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A pilgrim shops in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on July 5. (Mohammed Salem/Reuters)
BEIRUT — As prices of basic commodities balloon around the world, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — which have both benefited massively from the spike in energy prices — have allotted billions of dollars in new spending to shield their citizens from the rising prices.
Citizens of the oil-rich Persian Gulf countries have, alongside the rest of the world, been facing rising costs of basic goods and services following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the ensuing disruptions to the global market. Unlike the rest of the region, which has been badly harmed by the increases, however, these governments have access to spiking oil revenue.
Gulf citizens had long been accustomed to lavish social perks from their governments, which have historically shielded them from financial pain. In recent years, though, both the UAE and Saudi Arabia, the gulf’s two largest economies, have been working on weaning citizens off of their reliance on the state.
Panic buying spreads in Middle East as Russian invasion sparks fear over food and fuel
However, as the effect of the pandemic and Russia’s invasion take a toll on the daily cost of living in the gulf countries, the two government have loosened their purse strings to soften the blow on their low-income nationals.
The UAE announced on Monday it plans to double its budget for financial support offered to low-income Emirati families, allocating $7.6 billion, while Saudi Arabia’s King Salman announced a $5.33 billion allocation for direct cash transfers and stockpiling of key commodities.
“I think these two announcements are really more about just a recognition that the government is making a lot of money,” said Karen Young, senior fellow and director of program on Economics and Energy at the Middle East Institute.
“There’s really high oil revenue. So you have to make some sort of concession or admission that the government has more discretionary spending, and so they have to make it apparent that they are willing to spend on people that need it,” she added.
Gasoline prices, for instance, have increased five times this year in the UAE, doubling over the last few months — the first sharp increase since the UAE deregulated fuel in 2015.
To ease this effect on low-income citizens, the government announced it will cover 85 percent of the rise in cost of petrol above a specific price, as well as 75 percent of inflation on food items, among other measures.
The benefits will not extend to non-Emirati families and individuals, which make up the vast majority of the country’s population but have very little power in this autocratic nation of nearly 10 million. Emirati citizens are only 10 percent of the population.
In Saudi Arabia, where citizens make up two-thirds of the 35 million people, a bit more than half of the financial bundle will be distributed as direct cash transfers to social security beneficiaries. This includes small livestock breeders and those registered with the Citizens Account, a program set up in 2017 to ease the effect of the then-newly-introduced austerity measures. Registration for the program will also be reopened.
In May, the price of meat, fish, fruits, vegetables, oils and fats in the kingdom went up 20.7 percent compared to the same time last year, the Saudi General Authority for Statistics said last month.
While the prices of food were already high in the gulf, they do not make up as big a proportion of family budgets when compared to the rest of the region where inflation has been crushing, said Young. Prices in the gulf are increasing but not escalating at a very high rate. “So the inflationary pressure in the gulf is more muted than what we see across the MENA region.”
“The general trend in Saudi Arabia is actually cutting relief,” said Young. “Social support has generally been declining. So fewer people receive the Citizens’ Account benefit than they did two years ago.”
Over the past six years, Saudi Arabia introduced painful austerity measures to lessen the financial weight on the historically-generous welfare state the government can no longer afford as the population rises. It has moved toward broader liberalization and fewer subsidies, making it more difficult for citizens to rely on the state.
“Those days are over,” said Young. “But it also makes sense right now to show some support.”
Cost of gas in the UAE: $4.15/gallon
Cost of gas last summer: $2.34/gallon
The government hasn’t taken any steps to ease skyrocketing prices. In the last few months, the cost of gas has doubled. https://t.co/9G6GKXymCP pic.twitter.com/P5zspdd3IJ
In a news conference on Tuesday, Saudi Minister of Commerce Majid al-Kassabi struck a sympathetic tone. “We are meeting today,” he said, “to discuss an important matter, a matter that has touched every family and every household, one from which the whole world suffers from, which is the rise in prices: inflation.”
Biden's visit to Saudi Arabia reverses his vow to make it a 'pariah'
He emphasized the kingdom’s efforts to crack down on price manipulations, calling on citizens to phone in any such efforts. He evaded giving direct answers to questions from reporters about adding more items to the government subsidy list if prices continued to rise and how a further financial fallout from Ukraine’s war would be addressed.
Kassabi repeatedly emphasized that Saudi Arabia was not unique in its malaise: covid-19 and “repercussions of global events” have interrupted shipping routes and raised transport costs, sparking inflation worldwide.
Saudi’s inflation levels are the highest in 22 months, wrote David Owen, economist at survey compiler at S&P Global Market Intelligence. In a release published Tuesday, Owen said businesses are registering the fastest rise in costs since August 2020, and “one of the most marked in the last eight years.”
However, Saudi Arabia’s non-oil private sector expanded last month at its fastest pace in seven months, Owen noted, with an increase in exports and foreign demand, despite concerns by companies about the sustained price rises.
“They’re sitting on a lot of cash,” said Young, “so it makes sense to signal to the population that we’re willing to share a bit of this, we’re in a good period, but we’re not willing to completely backtrack on what we think is an important reform process.” | 2022-07-06T12:43:04Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Saudi Arabia and UAE boost welfare spending to cushion populations from inflation - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/06/saudi-uae-inflation-middle-east/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/06/saudi-uae-inflation-middle-east/ |
By Brian Collins
Lauri Torgerson-White
Chickens stand in their cages at a farm near Stuart, Iowa, in 2009. (Charlie Neibergall/AP)
Brian Collins is a faculty member at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine and a veterinarian at Farm Sanctuary. Lauri Torgerson-White is an animal welfare scientist and research director at Farm Sanctuary.
As a result of the avian influenza outbreak this year, the Agriculture Department has ordered the killing of almost 38 million chickens, turkeys, ducks and geese to stop the spread of the virus. The agency claims this is an unfortunate necessity to protect uninfected birds living on U.S. farms. But how we carry out the task says a lot about who we are as a society.
Here’s the wrong way to do it: killing the birds en masse by subjecting them to heatstroke. Yet such inhumane treatment of animals is not only common, it is supported by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), the organization that recommends best practices for the industry.
The mass slaughter technique, euphemistically known in the industry as ventilation shutdown plus (VSD+), is brutal. It involves sealing up a barn full of birds, turning off the ventilation system and turning on the heat. As the temperature rises, the birds, who are already stuffed together at unnaturally high densities, begin to pant, flap their wings and jump around, as if trying to escape. They eventually fall to the ground, mercifully unconscious. Most chickens suffer for up to two hours before succumbing to heatstroke.
The AVMA is not a regulatory agency, but the industry uses its guidelines to justify the practice. Its guidelines classify methods for mass killing — or “depopulation,” as the organization terms it — into three categories: 1) preferred 2) permitted in constrained circumstances and 3) not recommended. Methods which are “permitted in constrained circumstances,” the organization states, should only be used “when the circumstances of the emergency are deemed to constrain the ability to reasonably implement a preferred method.” The constraints include, “but are not limited to, constraints on zoonotic disease response time, human safety, depopulation efficiency, deployable resources, equipment, animal access, disruption of infrastructure, and disease transmission risk.” The recommendation seems purposefully vague to allow the industry to utilize these methods anytime the preferred methods are not easily implementable — which, it turns out, is most of the time.
Death by mass heatstroke, the most common technique used during this year’s avian outbreak, is particularly unconscionable because of how long animals must suffer before dying. The method was used to kill pigs during the supply chain disruptions that occurred during covid-19 outbreaks at meatpacking facilities. A case study of almost 250,000 pigs published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Association found that the average time from the beginning of the process until the pigs were silent, and presumably dead, was approximately one hour. For some, the process took as long as 83 minutes. More than 700 pigs still requiring manual killing afterward. Undercover footageof the process at an Iowa hog farm shows the pigs squealing in distress with temperatures reaching 120 degrees Fahrenheit.
If that isn’t sufficiently outrageous, consider this: Taxpayer dollars are being used to carry out the practice. The Agriculture Department has devoted hundreds of millions of dollars to bird flu response activities, including these mass killings. While the agency has agreed that overcrowding animals can increase influenza transmission, they have failed to take meaningful action to prevent overcrowding.
Instead, the agency encourages farmers to “consider reducing the number of birds in poultry houses as part their best management practice.” Additionally, it has settled a lawsuit challenging its irresponsible bird flu response plan — brought by our organization, the Humane Society of the United States and Mercy For Animals — by agreeing to assess the environmental impacts of the plan and consider how killing and burying or burning millions of birds threatens wildlife, habitats, water and air quality and human health.
There are some Americans, unfortunately, who will find it hard to care about how animals sentenced to death are slaughtered. We implore them: Why should we accept such cruelty? Would they support the mass killing of cats and dogs in this torturous way? We doubt it. As such, the AMVA should denounce this practice and prioritize the well-being of animals. | 2022-07-06T13:52:45Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Why are we accepting the mass slaughter of animals through heatstroke? - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/06/avian-flu-chickens-birds-why-are-we-accepting-mass-slaughter-animals-through-heatstroke/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/06/avian-flu-chickens-birds-why-are-we-accepting-mass-slaughter-animals-through-heatstroke/ |
The recent decision by San Francisco’s school board to restore merit-based admissions at the city’s top high school is a triumph for accomplished students and their families. It’s also a rebuke of efforts to weaken academic standards in public schools — sending a message that politicians and school leaders around the country badly need to hear.
The dispute in San Francisco concerned the admissions policies of Lowell High School, whose alumni include three Nobel Prize winners and a retired Supreme Court justice. In October 2020, the city’s school board scrapped Lowell’s policy of admitting students on the basis of grades and standardized test scores, citing the difficulty of administering exams during the pandemic. The merit-based system was replaced by a citywide lottery, a longtime goal of progressives who say that selective admissions policies disproportionately harm Black and Latino applicants. In the first year of the lottery, the share of Latino and Black students in Lowell’s entering freshman class rose, while the proportion of Asian students fell.
Last year, the board approved the city superintendent’s plan to make the lottery permanent. Spurred by parental outrage at the decision, voters recalled three members of the seven-person board, including its president and vice president. With three new members appointed by Mayor London Breed, the board voted in late June to restore selective admissions at Lowell. It also reversed an earlier decision to paint over a historic series of murals depicting the life of George Washington at a public high school bearing his name. (Critics had objected to the mural’s depictions of slavery and the killing of Native Americans.)
Rescinding the lottery at Lowell will likely benefit the city’s Asian students, while decreasing the number of Black and Latino students. Yet even with those changes, Lowell would still be among San Francisco’s most diverse high schools. Bringing back merit-based admissions will boost the school’s academic rigor, which suffered after the shift to the lottery; nearly a quarter of freshmen received at least one D or F grade last fall, up from 8% the previous year. And it reflects the preferences of city residents, the vast majority of whom opposed weakening Lowell’s admissions standards.
Educators and elected officials at all levels should take notice. In recent years, elite public high schools from Boston to northern Virginia have also moved away from basing admissions decisions on entrance exams, in favor of allocating spots based on geography and “holistic” student evaluations. Such approaches are marginally better than San Francisco’s lottery system, but they’re nonetheless misguided. Abandoning merit-based admissions denies poor but talented students the opportunity to maximize their potential, while doing little to help their less qualified peers. Making elite schools less selective could also cause more families to opt out of the system altogether, further reducing funding and political support for public education.
In the wake of the pandemic, the answer to the crisis facing America’s students is more rigor, not less. Rather than lowering academic standards, policy makers should focus on ensuring more students have the tools to meet them. That requires using assessments to measure student progress, recruiting and training higher-quality teachers, and promoting innovation through expansion of charter schools. Added resources should be devoted to identifying gifted and talented students from disadvantaged backgrounds and providing them with more challenging academic programs.
The return of merit-based admissions in San Francisco shows that even in the country’s most progressive areas, parents want the best public schools to stay that way — and are succeeding in making their voices heard. That’s reason enough to cheer. | 2022-07-06T13:57:15Z | www.washingtonpost.com | San Francisco’s School Decision Is Reason to Celebrate - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/san-franciscos-school-decision-is-reason-to-celebrate/2022/07/06/5e72ced4-fd2c-11ec-b39d-71309168014b_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/san-franciscos-school-decision-is-reason-to-celebrate/2022/07/06/5e72ced4-fd2c-11ec-b39d-71309168014b_story.html |
If the fiascoes at WeWork Inc. and Greensill Bank AG were not enough, Klarna Bank AB should serve as another fine reminder that SoftBank Group Corp. is the unluckiest whale in a crowded venture capital world. Founder Masayoshi Son somehow always manages to hold the worst cards.
The Sweden-based fintech, known for its buy-now-pay-later offering, is in talks to raise about $650 million — mostly from existing investors led by Sequoia Capital. If completed, this deal would reset Klarna’s valuation to $6.5 billion, a fraction of the $45.6 billion it was priced at just a year ago in a $639 million funding round led by SoftBank.
It is a round-down of epic scale — unless you are SoftBank. Two years ago, the $100 billion Vision Fund manager slashed its WeWork valuation to $2.9 billion from $47 billion in 2019. While the absolute dollar amount involved with Klarna is much smaller, the blow to Son’s reputation is nonetheless as damaging. The second Vision Fund will soon have to write down its Klarna stake, wiping out much of its returns. At March 31, this $56 billion fund recorded only $0.8 billion investment gains. A SoftBank Vision Fund spokesman declined to comment on the queries sent by Bloomberg Opinion.
Meanwhile, Sequoia’s Michael Moritz, who also serves as chairman of Klarna, has played his cards well. Sequoia was backing Klarna as early as 2010 — since then, it has led a funding round in 2014 with a reported $1.4 billion valuation, and invested again in 2019 at $3.5 billion. As of March, it was Klarna’s largest shareholder.
Unlike SoftBank, this deal will not force Sequoia to record unrealized losses, because it had invested early. But more importantly, with a global recession looming and Klarna needing capital as buffer against worsening consumer balance sheets, why should Moritz care if Son’s unicorn valuations are crash landing again?
It is also worth pondering if SoftBank’s Klarna blunder was a panic response to recent seismic changes to the venture capital world, most notably the arrival of New York-based hedge funds. SoftBank started losing access to the hottest startups because the newcomers could write bigger and faster checks.
Granted, Tiger is a threat to the Silicon Valley VC funds too. But Sequoia found a solution, overhauling its structure to become an investment advisor just like Tiger as a way to attract investors who prefer a one-stop shop. Sequoia is reportedly raising for two new US-focused funds, valued at up to $2.25 billion. Its Chinese affiliate is about to close $9 billion in fresh capital, the biggest pool of money ever raised by a single VC firm to bet on local tech startups.
SoftBank, on the other hand, has no defense against Tiger. The company had to go it alone, self-funding the second Vision Fund. To make matters worse, now that capital is no longer his edge, Son shifted to a spray-and-pray mode. As of March, his second Vision Fund made 252 investments, versus only 94 for the much larger first.
A second major challenge in the VC world is how to retain talented fund managers, who can simply quit and set up their own businesses. As a result, compensation has been soaring, and the new structure deployed by the likes of Sequoia can help minimize pay disputes among partners.
Alas, SoftBank has no solution to that either: It has been suffering from a brain drain. The most high-profile departure, in January, was that of former Chief Operating Officer Marcelo Claure, who turned around the troubled WeWork. Claure had asked for up to $1 billion in compensation; he got $34 million in severance pay instead. In April, two of the three managing partners at the company’s Latin America Fund left to start their own venture business as well. It is thus questionable just how good SoftBank’s newest investments are — or will be.
Call it karma, or just life coming full circle. Five years ago, SoftBank disrupted the venture capital world with the $100 billion Vision Fund. Now, its value proposition is under attack from all corners. A disruptor is getting disrupted, and crushed. | 2022-07-06T13:57:26Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Sequoia and Tiger Global Take SoftBank to the Cleaners - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/sequoia-and-tiger-global-take-softbank-to-the-cleaners/2022/07/06/2e911a44-fd28-11ec-b39d-71309168014b_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/sequoia-and-tiger-global-take-softbank-to-the-cleaners/2022/07/06/2e911a44-fd28-11ec-b39d-71309168014b_story.html |
Kate Rabinowitz
Updated July 5, 2022 at 11:48 a.m. EDT|Published June 2, 2022 at 1:49 p.m. EDT
There have already been more than 300 mass shootings this year in the United States, according to the Gun Violence Archive. The shooting at a Forth of July parade in Highland Park, Ill. that left six people dead and dozens injured was one of fourteen mass shootings over the long weekend. There have been just over 100 since a rampage at an elementary school in Uvalde, Tex., left 19 children and two teachers dead on May 24.
