end the pandemic, urging a sustained approach to mass vaccinations, adoption of public health measures such as masking in some settings, social and financial support for infected people to continue isolating, and true cooperation among the world’s most influential nations.
“China, the United States, the E.U., India, the Russian Federation, and other major regional and global powers must put aside their geopolitical rivalries to work together to end this pandemic and to prepare for the next one and for other global crises,” the report concluded.
The Lancet commission report carries no legal or regulatory authority. But its recommendations, which draw on more than two years of work from more than 170 experts, represent one of the highest-profile attempts to identify lessons from covid-19 and how to better prepare for the next pandemic. U.S. efforts to conduct a bipartisan review of the pandemic response have stalled in Congress, and other independent bids have also struggled to win funding or capture widespread attention.
But the Lancet report also comes after Sachs, the panel’s chairman, publicly embraced the “lab-leak theory,” which posits that the virus may have escaped from a laboratory and could even have man-made origins, leading to backlash from scientists who warned that his advocacy for the disputed theory would cloud the panel’s work.
Government officials such as Anthony S. Fauci “are not being honest” about the virus’s origins, Sachs claimed on an August podcast with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has spread conspiracy theories about vaccines. Sachs also co-authored a May article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that argued U.S. scientists may have had a role in shaping SARS-CoV-2 and called for a probe of the pandemic’s origin through a “bipartisan congressional inquiry with full investigative powers.”
Sachs’ advocacy provoked a private, year-long fight with other commission members who say there is far more evidence that the virus has a “natural origin” and was first transmitted to humans from an animal, and who worked to reach a compromise over what the final report would say.
“Along with a couple of other commissioners, I helped lead efforts to keep the conspiracy nonsense and the whacka-doodle out of the final report,” said Peter Hotez, a virologist at the Baylor College of Medicine and a panel member. “I will be disappointed if covid origin conspiracies wind up detracting from some of the important and legitimate deficiencies in our understandings of how SARS, MERS and covid emerged.”
The commission’s report urged further investigation into both the lab-leak and natural-origins theories, faulting the National Institutes of Health for failing to provide more information about the U.S. government’s potential role in funding Chinese research into coronaviruses. “The search for origins requires unbiased, independent, transparent, and rigorous work by international teams in virology, epidemiology, bioinformatics, and other related fields,” the report concluded.
The commissioners also called for the WHO to be empowered to inspect and regulate facilities where scientists study and experiment on viruses that could spark potential pandemics. “Gain-of-function research” may result in more lethal or transmissible versions of viruses, and the commission warned that there is too little oversight over the “manipulation of dangerous pathogens.”
“Advances in biotechnology in the past two decades have made it possible to create new and highly dangerous pathogens,” the report concluded. “Even today, there is little understanding and clarity about the research on SARS-like viruses that was underway just before the COVID-19 pandemic.”
A science in the shadows
However, the report offered no new scientific information about the origin of the virus, and it did not mention two papers recently published in the journal Science that make the case the pandemic began in a market in China, not a laboratory.
Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada, said she found the report’s assertions on the virus’s origins and gain-of-function research “appalling.”
“None of the relevant evidence was cited, and it’s clear why: There’s equivocation that implies an equal likelihood of natural and lab origin that is utterly inconsistent with our current scientific understanding,” Rasmussen said. “It’s hard not to think this omission is intentional to suggest that the ‘lab leak’ is more plausible than it is — as well as to advance the completely unfounded and baseless view that the pandemic resulted from so-called ‘gain of function’ research and there is a conspiracy involving both Chinese authorities and the NIH to cover it up.”
The final report comes after more than two dozen experts asserted in the Lancet in February 2020 that it was a “conspiracy theory” to consider that covid-19 leaked from a laboratory. The publication and those authors have since faced scrutiny that the statement was rushed by scientists who were trying to preempt investigations into their own research.
The Lancet report also draws on long-held tenets in international development, arguing that universal health coverage and more financial support for international health efforts would provide necessary protections against newly emerging infectious diseases.
Joel Achenbach contributed to this report. | 2022-09-14T23:17:18Z | www.washingtonpost.com | ‘Untrustworthy and ineffective’: Panel blasts governments’ covid response - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/09/14/lancet-covid-commission-report-who/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/09/14/lancet-covid-commission-report-who/ |
Bowser’s affordable housing push gets a $147M boost from Amazon
The tech giant’s Housing Equity Fund is helping to build or preserve 1,260 units in D.C. area
D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser holds a news conference on affordable housing at the Spring Flats housing complex in May 2021. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post)
A push by D.C. officials to ramp up the construction of more affordable housing across the city is getting a hand from Amazon, which said Wednesday it is committing $147 million to help build or preserve 1,260 units for middle- and low-income residents in and around the District.
The money comes from the company’s Housing Equity Fund, an effort rolled out by the tech giant to alleviate the shortage of affordable housing in D.C., Nashville and Seattle. Amazon is growing its corporate footprint in these three metro areas, where activists and government officials have worried an influx of well-paid tech employees will make that shortage even worse — to the point it could push out longtime residents.
“By working with these diverse development organizations, we can create long-lasting and inclusive affordable housing closer to public transit and other amenities that will improve quality of life for residents,” Catherine Buell, the housing fund’s director, said at a news conference Wednesday. “We’ll also help ensure families across Washington, D.C. are not displaced from their communities.” (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.)
Buell and D.C. officials announced the commitments at the Congress Heights Apartments in Ward 8, a 47-unit housing complex that had been the subject of a lengthy legal battle between the D.C. Attorney General’s Office and a landlord until a settlement in January.
Low-income tenants at the property, which is next to the Congress Heights Metro station, had for years been living in squalid conditions, including persistent mold and pests that were never addressed. D.C. Attorney General Karl A. Racine (D) alleged that the landlord, Sanford Capital, had through its neglect been trying to force out low-income renters and make way for more expensive market-rate housing.
A small number of remaining Congress Heights tenants have been living in temporary housing off-site through much of the legal fight.
“Today is about partnership, commitment, and perseverance,” D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) said at the news conference. “Perseverance from the families who stuck with us and will soon be able to return home to this location — and what a location it is.”
Ownership of the property was transferred as part of the settlement to a real estate investment firm, which plans to work with the nonprofit National Housing Trust to tear down the existing buildings and replace them with new units. This project is one of 11 around the D.C. area that Amazon is funding, though the company did not specify or respond to requests for comment on how much money it had contributed to each specific project.
The revamped Congress Heights Apartments will include 179 new units for households earning between 30 to 80 percent of the area median income (AMI) — about $38,700 to $82,300 for a family of four.
Bowser has set a goal of creating 36,000 new housing units in the District by 2025, including 12,000 that are affordable to households earning between 30 to 80 percent of the AMI. Her effort, which is independent of Amazon, has emphasized creating units in all eight of the city’s wards, particularly in wealthier ones that have not always welcomed low-income renters.
How George Floyd’s death is fueling a push for affordable housing in mostly White parts of D.C.
Wednesday’s announcement involves eight projects scattered around six D.C. wards, in addition to one project each in Fairfax, Montgomery and Price George’s counties.
Critics of Amazon’s Housing Equity Fund have said the company’s efforts have not sufficiently benefited poorer families, particularly those who make too little to keep up with rising rents but too much to qualify for most public benefits.
Amazon has billed the fund as an effort to help renters making between 30 and 80 percent of the AMI. But as of April, just 6 percent of the units secured with that money in the D.C. area had been set aside for families at the lower end of that interval, according to data provided by the company.
Four of the 11 properties included in Wednesday’s announcement in and around the District will create or preserve units affordable to families making between 30 and 50 percent of the AMI. Amazon officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment on how many units that will be in total.
At the Congress Heights Apartments, 5 percent will be rented at 30 percent AMI, 75 percent will be rented at 50 percent AMI, and the remaining 20 percent will be rented at 80 percent AMI, D.C. officials said in January.
Last summer, the company said it would commit $125 million from its fund to build new units on land owned by Metro or near Metro stations. Amazon also did not say how many of the 11 properties, including at least three near Metro stations, received money from that preexisting funding commitment.
Amazon has already hired 5,000 employees to work out of the new headquarters it is building in Arlington, with another 20,000 hires expected to be made by 2030. The company stands to receive up to $573 million in subsidies from local and state governments if it meets those hiring goals, or up to $773 million if it surpasses them.
Arlington officials had expected to pay the company hundreds of thousands of dollars by this summer when their agreement was signed in 2019, but the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on the local economy means no money has been paid out to the company yet.
In addition to the Congress Heights Apartments, Amazon’s $147 million is also helping to fund the construction or purchase reservation of:
An existing apartment complex in Ward 5’s Carver-Langston neighborhood, which will preserve 320 affordable units for households earning between 30 to 60 percent of the AMI
A new assisted-living community one block away from the Benning Road Metro station in Ward 7, which will create 156 apartments for households at 60 percent AMI
A new apartment building in Petworth in Ward 4, which will include 40 units for households earning between 50 to 80 percent AMI
A new apartment building across the street from the Takoma Metro station in Ward 4, including 102 units for households earning between 60 to 80 percent AMI
A new development on S Street in Ward 2, which will include 90 units for households earning 60 percent AMI
Three existing apartment buildings in Mount Pleasant in Ward 1, which will convert 165 units for households earning between 40 to 80 percent AMI
An existing building in Columbia Heights in Ward 1, which will convert 99 apartments for households earning between 30 to 80 percent AMI
A new development near the Capitol Heights Metro station in Prince George’s County, which will include 130 units for households earning between 70 to 80 percent AMI
A new development in Montgomery County, which will create 163 affordable homes for households earning between 30 to 80 percent AMI
A set of 18 condominiums at a complex in the Hybla Valley area of Fairfax County, which will be preserved for households earning 50 percent AMI | 2022-09-14T23:52:08Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Amazon commits $147 million for D.C. area affordable housing units - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/09/14/amazon-affordable-housing-wmata-bowser/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/09/14/amazon-affordable-housing-wmata-bowser/ |
Republican Md. gov hopeful Dan Cox continues to pivot on messaging
Del. Dan Cox, a Republican gubernatorial hopeful, speaks during a gubernatorial forum Aug. 20 in Ocean City, Md. (Todd Dudek/AP)
Maryland Republican gubernatorial nominee Dan Cox cast himself on Wednesday as a candidate with a “middle-temperament approach,” willing to work across the aisle to improve the lives of families and children.