34 mass shootings
13 days with NONE
8 days with NONE
17 mass shootings*
*As of June 7
*As of July 4
Mass shootings have been on the rise in recent years. In 2021, almost 700 such incidents occurred, a jump from the 611 in 2020 and 417 in 2019. Before that, incidents had not topped 400 annually since the Gun Violence Archive started tracking in 2014.
This year is on pace with last year’s high when comparing the same time period.
Mass shootings through July 4
of each year
Mass shootings through July 4 of each year
The toll is immense. Mass shootings have killed 343 people and injured 1,391 more through July 4th.
A previous version of the article showed an incorrect date for the Uvalde school shooting.
Data is from the Gun Violence Archive. | 2022-07-06T14:18:53Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Mass shootings in 2022: U.S. sees more than 300 so far - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/06/02/mass-shootings-in-2022/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWJpZCI6IjM1MTIwNzEiLCJyZWFzb24iOiJnaWZ0IiwibmJmIjoxNjU3MTExMjkwLCJpc3MiOiJzdWJzY3JpcHRpb25zIiwiZXhwIjoxNjU4MzIwODkwLCJpYXQiOjE2NTcxMTEyOTAsImp0aSI6IjIzZDY5MTVlLTMyODEtNGJmMi04NDVlLTM4NTg5MTk0N2EwOCIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndhc2hpbmd0b25wb3N0LmNvbS9uYXRpb24vMjAyMi8wNi8wMi9tYXNzLXNob290aW5ncy1pbi0yMDIyLyJ9.sGukFIK3P2jR7zZBhLlp1zPBFscut6tLAKdU2oQCMkc&itid=gfta | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/06/02/mass-shootings-in-2022/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWJpZCI6IjM1MTIwNzEiLCJyZWFzb24iOiJnaWZ0IiwibmJmIjoxNjU3MTExMjkwLCJpc3MiOiJzdWJzY3JpcHRpb25zIiwiZXhwIjoxNjU4MzIwODkwLCJpYXQiOjE2NTcxMTEyOTAsImp0aSI6IjIzZDY5MTVlLTMyODEtNGJmMi04NDVlLTM4NTg5MTk0N2EwOCIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndhc2hpbmd0b25wb3N0LmNvbS9uYXRpb24vMjAyMi8wNi8wMi9tYXNzLXNob290aW5ncy1pbi0yMDIyLyJ9.sGukFIK3P2jR7zZBhLlp1zPBFscut6tLAKdU2oQCMkc&itid=gfta |
Pope announces plans to expand women’s role in Vatican
Pope Francis speaks during an interview with Reuters at the Vatican on July 2. (Remo Casilli/Reuters)
In the interview, Francis noted how, for the first time, he chose a woman, Sister Raffaella Petrini, to fill the No. 2. position in the city-state’s governorship.
Francis, who has hired other nuns and lay women to steer Vatican departments, also mentioned to Reuters the possibility of hiring women to lead the Department for Catholic Education and Culture, as well as the Apostolic Library — both currently headed by men.
Regardless of what happens within the board, Scaraffia said, if women aren’t equally heard during these local assessments, the nomination of bishops will never change. | 2022-07-06T14:58:04Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Pope Francis says he will include two women on bishop selection advisory committee - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/06/pope-francis-women-bishops/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/06/pope-francis-women-bishops/ |
Boris Johnson faces mounting resignations. How did he get here?
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson ahead of a meeting of the North Atlantic Council during the NATO summit in Madrid, on June 30, 2022. (Gabriel Bouys/AFP/Getty Images)
LONDON — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is in serious trouble — again — with more than 20 members of his government resigning in the past day.
Ministers and aides, including two senior members of his cabinet, say they no longer have faith in his leadership after a series of scandals, the latest involving an ally accused of improper sexual conduct.
But Johnson has vowed to stay on.
Johnson rose to power in 2019 on a promise to “get Brexit done.” At times during his nearly three years at 10 Downing Street, as the British prime minister’s office is known, he was popular with much of the British public, and even more popular within his Conservative Party — securing a huge parliamentary majority for the party in a December 2019 general election. But since then he has lost the public’s confidence: In a new YouGov poll, 69 percent of Britons said Johnson should resign, and many of his party members agree.
So, how did we get here? Here’s what you need to know.
Who are Sajid Javid and Rishi Sunak — and why do their resignations matter?
Senior cabinet ministers Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid resigned Tuesday within minutes of each other, expressing a lack of confidence in Johnson’s leadership.
They appeared to have been tipped over the edge by the latest scandal engulfing Johnson and his government — over allegations that the prime minister promoted Chris Pincher, a political ally he knew had been accused of misconduct, to a key government position, and then mischaracterized what he knew about it.
Having a senior cabinet member resign is a big deal in British politics, and Javid and Sunak were in particularly important positions. Sunak, as chancellor of the exchequer, was essentially Britain’s finance minister, responsible for handling the cost-of-living crisis facing millions of Britons. Javid was Britain’s health and social care secretary, leading the response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Both had strong words for Johnson in their resignation letters. Sunak said: “The public rightly expect government to be conducted properly, competently and seriously. I recognise this may be my last ministerial job, but I believe these standards are worth fighting for and that is why I am resigning.”
He also implied that Johnson was not willing to be honest with the public about the costs of stabilizing Britain’s economy, which faces runaway inflation.
In his own resignation letter, Javid wrote that although Johnson survived a vote of no-confidence vote last month, the Conservative Party was no longer demonstrating competence nor acting in the national interest.
“It is clear to me that this situation will not change under your leadership,” he wrote to Johnson, “and you have therefore lost my confidence too.”
In February, Johnson promoted Pincher, a Conservative lawmaker, to the position of deputy chief whip in the House of Commons, a leadership role that involved keeping Conservative Party members voting in line with the government’s legislative agenda.
But Pincher last week resigned from that post amid a scandal, as the British press widely reported that he allegedly tried to grope several men while intoxicated at a bar. Pincher wrote in a letter to Johnson that he “drank far too much” and “embarrassed myself and other people” at a gathering.
But the key problem for Johnson centers on what he knew, and when. At first, as the scandal broke and Pincher resigned, Johnson’s official spokesman said the prime minister did not know of earlier incidents of Pincher’s alleged misconduct. Several cabinet ministers also spoke out defending Johnson, saying they had been assured he did not know about the earlier allegations.
Then, Simon McDonald, the former head of Britain’s diplomatic service, accused the government of misleading the public in a letter that he published on Twitter — a highly unusual move for a British civil servant. “Mr. Johnson was briefed in person about the initiation and outcome of the investigation,” McDonald said.
Johnson’s office was then forced to backtrack, saying that the prime minister had been unable to recall the briefing earlier. In an interview with the BBC on Tuesday, Johnson admitted he was told about the 2019 complaint against Pincher and said he made a “bad mistake” by bringing Pincher back into government despite the complaints. “I regret that,” he said.
Johnson says he has no plans to quit for now. But this is only the latest in a series of scandals that Johnson has faced — although it appears to pose one of the biggest challenges to his leadership so far.
Johnson was criticized for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. A public inquiry concluded in October 2021 that the pandemic was “one of the most important public health failures the United Kingdom has ever experienced.”
British government’s early pandemic response was a historic public health failure, lawmakers say
It was made worse by a series of scandals — dubbed “Partygate” — as it emerged that several parties were held at Downing Street when lockdowns and social distancing requirements were in place during the worst of the pandemic. Voters described it as a “betrayal,” and many recounted the sacrifices they had made, including socially distanced funerals and isolating hospital visits, during the pandemic.
In April, Johnson was fined by police — making him the first sitting British prime minister found to have broken the law — for his attendance at a birthday party during lockdown in June 2020.
He has also faced allegations that he tried to secure a government job for his then-girlfriend Carrie Johnson (now his wife) when he was foreign secretary. And he has been criticized over the mounting cost-of-living crisis in the United Kingdom.
Former allies began withdrawing their support, with one condemning the “culture of casual law-breaking” at Downing Street. Last month, he faced a vote of no confidence from his party — and while he survived, more than 40 percent of his Conservative colleagues voted against him.
What’s next for Johnson?
Johnson has made it clear he intends to stay as prime minister.
And because he survived the no-confidence vote in June, he is safe from party challenges for the next year.
But the Conservative Private Members’ Committee in Parliament, informally known as the 1922 committee, could vote to change the rules that protect Johnson from another no-confidence vote for the year after he survives one. This would allow Johnson’s party colleagues to vote again sooner on whether to keep him as their leader.
The committee is set to meet Wednesday and could decide to elect new members next week. A fresh intake of lawmakers opposed to Johnson and committed to changing the rules could tip the balance.
In addition to the fallout from the Pincher scandal, Johnson still faces a possible parliamentary investigation over whether he lied to lawmakers in the context of “Partygate.”
U.K. to investigate whether Boris Johnson lied about lockdown parties
Adela Suliman and Adam Taylor contributed to this report. | 2022-07-06T14:58:10Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Why Boris Johnson's ministers are resigning and what could happen next - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/06/boris-johnson-sunak-javid-pincher-resign/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/06/boris-johnson-sunak-javid-pincher-resign/ |
Hans Riemer wants to urbanize Montgomery County. Not everyone’s on board.
A critic of incumbent County Executive Marc Elrich, Riemer is vying to lead Maryland’s most populous county
Hans Riemer, candidate for Montgomery County Executive, canvasses a neighborhood in Rockville, Md., on June 29. (Craig Hudson for The Washington Post)
Hans Riemer crossed a street in downtown Bethesda lined with newly constructed high-end shopping and dining, surveying a Georgetown Cupcake shop and Kendra Scott Jewelry Store. As a Montgomery County Council member, he feels partly responsible for pioneering the new development that’s added housing and businesses, and attracted customers.
He’s proud of the downtown center, complete with painted bike lanes and skyscraping office buildings. It represents what he hopes the county could become under his leadership as Montgomery County Executive — a well developed community with more downtown centers and affordable housing to provide jobs and attract younger generations.
“We need this,” Riemer said, gesturing to the downtown strip. “More of it.”
As he hit his term limit on council, closing out a 12-year run, Riemer launched a bid to unseat incumbent County Executive Marc Elrich in hopes of executing a vision that includes projects like the Bethesda updates, development near metro stops and Thrive Montgomery 2050, an update to the county’s general plan that’s divided residents on how the county should grow.
Affordable housing, land use and development have been centerpiece issues for Montgomery County residents, along with education, public safety and transportation, as they gear up to decide who will run the most populous county in Maryland.
Some have seen Riemer as an antithesis to incumbent Elrich, who critics call a “NIMBY” — “Not In My Backyard” — type for his general opposition to dense, widespread development in an affluent county that has for years been divided on affordable housing, development and growth strategy. Riemer is firmly in the “Yes In My Backyard” camp.
“We have the beautiful suburban neighborhoods. They’re not going anywhere. We’ve got the rural,” Riemer said. “What we are lacking is that kind of urbanized environment.”
Not everyone is quick to embrace Riemer’s ideas for growth. His critics have questioned his support for legislation to loosen zoning regulations for auxiliary dwelling units, proposals to set aside land in the county’s protected agricultural reserve for solar development and a push to expand cell towers around the county.
And he faces another challenger in the July 19 Democratic primary, a contest that is typically decisive in the deep blue county: businessman David Blair, who has poured millions of his own money into his campaign and lost to Elrich by a razor-thin margin in 2018.
Still, Riemer remains optimistic.
“I am delighted to run against somebody who’s spending millions and millions of dollars, and an incumbent who’s got the wrong vision. Those are the two kinds of candidates I would most like to be able to beat,” Riemer said. “And, you know, this is not the 2018 election.”
Riemer moved to the Washington area from Oakland, Calif., where he grew up, and founded a nonprofit to advocate against the privatization of Social Security in the 1990s. He now lives in Takoma Park with his wife and two sons. Before he was elected to the council in 2010, Riemer worked on former president Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign as National Youth Vote Director, aimed at increasing youth voter turnout.
From his time on the Council, Riemer is most proud of efforts to expand after-school care, raise the Earned Income Tax Credit and increase funding for the Housing Opportunities Commission. He was among the first to call for the county to remove police from public schools and has spearheaded a measure to change the police department’s disciplinary process. In 2019, he led the formation of a civilian oversight board over law enforcement.
He has been a frequent critic of Elrich, clashing with him over issues like hazard pay for county government employees during the coronavirus pandemic and Elrich’s reluctance to embrace affordable housing targets, among other issues.
Outgoing council member Nancy Navarro (D-District 4), said she worked with Riemer in housing and early-childhood education policy areas, where she saw him excel, but said he is not solely responsible for many of the ideas around growth and development. The council was united on many of those fronts, Navarro said. Right now the county needs an executive that can bring those concepts to fruition. She endorsed Blair.
“We just need an executive who’s just going to really put Montgomery County on the map again,” Navarro said. “It wasn’t an anti-Hans endorsement. It was more about who I believe is the best fit at this moment in time.”
Rick Meyer, executive director of the Montgomery County Coalition for the Control of Cell Towers, said he has interacted with Riemer through the years on controversial proposals to add wireless facilities closer to residential properties.
Riemer’s track record of pushing for divisive issues — like the cell towers, adding solar panels to the agricultural reserve, or vehemently supporting the Thrive Montgomery 2050 plan, which received pushback over concerns of the social and racial impacts — has pushed Meyer away.
“I think he has a lot to learn when it comes to building consensus, and properly communicating with all residents of Montgomery county,” Meyer said. “Not just the ones that agree with him.”
Riemer has also not secured as many endorsements as his opponents. He has been endorsed by former Maryland Gov. Parris Glendening (D), former council member Cherri Branson, YIMBY Moco, Takoma for All and the Montgomery County Professional Divers Union.
Elrich won dozens of endorsements from organizations like CASA in Action, Pro-Choice Maryland, Montgomery County Education Association and Progressive Maryland, along with a number of labor unions and politicians. And Blair has been endorsed by organizations like the Sierra Club, Coalition for Equal Representation in Government and Greater Capital Area Association of Realtors, as well The Washington Post editorial board (The Post’s editorial board is separate from its news operation).
Riemer knows his critics disagree with some of his decisions and projects he has supported over the years, but he stands by ideas that, he said, are part of a bigger picture to advance the county.
“‘Say yes to progress,’ is our mantra,” Riemer said. “Because the county has to move forward.”
Despite his critics, Riemer said it wasn’t a difficult decision to run for county executive — especially with Elrich in office.
And Riemer remains optimistic about his chances. Sitting outside Sweetgreen in downtown Bethesda, he shared how he sees his path to victory: focus on driving votes away from Elrich, don’t worry too much about Blair and let his first TV ad, which launched last week, reach voters.
“We’ve got a full blown campaign now that combines the air war with the ground war,” Riemer said. “If you look at my ad it’s like one punch for Blair, two for Marc.”
The ad attacks Blair for “trying to buy” the election then rattles off points against Elrich before landing on a final message that Riemer is the “best guy” for the job. The TV spot also focuses on education issues, highlighting Riemer as the only candidate who has children enrolled in Montgomery County Public Schools and promoting his promise to keep kids safe and schools open.
His experience as a parent proved to be important to some voters while Riemer was out knocking doors in Rockville on a recent afternoon. He met Patrícia Cerqueira Seidler — a MCPS teacher who was thrilled to see the council member and candidate on her front porch. Her neighbor, Beverly Ryals — also a teacher — was over chatting about education issues.
He did not need to sell himself as a candidate to the two neighbors — they were already planning to vote for him.
“We can’t continue to operate the way we used to,” Seidler said. “As we move forward, we have to find an innovative and creative way of seeing policy and what’s going to work for our county.”
Ryals chimed in: “I don’t know how much he can do as a county executive for the school system, but as long as he knows, he is in touch with that, I think that’s key.”
A few doors down, Riemer knocked and waited patiently for an answer. When no one came to the door, he rolled up a flier, slid it in the handle and headed off to the next house. | 2022-07-06T15:11:08Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Hans Riemer wants to unseat Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/06/hans-riemer-running-county-executive/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/06/hans-riemer-running-county-executive/ |
Former White House counsel Pat Cipollone (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
It’s unclear what limits, if any, there will be on his closed-door testimony, which is scheduled for about half a day, according to a second person familiar with the matter. Cipollone had been reticent to testify to the committee, citing presidential privilege, but he has been regularly mentioned in the hearings and is key to a number of episodes being plumbed by the committee.
The individuals spoke about the committee’s plans on condition of anonymity to freely describe private deliberations.
The decision followed extensive negotiations between Cipollone and the committee, as well as sharply escalating pressure on him in recent days to testify. Committee members have come to believe that the former counsel’s testimony could be critical to their investigation, given his proximity to Donald Trump and presence during key moments before, during and after the attack on the Capitol.