The descriptor from Cox, a conservative freshman in the House of Delegates, is in contrast to the record he’s built over the past several years in the General Assembly, where he often voted on the fringe of his own party and developed a portfolio largely focused on restricting abortion access.
The comments came during a gubernatorial forum hosted by Maryland Family Network and was the latest attempt from Cox to pivot away from his hard-line stances on abortion, his ties to former president Donald Trump and his denial of the 2020 presidential election results.
The event, which was held virtually with Cox and Democratic nominee Wes Moore appearing separately to answer questions, was among the first opportunities since the July 19 primaries for voters to get a glimpse of how the candidates are shaping their message. So far, the candidates only have one debate planned, which is scheduled for next month and will be hosted by Maryland Public Television.
Moore, a best-selling author, former nonprofit chief and Army veteran, told the 150 participants on the Zoom call that the November election is one of the most consequential in the state’s history and implored them to “take a look at our histories. Take a look at our positions … How we define everything from family support to patriotism.”
Shortly after his primary victory, Cox deleted more than 1,000 posts from Gab, a social media platform known as a haven for hate speech, and scrubbed his website of controversial positions on gun ownership, transgender athletes and an audit of the 2020 election.
The move was an apparent attempt to appeal to independents and Democratic voters willing to cross party lines in the voting booth. Democrats outnumber Republicans by a 2-to-1 margin in Maryland.
Each candidate answered about a half-dozen questions during the two-hour forum, including how his upbringing would affect how he would govern, what the state’s role is in fighting poverty and what should be done to make the state more equitable.
Cox said he grew up in a lower-middle-class household with a father who is a pastor. He said he would promote “not long-term dependency on the state but on individuals to be able to accomplish their dreams.”
Moore talked about his mother, an immigrant from Jamaica, who received her first job with benefits when he was 14 years old.
“I understand how different my life could have gone … luck should not have to be a prerequisite to succeed in our society,” he said. “I am not interested in doing Band-Aids, on working on the margins. I’m interested in actually fixing systems.”
Moore wants pre-K for anyone who needs it, increased access to affordable child care and to extend the earned income tax credit as part of a plan to address poverty.
Moore said there is a high probability that a person who grows up in poverty will die in poverty and that it is the government’s responsibility “to not make poverty more tolerable, but to make it history … It’s not the choice of individuals who have the weight of poverty on their shoulders. It’s the choice of society who allows it.”
Md. GOP nominee Cox deletes account on Gab, site known for hate speech
Both candidates used the forum to show the contrasts between them.
And Cox, who has taken Moore to task over the limited debates, also used his opening and closing remarks to criticize Moore’s apparent unwillingness to share a stage with him.
“Step up; don’t run away,” he said, suggesting that Moore attend a forum later this month at Morgan State University.
Moore declined to participate in that forum. Brian Jones, a spokesman for the campaign, said the campaign does not want to promote Cox’s conspiracy theories, fear and division. “We have to take seriously our responsibility not to amplify Dan Cox’s dangerous views,” he said. | 2022-09-14T23:52:15Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Maryland gov hopeful Dan Con continues to pivot on messaging - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/09/14/dan-cox-wes-moore-forum/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/09/14/dan-cox-wes-moore-forum/ |
Prosecutors say he killed his girlfriend. They haven’t found her body.
Darnell Sterling is on trial for second-degree murder, but his defense attorneys say prosecutors can’t even prove that Olga Ooro is dead
Olga Ooro. (Metropolitan Police Department)
It was after midnight on July 16, 2020, when Olga Ooro, her boyfriend and her 7-year-old son returned home from a Navy Yard restaurant. A video camera captured the three walking into an elevator in the lobby of Ooro’s apartment building in Northwest D.C.
It was the last time anyone would see the 34-year-old.
Now, in a trial in D.C. Superior Court, federal prosecutors are hoping to convince jurors that Ooro’s boyfriend, 57-year-old Darnell Sterling, killed Ooro after returning to her apartment that morning. But they have some challenges: They have no one who claims to have seen the crime. No murder weapon was found. No clear crime scene was established. And most challenging, authorities haven’t recovered Ooro’s body.
“The government has charged this missing person’s case as a homicide. But there is no evidence that an actual homicide occurred,” Howard McEachern, Sterling’s defense attorney, told the jury during opening statements. “They have no body. No crime scene. Not even a sign there was an altercation.”
Police charge boyfriend with killing D.C. woman who remains missing
Murder trials where a victim’s body has not been found, sometimes referred to as “no-body” cases, are rare but not unheard of. Prosecutors seek to convince jurors a person is dead by having family and friends testify that they have not heard from the victim in years. They sometimes show credit card and bank statements and cellphone usage data to prove that the victim has not made any purchases, accessed any funds or called anyone. Then, the prosecutors have to connect the death to a killer.
Prosecutors told jurors Wednesday that although they have no clear crime scene, they were able to find a spot of blood on Ooro’s apartment wall. That blood, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristian Hinson told the jurors, was identified as belonging to a female offspring of Ooro’s parents. Ooro has three other sisters, but Hinson said the women plan to testify that they had never been in Ooro’s apartment.
A key aspect of the prosecutors’ case is that Sterling was arrested and charged after allegedly assaulting Ooro less than a week before she went missing. In exchange for being released from secure detention, a judge ordered Sterling to stay away from Ooro and to agree to show up at his next hearing. He agreed to do both. That next hearing was scheduled for two days after Ooro’s disappearance.
Along with charging Sterling for second-degree murder, prosecutors also charged him with civil contempt, as a result of failing to adhere to the stay-away order. “He did not stay away from Olga,” Hinson said.
Prosecutors are also relying on security-camera footage they recovered from Ooro’s apartment building and across the city and various highways. Prosecutors said they believe Sterling killed Ooro in her apartment. Hours later, prosecutors said, he wrapped her body in a blanket, enveloped it in a plastic bag and placed it on a dolly handcart.
Prosecutors claimed Sterling wheeled her body from the elevator to his vehicle, drove to Ocean City, Md., then dumped her body — either off the Bay Bridge, or somewhere between the bridge and Ocean City.
Video footage, prosecutors told the jurors, showed Sterling coming and going from Maryland into D.C. and to Ooro’s apartment — using Ooro’s security-key fob — multiple times spanning several days. When police later questioned Sterling about his whereabouts, prosecutors told the jury, he told the officers he spent the entire time in Ocean City.
Police learned of Ooro’s disappearance after her son, dressed in a blue T-shirt and swim trunks, was found wandering the second floor of his apartment building.
Blake Lanning, one of the first witnesses prosecutors called to testify, told the jury that on the evening of July 18, he left his apartment to take out the trash. When he returned, he said, “the little boy” walked up to him and asked him, “Do you know where my mommy is?”
Lanning said he could tell the child, whose name he did not know at the time, had been sobbing. His chest, Lanning said, was “rising up and down,” and he appeared to be “visibly distressed.”
Lanning said he had never met Ooro or her son before. He asked the child to walk with him to the apartment lobby so they could speak with the concierge. But the boy told him he wanted to stay in his apartment. So Lanning went down to the lobby and returned with the concierge, who called Ooro’s other family members and the police.
Judge Maribeth Rafinan told jurors that the trial is expected to last two-and-a-half to three weeks. | 2022-09-14T23:52:22Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Prosecutors say he killed his girlfriend. They haven’t found her body. - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/09/14/girlfriend-murder-no-body-sterling/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/09/14/girlfriend-murder-no-body-sterling/ |
District reaches deal with union representing principals
The agreement comes as the Washington Teachers’ Union enters its third year without a contract
D.C. Schools Chancellor Lewis D. Ferebee speaks at a news conference on the first day of classes at School Within School in Washington on Aug. 29, 2022. (Amanda Andrade-Rhoades for The Washington Post)
The District on Wednesday reached a four-year collective bargaining agreement with its principals union, after nearly two years without a contract.
D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser signed the agreement with the Council of School Officers, which represents 840 principals, assistant principals, administrators and school staff members including psychologists, speech therapists and social workers. The previous agreement was effective from Oct. 1, 2017 until Sept. 30, 2020.
“We know how critical this school year will be for our students’ comeback,” Bowser said in a statement. “We are incredibly grateful that our students attend schools that are filled with adults who love them, challenge them, and who go above and beyond to support their development.”
The new agreement includes a retroactive 2.5 percent pay raise for fiscal year 2021, a 2.5 percent increase for fiscal year 2022 and a 3.5 percent raise for fiscal year 2023, which begins Oct. 1. Union members will also get a 4 percent increase during fiscal year 2024 — in all representing a 12.5 percent salary hike over four years.
The city is also increasing bonuses and including supplemental pay for members, a recognition of how many hours school leaders and staff members work outside the school day, Bowser said during a news conference.
Richard A. Jackson, president of the Council of School Officers, added that the new contract allows for members to get tuition reimbursement and sabbatical leave.
“It really makes a commitment to making sure that when someone comes to work with our families and our children, they’re committed to stay here because we’re going to support them in ways that allow them to have a good living, but provide outstanding outcomes for our students,” Jackson said.
D.C. schools and teachers struggle to reach contract after 3 years
The city’s agreement with school officers comes amid mounting frustration from traditional public school teachers, however. Members of the Washington Teachers’ Union, which represents 4,000 teachers, have gone three years without a contract with the school system.
Both sides had hoped to approve a new contract before the end of last school year, but remain at a standstill.
Jacqueline Pogue Lyons, president of the teachers union, said she congratulated her colleagues for reaching a deal.
“We’re very happy for them,” Lyons said. “But morale is really low. Teachers feel like they’re not respected and not supported. People do a lot of talking, but there’s no action.”
The union is in the mediation stage with the school district, a process during which a neutral party helps both sides negotiate. Bowser on Wednesday said she is “proud of the offer that we put on the table to them” but did not elaborate.
The current teacher contract went into effect October 2016 and expired three years later. Since then, the union and the school district have operated under the agreements set forth in that contract, but teachers have not received an increase in their base pay.
Teachers are, in part, paid based on how many years they have worked in classrooms. They have continued to get those raises while the contract is lapsed. The city’s public charter school teachers are not part of this union or covered by the contract.