Cipollone sat for an informal interview with the committee on April 13, according to a letter from the panel’s chairman, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.), but he has declined to cooperate further. | 2022-07-06T15:11:21Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Pat Cipollone, former White House counsel in Trump Administration, to testify before Jan. 6 committee - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/07/06/jan-6-trump-white-house-counsel/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/07/06/jan-6-trump-white-house-counsel/ |
Film looks at Leonard Cohen through the lens of his best-known song
‘Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song’ paints a portrait of a persevering artist
Leonard Cohen performs in a scene from the documentary “Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song.” (Leonard Cohen Family Trust/Sony Pictures Classics)
How did “Hallelujah,” Leonard Cohen’s anthem to the sacred and profane, wind up going from a deep cut on an album Cohen’s label considered un-releasable to one of the most ubiquitous songs of the early 21st century?
That is the question that animates “Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song,” Daniel Geller and Dayna Goldfine’s illuminating, if occasionally too obliging, documentary. Cohen fans who have gone from admiring his most famous song to bemoaning its transformation into fodder for people who don’t sing as much as listen to themselves sing most likely will miss more skepticism in a nearly two-hour movie that only obliquely considers how love for a piece of music can kill it as surely as the crassest record executive. It turns out that “Hallelujah” was the victim of both kinds of murder, first by notorious Columbia Records chief Walter Yetnikoff, who refused to release Cohen’s 1984 album “Various Positions” in the U.S., telling him, “We know you’re great, we just don’t know if you’re any good.” Although Cohen continued to perform the song, it didn’t find new life until it was covered, first by John Cale and then by singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley, whose lineage (he was the son of Tim Buckley) and early death in 1997 only added to his version’s mythic allure. When “Hallelujah” was used in the 2001 DreamWorks movie “Shrek,” whose soundtrack sold millions of copies, the jig was up: Cohen’s song, which he had taken several years to write, had gone from his own deeply personal spiritual and (depending on which version he was performing) sexual affirmation to millennial earworm and “American Idol” fodder.
Taking their cues from Alan Light’s 2012 book “The Holy or the Broken,” Geller and Goldfine use the morphology of “Hallelujah” as a lens through which to retrace Cohen’s life, which began in Montreal, where he grew up the son of a prosperous Jewish clothing store owner. Having made a name for himself as a poet and a novelist, Cohen became a singer-songwriter in his 30s, overcoming a bout of stage fright at New York’s Town Hall with the help of Judy Collins, interviewed here along with journalist Larry “Ratso” Sloman, producer John Lissauer and longtime backup singer and co-songwriter Sharon Robinson, featured in some of the most exquisite live performances included in the film. The filmmakers make heavy use of the many notebooks that Cohen left behind, containing notes for “Hallelujah” and lots of crossed-out and rejected lyrics. Sloman estimates that Cohen ultimately wrote between 150 and 180 verses to a song he seemed never to stop tinkering with. (When Cohen began singing a secular version of the song while on tour in 1988, Sloman recalls thinking, “We’re not in the Old Testament anymore. … What the f---?")
Of course, “Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song” addresses Cohen’s lifelong spiritual search, which began in the synagogue where his Orthodox family worshiped and eventually took him to a Zen monastery in California. The film also interviews his lifelong friend Nancy Bacal and former lover Dominique Issermann, the latter of whom was living with him when he was composing much of the song. By the time the filmmakers reach the Cale-Buckley-“Shrek” era, the song is already beginning to wear thin. What turns out to be the most moving and meaningful thing about the film isn’t the song at its center, but the work ethic of a man who might have disappeared from the public eye for years at a time but never stopped sweating every word. Bob Dylan might have dined out on stories of writing songs in the back of taxicabs, but Cohen gets to a fundamental truth of discipline, whether personal, artistic or spiritual: “Perseverance is the essential element.”
PG-13. At the Angelika Film Center Mosaic. Contains brief strong language and some sexual material. 155 minutes. | 2022-07-06T15:19:51Z | www.washingtonpost.com | ‘Hallelujah’ looks at the life and career of the late Leonard Cohen - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/movies/2022/07/06/hallelujah-movie-review/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/movies/2022/07/06/hallelujah-movie-review/ |
‘The Band’s Visit’ is back, and so is Sasson Gabay
The Israeli actor originated the role of Tewfiq in the 2007 film. He has been playing the part in the stage musical since 2018.
By Celia Wren
Sasson Gabay, left, and Janet Dacal in "The Band’s Visit" at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. (Evan Zimmerman, MurphyMade)
The film-turned-stage-musical “The Band’s Visit” may be set in a desert town, but the eminent Israeli actor Sasson Gabay has found the property to be fertile territory.
Gabay created the character of a reserved orchestra leader named Tewfiq in the 2007 movie about an Egyptian police band that accidentally gets stranded in a sleepy, isolated Israeli town, where musicians and residents strike up a rapport. It’s a quiet tale, filled with poignancy and delicate humor and boasting a mere wisp of plot. When Gabay heard there were plans to turn it into a musical, he remembers thinking it was “the craziest idea ever.”
The adaptation went ahead, with David Yazbek providing music and lyrics, Itamar Moses providing the book and Tony Shalhoub (TV’s “Monk”) originating the show’s version of Tewfiq. Directed by David Cromer, the 2016 off-Broadway production transferred to Broadway in 2017 and went on to win a whopping 10 Tony Awards, including best musical. When Shalhoub left the cast in 2018, the no-longer-skeptical Gabay returned to the Tewfiq role, first on Broadway and then on tour.
‘The Band’s Visit’ is gentle, soulful, tuneful — and the best new musical on Broadway
“The Band’s Visit” is just one highlight of Gabay’s career: His credits also range from productions with Tel Aviv’s Beit Lessin Theater company to the TV series “Shtisel” to “Rambo III.” But he particularly cherishes Tewfiq, as he noted in a phone interview before the musical’s return visit to the Kennedy Center, where it runs through July 17 in one of the tour’s final stops. Speaking from Worcester, Mass., the 74-year-old performer discussed, among other topics, how his Tewfiq has changed over the years.
Q: What difference is there between the character of Tewfiq in the movie and the musical?
A: There is a difference between the technique of film and stage, although you are bound to be truthful, to portray and produce real emotions, whenever you do acting. But on top of that, the character grows with me. Maybe when I was younger he was more sharp, solid and rigid. In the years since, I feel he’s become more compassionate, more soft, more mature, more considerate, less aggressive and rigid. People ask me, “How can you do the role over and over?” And I keep answering that it’s a journey that will never end. You are always different, and you always learn something. What you want to achieve in a certain scene is set, but there are so many ways that you can say one line.
‘The Band’s Visit’ plays on, taking its star from stage to screen
Q: You’ve stuck with the tour, even though you’re a famous actor and people surely want to cast you in new projects.
A: It’s kind of my baby, this character and “The Band’s Visit.” Since I’ve done it, my career in many ways changed, in Israel and internationally. And I really care about this play and this character. I don’t want to neglect it. I feel I am lucky to go all over the U.S. Some people do that as the journey of their lives, and I do it while I am working.
Q: Did the reverberations of the story of “The Band’s Visit” affect your decision to stick with it?
A: When you are doing something you are happy with artistically and idea-wise, it makes it easier for you to stay doing it. Also, I am making a living — don’t forget this. But “The Band’s Visit” speaks about humanity and a likeness between people. We are always associated with conflicts in the Middle East, but here you see how we are all alike. We all have the same need of communication, of compassion. We have similar problems. I don’t like to use the word “message,” but as a “Band’s Visit” actor, you are kind of a messenger of something positive and human, and that makes it easier to do it.
Q: You studied theater and psychology at Tel Aviv University. Has studying psychology helped you with acting?
A: When I decided to study theater, I wasn’t sure about my ability to be an actor, although inside, I felt that I belonged to this profession. Since human beings and human behavior interest me, I decided to study psychology. I don’t think psychological knowledge can help you in acting, but it says something about your interest in people.
Q: How do you cope with the strains of touring?
A: You get used to it after awhile. The first leg of the tour [before a pandemic hiatus] was harder on me. It took me time to get accustomed to the machinery of moving every two, three weeks. On the second, I know more how to behave with new places. Luckily, I am with my wife [Dafna Halaf Gabay] most of the time. It makes it easier. We’ve been to very interesting places; we’ve been also to less interesting places, but if you are curious, you can find interest everywhere.
Q: Anything you’d like to add?
A: I am really proud and happy that this special musical was produced on Broadway and has been successful till this very day. The musical itself is not a typical Broadway musical. There’s no razzle-dazzle. It’s a gentle musical with a lot of silences, a lot of breath. People love it, even though the cultures depicted are so remote from them. It’s a journey for the audience. After they leave the theater, something remains in their heart and their minds.
The Band’s Visit
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 2700 F St. NW. 202-467-4600. kennedy-center.org.
Dates: Through July 17.
Prices: $45-$155. | 2022-07-06T15:19:57Z | www.washingtonpost.com | 'The Band's Visit' returns to the Kennedy Center with Sasson Gabay - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/theater-dance/2022/07/06/the-bands-visit-sasson-gabay/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/theater-dance/2022/07/06/the-bands-visit-sasson-gabay/ |
BOSTON, MA - NOVEMBER 16: Mayor-elect Michelle Wu is sworn in by Judge Myong J. Joun, on November 16, 2021 in Boston, Massachusetts. Wu is the city’s first woman and person of color elected to the post. (Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images) (Photographer: Scott Eisen/Getty Images North America)
When Michelle Wu became the first woman and first person of color to be elected as mayor of Boston in November, she was lucky to have almost $350 million in one-time federal funds standing behind a promise of “transformative change” in her first $3.99 billion annual budget. Unlike other cities using the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act to shore up revenue lost during the pandemic, Wu is determined to provide more accessible housing, free public transit and make Boston “the greenest city in America” with Covid-19 relief money.
“We are shifting to ensure that investments in public transportation and active transportation mean that we will not be a car-centric city, but one that is focused on climate and health and opportunity,” Boston’s 55th mayor said during a June interview with Bloomberg News in her City Hall office.
Wu, the daughter of Taiwanese immigrants who received her bachelor’s and law degrees from Harvard University, has reason to be confident. Among major cities in the Northeast, Boston is the juggernaut of the only state north of Delaware and east of Minnesota showing robust population growth, increasing 7.4% since 2010 in the most recent 2020 Census. New York grew little more than half that rate, Ohio and Pennsylvania a third as much, Connecticut barely at all and Illinois lost almost 80,000 people. New Jersey increased 5.7%.
For all its attributes as a higher education mecca -- about 152,000 students, or 10% of Massachusetts’ population -- the outlook for “Beantown” isn’t all favorable, evidenced by the city’s difficulty dealing with a state audit documenting “entrenched dysfunction” in the 46,000-student elementary and secondary school system. Wu also inherits a less-than-stellar outlook for city finances, which show rising liabilities with expenses exceeding revenue during the past three years.
Although data compiled by Bloomberg show Atlanta and Phoenix are emerging from the pandemic with superior (IG1) investment grade scores, especially buoyed by declining liabilities, increased tax revenue and median income, Boston is inferior (IG4) among 10 levels of creditworthiness based on total assets, building permits, total liabilities, house price index, excess revenue over expenses, other sources of funds, property tax revenues, median income, non-farm employment and unemployment.
But Wu can depend on a non-government asset that makes Boston exceptional around the globe. No city anywhere has three biotechnology companies that rival the performance of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc., Moderna Inc. and Biogen Inc., which have appreciated an average of 358% the past three years and have seen combined sales grow 800% in the last year alone.
Healthcare amounts to 40% of corporate Massachusetts and 50% of that business is biotech and pharmaceuticals. The 57 Massachusetts-based biotech firms in the Russell 3000 Index produced a total return of 37% and 286% during the past two and three years, substantially outperforming their peers in California (down 8%, up 28%), New York (1%, 104%) and New Jersey (down 11%, up 96%), according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Massachusetts employment in the biotech industry increased 45% during the past year when non-farm employment across the US rose 4%, with California, New York and New Jersey biotech firms adding 13%, 19% and 23%, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Biotech is becoming the fastest-growing revenue source for Boston, with the 20 biotech and healthcare firms among the city’s 64 publicly-traded companies generating $1.57 billion of profit, or 48% of the combined total.
The biggest movers include Karuna Therapeutics Inc., whose valuation increased 18 times since its initial public offering three years ago. Only its neighbor, Moderna, exceeded that performance among the world’s 50 largest biotech companies. Since its June 2020 IPO, Cerevel Therapeutics Holdings Inc. gained 140%, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
All of which “reinforces Boston as the home to big ideas that can change the world,” Wu said. “The life-saving technologies, the cutting-edge care is all happening right here. We are very blessed because this is not a situation that I or any mayor in recent history started. Boston has the bones and the foundation of everything we need to truly be the leading city for the future.”More From Other Writers at Bloomberg Opinion:
• California’s Rebate Plan Is Economic Illiteracy: Jared Dillian
• Las Vegas Hits the Jackpot With Formula 1’s Return: Trung Phan
• Biden’s Economy Gives GOP Governors Money to Burn: Conor Sen | 2022-07-06T15:28:45Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Boston’s Michelle Wu Is a Mayor of Many Firsts - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/bostons-michelle-wu-is-a-mayor-of-many-firsts/2022/07/06/0d345f62-fd34-11ec-b39d-71309168014b_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/bostons-michelle-wu-is-a-mayor-of-many-firsts/2022/07/06/0d345f62-fd34-11ec-b39d-71309168014b_story.html |
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is just the latest in a long line of British leaders to risk being kicked out while in office. Under the UK political system, either the elected Parliament -- or a majority of Johnson’s own Conservative Party lawmakers -- can bring him down without an election and install a new prime minister. Pressure has been building on Johnson for months after a series of scandals, including the so-called “partygate” events in 10 Downing Street during the pandemic, for which the 58-year-old leader became the first premier found to have broken the law while in the top job. His chances of survival could depend on whether rules governing how the Tory party chooses its leaders are overturned.
1. How can Johnson’s party remove him?
The process is governed by a group of rank-and-file Conservative members of Parliament, or MPs, known as the 1922 committee. The name is a reference to a general election a century ago, which was won by the Conservatives after the collapse of a coalition government. Here’s how it works: MPs can submit letters calling for a confidence vote among committee members to its Chairman Graham Brady, who is responsible for administering the proceedings and who keeps the correspondence secret. Letters from 15% of Conservative MPs -- or currently 54 lawmakers -- are required to force a ballot, and Johnson would have to secure a simple majority to remain in office.
2. Is a party vote inevitable?
No. Johnson already survived such a vote on June 6 with the support of just 60% of his MPs and, under current rules at least, another vote can’t be held for 12 months. However there is a movement to change the rules to allow another one sooner. The 1922 Committee was scheduled to meet on Wednesday to discuss a potential rule change.
3. How could Parliament remove him?
The leader of the main opposition party, Labour’s Keir Starmer, can call a confidence vote in the House of Commons at any point and the convention is that one would then be held. It needs a simple majority to pass. If the government loses, it has 14 days to try to win another vote, most likely by selecting a different Tory leader. If the government cannot command the confidence of the Commons after two weeks, a general election is triggered. That’s an outcome Conservative MPs are likely to want to avoid as their party was trailing Labour in an Observer poll in June.
4. Could Johnson hold on?
It’s possible. MPs leave for their summer vacation in late July and don’t return until early September. If Johnson can outmaneuver his opponents and stay in office until then, he could cling on a while longer. | 2022-07-06T15:28:58Z | www.washingtonpost.com | How Britain’s Parliament Could Bring Down Boris Johnson - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/how-britains-parliament-could-bring-down-boris-johnson/2022/07/06/1a76016a-fd36-11ec-b39d-71309168014b_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/how-britains-parliament-could-bring-down-boris-johnson/2022/07/06/1a76016a-fd36-11ec-b39d-71309168014b_story.html |
Experts hope LGBTQ youth will call 988 — a new suicide lifeline number
The new National Suicide Prevention Lifeline number will roll out on July 16
‘A cry for help’: CDC warns of a steep decline in teen mental health
One survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention between January and June of 2021 found that nearly half of gay, lesbian and bisexual teens said they had contemplated suicide during the pandemic, compared with 14 percent of their heterosexual peers.
A report published last month by the Rand Corp., an independent research organization, found that only 45 percent of the public health officials tasked with helping roll out the new Lifeline said their staff had training to interact with LGBTQ people.
Research suggests that the Lifeline’s crisis counselors could also play a significant role in the lives of LGTBQ young people who reach out to them. The Trevor Project’s 2019 national survey found that LGBTQ youth who reported having at least one accepting adult were 40 percent less likely to report a suicide attempt in the past year than those who didn’t, even while controlling for race/ethnicity, age and gender identity. | 2022-07-06T15:29:22Z | www.washingtonpost.com | 988, new suicide lifeline number, will help LGBTQ youth, experts say - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/07/06/988-suicide-prevention-hotline-lgbtq-youth/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/07/06/988-suicide-prevention-hotline-lgbtq-youth/ |
The Georgia investigation remains Trump’s biggest problem yet
Fani Willis, district attorney for Fulton County, Ga., among boxes containing thousands of cases at her office in Atlanta. (John Bazemore/AP)
Donald Trump’s greatest criminal vulnerability has always been in Georgia. That’s where prosecutors are investigating the defeated former president for pressuring Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (on tape!) to “find” just enough votes to swing the state to him and for intimating that the Georgia official might face criminal peril if he refused.
Unfortunately for Trump, the risk of prosecution is only getting worse.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on Tuesday that a Fulton County, Ga., grand jury issued subpoenas for Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani as well as “John Eastman, Cleta Mitchell, Kenneth Chesebro and Jenna Ellis, all of whom advised the Trump campaign on strategies for overturning Democrat Joe Biden’s wins in Georgia and other swing states.” Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), who allegedly made his own inquiries to Georgia officials, and podcast host Jacki Pick Deason also received subpoenas.
Norman Eisen, who served as special counsel for the House Judiciary Committee during Trump’s first impeachment, tells me that this “rogues’ gallery” of lawyers may provide yet unheard critical evidence. He notes that Fani Willis, the Fulton County district attorney leading the investigation, seems to have “completed the in-state portion of her special grand jury investigation" and may now be moving “to take evidence from those outside of Georgia who may have participated in the alleged conspiracy targeting Georgia voters and electors.” She appears to be moving ahead of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and the Justice Department.
In addition to all these witnesses, Willis and the grand jury will soon have access to the entire body of information gathered by the Jan. 6 committee, including prior witness interviews, phone records and live testimony. The Justice Department will likely share evidence or even provide technical assistance to local prosecutors. (One basis for the Justice Department to decline to prosecute an individual is because another jurisdiction may do so; if so, the feds are obliged to “coordinate with those authorities as appropriate.”)
“The suspense is essentially over,” constitutional scholar Laurence Tribe tells me about the subpoenas. Willis “seems poised to take on the ringleader in a racketeering scheme to steal Georgia’s 16 electoral votes.” He says that will likely be “the first indictment of a former president, who committed the crime on tape for all to hear.”
Giuliani may be the most at risk after Trump, given that, as the Journal-Constitution reported, he has made “sensationalist claims and conspiracy theories about tens of thousands of people voting illegally and rigged voting machines that were quickly debunked by state authorities or rejected in the courts.” These sorts of false claims of fraud led a New York court to suspend Giuliani’s law license.
There is no guarantee these figures will testify, since many likely have a Fifth Amendment claim against self-incrimination. Some may also try to invoke attorney-client privilege, though federal District Court Judge David Carter has already ruled in a related case that Eastman had no such privilege because of the fraud-crime exception, requiring Eastman to provide documents to the Jan. 6 committee
This tranche of subpoenas marks an ominous turn for Trump. Leah Litman, a professor at University of Michigan Law School, tells me that “the subpoenas confirm that people understand what the Jan. 6 Committee hearings have revealed: The effort to overturn the election was a coordinated campaign that included high-level Republican officials.” She adds, “It is easy to dismiss the mobster-like phone calls and insane claims of missing ballots as evidence of bumbling wannabe autocrats or mobsters. But failed coups look silly until they succeed.”
Willis has several legal theories to pursue against Trump and his cronies, including criminal solicitation to commit election fraud, conspiracy to commit election fraud and intentional interference with performance of election duties. If the district attorney can show “repeated violations of law by an enterprise” (e.g., the Trump campaign), prosecution under the state racketeering statute might also be possible.
Given the finite set of facts and easy-to-understand statutes, the pack of witnesses who might cooperate and a taped recording (hardly ever available to prosecutors), it may well be easier and certainly quicker to bring discrete state charges against Trump than it would be to present the entire coup plot in federal court months from now. (Attorney General Merrick Garland can continue to anguish over the prospect of indicting a former president and later bring federal charges concerning other aspects of the coup attempt.)
At the very least, Willis’s fast-developing investigation underscores that, regardless of whether Trump truly believed he won the election, he was not allowed to pressure state officials to “find 11,780 votes” that did not exist. That is why Trump is at serious risk in Georgia — and perhaps in other states where he allegedly engaged in similar conduct. | 2022-07-06T15:29:47Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | The Georgia investigation remains Trump’s biggest problem yet - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/06/georgia-investigation-remains-trumps-biggest-problem-yet/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/06/georgia-investigation-remains-trumps-biggest-problem-yet/ |
Britain's Andy Murray will play in the upcoming Citi Open in Washington. (Sebastien Bozon/AFP/Getty Images)
Former world No. 1 Andy Murray and Simona Halep, who have claimed three Wimbledon championships and five majors between them, are among the final additions to Washington’s Citi Open this summer.
Other new names announced Wednesday for the 48-player men’s field include 10th-ranked Hubert Hurkacz, 16th-ranked Denis Shapovalov of Canada, and rising American Sebastian Korda, who’s ranked 46th.
Korda, 22, is part of a strong contingent of committed American men that includes eight of the country’s top nine players, including Wimbledon quarterfinalist Taylor Fritz, Reilly Opelka, Hyattsville’s Frances Tiafoe, Tommy Paul, Jenson Brooksby, Maxime Cressy, and 2021 Citi Open finalist Mackenzie McDonald.
Murray, 35, claimed his first Grand Slam title on hard courts, winning the 2012 U.S. Open. He also won Olympic gold at the 2012 London Games, which was contested on the grass at the All England Club, and defended his singles gold at the 2016 Rio Games. In 2013, Murray became the first British man to win Wimbledon since Fred Perry claimed his third consecutive in 1936. He won his second Wimbledon title in 2016
Halep, who advanced to the Wimbledon semifinals Wednesday and is the 2018 French Open and 2019 Wimbledon champion, joins a 32-player women’s field that includes another former No. 1, Victoria Azarenka; 2021 U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu and finalist Leylah Fernandez; and Americans Jessica Pegula, 2017 U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens and 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin.
Commitments for Washington’s men’s tournament include 2019 Citi Open champion Nick Kyrgios, 2015 Citi Open champion Kei Nishikori, eighth-ranked Andrey Rublev of Russia, Australia’s Alex de Minaur and David Goffin of Belgium. On the women’s side, new commitments include Wimbledon semifinalist Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic, Elise Mertens of Belgium and Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic.
From 2019: Nick Kyrgios, having ‘one of the best weeks of my life,’ scores the Citi Open title
The Citi Open will be staged at Rock Creek Park Tennis Center July 30-Aug. 7.
It is the first major hard-court event leading to the U.S. Open, which gets underway Aug. 29, making it a popular drawing card as players transition from the grass court season.
The Citi Open’s men’s event, classified as an ATP 500, is one rung higher than the women’s event (a WTA 250) in terms of the size of its field and the ranking points and prize money at stake. But over the decade in which Citi hosted a companion women’s event, before its sanction-holder moved the event elsewhere, it drew strong fan support and attracted a prominent field.
The Citi Open is one of five combined men’s and women’s tennis tournaments in the country. This summer’s edition will also include a 16-team doubles event for both men and women.
The men’s tournament has been a staple of Washington’s summer sports calendar since 1969. A companion women’s tournament was first held in 2011, and it returns this summer after a three-year absence. Pegula won the title when the Citi Open last hosted a women’s tour-level event, in 2019.
Washington-based venture capitalist Mark Ein acquired management rights of the tournament in April 2019, helping to solidify the event’s place on the ATP Association of Tennis Professionals calendar. For more than five decades, the tournament has supported the Washington Tennis & Education Foundation, which provides free tennis and educational programs for children in underserved communities and is the event’s beneficiary. | 2022-07-06T15:30:11Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Citi Open adds Andy Murray, Simona Halep to field - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/07/06/citi-open-andy-murray-simona-halep/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/07/06/citi-open-andy-murray-simona-halep/ |
Operation ‘North Star’ focused on fugitives and criminals in 10 cities, including Washington, D.C., Chicago and New York
D.C. paramedics, firefighters and police officers at the intersection of 14th and U streets in Washington, D.C., on June 19, after multiple people were shot, including a police officer. (Astrid Riecken for The Washington Post)
A month-long federal operation targeting violent crime has led to the arrest of 1,500 fugitives, sex offenders and gang members in 10 large U.S. cities, the Justice Department announced Wednesday.
The U.S. Marshals Service focused Operation North Star on municipalities with high rates of homicides and gun violence, including Washington, D.C., Chicago, New York, Los Angeles and Baltimore. The effort aimed to apprehend those who committed the most violent offenses, prioritizing suspects who used firearms, officials said.
Attorney General Merrick Garland, who was briefed on the operation Wednesday morning, hailed the effort as a step toward protecting communities and ending “the plague of gun violence.”
The Marshals Service launched the operation in June, apprehending suspects involved in 230 homicide counts and 131 sexual assault counts, officials said. Investigators seized 166 firearms, more than $53,600 in currency, and more than 33 kilograms of illegal narcotics.
Amid a spike in gun violence, Garland has sought to bolster public confidence that the Justice Department is doing more to combat rising crime. Last year, he announced the creation of special task forces in several cities to target gun trafficking.
Operation North Star also focused on Houston, Indianapolis, Memphis, New Orleans and Philadelphia. | 2022-07-06T16:20:50Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Operation 'North Star' arrests 1,500 in D.C., New York, Chicago, L.A. and other cities - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/07/06/justcie-arrests-north-star-gun-violence/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/07/06/justcie-arrests-north-star-gun-violence/ |
Cord Byrd is pictured in March 2020 when he was a state representative in Florida. He was appointed secretary of state this spring by Gov. Ron DeSantis. (Steve Cannon/AP)
The once-sleepy job of secretary of state — and chief election overseer — was revealed as enormously important to our democracy when Donald Trump’s assault on the 2020 election results commenced. Now several Trump-aligned candidates are vying for secretary of state positions across the country, prompting concerns that election results might actually be manipulated.
But here in Florida, a Trumpian bureaucrat is already in the job, thanks to his recent installation by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. That’s disturbing in a state where political races are often too close to call and vote recounts are routine.
Meet Cord Byrd, who was a hard-right Republican member of the state House before his appointment in May and state Senate confirmation. DeSantis celebrated him as “an ally of freedom and democracy.”
But Byrd sounds a little uncertain about the 2020 election results. Asked if Joe Biden won the election, Byrd said, “He was certified as the president and he is the president of the United States,” adding, “There were irregularities in certain states.”
What Byrd didn’t say is that Biden won the election.
Byrd’s appointment immediately set off alarms among Democrats.
Florida state Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, a Democrat, tweeted that the state needs a secretary of state whose “top priority is free and fair elections, not a hyper-partisan GOP loyalist who takes orders from Ron DeSantis. Our right to vote is sacred and I worry about what this could mean for our democracy.”
Because Florida’s secretary of state serves at the governor’s pleasure, a political kinship between the two is a given. This can stir suspicion. “The Florida secretary of state has a constituency of one — and that is the governor,” Daniel A. Smith, a professor and chair of the Political Science Department at the University of Florida, told me. “And we have a governor who is a micromanager.”
Especially worrisome: DeSantis dreamed up an election police force this year devoted to ferreting out voter fraud and other election crimes, and Byrd is in charge of the 15 civilian investigators and as many as 10 Florida Department of Law Enforcement Officers.
That doesn’t sit well with Ion Sancho, a retired longtime election supervisor for Leon County. “They have independent authority to police under the direction of the governor,” Sancho told me.
Byrd’s wife, Esther, is politically radical, too, a would-be Virginia Thomas the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas who actively pressed Trump officials and friends to derail Biden’s victory.
In online posts (since deleted) soon after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, Esther Byrd wrote, “In the coming civil wars ... there are only 2 teams … With Us [or] Against Us” and “ANTIFA and BLM can burn and loot buildings and violently attack police and citizens. But when Trump supporters peacefully protest, suddenly ‘Law and Order’ is all they can talk about!”
This spring, DeSantis appointed her to the state board of education.
You might not be shocked to learn that she and her husband were photographed in 2020 on a boat flying a QAnon flag. Byrd has said he has never been a QAnon follower: “Unequivocally no.” He also pointed out he was on 20 different boats that day.
As for fears that partisanship will cloud his decisions on the job, Byrd replied, “I take my oath very seriously.”
But he is as hard-right as his governor. Byrd’s website is called Florida Gun Lawyer. And as state House member, he helped turned many of DeSantis’s most radical ideas into high-profile culture-war bills involving race, education and gay rights.
As a lawmaker, Byrd also supported changes in voting laws, making it harder to use ballot drop boxes and register via third parties. A federal judge blocked the law in March, saying it ran “roughshod over the right to vote.” A higher federal court has since reinstated the law.
County election supervisors who answer to Byrd vehemently opposed the vague and confusing law, which they viewed as unnecessary.
“We went from holding the most successful election” — in 2020 — “to, ‘Oh, we have to fix things,’ ” Lori Edwards, a Democrat and the Polk County supervisor of elections, told me.
With the upcoming August primary, Edwards and other supervisors are trying their best to stay optimistic. But it’s hard not to fret. MAGA fanatics have trampled democratic integrity again and again. Why would they stop now? | 2022-07-06T16:33:59Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Democratic alarms sound over DeSantis’s new elections overseer - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/06/florida-elections-secretary-of-state/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/06/florida-elections-secretary-of-state/ |
Democrats should listen to Kamala Harris and follow her example.
Vice President Harris speaks at the National Education Association annual meeting in Chicago on July 5. (Tannen Maury/Bloomberg)
Kamala Harris has had her troubles — as most vice presidents do — carving out a definitive role in the Biden administration and navigating petty (and often sexist) coverage. But with female voters more important than ever to Democrats, and two critical issues on which she has a powerful voice moving front and center, she has an opportunity to invigorate her party.
Lately, she has made the most of her opening in four ways:
1) She is putting the Supreme Court on the ballot as a threat to equality and democracy.
Harris started her career as a prosecutor, and if ever the country needed a lawyer to dissect the right-wing Supreme Court justices’ sloppy reasoning and warped history, it is now.
She ably stepped up the day the court reversed Roe v. Wade. “This is the first time in the history of our nation that a constitutional right has been taken from the people of America,” she said in Illinois. She immediately put the abortion decision in its proper context, characterizing it as an attack on the right to privacy. “Think about it as the right for each person to make intimate decisions about heart and home.”
She also slammed the court for attempting to return the country and constitutional rights back to the 19th century. “In holding that it is not deeply rooted in our history, today’s decision on that theory, then, calls into question other rights that we thought were settled, such as the right to use birth control, the right to same-sex marriage, the right to interracial marriage. The great aspiration of our nation has been to expand freedom, but the expansion of freedom clearly is not inevitable.”
On the topic of abortion specifically, now is the time for her to make clear that denying access to abortion, especially in states with high maternal death rates, is gambling with women’s lives.
2) She is calling out Republicans for what they are: extremists.
As she said at the annual meeting for the National Education Association in Chicago on Tuesday:
These extremist so-called leaders fought against raising your pay … These extremist so-called leaders refuse to keep assault weapons off our streets and out of our classrooms and tried to silence your voice through your union …
While you work hard to teach the principles of liberty and freedom in your classroom, these so-called leaders are taking freedoms away: freedom away from women and the freedom to make decisions over their own bodies; freedom away from a kindergarten-to-third-grade teacher in Florida to love openly and with pride; and away from every American as they intentionally try to make it more difficult for folks to vote.
Extremists threatening freedom. Now, there’s a message Democrats might get behind.
3) She is expressing contempt for Republicans’ ludicrous defense of easy access to semiautomatic weapons.
In the same speech on Tuesday, she declared over applause that “teachers should not have to practice barricading a classroom. Teachers should not have to know how to treat a gunshot wound. And teachers should not be told that ‘Lives would have been saved if only you had a gun.’ ”
In other words, Harris isn’t shy about pointing out when Republicans insult voters’ intelligence with catchphrases such as “all we need is a good guy with a gun.” (It sure didn’t help in the Uvalde, Tex., mass shooting.)
4) She is redirecting Democrats to productive action.