When asked about the offer put forth by the District, Lyons said that “we want what’s fair.”
Teachers have encountered other challenges in recent weeks, Lyons said. About 30 teachers said they have not been paid or received inaccurate paychecks this school year. Others did not receive stipends to pay for back-to-school supplies, she added.
School officials said that in the process of hiring new teachers, “a few employees are encountering challenges as we work to connect them to multiple systems.” Officials are aware of the compensation issues that some staff members have faced “due in part to paperwork complications” and the district is working to resolve them, they said.
Affected teachers will receive back pay, school officials said in a statement.
Lyons said members want fair compensation and better working conditions. There are also concerns about the way teachers are evaluated.
“We think part of great working conditions is safe schools and time to plan appropriately for students who have had the toughest three years in our recent history,” Lyons said. “What we’re asking for directly ties to student outcomes.” | 2022-09-14T23:52:28Z | www.washingtonpost.com | D.C. reaches agreement with principals union, but still at odds with teachers union - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/09/14/dc-schools-contract-agreement-principals-teachers/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/09/14/dc-schools-contract-agreement-principals-teachers/ |
LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 15: Flags of The Commonwealth Nations are displayed in Parliament Square on June 15, 2012 in London, England. Queen Elizabeth II hosted a lunch for Commonwealth leaders at Marlborough House after the Diamond Jubilee weekend. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images) (Photographer: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images Europe)
You might have expected the death of Queen Elizabeth II to ignite a fire of republicanism in the 14 overseas nations ruled by the British monarch. That’s looking less likely by the day.
Long-mooted plans to move to a republican system of government in Jamaica are likely to get a boost. Tiny Antigua and Barbuda has promised a referendum, following Barbados’s decision to remove the monarchy last year. Still, in the largest foreign countries ruled by the British monarch, change is a much more distant prospect.
That’s a peculiarly ironic legacy of the British empire. Constitutional monarchy, a fairly worthless element of the Westminster system, has been inherited in the 14 Commonwealth Realms that recognize Charles as their king. Constitutional flexibility — the ability to change the ground rules of a nation without a deadening round of referendums and legislative votes — has prevailed in just one: New Zealand. That’s a shame, since it’s one of the most worthwhile aspects of the Westminster set-up.
Canada has long been profoundly disinterested in removing the monarchy. “There isn’t a huge appetite” for republicanism, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a 2015 interview. Australia’s Anthony Albanese, a republican, has made clear that the issue won’t be looked at until a referendum on an Indigenous voice to parliament is complete. That’s likely to be the only constitutional change during his current term in office.
This reticence isn’t just a natural coyness about sounding discordant notes during a period of mourning. Far more important in the mind of any politician is the fact that constitutional change in most of the countries ruled by the British monarch is enormously difficult.
The British parliament tweaks its constitution with almost as much regularity as other chambers make points of order, needing only an act of parliament to overturn the existing rules. Within the last 25 years, it’s devolved power to assemblies in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Greater London; introduced and then abandoned fixed parliamentary terms; and incorporated the European Convention of Human Rights into UK law. That’s all before you consider the vast constitutional upheaval involved in Brexit.
Things are very different in its former colonies. In most, a constitution was considered an essential part of the toolkit of nationhood. Constitutions, by their nature, tend to be set in stone. Australia hasn’t amended its founding document since 1977, and a 1999 referendum over becoming a republic was rejected comfortably. Canada’s constitution is regarded as being “almost impossible to amend.” Those in Caribbean countries, which form eight of the Commonwealth Realms, are notoriously resistant to change.
Only New Zealand — which abolished its upper house of parliament without fuss in 1950, and offers changes to its electoral system every few years — has followed the UK’s straightforward tradition of dispensing with a codified constitution, so that voters choose the parliament, and parliaments choose the laws.
Belgium has for years struggled to form governments and suffered separatist divisions between its French and Flemish-speaking regions. Problems with Bolivia’s constitution prompted civil unrest in the early 2000s, paving the way to a new law and two decades of constitutional turmoil. The US, meanwhile, got itself a civil war in the 19th century, legalized segregation in the 20th century, and a rolling constitutional crisis in the 21st. Puerto Rico and Washington DC remain barred from statehood years after they should have been admitted to the union.
Constitutional flexibility isn’t perfect. The ease with which Saudi Arabia and Hong Kong upended their systems of government — with the former’s 2017 anti-corruption purge and the latter’s 2020 national security law — show how useful the constraint of solid ground rules can be. The UK will long rue the ease with which it severed its links with Europe.
Still, a constitution that can’t grow with the nation it describes ends up holding back change until it boils over in unpredictable ways. Canada has no real way of resolving the tensions between French-speaking Quebec and its English-speaking provinces — something that almost tore the country apart in 1995. Nor is there a way to address the under-representation of the affluent western provinces in its Senate.
Australia faces similar issues of unequal apportionment in its upper house. It also endured a minor crisis in 2017 after a neglected rule banning dual citizens from sitting caused the removal of 15 politicians. Thanks to the difficulty of changing the constitution, there’s no real plan to remove the clause, despite roughly half of the population being a first- or second-generation migrant.
The arduousness of switching to another system of government is likely to keep the British monarchy in charge from Belize to Tuvalu well past its use-by date. That’s a welcome result, for monarchists at least. But for the rest of us, it should be seen as an admission of failure that needs to be fixed in its own right. Antiquated constitutions are quite as much a legacy of the colonial era as the monarchy itself. If the former British colonies want to become republics worth keeping, they’ll have to find a way to address that issue, too.
How Australia May Finally Redress Two Centuries of Injustice: David Fickling
Tips on Survival From the Queen Who Excelled at It: John Authers | 2022-09-15T00:05:12Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Former Colonies Should Do More Than Just Abolish the Monarchy - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/former-colonies-should-do-more-than-just-abolish-the-monarchy/2022/09/14/c4ed95ae-3481-11ed-a0d6-415299bfebd5_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/former-colonies-should-do-more-than-just-abolish-the-monarchy/2022/09/14/c4ed95ae-3481-11ed-a0d6-415299bfebd5_story.html |
A woman protests against visiting Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi in Paris in 2020. (Michel Euler/AP)
The Biden administration will withhold $130 million in security aid from Egypt for the second consecutive year over its human rights record but will release a separate tranche of $75 million due to Cairo’s steps to free political prisoners.
The split determination on military aid to Egypt, which has been seen as a signal U.S. decision on human rights, illustrates the Biden administration’s attempt to apply continued pressure on the government of President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi over its dismal record on human rights while rewarding incremental steps by a crucial Middle Eastern ally.
The decision affects only a small share of the annual $1.3 billion in military financing the United States has long provided to Egypt, whose relationship with Israel remains a cornerstone of America’s approach to the region. That portion of the aid is subject to evolving congressional conditions related to human rights and the rule of law.
“The purpose going forward is both to secure additional movement with respect to the very serious human rights issues that we’re talking about today and, frankly, sustained cooperation on a huge geopolitical agenda ...where Egypt is playing an absolutely vital role in terms of de-escalating regional conflicts,” a senior State Department official, who like other officials spoke on the condition of anonymity under department rules, told reporters.
The decision comes a year after the State Department announced its decision to withhold $130 million in military financing if Egypt did not make improvements on specific conditions in 120 days, a goal that officials later determined Cairo had not met. This time, the administration decided to immediately redirect the $130 million without giving Egypt extra time to comply.
Officials defended their decision to go ahead and provide Egypt with a separate tranche of aid worth $75 million, which had been subject to a different, more narrow set of congressional conditions on treatment of prisoners. They said Egypt had met the requirement for “clear and consistent progress” specified under that law by releasing some 500 political prisoners at the recommendation of a recently created presidential pardons committee. They also cited Sissi’s creation of a national dialogue set up to address an array of issues, including pretrial detention practices.
The State Department’s own annual human rights report catalogues far-reaching violations by the Egyptian government, including arbitrary arrest, excessive pretrial detention and torture by government jailers. Under Sissi, political and media freedoms have been restricted.
On Tuesday, a group of lawmakers led by Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, urged aid to be withheld and decried what they said was the “ongoing, pervasive, and systemic violations of human rights in Egypt that risk destabilizing the country.”
But Egypt remains a valuable regional partner for the United States in many ways, battling extremists on the Sinai Peninsula and helping to broker a halt to Israeli-Palestinian fighting in 2021.
Nicole Widdersheim, deputy Washington director at Human Rights Watch, welcomed the administration’s attempt to use its leverage with Egypt to address its human rights practices.
“But clearly President Biden could have gone farther to show that he’s truly standing with human rights defenders and pursue an Egyptian policy that matches his stated approach that human rights and democracy will be at the core of U.S. foreign policy,” she said.
Amy Hawthorne, deputy director for research at the Project on Middle East Democracy, said the conditions cited on the tranche of $75 million included progress on political prisoners and on due process.
“Any objective observers would say the Egypt has not made clear and constant progress on either of those conditions, especially the second one,” she said. “This is rewarding the Egyptian government for something that is at most a half measure."
Diplomats say the Biden administration, which at times has struggled to reconcile its desire to demonstrate its commitment to human rights with realpolitik concerns amid mounting competition with Russia and China, would continue to push Sissi on those and related issues.
“We’ve conveyed to the Egyptian Government consistently that we see the bilateral relationship with Egypt as strengthened when there is progress on human rights,” another senior State Department official said.
The Egyptian Embassy in Washington could not be reached immediately for comment. | 2022-09-15T00:05:37Z | www.washingtonpost.com | U.S. blocks $130 million in aid to Egypt over human rights - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/09/14/us-blocks-130-million-aid-egypt-over-human-rights/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/09/14/us-blocks-130-million-aid-egypt-over-human-rights/ |
Graham’s 15-week abortion ban gives the endgame away
Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), alongside representatives from national antiabortion organizations, unveils a nationwide abortion bill on Capitol Hill on Sept. 13. (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)
So much for all that talk about the freedom of states to decide on their own abortion rules. Sen. Lindsey O. Graham on Tuesday unveiled legislation that would ban abortion nationwide at 15 weeks. The South Carolina Republican’s proposal puts the lie to the notion that the Supreme Court, in overruling Roe v. Wade, merely returned the contentious issue of abortion to state control.