In her Tuesday speech, Harris reiterated a promise that most Democrats have made on the campaign trail: “Congress needs to have the courage to act and renew the assault weapons ban.” For that to happen, voters must send more help so the administration can get this done. | 2022-07-06T16:34:12Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Democrats should listen to Kamala Harris and follow her example. - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/06/kamala-harris-democrats-should-listen-and-follow-her-example/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/06/kamala-harris-democrats-should-listen-and-follow-her-example/ |
Why negotiating with the Pakistani Taliban is a terrible idea
Pakistan Army troops patrol along the fence on the Pakistan Afghanistan border at Big Ben hilltop post in Khyber district, Pakistan on Aug. 3, 2021. (Anjum Naveed/AP)
Back in 2007, my colleague Musa Khankhel and I were reporting in the Swat Valley, a remote part of northwest Pakistan’s tribal areas where elements of the Pakistani Taliban had just seized power. The militants noticed us when Musa started to film the hoisting of a Taliban flag on the roof of a local police station. Taliban fighters arrested us and took us to their headquarters. Here I encountered Muslim Khan, a militant leader who made his criticisms of the Pakistani army’s counterterrorism operations in American-accented English. (Musa, who knew him, explained to me that “Muslim Khan had spent many years in Boston.”)
I tried to ask this Americanized Taliban a few questions, but he politely declined. Perhaps I was lucky. This was a man whose brutal treatment of local civilians earned him the grim nickname “Butcher of Swat.” A few months later, Muslim Khan was captured by the army. In 2016, after a trial that lasted seven years, a court sentenced him to death for the murder of 31 people.
But the death sentence was never carried out, and just a few weeks ago the Pakistani government announced that they were releasing him from prison in the hope of making a peace deal with the banned group Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The authorities have grown increasingly desperate to reach an agreement with the Pakistani Taliban, who has waged war on the Pakistani state for the past two decades — at the cost of at least 83,000 lives, most of them civilians.
It is entirely understandable why our political leaders want to end this war. The suffering has gone on for far too long. But I remain convinced, as I have argued in the past, that there is little point in negotiating with terrorists. Indeed, I remember very well how my friend Musa was later kidnapped and killed by militants in Swat 2009 — on the very same day that the TTP concluded a peace deal with the government.
The TTP has been emboldened by the success of their Afghan Taliban allies in seizing power in Kabul last year. The Afghan Taliban’s victory over the Americans didn’t just offer a morale boost; the new regime also opened up the prisons, freeing many Pakistani Taliban fighters who had been captured on Afghan soil by the country’s previous, pro-American rulers. They were happy to rejoin the struggle against Islamabad.
Meanwhile, the government of then-Prime Minister Imran Khan was eager to cut a peace deal. Khan hoped that striking an agreement with the militants would help to keep his increasingly unpopular government in power. In October he announced a new round of negotiations with the TTP. (Other governments since 2007 have tried to do the same thing at least six times before — without success.)
At the time of Khan’s announcement, I expressed my reservations, suggesting that Khan should try engaging with his political opposition rather than trying to find common ground with violent extremists. But he persisted, allowing his spy chief, Lt. Gen. Faiz Hameed, to continue talks with the militants.
The negotiations took place in secret (in stark contrast to the talks between the United States and the Afghan Taliban, which played out in full view of the global media). When we demanded that the government inform the public of the details of the talks between Pakistani intelligence and the TTP, we never received any response. Imran Khan never took parliament into his confidence. In May, a few weeks after Khan’s ouster, the TTP suddenly exposed the secret negotiations by sending WhatsApp messages to some journalists.
But the new government hasn’t acted much differently. They pushed ahead with the talks, sending a delegation to Kabul.
In June, the military leadership finally briefed a national security committee about the negotiations, issuing reassuring statements that any agreement with the militants would be subject to parliamentary approval. (On July 5, the committee gave a green light to continue the talks.) The TTP has declared a unilateral cease fire.
All this might seem reassuring. But the reality is less inspiring: there is no peace in the areas bordering Afghanistan. Either the TTP does not have full control over all the militants in the region — or it is ignoring its own professions of peace. As recently as late June, one Pakistani soldier was dying every two days. On July 5, a suicide bomber in Waziristan wounded 10 soldiers, three seriously. And the government appears weak.
It seems unlikely that Islamabad will be able to satisfy the militants’ demands. What the extremists want ultimately is nothing less than the destruction of the Pakistani state, which they regard as fundamentally un-Islamic. It makes little sense to conduct talks with people who ultimately want your demise. Again and again, in recent years, the Taliban has shown that it regards peace agreements merely as a means for achieving the end of Pakistan’s democratic constitution.
The Taliban already refused to lay down its arms and disband the infrastructure of its militant organization. Can a nuclear state such as Pakistan allow the existence of a private army on its territory?
Unless the TTP is willing to surrender its weapons, it will push Pakistan into civil war. Tens of thousands of Pakistanis lost their lives during the insurgency. Did they make this sacrifice so that the rest of us could betray our country’s constitutional principles? Let’s hope not. | 2022-07-06T16:34:18Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Why negotiating with the Pakistani Taliban is a terrible idea - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/06/negotiating-ttp-pakistani-taliban-islamabad-terrorists-butcher-of-swat/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/06/negotiating-ttp-pakistani-taliban-islamabad-terrorists-butcher-of-swat/ |
Mississippi’s last abortion clinic will shutter as trigger ban begins
A judge on Tuesday denied an injunction to stop a near-total abortion ban from taking effect Thursday.
The Jackson Women's Health Organization clinic in Jackson, Miss., will have to close. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
Mississippi’s only abortion clinic, Jackson Women’s Health Organization, will lock its doors after the close of business on Wednesday following a trial judge’s refusal to block the state’s trigger law from taking effect, instituting a near-total abortion ban.
“Without any further action, today will be the last day that Jackson Women’s Health can provide abortion care,” said Hillary Schneller, a senior staff attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights who represents the clinic. “That means the last abortion provider in Mississippi will no longer be able to provide essential care to both folks in Mississippi and folks who’ve been traveling across multiple state lines to access this essential care before it’s too late.”
Chancery Judge Debbra K. Halford denied the clinic’s request for injunctive relief on Tuesday, citing the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to strike down Roe v. Wade last month. Halford, who is a trial judge in southwest Mississippi, was appointed to decide the case after local judges in Hinds County, Miss., where the clinic is located, recused themselves.
“The bans we challenged, both the trigger ban and the six-week ban, should unquestionably have been blocked based on existing protections under the Mississippi Constitution,” Schneller said. “People do not lose their right to bodily autonomy when they become pregnant.”
“As for now, the prospects for reopening the clinic are not very good,” McDuff said.
Mississippi’s trigger law was passed in 2007, when Roe still secured federal protections for abortion access. The law bans nearly all abortions with narrow exceptions in the case of a rape that is reported to police or to save the life of the mother. The state can begin enforcing that law for the first time on Thursday.
The Tuesday court hearing that decided the immediate fate of the state’s last abortion clinic began with a pastor’s prayer, requested by the judge, for “the presence of [the] Holy Spirit in the courtroom.”
The legal team representing Jackson Women’s Health Organization argued that a right to privacy conferred in the Mississippi Constitution protects abortion access at the state level, regardless of federal law. McDuff argued that a 1998 case called Pro-Choice Mississippi v. Fordice established that the state constitution protects the right to an abortion. The Mississippi Supreme Court “made it clear that its decision was based on the Mississippi right to privacy and the history of abortion law in the state of Mississippi,” McDuff said in an interview.
Mississippi’s solicitor general, Scott G. Stewart, argued the state’s case in favor of allowing the trigger law to take effect, contending that the 1998 ruling relied heavily on Roe and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which were overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court last month. Halford agreed with the state.
“Since Roe and Casey are no longer the law of the land, reliance upon Fordice will almost certainly not be well-founded when pursuing this case in the Supreme Court,” the judge wrote in her order denying an injunction. “When considering Fordice, in light of Roe, Casey and Dobbs, it is more than doubtful that the Mississippi Supreme Court will continue to uphold Fordice.”
Halford acknowledged that the potential harm to patients seeking abortions, including psychological trauma and a perceived loss of opportunities, would be “significant, and irreparable.” But she ruled that the state had a more compelling case for enforcing the law.
Halford said the state had “legitimate interests” in applying the trigger law as soon as possible, including “'respect for and preservation of prenatal life at all stages of development,' ‘the protection of maternal health and safety,' ‘the elimination of particularly gruesome or barbaric medical procedures,’ ‘the preservation of the integrity of the medical profession,’ ‘the mitigation of fetal pain,’ and ‘the prevention of discrimination on the basis of race, sex, or disability,’ all as noted by the U. S. Supreme Court in Dobbs.”
After the court’s decision to allow the state’s near-total abortion ban to take hold on Thursday, Republican Gov. Tate Reeves cheered the ruling as “a great victory for life.”
“Every life has inherent dignity and Mississippi will continue to do everything it can to advance the fight for life,” Reeves added in a statement on Tuesday. | 2022-07-06T16:42:36Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Mississippi’s last abortion clinic shutters as trigger ban begins - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/07/06/missisppi-abortion-clinic-closure/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/07/06/missisppi-abortion-clinic-closure/ |
Tucker Carlson’s sloppy effort to leverage the Highland Park shooting
Fox News host Tucker Carlson leaves the stage after talking about “Populism and the Right” during the National Review Institute's Ideas Summit at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel on March 29, 2019, in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Fox News host Tucker Carlson benefits from his format. He begins each show with a lengthy jeremiad against his perceived opponents, skipping along rapidly before viewers can stop and consider his claims. It works perfectly for a guy whose primary interest is stoking an emotion — usually fear or anger — and not informing those tuning in.
We get riffs like the one he offered Tuesday. The subject of Carlson’s opening monologue was the mass shooting at a Fourth of July parade outside of Chicago on Monday. He condemned Democratic elected officials and people on social media for “leap[ing] in to blame the other team” — that is, the political right — for what occurred … and then, in the first minutes of his show after the shooting, proceeded to blame the other team for the mass killing. Democratic legislators and officials were derided and mocked as ignorant or out-of-touch, because this is what he does.
“The first question a partisan asks never changes,” Carlson said at one point. “It’s this: How can I use other people’s misery to become more powerful myself?”
This is called “telling on yourself.”
Carlson’s monologue included an effort to tie mass shootings to prescription drug use, which will probably be a focus of much criticism. It’s not worth parsing the rickety rhetoric Carlson assembled to boost this claim; it collapsed even as Carlson offered it, and none of his loyal viewers will be reading this anyway.
We can, instead, point out the incoherence of the claim even in its broad strokes. The alleged shooter in Illinois, Robert Crimo III, “seemed like a nut case,” Carlson asserted, based on a photograph of the suspect. A number of other mass shooters like Crimo were similarly “crazy,” he diagnosed. And then, ominously, he noted that several were known to have been on anti-depressants at the time of the shootings. He was operating in his standard “just asking questions” mode, the way he whitewashes his conspiracy theories to make them seem more intellectual. But the implication was obvious: Maybe it wasn’t the guns but the drugs.
Never mind that anyone stopping for even a moment might think, “Isn’t it more likely that the common root here was mental illness, not the treatment for it?” Insisting that those who commit mass shootings are mentally ill is a crutch for those looking to deflect away from the broad availability of high-powered rifles, of course, but some of those who commit such shootings are, in fact, suffering from mental illness. So isn’t it more likely that people who are mentally ill and commit mass shootings might also happen to be on drugs aimed at treating that illness?
Notice the other deflection here. Carlson is purporting that there’s a common trait among the shooters that causes the shooting sprees, ignoring the more obvious common trait: having a firearm.
Crimo was reportedly visited by police in 2019, at which point they confiscated a number of knives he’d purchased. Carlson used this to scoff at the idea that a “red flag” law would have been useful.
“What would they have done? Take away his guns?” he asked. “You get more knives!” As if someone sitting on top of a store throwing knives at people would have resulted in seven deaths and dozens of injuries.
At one point, Carlson showed a graph of mass shootings since 1991 as he claimed that prescriptions for anti-depressants had increased 3,000 percent since that point. That’s not surprising, given that drugs such as sertraline were only approved for use at that point. But the graph was meant to show how mass killings had soared.
Except they began soaring not in 1991 but more recently, around 20 years ago. Shortly after the ban on assault weapons like the AR-15-style rifles expired.
You’ll notice that that chart indicates shooters and alleged shooters who were young men ages 25 or under. That’s because this was another focus of Carlson’s.
“Why didn’t anyone raise an alarm” about how Carlson believed Crimo looked went he went to buy his gun? “Well, maybe because he didn’t stand out,” he continued. “Maybe because there are a lot of young men in America who suddenly look and act a lot like this guy.” Young men live in “a solitary fantasy world of social media, porn and video games,” Carlson said, smoking “government-endorsed” marijuana.
Yes, many recent mass shooters have been young men, often young White men. It’s not clear how significant that is as a stand-alone factor, given how many shooters don’t fall into that category. In the past five years, 16 of 37 shooters and alleged shooters tracked in Mother Jones’s database of the incidents have been men under 26.
There are some obvious reasons, of course. Teenagers in particular are understood to have weaker impulse control than adults, though this varies from person to person. And American men are more likely to own guns than women by a nearly two-to-one margin, according to polling conducted a few years ago by Pew Research Center.
There’s also a wide and widening gap by party on gun ownership. According to the General Social Survey, the divide in gun ownership between Democrats and Republicans was wider in 2021 than at any previous point, with Republicans being nearly twice as likely to own a firearm.
This does not mean that Republicans are more likely to commit mass shootings. It does suggest that young men from Republican households are more likely to have access to a firearm. In Pew’s polling, 60 percent of Republicans reported owning a gun or having one in their home compared to 25 percent of Democrats.
“They’re angry. They know that their lives will not be better than their parents. They’ll be worse. That’s all but guaranteed,” Carlson said of the young men he claims are inspired to commit acts of mass violence. “ … Yet the authorities in their lives, mostly women, never stop lecturing them about their so-called privilege. ‘You’re male! You’re privileged!’ ” And so “a lot of young men in America are going nuts.”
This line of rhetoric is not important as an effort to excuse mass shootings. It is, instead, important as a representation of a narrative that is also being promoted to young men: that they are oppressed and discriminated against by women and the left. Carlson, who has often cast men as being under attack in the United States, suggests a theory of cause for mass shootings, when in reality he’s using the mass shooting to bolster his theory.
Carlson pushes a far-right vision of the United States as under attack from leftists and immigrants and does so as he promotes autocrats like the leaders of Hungary and Brazil. He uses mass shootings to argue that more Americans need to worry about government jackboots seizing their weapons — indicating that his viewers need to be better armed. He often frames his arguments in religious terms, as a battle between Christian rationality and evil.
By the time his breathless monologues conclude, his audience is left with little choice but to agree. | 2022-07-06T16:46:57Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Tucker Carlson’s sloppy effort to leverage the Highland Park shooting - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/06/tucker-carlsons-sloppy-effort-leverage-highland-park-shooting/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/06/tucker-carlsons-sloppy-effort-leverage-highland-park-shooting/ |
Leader of trucker convoy arrested in D.C.
Police said David Riddell was taken into custody on a warrant issued in Maryland, where the convoy has staged protests.
Dana Hedgpeth
The leader of a convoy of truckers that has protested by driving slowly around the Beltway was arrested Wednesday morning in the District after the group drove vehicles to a street on the national Mall.
D.C. police said David Riddell was wanted on a warrant from Maryland.
The Maryland State Police charged Riddell, 57, a trucker from Ohio, with disobeying a lawful order from police and willfully driving a vehicle at a slow speed “impeding normal and reasonable traffic movement.”
The group had been called the “People’s Convoy.” But a small group spun off and rebranded as the “1776 Restoration Movement,” and drove on I-495 on the July Fourth holiday, slowing traffic.
It could not immediately be determined how many trucks were in the District. D.C. police did not comment beyond confirming the arrest; a Maryland State Police spokesman confirmed that a warrant had been issued for Riddell’s arrest.
Trucker convoy returns to D.C. region. Here’s what you need to know.
The group was started to protest coronavirus vaccine mandates but has since broadened its list of right-wing grievances. Earlier this year, the “People’s Convoy” drove almost daily around the Beltway and briefly came into D.C., mostly sticking to highways. The group left at the end of March after being closely followed by police, who at times blocked entrances into the city.
But Riddell vowed to be more aggressive when the group returned to the nation’s capital. On the Telegram social media app, members said they regretted the way the protests went in March and issued calls in May for “civil disobedience.”
On Wednesday, several people driving trucks converged on a street along the Mall. A participant broadcast the encounter on a live-streamed video which showed a man believed to be Riddell being handcuffed.
The unnamed person said police were ordering the truck off the street to enforce a no-parking area, though they could not locate a sign that specifically prohibited trucks.
D.C. police officers briefly formed a line as truckers screamed at them and claimed one of the female demonstrators was injured when she fell from a truck during a confrontation with law enforcement. An assistant police chief at the scene confirmed that a woman had received medical treatment after a fall but did not offer further details of the encounter.
“We haven’t done anything wrong,” one of the truckers yelled at officers. “There is no sign that says no trucks.” The man called officers “cowards,” and vowed to remain on the street until tow trucks arrive.
“There should be freedom in the United States,” the man yelled. | 2022-07-06T16:55:52Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Leader of trucker convoy arrested in District - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/06/truck-convoy-arrest-dc/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/06/truck-convoy-arrest-dc/ |
A lighted sign on the side of 16th Street NW in Washington is meant to indicate that the two right lanes are open. But shouldn't those green arrows be pointed up, indicating the flow of traffic, rather than down? (John Kelly/The Washington Post)
“The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways” is about as scintillating as its title suggests. But that doesn’t mean the book, published by the Federal Highway Administration, isn’t important. Just imagine if U.S. municipalities decided to freestyle their road signs and other traffic aids. The result would be chaos.
And it’s to the MUTCD — as it’s known — that the District Department of Transportation directed me when I pointed out that some of its new signs on 16th Street NW are wrong.
No they’re not, said DDOT.
Yes they are, I said. I’ll let you be the judge.
At issue are what’s known as electronic lane control signs. Cities employ these when the direction of travel on a lane changes during the day: into the city in the morning commute, say, and out of the city in the afternoon commute. Motorists have to know whether the lane they’re in will speed them toward their destination or result in a head-on collision.
This can be done with language — lighted signs that read “Use 2 lanes” or “Use 3 lanes,” as was previously done on 16th Street NW — or with symbols. A green arrow means the lane is safe to drive in; a red X means “here be danger.” Both types of signs can be altered depending on the time of day. That’s why they’re called “variable,” as opposed to “static.”
DDOT installed new signs on 16th Street NW recently, changing from words to symbols. The signs are mounted on both sides of the road every few blocks from Columbia Road to the bridge over Rock Creek. The fancy new LED signs can be programmed to show green arrows, red Xs and/or a bus icon (for the bus-only lane).
When I first saw them lit up, something struck me as odd. The arrows point down, not up. To me, it looked as if this indicated traffic in the right two lanes was coming toward me. Was I suddenly in England, Japan, Malta or any of the other countries that drive on the left?
I asked Jeff Lindley, chief technical officer at the Institute of Transportation Engineers, for his take on the signs.
“I know what they’re trying to convey here, but I understand why this is inconsistent, because most all traffic signs that are side mounted — not over the lanes — would have the arrows pointed up,” Lindley said.
The folks at DDOT pointed me to the aforementioned MUTCD, specifically Section 4M.01, Application of Lane-Use Control Signals. They also sent a link to a photo of lane-use control signals on Colesville Road in Silver Spring. But neither of those applies to what’s going on on 16th Street.
I will quote that section of the MUTCD, with emphasis added: “Lane-use control signals are special overhead signals that permit or prohibit the use of specific lanes of a street or highway or that indicate the impending prohibition of their use. Lane-use control signals are distinguished by placement of special signal faces over a certain lane or lanes of the roadway and by their distinctive shapes and symbols.”
Elsewhere, the MUTCD reads: “A steady DOWNWARD GREEN ARROW signal indication shall mean that a road user is permitted to drive in the lane over which the arrow signal indication is located.”
So a downward green arrow is okay over a lane.
That’s what the Silver Spring photo showed: signs over the road, with green arrows pointing downward, meaning “This lane is open to you” and red Xs, meaning “This lane is closed to you.”
The District doesn’t have overhead lane-control signals. It has signs by the side of the road. The reason it doesn’t have overhead signs, DDOT told me, is because the city’s historic preservation office said signs hanging across the roadway would spoil the historic views down 16th Street.
I get that. I just think the arrows on the new signs are wrong. The signs illustrate a simulacrum of traffic. The downward pointing arrows make it look as if vehicles in the right lane are coming at you.
Lindley has been a traffic engineer for 42 years. He said, “I think the most consistent interpretation of what is in the manual is that the arrows should be pointed up.”
The final arbiter, he said, would be the Federal Highway Administration. I checked with them and they sent me the same passage from the manual and a similar photo from Silver Spring. But those aren’t the same as what’s on 16th Street!
Lindley said a good sign “should convey a clear and simple meaning, so that it’s easily understood by motorists. … If two different people that use the street have two different reactions, that’s probably not good.”
You might ask: Can’t the arrows simply be programmed to point upward? Well, looking closely at the lightbulbs on the signs, it looks as if they can only point down.
Born under a bad sign?
Have you encountered a bad, confusing or hard-to-see sign in the Washington area. Send the details — and a photo, but only if it’s safe to take one — to me at john.kelly@washpost.com. Put “Sign” in the subject field. | 2022-07-06T16:55:58Z | www.washingtonpost.com | New lane-control signs on 16th Street are confusing to some - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/06/variable-lane-control-dc/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/06/variable-lane-control-dc/ |
Teen sex trafficking victim Chrystul Kizer wins key Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling
In a groundbreaking decision, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that a teenager who killed her sexual abuser may have the chance to be acquitted of all charges.
The decision is a major win for Chrystul Kizer, now 22, a Black woman who is facing life in prison for the crimes she committed at 17.
Kizer has spent years fighting for the opportunity to show evidence to a judge, and eventually a jury, that her crimes were the “direct result” of the child sex trafficking she said she experienced at the hands of the man she killed: Randall Volar Jr. She hoped to employ a never-before-used Wisconsin law that was designed to offer legal protection to some victims of trafficking, who are often coerced or cornered into committing crimes while they are being exploited.
He was sexually abusing underage girls. Then one of them killed him.
The law states that such victims have an affirmative defense for “any offense committed as a direct result” of trafficking. But prosecutors and Kizer’s attorneys have been at odds over what “direct result” really means.
They’ve argued, too, about whether the law would provide Kizer with a “complete defense” to the charges, meaning she could be completely acquitted, or whether her charge should only be lessened from first-degree homicide to second-degree — meaning she would still face up to 60 years in prison.
The court, in a 4-3 ruling, settled the matter, affirming a lower court’s decision and siding with Kizer on both issues.
“We hold that [the law] is a complete defense to a charge of first-degree intentional homicide," wrote Justice Rebecca Frank Dallet.
Now, Kizer’s case, which has been stalled for years, can continue.
If a judge agrees there is “some evidence” her crimes were a “direct result” of trafficking, she will be able to present the same argument to a jury.
If the jury sides with her, she could be acquitted of some or all the charges against her.
“Chrystul Kizer deserves a chance to present her defense and today’s decision will allow her to do that," said Colleen Marion, one of Kizer’s public defenders, in a statement Wednesday. "While the legal process on this matter is far from over, we, along with Chrystul and her family, believe the decision today affirms the legal rights provided by Wisconsin statute to victims of sex trafficking facing criminal charges.”
The news is a triumph for those who have rallied around Kizer. There are more than 1.5 million signatures on a Change.org petition asking all charges against her to be dropped. Celebrities and high-profile sex trafficking survivors, including authors Cyntoia Brown-Long and Sara Kruzan, have argued that Kizer needs therapy, not prison time. Anti-sex trafficking advocates and attorneys, including those who have represented victims of financier Jeffrey Epstein, believe Kizer’s case is a clear example of the extremes that trafficking victims must go to survive.
Kizer was first arrested in 2018, after Kenosha police found a 34-year-old White man shot in the head twice and his house set on fire. Investigators already knew who Randall Volar Jr. was. At the time, records show, he was under investigation for sexually abusing another Black child. Police had recently found “hundreds” of videos of child sexual abuse in his home during a raid, including videos he’d filmed of his own abuse of Black girls.
One of those girls, records show, was Kizer.
Kizer told The Washington Post in 2019 that Volar paid her in cash, dinners and gifts. Under Wisconsin and federal law, this meets the definition of child sex trafficking, because Volar exchanged something of value for sex. Regardless of the circumstances, minors cannot legally consent to being involved in commercial sex.
Read The Washington Post’s investigation into the case of Chrystul Kizer
But while Volar was under investigation by Kenosha police, they allowed him to remain free for months. One night in June, he paid for Kizer to take an Uber to his house. Kizer, who has not yet been able to present evidence in court, told police that she was tired of Volar touching her, and that he was on top of her on the ground when she went for the gun. In interviews with The Post, she said Volar was trying to rip her jeans off. She said she lit his house on fire and fled in his car because she was panicked.
Despite the video evidence that Volar was sexually abusing Kizer, prosecutors chose to file the maximum possible charge against her: first degree intentional homicide, which carries an automatic life sentence in Wisconsin.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice, which argued the state’s position before the Wisconsin Supreme Court in March, did not respond to requests for comment. In previous hearings, state prosecutors have argued that evidence shows Kizer planned the murder, lied about it, and was only trying to steal Volar’s BMW.
Kizer remained in jail for two years before supporters paid her $400,000 bail in the summer of 2020 using bond funds raised following the murder of George Floyd. She received even more attention in 2021, after a jury acquitted Kyle Rittenhouse, a White teenager, in the same county where Kizer is charged. Rittenhouse argued he was acting in self defense when he killed two people at a protest in 2020. Kizer, too, has argued she was acting in self defense.
But while people around the world have learned her story, her potential fate has remained the same as the appeals process dragged on.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court decision provides a clear avenue for what she will have to prove in order to be afforded the protection of the affirmative defense law.
[Chrystul Kizer, the Wisconsin Supreme Court and a watershed sex-trafficking case]
The justices defined what “direct result” should mean in the eyes of the law: “if there is a logical, causal connection between the offense and the trafficking such that the offense is not the result, in significant part, of other events, circumstances, or considerations apart from the trafficking violation."
This interpretation is even broader than the appeals court’s definition, which ruled that Kizer would have to prove that her crimes were a “logical and foreseeable consequence” of being trafficked. Instead, the state high court acknowledged the unique, sustained trauma experienced by victims of trafficking.
“Unlike many crimes, which occur at discrete points in time, human trafficking can trap victims in a cycle of seemingly inescapable abuse that can continue for months or even years,” the majority opinion stated. For that reason, the justices wrote, Kizer will only have to prove that there is a “necessary logical connection” between her crimes and the trafficking she experienced, even if there are “other factors at play.”
Legal experts noted that even the three dissenting justices, all of whom are conservative, didn’t seem to take issue with the majority opinion’s definition of “direct result.” Instead, they argued that the statue would not provide a “complete defense” to homicide.
But in a rare move, Justice Rebecca Grassl Bradley broke from her fellow conservatives to side with the court’s liberal bloc. During oral arguments, Bradley had been vocal about the severity of the victimization Kizer experienced.
“They found evidence that this 34-year-old man was paying girls for sex, using them to make child pornography, prostituting them out to other men,” Bradley said in March.
With Bradley on their side, the justices made it clear what the ruling means for Kizer — and for other victims of trafficking charged with crimes that may not be as serious as murder. The decision creates a pathway for those victims to show the courts how their exploitation was a factor in what they did.
“There’s something discouraging and disheartening to say this young woman just wants to explain the circumstances of her victimization that led to this awful event, and she isn’t able to do so?” said Caitlin Noonan, of Legal Action Wisconsin. “Now, the court agrees that Chrystul should have the opportunity to present her story. That’s all she’s been asking for since the beginning.”
Kizer’s next court hearing is scheduled for September. | 2022-07-06T17:00:25Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Sex trafficking victim Chrystul Kizer wins at Wisconsin Supreme Court - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/06/kizer-wisconsin-supreme-court-sex-trafficking/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/06/kizer-wisconsin-supreme-court-sex-trafficking/ |
The proposed new names for military bases are in, and they’re inspiring
A statue of Henry Johnson is displayed in the Arbor Hill neighborhood on July 10, 2014, in Albany, N.Y. (Mike Groll/AP)
Perhaps no state at the time of the Civil War was more deeply and violently divided than Tennessee. In the cotton lands of the western part, voters chose to leave the Union — including the ferocious Memphis trader of enslaved people Nathan Bedford Forrest, a future founder of the Ku Klux Klan. In the mountainous eastern part of the state, however, loyalists did all they could to make trouble for the rebels. The war of North and South was, for eastern Tennessee, a war of neighbor against neighbor.
President Abraham Lincoln dreamed of reclaiming the region, but the geography proved too difficult in the early years of the war. “My distress is that our friends in East Tennessee are being hanged and driven to despair,” he worried. The Confederate officer so free with the rope was a broad-chested colonel named Edmund W. Rucker.
Rucker was not just a traitor to the United States; he was sufficiently avid and fierce to be entrusted with the role of crushing dissent among those who did not want to break up the nation. It was the “meanest and damnest” job imaginable, Rucker admitted — but he did it anyway, at the cost of uncounted lives.
Incredibly, the name of this disloyal tyrant lives on, thanks to the same U.S. Army that he fought against. Fort Rucker in southeastern Alabama is home to the Army’s aviation operations, and it is hardly the only military installation named in honor of former enemies of the United States.
More than a century and a half after the war’s end, it is well past time to rename these facilities for more suitable and inspiring men and women. A commission established by Congress, led by my high school pal, retired Adm. Michelle Howard, has completed the daunting task of recommending new names. The more I think about the choices, the more impressed I am.
Fort Rucker, for example, would be rechristened Fort Novosel in honor of helicopter pilot Michael J. Novosel Sr., who rescued more than 5,500 wounded men from battlefields in Vietnam. A World War II veteran who gave up a commission in the Air Force to rejoin the Army as a warrant officer, Novosel was awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroics under fire.
Fort Hood in Texas, named for a reckless Confederate general, would be renamed Fort Cavazos in honor of a brave soldier who chose to fight for — not against — his country. Richard E. Cavazos was highly decorated for valor on battlefields in Korea and Vietnam before becoming the first Hispanic American to earn the rank of four-star general.
Some of the proposed new handles commemorate famous figures. Fort Gordon in Georgia, named for another Confederate veteran and rumored KKK leader, would be renamed Fort Eisenhower in honor of the supreme allied expeditionary forces commander of World War II who later became a popular two-term president. Fort Benning, also in Georgia, would become Fort Moore, commemorating a husband and wife, Hal and Julia Moore.
The Moores represent both valor in battle and the sacrifices of military families. Moore’s leadership at the Battle of Ia Drang in Vietnam, where his 450 soldiers were at times outnumbered roughly 12-to-1, is well known thanks to the 2002 Hollywood movie “We Were Soldiers.” On the home front, Julia Moore insisted that news of combat deaths be delivered not by chilly telegrams but by uniformed soldiers specially trained for the task.
But other installations would honor forgotten heroes who represent important aspects of military service. Fort Lee in Virginia, named for Confederate general Robert E. Lee, would become Fort Gregg-Adams after two trailblazing logistics experts — for an army is only as good as its logistics. Fort Bragg in North Carolina would be christened Fort Liberty as a reminder of the values that ennoble military service.
Still other names signify a love of country that was too-long unrequited. Fort Polk in Louisiana would be called Fort Johnson in honor of William Henry Johnson of the “Harlem Hellfighters.” His unit of African American soldiers was forced to fight under French command in World War I due to discrimination in the U.S. Army. Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia would become Fort Walker after the only woman to be awarded the Medal of Honor, Civil War surgeon Dr. Mary Edwards Walker. Fort Pickett in Virginia would become Fort Barfoot after the “one-man army” Van T. Barfoot, a Choctaw tribesman and Medal of Honor recipient in the Italian campaign of World War II.
The commission is also responsible for recommending new names for streets, buildings and other military assets named for veterans of the Confederate rebellion. The choices are subject to congressional approval.
It is a measure of the long history of faithful service to the United States that the commission had hundreds of excellent options. In range and meaning, these proposals are inspired. The old names represented division. The new ones should unify. | 2022-07-06T17:01:08Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | The proposed new names for military bases are in, and they’re inspiring - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/06/military-base-naming-commission-inspired-choices/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/06/military-base-naming-commission-inspired-choices/ |
Originalism, textualism and judicial restraint all got short shrift in this term’s major environmental-regulations decision
Perspective by Adrian Vermeule
Adrian Vermeule is the Ralph S. Tyler Jr. professor of constitutional law at Harvard Law School. His most recent book is "Common Good Constitutionalism."
Security fencing outside the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., June 29, 2022. (Al Drago/Bloomberg)
On the last day of the Supreme Court’s term, in a case called West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency, the Court declared that the Clean Air Act does not clearly authorize the EPA to create a Clean Power Plan — in other words, to set standards for emissions from existing power plants with a view to encouraging “generation shifting” of electricity production toward sources that emit less carbon dioxide. If this does not sound like the stuff of great events, it was made so by the court’s approach to the case. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., writing for the majority, announced expressly, for the first time, that the court would apply a “major questions doctrine.” According to the majority, the doctrine holds that in “extraordinary cases” the court will apply a “different approach” than the ordinary legal principles governing the interpretation of statutes. Instead, it will demand clear congressional authorization for agency action that is, in the judges’ view, “highly consequential,” posing questions of “economic and political significance.”