It did that, but it also opened the door to proposals such as Graham’s — and even more extreme restrictions — to be imposed nationwide. Anyone who thinks abortion opponents will be content with a state-by-state patchwork of abortion rules isn’t taking the determination of the antiabortion movement seriously enough.
Graham’s move might be politically bone-headed, coming less than two months before a midterm election in which voters already appear angered and energized by the court’s action. But it is just the opening salvo.
The court’s conservative majority doesn’t want you to think so. In his opinion for the court in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. painted a post-Dobbs picture of happy federalism, laboratories of democracy free to experiment with different approaches.
“In some States, voters may believe that the abortion right should be even more extensive than the right that Roe … recognized,” Alito wrote. “Voters in other States may wish to impose tight restrictions based on their belief that abortion destroys an ‘unborn human being.’ … Our Nation’s historical understanding of ordered liberty does not prevent the people’s elected representatives from deciding how abortion should be regulated.”
How lovely. How misleading. That was clear from the moment the decision was released. Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, in a concurring opinion, acknowledged that Congress could step in. “The Constitution is neutral and leaves the issue for the people and their elected representatives to resolve through the democratic process in the States or Congress,” he wrote — and then proceeded to echo the majority’s emphasis on state sovereignty.
“Today’s decision therefore does not prevent the numerous States that readily allow abortion from continuing to readily allow abortion,” Kavanaugh insisted. Until, that is, Congress tells the states they can’t so readily allow it after all.
Graham peddled his proposal — deceptively titled the “Protecting Pain-Capable Unborn Children from Late-Term Abortions Act” — as a reasonable middle ground. Don’t be fooled. This is rigged federalism, skewed in favor of restricting abortion access. Under Graham’s arrangement, even as the federal government draws the line at 15 weeks, states remain free to ban abortion entirely.
Of course, Democrats want their own national abortion law — theirs to write the protections once provided by Roe into law. That makes sense: The whole point of a constitutional right is that its existence shouldn’t depend on your Zip code. It's also different from Graham’s effort to have it both ways, preempting states with permissive abortion laws while empowering those with restrictive rules.
And you know who once thought the issue should be left to states? Lindsey Graham, as recently as last month. “I’ve been consistent. I think states should decide the issue of marriage and states should decide the issue of abortion,” he told CNN.
Graham’s effort to portray the measure as simply aligning U.S. practice with that of Europe is fundamentally disingenuous. “If we adopted my bill … we would be in the mainstream of the world,” Graham said at a news conference. “Forty-seven of the 50 European countries have a ban on abortion [after] 12 to 15 weeks.”
Here in the United States, a dozen states now ban almost all abortions: Ten are poised to do so once laws take effect or court challenges are complete, and another two prohibit abortion after six weeks. That is hardly the permissive landscape of Europe.
Moreover, Graham’s 15-week limit includes exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother, but not for maternal health or fetal abnormality — again in contrast to the practice in most of Europe. Many severe fetal abnormalities are not detected until after 15 weeks.
Graham has introduced a similar bill before. But it is telling that Graham felt empowered by the court’s action to up the ante, prohibiting abortion after 15 weeks instead of the 20 he had earlier proposed. The purported justification — that the fetus is capable of feeling pain at that stage of gestation — is even more bogus at 15 weeks than it is at 20. “The science tells us … the nerve endings of the baby are pretty well developed and the child feels pain,” Graham said.
It tells us no such thing. “The science conclusively establishes that a human fetus does not have the capacity to experience pain until after at least 24–25 weeks,” according to a statement by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
To be clear, Graham’s bill isn’t becoming law anytime soon, with Democrats in control of the House, Senate and White House. Even if Republicans were to retake the House and Senate, they wouldn’t be able to pass such a measure without eliminating the filibuster; in any event, President Biden would veto such a measure.
But it is not hard to imagine a moment when Republicans have the power to proceed, and use it. Graham’s GOP colleagues, rattled by midterm polling, scurried to distance themselves from Graham’s proposal and talk up states’ rights. Forgive me if I don’t feel confident that’s going to last. | 2022-09-15T00:06:09Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Lindsey Graham’s 15-week abortion ban gives the endgame away - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/14/lindsey-graham-abortion-ban-states-rights/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/14/lindsey-graham-abortion-ban-states-rights/ |
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — The rapport between quarterback Josh Allen and receiver Stefon Diggs has become so intuitive, all it takes is a glance or a shimmy of the shoulder for the Buffalo Bills’ dynamic duo to know where the ball is bound to be thrown — and, more often than not, caught. | 2022-09-15T00:06:46Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Allen to Diggs: Chemistry builds between Bills' dynamic duo - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nfl/allen-to-diggs-chemistry-builds-between-bills-dynamic-duo/2022/09/14/b9373f74-3488-11ed-a0d6-415299bfebd5_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nfl/allen-to-diggs-chemistry-builds-between-bills-dynamic-duo/2022/09/14/b9373f74-3488-11ed-a0d6-415299bfebd5_story.html |
Transcript: Across the Aisle with Sens. Shelley Moore Capito and Kirsten Gillibrand
MS. CALDWELL: Hello. Welcome to Washington Post Live. I’m Leigh Ann Caldwell, an anchor here at Washington Post Live and also coauthor of the Early 202 newsletter here at The Washington Post.
Today we have the latest installment of "Across the Aisle." It's a show where we highlight what is actually getting done in Congress where Republicans and Democrats come together to accomplish big and sometimes little things, and today joining us in a very special episode, we have two Senators, a Republican of West Virginia, Senator Shelley Moore Capito, and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat from New York. Senators, thanks so much for joining me today.
SEN. GILLIBRAND: Hello.
SEN. MOORE CAPITO: Thanks. Thanks for having us.
MS. CALDWELL: So the reason why I think, of course, this is such a special episode of "Across the Aisle" is because today is the 14th annual congressional women's softball game, and that is why you two are wearing softball jerseys.
SEN. MOORE CAPITO: Mm‑hmm.
MS. CALDWELL: It is where‑‑
SEN. MOORE CAPITO: Here we are.
MS. CALDWELL: ‑‑women members of Congress, Republicans and Democrats, play on the same team, against members of the press, including myself. I will see you on the field in a couple hours.
MS. CALDWELL: Senator Gillibrand, I want to start with you. This game has been going on for 14 years. It is actually a fundraiser for the Young Survival Coalition, for young women who have cancer. Can you talk a little bit about why you got involved in this game when you were approached about it, and why you ultimately decided to join?
SEN. GILLIBRAND: Well, I got involved from the beginning because my good friend in the House, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, had breast cancer as a young woman. She was 39 years old, and she survived and did not tell anybody during the crisis, but when she recovered, she came to me and said, "Will you play this game with me and raise awareness for young women who have breast cancer?" and I said, "Absolutely. I don't know how to play softball, but I'm happy to learn." And sure enough, several of us learned the game and started playing and have spent over a decade really trying to lift up this issue to protect young women so that they know what breast health is, how to make sure they are protecting themselves from cancer, and what to do if something is different than it was.
MS. CALDWELL: So from not knowing how to play softball, Senator Gillibrand, to the star pitcher of the Congress team, you've come quite a long way.
SEN. GILLIBRAND: Definitely have learned a lot.
MS. CALDWELL: Senator Capito, you know, when you were first approached about this, were you skeptical at all, or was this something‑‑you know, what were your intentions? Was it breast cancer? Was it getting to know other members of Congress? Why did you join?
SEN. MOORE CAPITO: Well, I was actually approached by our good friend, Jo Ann Emerson, who was the Republican at that point in the House‑‑I was in the House‑‑that Debbie Wasserman Schultz had first approached to see if we could get a bipartisan women's team together. And I love Jo Ann, and her daughter, Tori, is our coach to this day, has coached us all 14 times.
But I think the‑‑a couple of the reasons, breast health and breast cancer hits pretty close to home. My husband's mother died very young of breast cancer, as her sister did as well. So that has always been important to me, but also, the camaraderie of getting to know other members in a different kind of an atmosphere, to play with members across the aisle, had a lot of appeal to me as well. I think so much of the time that we have are spent in our committees, are spent talking to our fellow, you know, party members, that we don't really get out as much in a more social atmosphere than I think we should
And the other reason that really this drew me, I hadn't played softball, but I pretty much played everything else. And I just love sports, and I think it creates such a good atmosphere for building friendships, building relationships. And I'm very competitive, so I like to win. So we're hoping for that tonight.
MS. CALDWELL: I'm not so sure about that, but we'll see.
SEN. MOORE CAPITO: Okay.
SEN. GILLIBRAND: Maybe this year.
SEN. MOORE CAPITO: Maybe.
MS. CALDWELL: Senator Gillibrand, there's a men's congressional baseball game as well, but in that game, Republicans and Democrats play against each other. In this game, Republicans and Democrats play on the same team. Was that by design?
SEN. GILLIBRAND: Yes. The women of the House resolved pretty quickly that we wanted it to be bipartisan, that we wanted to have a place where we could get to know each other as women and as friends and as teammates first. We also wanted it bicameral. So we made sure that we had the Senate and to get them involved right away, and it's the only thing like that in all of Congress.
We didn't want to fight against each other. We wanted to fight against a shared enemy, the Capitol Hill press corps, but not truly enemies, more colleagues, and so we really have enjoyed it. And we've enjoyed getting to know you guys. The press team is fantastic. They are full of talent and enormous intelligence and have a lot of gifts, and so we love getting to know the women on the press team as well, as women who work in the same work space as us every day with all the challenges that we face that are very similar in both industries.
MS. CALDWELL: Senator Capito, in, you know, sticking with the Republicans and Democrats playing on the same team, is that idea‑‑is that, you know‑‑is that what makes women different than men in this sense, from the men‑‑the men's baseball game, whereas women thought of this as an idea to build camaraderie, to build relationships, and, you know, how has this translated?
SEN. MOORE CAPITO: Well, I think we, obviously, during those conceptions of how we were going to do this, I think that having us be on the same team was always the original idea. I don't think‑‑I don't think we ever thought that we could, A, duplicate the baseball game, but also, I think that we do‑‑we sponsor each other's bills. We travel together. We have social interactions together around family or family situations that we're all fighting at the same‑‑or, you know, trying to deal with at the same time. So, you know, we do have a natural camaraderie, I think, and I think the guys have it too. But they're more competitive with one another than I think I envision us as a group.
And so I think it was a genius idea to get us together and to feature us as not just women who like to play sports and who are joined together for a unified cause but also for being able to kind of row our own boat here together to demonstrate to people, to young girls that, you know, maybe you don't agree with people on a Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, but when you lay down your arms and you get together on a Wednesday night to play softball on the same team, you're right there cheering for one another. And I think it's refreshing, and it's kind of an exuberant sort of feeling when we all get on the field together.
MS. CALDWELL: Well, Senator Gillibrand, talk about that a little bit. You know, what happens when there's a nasty political debate that's happening on Capitol Hill, on the Senate floor, on the House floor, you know, in a campaign? And it happens on a Tuesday, and then you guys have practice Wednesday morning. Do those conversations come up? Do you guys talk about that on the softball field at practice?
SEN. GILLIBRAND: Definitely not. [Laughs] I think I avoid all political issues on the softball fields.
What I try to talk about is common ground. So I find‑‑you know, certainly, with Shelley, we've worked on water quality issues, PFAS. Both Upstate New York and West Virginia have the same military bases and traditional historic manufacturing facilities that created PFAS in our water and harming the health of our constituents. We've worked on maternal mortality issues. We've worked on mental health issues. We've worked on substance use disorders. We really have so much in common in terms of helping our constituents that we actually don't need to talk about our differences. We have plenty of things to talk about that we have in common, and I try to focus my conversations with my colleagues on ways we can help one another.
I don't run campaigns against other members of the softball team. I avoid those‑‑
SEN. GILLIBRAND: ‑‑and so because these are women that I trust and I really appreciate and I just try to leave politics definitely outside of the ball fields.
MS. CALDWELL: Senator Capito, do you have the same kind of internal policy that you don't want to defeat another woman on the softball team?
SEN. MOORE CAPITO: Well, we‑‑I can tell you this. From our practices early in the morning, it's pretty much understood that these are not the places to have policy differences and discussions. I mean, I think we're all happy to have that safe space because we're going to spend all that‑‑all the next day and, you know, all the intervening hours doing those kinds of debates, whether they're partisan or not.
You know, there have been a few occasions where maybe as we're warming up, we're tossing the ball back and forth, that you can hear a conversation next to you that's starting to edge on to the out‑of‑the‑safe space, maybe more political, but it's usually leading up to election. You know, you just have to say, "Okay, time out, you know. We're hitting into the wrong zone here. Let's redirect the conversations," because the last thing we want is to hurt somebody else's feelings, to say something that's offensive, because, you know, we work hard for these jobs. It can be very emotional. It can be very negative sometimes. The last thing we need is to go out into a‑‑as I said, a safe space, to have conversations and overhear conversations that could be hurtful, and so those cease right away. And it's happened, you know, very, very rarely, as Kirsten would acknowledge, and it's more let's talk about, you know, what type of strategies we want to have or let's talk about what you did last weekend or, you know, your kids are going to college, how was the transition, whatever the things might be that are the more personal aspects that I think bind us together.
MS. CALDWELL: Well, this game used to take place in early summer. It kind of got derailed a little bit because of covid, and I was actually surprised when the game was rescheduled this year in September. We're less than two months from an election day. I was surprised mostly because I didn't think you guys were going to have time to practice because so many people are out campaigning, especially the House members so often. But have you noticed this year that the mood has gotten‑‑has changed a little bit or people's availability has decreased because campaign season is in full force right now? Senator Gillibrand.
SEN. GILLIBRAND: I would just say what we were trying to do is create a cohesive team post the men's game because we have three very good players who play with the men routinely, and we don't get their time because they're practicing every morning or most mornings with the men's team. So the strategy was just trying to get all our players to practice together, and it didn't work because we had several practices in July, which were terrific, before we broke in August, but the House and Senate schedule has been misaligned. And so we just‑‑September doesn't work, but it's going to be great for tonight because we don't have to play in the searing heat. It's going to be nice and cool, a perfect night to watch softball and to play softball, but we'll probably return to the June‑July time frame just because of availability. We didn't have a lot, certainly not post‑‑we only had one practice yesterday‑‑post August break. And we only had‑‑
MS. CALDWELL: Uh‑oh.
SEN. GILLIBRAND: ‑‑a few‑‑oh, yes. And we only had‑‑we certainly practiced straight through till we left for August work periods in our states and our districts, but, you know, we're just going to do our best. We love this game. We love the people we play with, both with our team and against, and we love the cause. And the number of young women who show up and have such an amazing evening, the number of my interns and staff that like to just make posters and have fun, it's just one of those rare times in Washington where everybody is on the same page and everybody has a good time.
MS. CALDWELL: Yeah. I do remember a time. I remember when Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who started this game, as you said at the top, Senator Gillibrand, because of her own experience with breast cancer, and she was head of the DNC at the time. And it was a very political and tumultuous time for her. It was years ago, but this game still went on. And, you know, Republicans and Democrats still played together on this game, and that was very political at the moment for the players as well.
But, you know, I get a lot of‑‑during this game, I tweet about it every year. I'm a player, and inevitably, I get people responding to me on Twitter, many people saying, "These members of Congress, they shouldn't be doing that. They need to be working and getting things done for the American people, but they don't do any work. They're out playing softball." Senator Capito, can you respond to that? It happens every year, and, you know, is this taking away from your work on Capitol Hill?
SEN. MOORE CAPITO: I mean, I kind of chuckled when you said that because I'm thinking, let's see, wait a minute, let me get this right. We practice from seven to eight. We haven't practiced much at all. So there's not a whole lot of work that's going on at seven to eight in the morning, and we play one night a year. And we're raising money for an incredibly good, good cause that unites us. And so I think these are‑‑you know, there's so much people just want to pick and nitpick. You know, we're people too. We have regular lives. We have loves and hates, just like everybody else, and I think the opportunity to get to know the press better has really been fulfilling for me, your coaches, that third base coach, Frank. He's got to get out of there.
SEN. MOORE CAPITO: And so, you know, these are all about relationship building. It's no different than anybody else's life that maybe they might have a company picnic or a bowling tournament or something like that, that raises money for the local little league teams, and so, you know, we're allowed to have fun too. We do have fun, and I think it's a good thing, and I think it's healthy for the organization. And for the pushback, I would say, you know what, you're getting a healthier Congress that works better together across the aisle because of occasions like this.
MS. CALDWELL: Yeah. Senator Gillibrand, can you point out to one thing perhaps that resulted either legislatively, directly or indirectly, from the softball game, whether it's a relationship that you made with a member that you didn't know very well or a piece of legislation that maybe came to fruition because of the softball game?
SEN. GILLIBRAND: Well, I mention a bunch of bills that I've done with Shelley. Those bills all came about because I got to know more about Shelley. I got to know what her state is like, what families in West Virginia are going through, understanding a lot of the similarities between West Virginia and Upstate New York, same issues with getting clean water and getting PFAS out of the water, same issues with the opioid epidemic, the fact that substance use disorder is massive in Upstate New York and in West Virginia, the mental health crises, the maternal mortality crisis, as moms, something like we absolutely share.
And so I found that with every member of the team, there were areas of common ground that we built because of the friendships we developed on the team. I look for issues I can work with Shelley. When I'm looking for a lead Republican supporter on a bill, Shelley is among the first few people I go to see and say, "Is this something you want to work on? Is this something you care about? Is this something that affects West Virginia?" And so the benefit of this collaboration for raising awareness to help young women fight against breast cancer results in a lot of work across the aisle and by bicameral work. So, when I need a lead House member, I know right where to go. I can talk to Cheri Bustos. I can talk to Debbie. I can talk to a number of the amazing women who work on‑‑who are on the softball team who are in the House. So it gives me understanding of who these House members are, which is great. Again, it just allows me to do my job better.
MS. CALDWELL: And, Senator Capito, you're from well‑being, a very different state‑‑
SEN. MOORE CAPITO: Right.
MS. CALDWELL: ‑‑than New York.
MS. CALDWELL: Have you been able to get a better understanding of‑‑you know, there's no Republican Senator from New York that you can go to, to learn about the state.
MS. CALDWELL: So, you know, have you been able to understand the people, the politics a little bit better in New York, and is there some sort of cross‑collaboration on an issue that affects both states?
SEN. MOORE CAPITO: Well, absolutely. I mean, one of the things‑‑and Kirsten mentioned many of the things that we've worked on, but one of the things that is different but then similar to our states, believe it or not, is the rural nature of Upstate New York and the rural nature of my state of West Virginia. And one of the major problems that we have is lack of broadband, and so Kirsten and I have worked together on rural broadband issues because‑‑and obviously highlighted a lot during the pandemic, but this was even pre‑pandemic that we joined, joined together to try to deploy that broadband to those rural areas so that we don't have areas of the country left
And she mentioned, you know, just recently in March, we traveled to Germany and Poland, and Kirsten has bases in her state. I don't have big bases in my state. I have National Guard, which serves in every venue of conflict that we might have, but to see the perspective that she has was‑‑you know, the 10th Mountain Company or something like that, really helps me see through the eyes of somebody who represents not just that member of the military but their family and their support systems. And so, you know, she‑‑you know, Kirsten and I don't serve on any of the same committees. So we can interact on those long trips flying over to Germany to be able to see each other's perspectives, and it's hugely helpful. And it all begins because we've known each other for these many years. You know, she's the pitcher. She's the ace pitcher. I'm over on the third base line hoping that every ball goes to her and not to me, and so‑‑
SEN. MOORE CAPITO: And so‑‑or she strikes everybody out. That's even better. But I do think that the confidence that we show in one another, whether it's in a personal way, really translates to things like broadband, like sexual assault in the military, like our military families, the PFAS issue that she mentions that hits our state hard and hers hard. So it's been very, very beneficial to me to be able to get to know her as a New Yorker who represents quite a different state.
MS. CALDWELL: And you mentioned the CODEL, you know, which is focused on Ukraine. Senator Capito, I want to follow up on that a little bit. There's, you know‑‑
MS. CALDWELL: The president has requested billions of dollars in aid for Ukraine. Is that still something that has bipartisan support that you think will pass Congress this year?