Commentators rushed to discuss the significance of West Virginia v. EPA for the conservative legal movement, to which they assumed the justices in the majority belong, perhaps because the court limited abortion rights and strengthened gun rights in the same term. But that framing rests on an error: In reality, as this case makes clear, there is no conservative legal movement, at least if legal conservatism is defined by jurisprudential methods rather than a collection of results. West Virginia v. EPA illustrates that every last methodological tenet professed by the movement will be downplayed, qualified or abandoned when the chance arises to limit the regulatory authority of the federal agencies, especially in environmental matters.
The conservative legal movement distinguishes itself from other approaches by declaring itself united not around “results-oriented jurisprudence” but rather around a set of supposedly neutral methods for interpreting legal texts. Conservative jurisprudence — again, as advertised — has four pillars: originalism, textualism, traditionalism and judicial restraint. Although different conservatives emphasize one or the other approach, all are staples of Federalist Society events and lauded in the opinions of conservative justices.
It is grimly hilarious, then, that the court’s opinion in West Virginia v. EPA follows none of these methods. It is not an “originalist” opinion. Originalism purports to ground the interpretation of legal texts in the original public meaning as understood by the founding generation, for constitutional provisions, or in the original public meaning of enacted statutes. As Justice Neil M. Gorsuch recently wrote in Bostock v. Clayton County, which recognized sexual orientation and gender identity as protected categories under federal civil rights law, “this Court normally interprets a statute in accord with the ordinary public meaning of its terms at the time of its enactment.” In West Virginia v. EPA, however, neither the majority nor Gorsuch’s concurrence shows any interest in the original context or public understanding of the Clean Air Act provisions enacted in 1970 — perhaps because, as the court put it soon afterward in 1976, those provisions were widely understood to create a “drastic remedy.” In West Virginia v. EPA, the original understanding of the relevant provisions is absent without leave.
John Roberts’s self-defeating attempt to make the court appear nonpolitical
The court briefly, and Gorsuch laboriously, tried to ground the major questions doctrine in the separation of powers and the “nondelegation doctrine,” a putative constitutional principle which holds that Congress may not grant rulemaking authority to the executive in excessively broad or discretionary terms. On this view, the major questions doctrine is used to construe statutes narrowly to avoid a potential question of constitutionally invalid delegation. Requiring clear congressional authorization for important agency action, the argument runs, represents an attempt to implement the separation of powers at the level of statutory interpretation rather than constitutional law.
The problem, from an originalist standpoint, is that there is no constitutional question to avoid; the originalist credentials of the nondelegation doctrine are shockingly thin. Careful scholarship has confirmed the thesis that the nondelegation doctrine was essentially nonexistent during the founding era, in which the first Congress made broad delegations to the executive in a variety of areas, including military service, territorial government and relations with Indian tribes.
The doctrine is basically a creation of the Supreme Court in the later 19th century, and even then it did not control the outcomes of cases; the court has only twice in its entire history applied the doctrine as a matter of constitutional law, invalidating the central components of the New Deal’s National Industrial Recovery Act in 1935 — some 150 years after the Constitution’s structural provisions were written. Although Gorsuch’s concurrence tries to blur the nondelegation doctrine’s desperate lack of originalist credentials with a long string of citations to academic works, those arguments mainly eschew historical particulars in favor of abstract constitutional theory, and in the end the facts of the founding era are what they are: In the vast landscape of contemporary documents, total mentions of anything like a nondelegation principle would take up less space than an op-ed. Nondelegation is an invented tradition.
The decision is also not textualist, as Justice Elena Kagan observed in a crushing dissent. Textualism says that the ordinary meaning of statutory text is the law, but the majority‘s statutory analysis is cursory, and that of Gorsuch basically nonexistent. The court briefly claims that the major questions doctrine captures the ordinary understanding of Congress in situations where agency action has “economic and political significance.” (What agency action doesn’t?) But the court itself also makes a point of saying that the doctrine counsels against “a reading of a statute that would, under more ‘ordinary’ circumstances, be upheld.” The only cases in which the doctrine possibly makes a difference arise when the courts believe that a “highly consequential” issue warrants an extraordinary override of ordinary statutory meaning.
The decision is hardly traditionalist. The leading precedent on the major questions doctrine, according to both majority and dissent, held that Congress had not clearly authorized the Food and Drug Administration to regulate nicotine as a drug — a precedent not decided until 2000. This is no venerable maxim or principle of our law; one will search for it in vain in the pages of Blackstone. In historical perspective, it is a recent innovation by justices who believe, doubtless with the utmost sincerity, that Congress has too cavalierly and too generously authorized administrative agencies to regulate corporate America in the name of health, safety, a clean environment and the public welfare generally.
Finally, West Virginia v. EPA is not “restrained” in any possible sense. At the level of procedure, the court decided a case in which, remarkably, no agency rule existed. The Clean Power Plan had been repealed by the Trump administration, and the Biden administration had asked the lower courts not to reinstate it. Nonetheless, the justices felt that there was a sufficient threat that EPA might try to create such a rule in the future. Any more such restraint, and the court will end up dispensing with actual cases and controversies altogether in favor of pronouncing on abstract hypotheticals.
On the merits, the court insists, again and again, that the doctrine applies when cases are “extraordinary.” But this is not only to admit, but indeed to proudly proclaim, that this is a doctrine ungoverned by ordinary legal principles. Some legal doctrines are unpredictable in application; here unpredictability is built into the essence of the doctrine itself. Who knows when the court, or for that matter any one of the nation’s 700 district judges, will deem a case “extraordinary” and shut down a national federal regulatory program? Moreover, despite insisting that major questions cases are extraordinary, the court inconsistently went on to describe them as arising “from all corners of the administrative state” — a clear signal that the court expects its anti-regulatory approach to be routinely invoked in the future. The extraordinary has become ordinary. The doctrine displays the same vagueness of standards that the court finds objectionable, under the nondelegation rubric, when authority is granted to agencies. What is constitutional overreach for unelected bureaucrats in the agencies is constitutional virtue for the unelected bureaucrats on the bench. Whatever this is, judicial restraint it is not.
Judged by any of the methodological precepts professed by the conservative legal movement, West Virginia v. EPA stands condemned. How is this possible? If there is no conservative legal movement, what is there? The answer is not mysterious: There is a libertarian legal movement, a consistent opponent of federal regulation, supported and rationalized by an entrenched network of richly funded, quasi-academic and advocacy institutions — in essence, a resurrection of the Liberty League of the 1930s. As recounted by The Post’s Ruth Marcus in her book “Supreme Ambition,” the aim of the movement was stated outright by former White House counsel Donald McGahn, who played a critical role in the appointments of both Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh: “As McGahn … told the Federalist Society, ‘The greatest threat to the rule of law in our modern society is the ever-expanding regulatory state, and the most effective bulwark against that threat is a strong judiciary.’… The emphasis on social conservatism and its associated hot-button issues ended with [former Justice Antonin] Scalia, McGahn said at the first meeting after the election to discuss the justice’s successor. It was now all about regulatory relief. On that score, McGahn said, Scalia ‘wouldn’t make the cut.’ ” The methods associated with Scalia — originalism, textualism, traditionalism and judicial restraint — have apparently also been left on the cutting-room floor. | 2022-07-06T17:01:14Z | www.washingtonpost.com | There is no conservative legal movement - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/07/06/epa-roberts-conservative-court-libertarian/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/07/06/epa-roberts-conservative-court-libertarian/ |
In a rare speech alongside London counterpart, Director Christopher Wray amps up warnings about Chinese hacking and influence operations
MI5 Director General Ken McCallum, left, and FBI Director Christopher A. Wray attend a joint news conference at MI5 headquarters in central London on Wednesday. (Dominic Lipinski/PA/AP)
LONDON — In a rare joint appearance with his British counterpart, FBI Director Christopher A. Wray warned Wednesday that the threat posed by the Chinese government to Western companies is “getting worse” and suggested China may be taking steps to insulate itself from economic repercussions if it invades Taiwan.
Speaking at the offices of MI5, Britain’s domestic security service, Wray focused on the threat Western businesses and governments face from what he called a relentless, multifaceted effort by China to compete unfairly in the global marketplace. He also said the Russian invasion of Ukraine may pose important lessons for geopolitics in Asia.
“As you all know, there’s been a lot of discussion about the potential that China may try to forcibly take over Taiwan,” Wray said. “Were that to happen, it would represent one of the most horrific business disruptions the world has ever seen.”
He spoke to a gathering of British business leaders, in what officials said was the first such event featuring the head of the FBI and the head of MI5.
Wray said he is confident that China “is drawing all sorts of lessons from what’s happening with Russia and its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. And you should, too. We’ve seen China looking for ways to insulate their economy against potential sanctions, trying to cushion themselves from harm if they do anything to draw the ire of the international behavior. In our world, we call that kind of behavior a clue.”
Wray did not explain how the FBI deduced a connection between Chinese efforts to lesson the effects of sanctions and any potential planning for an invasion of Taiwan. In the West, some cybersecurity experts have been calling for more than a year for sanctions to be imposed on China for government-sponsored hacking campaigns against hundreds of companies.
U.S. and allies accuse China of hacking Microsoft and other firms
The FBI director noted that when Russia was hit with tough sanctions following the Ukraine invasion, “there were a lot of Western companies that had their fingers still in their door when it slammed shut.”
Similar type of sanctions against China, he warned, could do harm to the world economy “at a much larger scale.”
Wray’s remarks represent the latest in a series of public warnings he has given about the dangers posed by China to U.S. and European economic interests. But Wednesday’s speech seemed designed to try to rally Britain’s business community to help fight Chinese hacking, theft of trade secrets and surreptitious lobbying on efforts ranging from human rights to the possibility — however slim — of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.
The island has lived under military threat from Beijing since 1949, when Chinese Communist forces defeated the Nationalists in the Chinese civil war, prompting the Nationalists to flee to Taiwan and set up a rival government. For decades, there has been an uneasy peace. But the Ukraine invasion has renewed concerns that China might try to follow Russia’s example.
Taiwan officials caution that war is not imminent, pointing to their government’s close relationship with the United States and the island’s strategic significance. In May, President Biden said the United States would defend Taiwan militarily in the event of an attack by China, before the White House backtracked on his statement, maintaining a long-running policy of ambiguity over the extent of U.S. assistance.
Speaking to reporters after the speech, Wray said he didn’t know if the Ukraine invasion increased the likelihood of China invading Taiwan. But he said China should see Russia’s experience in Ukraine — with the invasion triggering massive sanctions and a huge flood of assistance to Kyiv from Western nations — as a warning.
China's 'no-limits' deal with Russia likely topic at Blinken-Wang meeting
“I don’t have any reason to think their interest in Taiwan has abated in any fashion,” Wray said. “But we certainly hope that they are learning valuable lessons in what happens when you overplay your hand in the way that the Russians clearly have in Ukraine — driving like-minded countries together in a way that is pretty historic.”
Also Wednesday, the U.S. National Counterintelligence and Security Center issued a bulletin warning state and local officials to be wary of possible surreptitious attempts by China to influence them.
The bulletin says that “as tensions between Beijing and Washington have grown … [the Chinese government] has increasingly sought to exploit these China-U.S. subnational relationships to influence U.S. policies and advance [Chinese government] interests. Leaders at the U.S. state, local, tribal, and territorial levels risk being manipulated to support hidden [Chinese government] agendas.”
In London, MI5 Director General Ken McCallum said that his agency is running seven times as many China-related investigations as it was in 2018, and that China is at the “top” of the agenda of the intelligence-sharing relationship between the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, often referred to as the “Five Eyes.”
McCallum said his colleagues “badly need” new national security legislation to better fight hacking and covert influence operations coming from China.
The joint FBI-MI5 speech comes amid an effort by the Biden administration to enlist allies, particularly Europe and Japan, in the effort to rein in what the U.S. government says are China’s worst abuses in hacking, espionage and influence operations.
A year ago the United States, the European Union and NATO formally accused the Chinese government of a sophisticated attack on Microsoft’s widely used email server — marking the first time NATO, a 30-nation alliance, had taken such a step.
That hack compromised more than 100,000 servers worldwide, and Microsoft alleged that it was done by a Beijing-backed hacking group that exploited several previously unknown flaws in the software.
McCallum said his agency was changing to deal with the growing threat, becoming “an organization focused as much on countering state threats as our still-vital role in countering terrorism.”
“Hostile activity is happening on U.K. soil right now,” he said. “We don’t need to build walls to shut ourselves off from the rest of the world. We do need to build our awareness, and make conscious choices to grow our resilience.”
Ellen Nakashima in Washington contributed to this report. | 2022-07-06T18:00:59Z | www.washingtonpost.com | FBI director Wray talks China, Taiwan, Russia and U.S. security - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/07/06/china-taiwan-fbi-wray-sanctions/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/07/06/china-taiwan-fbi-wray-sanctions/ |
Top business executives have gotten even more Republican, study finds
From 2008 to 2020, C-suites at the country’s biggest companies grew more politically polarized, according to new research
(gorodenkoff/Getty Images/iStockphoto)
U.S. boardrooms have become more Republican and more partisan over the past decade, according to a new study.
The study, published last month in the National Bureau of Economic Research, drew on voter registration data on more than 3,700 executives from nearly a thousand S&P 1500 firms. And it comes as corporations are under pressure to take a stand on politically charged issues such as voting rights, gun violence and abortion.
In 2020, the share of Republican executives was 68 percent, up from 63 in 2008 (but down from 75 percent in 2016.)
It’s not new that board rooms are predominantly Republican, said Elisabeth Kempf, associate professor of finance at Harvard Business School and one of the study’s authors. But what is more revealing is the 8 percent increase in political homogeneity, Kempf said, “more clustering of Democrats with Democrats and more clustering of Republicans with Republicans.”
Corporate America's $50 billion promise
The trend suggests that “the growing tendency of U.S. individuals to socialize and form relationships and friendships with politically like-minded individuals extends also to the highest-level decision-makers in the workplace,” the study states.
The finding that board rooms have grown more conservative flies in stark contrast to cries of “woke capitalism” by some Republicans in recent years, who have accused certain American corporations of pandering to liberal consumers and foisting social justice agendas on the public. In December, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) introduced the Stop W.O.K.E. Act to target “corporate wokeness” in the workplace, and in May Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) introduced the “No Tax Breaks for Radical Corporate Activism Act” to prevent employers from deducting expenses for medical travel for abortion and gender-affirming care.
Disney says it will cover employee travel costs for abortions
It also reflects a generational divide over consumer values and expectations. While a sense of shared values has become increasingly important to younger consumers, who want companies to engage on social issues that have traditionally gone beyond the scope of C-suite deliberations, older generations tend to think it’s “inappropriate” for businesses to weigh in, according to M.K. Chin, associate professor of management at Indiana University. Chin, who was not involved in the study, has spent years studying the intersection of political ideology and corporate leadership.
“CEOs are facing tougher decision-making situations,” Chin said. “In the past, they were kind of exempt for not taking any actions on these social issues. Now there are different expectations from different generations, different pressures from different areas.”
Already companies’ stances on political issues are leading them into uncharted territory, with businesses such as Netflix, Procter & Gamble and Target announcing travel reimbursements for employees seeking abortion in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling striking down Roe v. Wade, taking on legal and financial risks in the process.
For younger job seekers, diversity and inclusion in the workplace aren’t a preference. They’re a requirement.
In April, the Florida legislature passed a bill to cancel the special tax district of Walt Disney World in the state — a decision with billion-dollar implications for the company and the communities that surround the theme park — after the company publicly clashed with DeSantis over a Florida law limiting how educators discuss LGBTQ issues in the classroom.
The researchers defined partisanship as “the degree to which political views within the same executive team are dominated by a single party.” They measured it through the probability that two randomly drawn executives shared a political affiliation.
The most likely explanation for the rise in political partisanship is that “executives seem to match based on political affiliation,” said Margarita Tsoutsoura, associate professor of finance at Washington University in St. Louis and another author. “A secondary reason is that the share of Republican executives increases, so executives become more homogeneous.”
Part of the divide is geographic, researchers noted, with executives in Texas and Ohio becoming more Republican, and executives in California and New York becoming more Democratic.
The sense of growing division is not unique to boardrooms: a March analysis from the Pew Research Center found that Democrats and Republicans are “farther apart ideologically today than at any time in the past 50 years.” But the spike in political polarization among executives was more than double that of local registered voters in the same period, the study’s authors observed.
“Consumers have increasing expectations for companies to take a side,” Tsoutsoura said. “This could be because with the growing political partisanship, the political ideology of people seems to play a bigger role on how they think about their identity.”