SEN. MOORE CAPITO: Absolutely. Support for Ukraine has broad‑based bipartisan support. We traveled early. We were one of the first groups. We didn't go all the way into Ukraine, but we did go into Germany and Poland and got, you know, a close as you could get at that point.
But, subsequently, many of our fellow Senators have been into Ukraine, into Kyiv, and talked with the president there, and so there is broad‑based supports for weaponry, for us to help shore up, especially now when we see advances, when we see Ukraine being able to push Russia out of certain occupied areas. I mean, this is really fulfilling, I think, for us to see because of the vast resources that we've put in and the passion that we see from the Ukrainians that we feel as well.
You know, there's always a few that won't support, and there's always a few that are not going to agree, but I don't think it's a partisan thing so much. It may be just personal, but broad‑based support for this is definitely how we're feeling about the Ukrainian efforts.
MS. CALDWELL: And, you know, we're getting toward‑‑as I mentioned, close to an election. Toward the end of the year, there's some hot button issues right now that might not‑‑that might or might not be bipartisan. So, you know, Senator Gillibrand, I wanted to ask you about one of those, and one of them is on same‑sex marriage. You know, have you gotten an update on if there are 10 votes, Republican votes, from the negotiators if the same‑sex marriage bill will get a vote next week in the Senate?
SEN. GILLIBRAND: I think we will have a vote next week, and I also think it will be successful. LGBTQ quality is something a lot of people believe in, and most families in America have someone who is part of the LGBTQ community. And we all love our families.
And I think the country has decided over the last decade that we believe people should marry the people they love, and so, regardless of your religious views, this is an issue of civil law. So I think there's consensus, and so I'm hopeful that we can have a vote. People will vote their conscience and what they believe, but I do think there is enough support within the Senate to codify that, that process that we've made to people over many years that we believe in families.
MS. CALDWELL: Mm‑hmm. And, Senator Capito, have you come out with a position yet on that?
SEN. MOORE CAPITO: No, I haven't. I haven't seen the actual‑‑what we're actually going to be voting on. I think that‑‑I think that there is‑‑I don't think that we're quite‑‑it's quite there in the numbers to be 60 quite yet. I think there's broad discussions going on, and I think that Tammy Baldwin and Rob Portman, who are sort of leading the charge on both sides, have had a lot of conversations. There's questions of religious liberties and other things that seem to be open to be included in there, but we're not exactly sure what that is.
So, you know, I'll announce my position at the time when it becomes more permanent, but I'm not sure if it‑‑I mean, Kirsten knows more about whether it would come up next week or after the election. There seems to be some debate on that point.
SEN. GILLIBRAND: Yeah.
MS. CALDWELL: Yeah. It seems like timing might be a huge issue.
We don't have a lot of time, so I want to ask you guys a quick round‑robin of questions. If you can keep your answers short. First, Senator Gillibrand, what is your walk‑up song?
SEN. GILLIBRAND: "New York State of Mind."
MS. CALDWELL: Senator Capito, same question.
SEN. MOORE CAPITO: Same thing, "Country Roads."
MS. CALDWELL: "Country Roads."
SEN. GILLIBRAND: Perfect.
MS. CALDWELL: Senator Gillibrand, who do you want to get out the most tonight? What member of the press?
SEN. GILLIBRAND: Amy.
MS. CALDWELL: Hmm. Amy of the Cook Political Report.
MS. CALDWELL: Senator Capito‑‑
SEN. GILLIBRAND: I'd like to strike her out.
SEN. MOORE CAPITO: That would be good.
SEN. MOORE CAPITO: Leigh Ann.
MS. CALDWELL: ‑‑who are you most‑‑
SEN. MOORE CAPITO: Leigh Ann, I want to get you out.
MS. CALDWELL: Oh, it might be‑‑I don't know. We'll see. We'll see. I've really been preparing for this game tonight.
MS. CALDWELL: Been lots of practices.
SEN. MOORE CAPITO: Well, that's good.
MS. CALDWELL: So I just have one final question. If you both can answer very briefly. It's actually a reader gave us this idea for a question, and it is, do you think in the new Congress, there is going to be more opportunities for bipartisanship? Just in the last 30 seconds, Senator Capito, starting with you.
SEN. MOORE CAPITO: Well, hope springs eternal, and I am an optimist. So I think it's always yes. I think we're tired of the pushes and pulls, and I know the American people are.
MS. CALDWELL: Mm‑hmm. And, Senator Gillibrand?
SEN. GILLIBRAND: So the untold story is how much bipartisanship we've actually already had in this Congress. I personally have had four of my legislation‑‑legislative bills signed into law, all bipartisan with all sorts of different leads, from Senator Marco Rubio on my veterans bill to the bipartisan infrastructure bill, the bipartisan CHIPS bill. The work I've done with Shelley on the military sexual assault issue, that's all in the NDAA. So we've been getting a lot of good bipartisan work done, and so I am extremely optimistic that trend will continue. It's just not necessarily reported on. It's not the push‑and‑pull that drives clicks and drives front‑page articles, but the truth is there's been a ton of bipartisanship in this Congress. And I'm really grateful for it; the gun bill, for example. Investing in mental health is something that everyone agreed on, and so for both Shelley and I, violence disruption investment matters so that we can end the suicide rate, the overdose rate, a lot of huge problems, and our states get funded there. And I wrote the gun trafficking part of that bill to end gun trafficking because most of the guns used in crimes in New York State come from out of state, and most of them are illegal. So we've had a bunch of successes.
And so I'm going to keep working on a bipartisan basis with all my awesome softball colleagues and everyone else that I work with on the Republican side and continue to get things done.
MS. CALDWELL: Great. We are out of time. We all have to get to the field, and I know you guys are wearing your jerseys. I am not, but Go Press.
SEN. MOORE CAPITO: Ooh.
SEN. GILLIBRAND: We're getting‑‑we're going to go to the field very soon, so we'll see you there.
SEN. MOORE CAPITO: See you there. Thank you.
MS. CALDWELL: Senator Capito, Senator Gillibrand‑‑
SEN. GILLIBRAND: Good luck, everybody. Play well.
MS. CALDWELL: ‑‑thank you so much. Thanks.
SEN. MOORE CAPITO: Good luck.
MS. CALDWELL: You too. Not‑‑
SEN. MOORE CAPITO: Don't get hurt.
MS. CALDWELL: But play well. Yes, same. That's what we all wish for.
MS. CALDWELL: So thank you all for joining us for the latest edition of “Across the Aisle.” My name is Leigh Ann Caldwell. Please go to WashingtonPostLive.com if you want to see this again or to read the transcripts or for all of our programming. Thanks so much for joining. | 2022-09-15T00:07:32Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Transcript: Across the Aisle with Sens. Shelley Moore Capito and Kirsten Gillibrand - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/washington-post-live/2022/09/14/transcript-across-aisle-with-sens-shelley-moore-capito-kirsten-gillibrand/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/washington-post-live/2022/09/14/transcript-across-aisle-with-sens-shelley-moore-capito-kirsten-gillibrand/ |
Most abortions stop in West Virginia after lawmakers pass near-total ban
The waiting room of the Women's Health Center of West Virginia, in Charleston, sits empty in June. After the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, the clinic had to suspend abortion services because of an 1800s-era abortion ban in state code. (Leah Willingham/Associated Press)
CHARLESTON, W. Va. — On Tuesday morning, West Virginians could obtain elective abortions in the first 20 weeks of pregnancy.
By 5 p.m., the state legislature had voted to ban nearly all abortions from the moment a fertilized egg implants in the uterus. The governor has not yet signed the bill into law, but has indicated he will do so.
The legislation sent abortion providers scrambling to adjust to the new reality.
“West Virginians will now have to travel hundreds or even thousands of miles away from their homes and incur massive costs to access essential, lifesaving care,” Katie Quiñonez, executive director of the Women’s Health Center of West Virginia, said in a statement.
The Women’s Health Center had an empty parking lot Wednesday. A printed sign on the door said the health center was “closed for staff rest” and would open the next day. Across the street, a crisis pregnancy center run by antiabortion advocates remained open to patients.
Around lunchtime, Elizabeth Gill, 56, who has often protested as a member of West Virginians for Life, pulled into the clinic’s lot. But there were no women seeking abortions for her to speak to.
Gill, who was adopted, said she welcomes the new ban, though she opposes the exceptions for victims of rape or incest. The ban allows abortions for adult victims of rape or incest until eight weeks of pregnancy, and until 14 weeks of pregnancy for child victims. She also said she hopes the Women’s Health Center closes for good.
“The baby has a God-given right to live the life and live out the purpose that God has for them,” she said.
Austin Walters, who has lived next door to the clinic for about six years and endured countless noisy antiabortion protests, said he opposes the new ban. The 30-year-old, who works at Home Depot, said he expects the ban to drive young people out of the state and possibly hurt the economy.
“The government, or the lawmakers, should not control women’s bodies,” he said. “This is one issue where the government needs to stay out.”
Betty Jo Stemple, another resident who lives near the abortion clinic, said she feels strongly that abortion should be a woman’s choice in the early stages of pregnancy and in instances of rape or incest. She said she had an abortion decades ago, after she was raped in her late 20s.
“When I missed that second period, I knew I had to make a choice,” Stemple, now 61, said.
She didn’t want to have a child “with those evil genes,” she said. “I didn’t want that growing in inside me.”
Like many Americans, Stemple said she supports restrictions on abortion later in pregnancy, but she believes hard-line antiabortion activists are taking limitations too far.
“Life is complicated,” she said. “Situations happen. ... It’s not cut-and-dried.”
The strict ban in West Virginia passed despite signs in other states that many voters do not support restrictive limits on abortion without exceptions. Antiabortion lawmakers in South Carolina failed to pass a ban from conception without exceptions for rape and incest last week. Kansas voters rejected a ballot measure that would have opened the door to more restrictive abortion laws in August, and candidates who oppose abortion bans have been outperforming their polling numbers during primaries this summer.
Even the West Virginia bill initially stalled in July over disagreements between lawmakers over criminal penalties for doctors and a heated debate over what exceptions to include. Ultimately, lawmakers settled on exceptions for victims of rape and incest as long as they report the assault and seek an abortion before eight weeks of pregnancy for adults and 14 weeks for children.
Although a handful of Republican lawmakers balked at the exceptions and lack of criminal penalties for doctors in the final version of the ban, national antiabortion activists called it a “strong pro-life bill.”
“West Virginians have been committed to protecting unborn children and mothers from the horrors of abortion and now, in the Dobbs era, they have passed legislation to do just that,” Caitlin Connors, southern regional director for SBA Pro-Life America, said in a statement. Connors added that the final version of the bill ensures “mothers can get the care they need in the heartbreaking situation of an ectopic pregnancy, miscarriage or medical emergency – just like every other state with pro-life protections in place.”
Some abortion supporters worry West Virginia’s law will serve as a template for other state lawmakers. “What we saw in West Virginia may forecast what we see in other state legislatures later this year and beyond with legislatures adopting bans that include narrow exceptions that make it nearly impossible to access care,” Elizabeth Nash, principal policy associate for state issues for the Guttmacher Institute said in an email.
Nash said that the exceptions in the West Virginia ban are so narrow that many sexual assault victims will struggle to meet the requirements to qualify for an abortion.
“Patients will not be able to access care, including many of those who qualify for an exception, because the exceptions are written in a way as to make them nearly impossible to use,” she said. “It is expected other states will also consider similar exceptions as a way to convince the public that the exceptions provide some measure of access, but in practice the exceptions provide almost no access at all.”
The Republican-controlled legislature passed a near-total abortion ban with exceptions only to save the life of the pregnant patient and for victims of rape or incest. Gov. Jim Justice has not yet signed the bill, but is expected to do so soon. Once it is signed, the ban will take effect immediately and the law’s criminal penalties will kick in 90 days later.
Democrats and reproductive rights advocates say the ban goes so far that it outlaws abortion in almost every circumstance, and makes it difficult to access even for victims of sexual assault.
Even people eligible for an exception under the new ban face time limits and other hurdles. Adult sexual assault victims must report the crime and seek an abortion before the eighth week of pregnancy. Victims under the age of 18 can get an abortion before the 14th week of pregnancy if they seek medical care for the assault or report it to police.
Abortions may only be performed by doctors with admitting privileges at a hospital. Those physicians may lose their medical license but do not face criminal penalties for performing an illegal abortion. Anyone else who provides an abortion faces felony charges and up to five years in prison. Patients who choose to have an illegal abortion do not face any criminal penalties.
“It’s hard to overstate what a terrible day this is for the state of West Virginia,” ACLU of West Virginia Advocacy Director Eli Baumwell said in a statement. “The Legislature chose to strip away a basic human right to choose if, when, and how a person becomes a parent.”
It is unclear whether a path exists to challenge the ban in court. The ACLU of West Virginia had already challenged an abortion ban, before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned its Roe v. Wade ruling, because it conflicted with other laws that the state legislature had passed more recently. A state judge temporarily blocked that ban in July. But West Virginia voters narrowly passed an amendment to the state constitution in 2018 that declared “nothing in this Constitution secures or protects a right to abortion or requires the funding of an abortion.”
“There are so few cases that have gone very far,” Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond, said. “I don’t think we know” how a legal challenge will turn out.
If the West Virginia ban is challenged in federal court, Tobias said district judges in the Southern District of West Virginia and the 4th Circuit may be more receptive to plaintiff’s arguments than the federal judges who might consider challenges from states like Texas or Tennessee, where strict, near-total abortion bans are in place.
A federal challenge to a restrictive abortion ban has been filed in Idaho, where a judge blocked parts of the state law that would have prevented doctors from terminating pregnancies that pose significant health risks, if those risks were not life-threatening. Other strict limitations on abortion are still in place in Idaho, where abortion is banned except in cases of rape, incest or when a woman’s life is at risk.
And the fate of West Virginia’s law, if challenged in the courts, remains uncertain. | 2022-09-15T00:44:23Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Most abortions stop in West Virginia after lawmakers pass near-total ban - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/09/14/west-virginia-abortion-ban/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/09/14/west-virginia-abortion-ban/ |
A high-stakes criminal investigation is a window into the often unseen threat of white-supremacist prison gangs
By Hannah Allam
The road to a compound in Logan County, Okla., with links to the Universal Aryan Brotherhood, a white-supremacist prison gang. State authorities found human remains there in April. (Nick Oxford for The Washington Post)
OKLAHOMA CITY — The caller had news but warned LaVonne Harris not to get her hopes up.
Harris’s son, 33-year-old Nathan Smith, had vanished along a dirt road in Oklahoma one freezing night more than two years earlier. Detectives had long stopped checking in with her, and Harris could feel her search growing lonelier with each passing month.
The call in April, from an advocate for families of the missing, wasn’t encouraging, but it was a lead: Authorities in rural Logan County, just north of here, had discovered human remains belonging to more than one person. Also, the caller added delicately, the remains weren’t intact.
Harris, 58, sat down to steady herself. She listened, then hung up to tell her daughter.
“I said, ‘Lou, they found these bodies,’ ” Harris recalled. “ ‘They’ve been burned and cut.’ ”
Smith is among a dozen or more people who have disappeared in recent years from the wooded, unincorporated terrain outside the Oklahoma City metro area, a rural haven for drug traffickers. Some families said they’re scared to call police or even to put up “missing person” signs because they suspect the involvement of violent white-supremacist prison gangs.
Entrance lined
with metal walls
Sources: Google Maps (satellite image),
DYLAN MORIARTY/THE WASHINGTON POST
Source: Google Maps (satellite image), OpenStreetMap
Compound detail
Entrance lined with metal walls
Sources: Google Maps (satellite image), OpenStreetMap
In April, authorities acting on a tip said they found charred piles of wood and bone on a five-acre patch of Logan County, opening one of the grisliest and most sensitive criminal investigations in Oklahoma’s recent history.
Behind the 10-foot metal walls of a compound with links to the Universal Aryan Brotherhood, a white-supremacist prison gang, officers found what they believe to be a body dumping ground where multiple people ended up dismembered and burned, according to four Oklahoma officials with knowledge of the investigation. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the extraordinary security precautions around the case.
The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, or OSBI, which is leading the multiagency state and federal probe, confirms that remains have been found but will not say how many. An April 29 report in the Oklahoman newspaper — the first news of the discovery — quoted the state medical examiner and other sources as saying agents were investigating “whether a white supremacist prison gang is behind nine or more disappearances” after the discovery of “the comingled remains of possibly three people.” The report said remains also were found at a second site, near an oil well about 18 miles away in the tiny town of Luther.
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Four months later, the scope of the case remains murky. A law enforcement official, who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation, said they were informed the count was up to “12 different DNA profiles.” One family of a missing person said they were told of eight; another heard about three.
The OSBI has taken significant steps to keep the investigation opaque, including advising families of the missing to stay quiet.
“We’re just trying to keep some people alive at this point,” a second official said, describing the struggle to protect potential witnesses.
That level of danger is a jarring reminder of the unseen threat of white-supremacist prison gangs, whose leaders run crime syndicates from behind bars through a network of “enforcers” on the outside, according to extremism monitors and Justice Department court filings.
The gangs have carried out hate-fueled attacks both in and out of prison, with the bulk of their free-world violence targeting rivals and informants, authorities say. Because the gangs typically keep their business within the criminal underground, the attacks go largely undiscussed in the broader national conversation about rising violence by far-right groups.
Oklahoma is a “problem state,” with at least five significant white-supremacist prison gangs, said Mark Pitcavage, an Anti-Defamation League researcher who has monitored the groups for decades. He co-authored a 2016 study that called prison gangs the fastest-growing and deadliest sector of the U.S. white-supremacist movement, noting that they “combine the criminal intent and know-how of organized crime with the racism and hate of white supremacy, making them twice as dangerous.”
The Logan County investigation, authorities say, involves one of the most ruthless of the gangs: the Universal Aryan Brotherhood, also known as the UAB.
One of the main UAB “shot-callers,” authorities say, is 57-year-old Mikell “Bulldog” Smith, an inmate so violent that an Oklahoma prison report once called him “the most dangerous man in the penitentiary” and corrections officials built a special cell for him in 1989. Smith is serving life without parole for the 1985 killing of a math teacher in a robbery. Soon after arriving in prison in 1987, he stabbed a fellow inmate. Two years later, he nearly killed a prison guard by stabbing him in the heart with a blade attached to a broom handle. In 2014, Smith was convicted of choking a cellmate to death with a sheet.
Members of Smith’s extended family own various parts of the five-acre area where remains were found in Logan County. Smith’s wife, Robin, was listed as owner of the fortified compound; his brother Charles owns an adjacent property, according to sale records. Another brother, Phillip, disappeared from the county in 2020, one of the long list of cases authorities say are under review.
On Aug. 19, according to state investigators, another Smith relative, David, was arrested at the compound on charges related to a stolen vehicle and possession of a firearm by a felon.
In the OSBI’s few public statements about the remains, there is no mention of the alleged ties to one of Oklahoma’s bloodiest prison gangs or reference to the site in Luther. The statement said only that “law enforcement from multiple agencies recovered bone fragments” in Logan County and were working to identify them and determine the cause of death.
The medical examiner’s office and law enforcement agencies involved either declined to comment on the record or never responded to queries. The OSBI declined to comment beyond its news releases.
“The investigation is very fluid and very active,” said an OSBI release dated Aug. 8. “Because of that, the volume of rumors and speculation is high. The OSBI will not comment on rumors as that can jeopardize the ongoing investigation.”
The statement said state investigators and sheriff’s offices in three counties “have been working closely with the families of the missing persons,” including collecting DNA samples to help with identification. That work will take time, the release said, because of “the physical condition of the remains recovered.”
On a scorching recent afternoon, Carol Knight looked out over her 20-acre plot in rural Choctaw, about half an hour’s drive from where the remains in Logan County were found. A successful bail bond agent, Knight bought the property in 2020 with plans to build a country dream home.
“Instead, I got a chop shop,” she said.
As Knight began clearing the land, she and her husband uncovered jaw-dropping surprises buried underground: “We dug up a car, we dug up a motorcycle. We hauled three boats off the property.” She carted off about 300 tires, apparent leftovers from cars that were “chopped” and sold for parts. Knight said she almost broke her ankle falling in a “hidey hole,” one of several camouflaged pits.
The previous residents had extensive criminal records and hung with a crowd that included known UAB associates, according to authorities and public records.
Knight said she saw the buried junk as an expensive nuisance — until she received a tip last year that a body also might be hidden on her land. Unsettled, Knight halted work and sought help from fellow bondsman Jathan Hunt, a licensed private detective who brings his specially trained German shepherds on searches for missing people.
“I said, ‘J, why don’t y’all bring your dogs out here and see if I got a dead body,’ ” she recalled.
The rumors were tied to the disappearance of 43-year-old David Anthony Orr, a Hispanic man from the Oklahoma City area who struggled with a methamphetamine addiction and ran in the same drug circles as UAB associates, according to one of Orr’s family members and public information compiled by Hunt.
In January, Hunt searched Knight’s property as part of a team of about two dozen volunteers using five dogs with training on “clandestine grave detection.” When the dogs “alerted” to two areas — near a large pit and a pond — the searchers called Oklahoma County investigators. The authorities left with a bone that Hunt thought resembled a metatarsal, part of the foot, but he said he never heard back on whether it was determined to be human.
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After the search, Hunt said, he kept thinking about Orr and added the case to volunteer work he was doing with Oklahoma City Metro Search and Rescue, a nonprofit group that helps families of missing relatives.
In most cases he’d worked on, Hunt said, families were eager to hang posters or appear on local news. Not so with Orr, who was last seen on Jan. 16, 2021.
“This was the first one where I was like, ‘Man, no one is looking for this guy, not even his family or friends,’ ” Hunt said. “I thought, ‘That’s weird.’ ”
Hunt made inquiries and discovered that Orr does indeed have relatives who are desperate to find him — it’s just too dangerous, he said, for them to publicly seek information on his whereabouts.
One of Orr’s relatives, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the risks, said they were advised by people they described as Orr’s associates to stop searching or else they’d “end up like him.” On the street, the relative said, Orr’s death is accepted as fact, but the family can’t acknowledge it or mourn without confirmation.
“You have to live with the anxiety, you have to live with the fear that these people are still out there,” the relative said. “You’ve got to be careful who you talk to.”
Using the tips he was picking up, Hunt said, he found overlapping social connections among at least five missing people, including Orr, and UAB associates. Last spring, Hunt said, he received a tip that Orr’s body was burned and buried on a property in Logan County, possibly along with three others. Hunt said he tried to share the information with investigators, only to get the brush-off.
Finally, Hunt said, he reached a lead detective on the case, who told him to “sit on it” because “we’ve got something in the works.”
Two days later, authorities carried out the raid in which they found remains. The Logan County property matched the description Hunt had heard about in the search for Orr.
Hunt called Knight, whose response was: “Oh, s---.”
A risky raid
At daybreak on April 13, dozens of law enforcement officers massed outside the Logan County compound with a search warrant, prepared to face an ambush.
Given the reputation of the UAB, planners had gone over all the worst-case scenarios, law enforcement officials recalled. They had taken into account the possibility of booby traps and explosives. They wondered if cages could be opened remotely for the simultaneous release of the more than 25 pit bulls on the property.
Above all, they worried about a potential shootout as they entered through what Logan County Sheriff Damon Devereaux called the “fatal funnel,” a narrow, metal-sided driveway entrance.
“We were prepared for the worst day of our lives,” he said.
Instead, authorities easily swept onto the empty site. Devereaux said he counted 28 dogs in cages; they looked healthy and well-fed. He recalled it was the second day of the search when a text arrived from an OSBI investigator saying: “Just confirming that we have found some human remains.”
“Holy cow, this is a big deal,” the sheriff recalled thinking.
Devereaux agreed to address only parts of the investigation that are already public knowledge. He declined to give details on the remains or any possible suspects, deferring to the OSBI.
Before he became sheriff in 2017, Devereaux, 52, had served as police chief in his hometown, Guthrie, the Logan County seat. He dealt with college parties and garden-variety crime, he said, but nothing like the violent characters he’s encountered as sheriff.
The county jail, Devereaux said, regularly holds associates of white-supremacist prison gangs, people facing hits from Mexican cartels, and a host of others charged in connection with the drug rings that operate in the backwoods of middle America.
“They’re introducing me to the Irish Mob and the UAB and it’s just like, ‘Excuse me?’ ” Devereaux said, referring to white-supremacist prison gangs in the state. “I had no idea until I became the sheriff, because it’s confined in these walls.”
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Devereaux considers himself a stickler for policing that prioritizes constitutional rights. So, he said, when he first noticed the compound “getting fortified with metal 10-foot fencing and iron gates,” he was suspicious but had no probable cause to investigate.
“We’re a county that likes to burn our trash, shoot our guns and drink our beer. And that’s kind of what we embrace in Oklahoma, the freedom to do all that,” he said. “There’s a lot of people who move out there to be left alone.”
But then, maybe six months ago, he said, his deputies started hearing rumors about a missing man whose body was hidden in Logan County. Other law enforcement officers started looking into the tips, too, Devereaux said, and soon the investigation ballooned into a mammoth effort with about half a dozen agencies involved.
“This puzzle had a lot of lost pieces,” Devereaux said. “And now all of a sudden we’re putting some pieces together and starting to see the picture.”
An agonizing wait
Harris, the mother of Nathan Smith, who is no relation to Mikell Smith, said she calls the medical examiner’s office almost weekly to make sure investigators are still looking for her son among the remains.
When Harris heard the latest twist — a possible connection to a white-supremacist prison gang — her heart sank. Early in her search, she said, a family friend had helped her go through her son’s social media contacts looking for clues about his disappearance. “She says, ‘They’re Aryan Brotherhood, look! All these people — a lot of them — are doing the signal,’ ” Harris said, alluding to gang hand signs. “I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, what has my son got into?’ ”
As with other missing people, Nathan Smith’s intersection with suspected prison-gang associates stemmed from drugs, specifically methamphetamines, his mother said. The UAB is known to be a major player in Oklahoma meth trafficking, according to authorities and a 2018 federal indictment of 18 members on racketeering charges.
The indictment, one of the most detailed public accounts of UAB operations, accused the gang of distributing an estimated 2,500 kilos of meth annually in Oklahoma, and laid out related crimes such as “murder, kidnapping, witness intimidation, home invasions.” As part of a plea agreement, one member described how he and others kidnapped suspected informants and “used tarps, shovels, blow torches and other items in an attempt to scare and intimidate the victims.”
Today, the UAB remains active, still tied to gruesome homicides and big drug cases, according to court papers and news reports. In August, nine UAB-linked suspects were charged in the killing of a rival gang member who prosecutors say was lured out of his motel room, tortured and dumped in a ditch.
The missing people authorities have mentioned in connection with the Logan County case are mostly men with long histories of drug arrests and prison stints. One exception is 21-year-old newlywed Audrey Slack, who hasn’t been seen since Jan. 11.
That morning, Slack called her family from a motel outside Oklahoma City while on a road trip with her husband, Stephen Walker, who is more than twice her age and whose tattoos signal membership in another white-supremacist prison gang.
Slack said to expect the couple home by 8 p.m., but they never arrived. Their black pickup truck was found with a bullet hole and traces of blood and bleach on the interior, according to a search warrant filed Aug. 2.
Slack’s relatives, who asked that their names and other identifying details be withheld, said investigators had called out of the blue in April to ask for dental records. The family, which had already submitted DNA samples, refused unless the detective told them what was going on. That’s when the family learned that multiple human remains had been found about a 15-minute drive from where the missing couple were last seen.
Since that day, they’ve been stuck in the same excruciating limbo as the other families, waiting for identifications that could take many more months.
“I need to know,” said one of Slack’s relatives. “I need to settle my heart.” | 2022-09-15T01:36:38Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Missing people, buried bones at center of Oklahoma mystery - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/09/15/oklahoma-murders-white-supremacists/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/09/15/oklahoma-murders-white-supremacists/ |
U.S. figure skater Ilia Malinin lands first quad axel in competition
Ilia Malinin, seen during January's U.S. Figure Skating Championships, on Wednesday night became the first person to land a quadruple Axel in competition. (Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
Ilia Malinin, the 17-year-old figure skater from Vienna, Va., who has quickly captivated the sport with an array of seemingly effortless jumps, became the first skater to ever land a quadruple Axel in competition Wednesday night at the U.S. International Figure Skating Classic in Lake Placid, N.Y.
Malinin, who had previously landed the elusive jump in practice, led with the quad Axel during his free skate routine, hitting it in a far corner of the ice. The sparse crowd in the nearly-empty arena immediately seemed to know what he had done and roared loudly as he completed the jump.
His performance Wednesday helped him get past a disappointing sixth-place finish in short program and win his season-opening event.
“It felt really good. When I’m practicing it, it’s pretty easy for me to figure out how to get the right timing and everything to have it be a good attempt,” Malinin said of completing the jump (via U.S. Figure Skating). “To do it in competition is a different story because you have nerves and pressure that can get in the way of that. So I have to treat it like I’m at home and it feels pretty good … I had an idea for trying it for a little while now. March or April was when I really started to work on the technique and try to improve it … [Yuzuru Hanyu] definitely inspired me to try it here.”
The quad axel was one of five quads, Malinin tried in a free skate routine that also included a triple Lutz-triple Axel combination near the end. He fell on a quad Lutz attempt but landed all of his other jumps. He finished the free skate in first place with a score of 257.28.
While Malinin is the first to land a quad Axel, he is not the first skater to attempt the trick in competition. Most famously, Japan’s legendary skater Yuzuru Hanyu tried it during the Beijing Olympics but stumbled after not properly rotating the jump.
Malinin is widely seen as the next great U.S. male skater, regularly posting stunning videos of himself practicing some of skating’s most difficult jumps on an Instagram account quadg0d. He nearly forced his way onto the United States Olympic team with a silver medal at last January’s U.S. Figure Skating Championships, only to lose out when team officials chose to go with the experience of Nathan Chen, Vincent Zhou and Jason Brown. | 2022-09-15T03:47:16Z | www.washingtonpost.com | U.S. figure skater Ilia Malinin lands first quad axel in competition - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2022/09/14/ilia-malinin-figure-skating-quad-axel/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2022/09/14/ilia-malinin-figure-skating-quad-axel/ |
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