Sixty-four percent of consumers feel that brands’ social responsibility efforts are important to them, and 75 percent say brands can create real change, according to 2022 research from 360 Market Reach.
Although greater political alignment in the boardroom could be an asset to organizations in terms of more efficient communication and execution of company strategies, the effect will probably limit the perspectives of corporate decision-makers, Chin said.
“Groupthink is going to happen more easily,” Chin said. “They could suffer from a narrow scope of scanning environment, a narrow scope of new ideas and strategies.”
It can also weigh on corporate performances. The researchers found that executives in the political minority were more likely to leave, and that “departures of executives who are misaligned with the political views of the team’s majority are more costly for shareholders than departures of politically aligned executives.” | 2022-07-06T18:14:03Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Executives are becoming more politically polarized, study finds - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/07/06/corporate-political-polarization-study/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/07/06/corporate-political-polarization-study/ |
Fallon Clepper, right, and her partner, Wyatt Ford hold up their catches at the 2022 High School Fishing National Championship last month. (TBF/MAJOR LEAGUE FISHING)) (Photo by TBF/MAJOR LEAGUE FISHING))
Fallon Clepper realized a lifelong dream last month when she won the 2022 High School Fishing National Championship, but the highlight of her weekend didn’t come until the following day.
The newly minted champion was walking toward her boat when a young girl in a gray T-shirt and Birkenstock sandals recognized her and asked to take a picture. Clepper happily agreed, letting the young fan hold the trophy she’d earned the day before.
“Winning the national championship was amazing,” Clepper said. “But that was the best part of the entire trip, just like having a little girl look up to me and just be like, ‘I want to be her one day.’”
Clepper and her partner, Wyatt Ford, bested the other 235 boats in the three-day competition on Pickwick Lake near Florence, Ala., to claim the championship. The victory made Clepper the first female angler to win the title, a validating achievement for the rising senior at Lake Creek High School in Montgomery, Texas.
Clepper and Ford, both 17, have been partners since they were freshmen. Despite being one of the later boats to enter the lake, they took the lead after the first day of competition when their three bass weighed in at a total of 18 pounds, 8 ounces. The 18-plus pound day was especially significant considering Clepper and Ford’s late draw meant the location they had previously scouted was already occupied, forcing them to move elsewhere.
Clepper said she didn’t realize their three fish would weigh in at that amount until her father, who was the captain of their boat, suggested they might have had a better day than she realized.
“Having 18 pounds with three fish is unreal. I don't know anybody who's actually really done that,” Clepper said. “We went into the tackle store and they said that they've never even heard of 18 pounds coming from three fish.”
A slower second day meant that the pair led a slimmed down field of the top 10 competitors by just a one ounce margin entering the final day of competition.
Soon after arriving at the same location where they had found their first-day success, Ford caught a 7-pound, 8-ounce fish.
“I was just like, ‘Okay, we might actually have a shot here to win,’” Clepper said.
The pair still had a long wait ahead of them. The final weigh-in was conducted in reverse order of the previous day’s standings, meaning that Clepper and Ford would be last in the queue.
Any anxiety on the part of Clepper was alleviated somewhat when she spoketo a member of the second-place team. Clepper estimated that she and Ford would weigh in at 10 or 11 pounds, and her competitor with about 7. But she still had to wait another 45 minutes for the result to become official.
“It took forever, and I was just ready to weigh in,” Clepper said. “Because I already knew as soon as the other team pulled up that we'd won it, and I was like, ‘Can we just get to us already?’”
When it was their turn, Clepper and Ford discovered that their three fish weighed in at 12 pounds, 14 ounces, bringing their total to 39 pounds, 9 ounces, and securing the victory by a comfortable margin of more than 5 pounds. Clepper remembers seeing her family rejoice, jumping up and down in celebration.
The win earned Clepper and Ford more than $250,000 in potential scholarships, as well as a place in the field at November’s 2022 Toyota Series Championship in Guntersville, Ala. It also earned them each a bass fish trophy, which Clepper plans to place on the mantle of the fireplace at her father’s house.
Clepper said she hopes the win inspires more young girls to get involved in the sport.
“Winning this I hope showed that you can do it,” Clepper said. “It’s been one of the best experiences of my life.” | 2022-07-06T18:18:24Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Texas angler becomes first female high school fishing champion - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/07/06/first-female-fishing-champion/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/07/06/first-female-fishing-champion/ |
Nicklas Backstrom had six goals and 25 assists in 47 games during the 2021-22 season. He has three years left on the five-year, $46 million contract he signed in January 2020. (John McDonnell/The Washington Post)
Washington Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom intends to play next season, Capitals General Manager Brian MacLellan told reporters Wednesday. Backstrom, 34, is recovering from hip resurfacing surgery, which he underwent in Belgium in mid-June.
“It’s a hard surgery and until we see him halfway into his recovery, what mobility, strength he’s gotten back from it, it’s tough to project for anybody how he reacts and how it becomes out of the surgery,” MacLellan said. “So we’re gonna wait and see where he’s at, how he’s feeling and how he’s progressing.”
Backstrom dealt with a nagging hip injury throughout the 2021-22 season. The veteran center underwent arthroscopic hip surgery, a minimally invasive procedure, in 2015, but the issue flared up at the end of the 2020-21 season. He opted to not have surgery last summer and instead focused on rehabbing, then missed the first two months of this season.
From June: Capitals’ Nicklas Backstrom undergoes hip surgery, faces ‘lengthy recovery’
Backstrom still has three years left on the five-year, $46 million contract he signed in January 2020.
“The anticipation is Nick’s coming back at some point, so it’s not that you can use that [salary cap] space,” MacLellan said, when asked how Backstrom’s plan to return will impact Washington’s offseason plans. “We’re going to look to fill it from within first and then go from there after that.
“The salary cap is the salary cap. We have to count on [Backstrom] coming back at some point … It’s not like we can go out and sign a $9 million player. We are anticipating Nick comes back at some point. Until that goes away, we are planning on him coming back.”
MacLellan also discussed the status of Carl Hagelin, who underwent surgery on his left eye in March, saying a final determination on his progress will come in August. At that time, the team will be informed if the surgery completely healed the eye and whether Hagelin’s eyesight has been restored enough to allow him to continue to play.
Emily Engel-Natzke joins Capitals’ staff as video coordinator
MacLellan also said he doesn’t anticipate any other changes to coaching staff after assistant coach Scott Arniel’s departure earlier in the week. Washington will start looking at candidates to replace Arniel, who left for the Winnipeg Jets, after the draft.
Washington’s goaltending situation is still the status quo, MacLellan said, and the Capitals intend to extend both Ilya Samsonov and Vitek Vanecek qualifying offers. The deadline to do so is this coming Monday. Washington will still look for a veteran goalie through the trade market or in free agency, though.
“We’ll explore trade opportunities there, we’ll look at the free agent market and then we’ll analyze the RFA contracts that are coming for both of them,” MacLellan said. “We will make a decision based on all that stuff.” | 2022-07-06T18:18:33Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Capitals' Nicklas Backstrom plans to play next season, Brian MacLellan says - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/07/06/nicklas-backstrom-hip-surgery-brian-maclellan/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/07/06/nicklas-backstrom-hip-surgery-brian-maclellan/ |
D.C. Health Director LaQuandra Nesbitt to step down from role
D.C. Department of Health Director LaQuandra Nesbitt at a news conference in November 2021. Nesbitt said she is leaving her post at the end of July. (Astrid Riecken/For The Washington Post)
D.C. Health Director LaQuandra Nesbitt will resign at the end of the month, she told The Washington Post Wednesday, ending a near-eight-year run for one of Mayor Muriel E. Bowser’s longest-serving cabinet members who played an instrumental role in the city’s day-to-day response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Nesbitt, 44, became one of the region’s most visible leaders early in the pandemic, appearing frequently alongside Bowser at news conferences to offer plain-language information to the public and field questions about public health decisions and shifting policies. Despite some hiccups, residents have overwhelmingly praised the city’s handling of the pandemic, which Nesbitt said brought some of the most unusual challenges of her long career.
At a time when some health officials around the country have stepped down from their posts because of burnout or harassment during the pandemic, Nesbitt said her July 29 departure is spurred instead by her desire to bring together her experiences in a new arena. She’s held roles as a teacher, physician and health leader in two major cities — and, while she has no specific job lined up, Nesbitt said she wants to improve health systems by finding novel ways for private and community-based health organizations to partner with local governments and traditional health care providers.
And while she’d like to stay in D.C., Nesbitt added that she’s ready for a break from city government.
“What you learn about working in state and local government is there are so many players who need to be involved in keeping communities healthy,” she said. “I want an opportunity to look at things from a different vantage point.”
Her exit comes as the city’s coronavirus response continues to shift: Last week, D.C. Health ended its contact tracing program, which officials said had lost its effectiveness in recent months. Daily case counts in the District have declined since May, now sitting at about 195 new cases per 100,000 residents, although that number is likely an undercount and variants of the virus remain an unpredictable threat.
D.C. ends coronavirus contact tracing effort, laying off 131 workers
The emergence of monkeypox in the District has also caused alarm; District officials said there were 58 cases reported in the city as of Tuesday.
Nesbitt said the recent decline in coronavirus cases had no role in her decision to leave the department, adding that residents should feel confident about the health department’s future.
“I’ve been steering the ship, but what residents need to know is that I have selected team members here who will always act in the best interest of D.C.,” she said. “The city is, and will be, in good hands.”
Originally from Flint, Mich., Nesbitt earned her medical degree from Wayne State University and a master’s of public health from Harvard. She first joined D.C.'s health department in 2008 as a senior deputy policy director, overseeing community health efforts including nutritional programs, cancer and diabetes prevention, and infant and child health improvement before departing two years later to lead the Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness in 2011.
Nesbitt served in Louisville until early 2015, when Bowser, upon being elected as D.C.'s mayor brought Nesbitt back to lead D.C. Health. Nesbitt has also held adjunct teaching roles at the University of Maryland.
In an interview, Bowser (D) praised Nesbitt’s service and said she would make an announcement shortly on who will lead the department in the interim and will launch a full search for a new director in the coming weeks.
“When I was recruiting for the position at the time she was one of a handful of people who, immediately after her interview, I said, ‘That’s our doctor,’ ” Bowser said. “LaQuandra is a well-rounded public leader, she’ll be successful in whatever is next for her.”
It wasn’t always smooth sailing. Nesbitt and the health department faced criticism from D.C. Council members when ramping up and then dialing back pandemic-related restrictions, like masking. Some residents questioned her decision to hire Tom Farley, the former Philadelphia health commissioner who ordered the destruction of human remains of victims of a 1985 police bombing in West Philadelphia. Lawmakers also challenged her over the city’s process for residents to get vaccinated early in the pandemic, when vaccines were in short supply, arguing that it was not accessible to poorer residents.
Despite frustrations, Nesbitt said residents by and large followed her department’s guidance and recommendations from the start — an indicator, she said, that they had confidence in the city’s response.
“All those other things that happened along the way, in terms of forced errors or unforced errors, paled in comparison to the moments where we got very clear signals that our people were with us,” she said.
Julie Zauzmer Weil contributed to this report. | 2022-07-06T18:27:07Z | www.washingtonpost.com | D.C. Health Director LaQuandra Nesbitt resigns - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/06/dc-laquandra-nesbitt-resign/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/06/dc-laquandra-nesbitt-resign/ |
Understanding Juul’s Feud With the FDA Over Vaping
Analysis by Fiona Rutherford and Robert Langreth | Bloomberg
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The developers of the Juul e-cigarette say they created the device to help adult smokers quit. But their product achieved enormous success, becoming the top-selling e-cigarette in the US in two years, in part by attracting a huge following among teenagers, who aren’t legally allowed to purchase such products. Now the nation’s Food and Drug Administration and Juul Labs are battling over the future of the device.
1. What’s the status of the Juul?
On June 23, the FDA banned Juul Labs Inc.’s products from the market, noting their “disproportionate role in the rise in youth vaping.” The next day, Juul Labs successfully won an emergency court order blocking the FDA’s decision for now. Meanwhile, the FDA temporarily suspended the marketing ban on July 5, after it determined there are scientific issues that merit further review. This effectively allows Juul to keep selling its products for the time being.
2. What is a Juul?
It’s a vaping device containing a battery that heats nicotine liquid. The user inhales nicotine, an addictive alkaloid present in tobacco, and exhales aerosol. There’s no burning tobacco and thus no smoke or tar. The Juul has a sleek design. It’s made of brushed aluminum and resembles a USB flash drive. Because it’s small, the underage vaper can palm it, discreetly take a hit when a teacher or parent isn’t looking, and breathe the aerosol into a sleeve or collar. Originally, Juul refills came in tasty flavors such as mango and creme.
3. How common is teen vaping?
More than 13% of middle- and high-school students said they vaped within the previous month, according to a national survey published in October. More than 80% of those students said they used flavored e-cigarettes. Fruit flavors were the most popular, followed by candy ones. In 2020, the FDA essentially barred flavors except tobacco and menthol in e-cigarettes such as the Juul that use a replaceable cartridge (or pod) filled with nicotine liquid. But disposable e-cigarettes and liquids for refillable open-tank systems weren’t covered. (Michael R. Bloomberg, the majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News, has funded efforts to ban flavored vaping products.)
4. What are the concerns about vaping?
While some evidence suggests that vaping is a safer choice than lighting up, there isn’t enough long-term data to make a definitive conclusion. In late 2019 and early 2020, there were nearly 3,000 cases of lung injuries resulting in 68 deaths reported in the US that were associated with vaping. Vitamin E acetate, an additive in some vaping products containing THC, the main psychoactive compound in marijuana, is strongly suspected to be the culprit. The effects on humans of nicotine aren’t well-studied, although adolescents appear to be particularly vulnerable to it, with some evidence suggesting it can harm brain development. A report by the US National Academies of Sciences said there was substantial evidence that young vapers are more likely than nonvapers to try regular cigarettes.
5. How are e-cigarettes regulated in the US?
The FDA began regulating e-cigarettes as tobacco products in 2016, requiring companies to submit applications to continue selling existing or new products. One of the biggest challenges for the agency has been keeping the products out of the hands of kids. The FDA has sent thousands of warning letters to retailers who have illegally sold e-cigarettes to minors. It also conducts regular inspections of manufacturing facilities. Mitch Zeller, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, has said that the burden is on companies applying for authorization to sell vaping products “to demonstrate that the benefit to adults is going to outweigh the harm to kids.” According to the FDA, Juul’s application lacked sufficient evidence to show that allowing its products to be sold in the US would be appropriate for the protection of public health. It said some of the company’s study findings “raised concerns due to insufficient and conflicting data.”
6. How are e-cigarettes regulated elsewhere?
In 28 countries, the sale of all types of e-cigarettes is banned. They include Brazil, India, Mexico, Qatar, Thailand and Uganda. In addition, Jamaica, Japan and Switzerland prohibit the sale of e-cigarettes that contain nicotine. European and UK health authorities have embraced vaping products as a way to get people to quit smoking and have imposed tougher regulations on them than the US has, restricting marketing to children, for example, and imposing lower limits on nicotine content. The European Union and UK permit a maximum of 20 milligrams of nicotine per milliliter of e-cigarette fluid, whereas Juul pod solds in the US contain either 35 or 59 milligrams per milliliter. In both the EU and UK, teen vaping rates are lower than in the US.
7. What’s the future for Juul Labs?
On July 6, after the FDA administratively stayed its decision, Juul Labs confirmed that it was continuing to sell its vaping products. Meanwhile, the company is facing a plethora of lawsuits. In April it reached a $22.5 million settlement with Washington state over claims it unlawfully targeted underage consumers with deceptive advertisements. Last year, the company struck a $40 million settlement with North Carolina over a suit claiming it aimed its products at the young. The company agreed to stop all marketing directed at young people as part of that deal. There are also more than 2,500 personal injury cases in which Juul Labs is accused of deliberately targeting minors in marketing its products. | 2022-07-06T18:31:47Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Understanding Juul’s Feud With the FDA Over Vaping - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/understanding-juuls-feud-with-the-fda-over-vaping/2022/07/06/28ab74cc-fd54-11ec-b39d-71309168014b_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/understanding-juuls-feud-with-the-fda-over-vaping/2022/07/06/28ab74cc-fd54-11ec-b39d-71309168014b_story.html |
Photo by Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post)
Whenever there’s another horrific mass shooting, conservatives experience cognitive dissonance, the uncomfortable feeling that occurs when two beliefs come into conflict. On one hand, they feel strongly that it should be easy for almost anyone to purchase military-style weapons designed to kill large numbers of human beings. On the other hand, they agree that mass shootings committed with those weapons are a bad thing.
They resolve this by deciding, and trying to convince others, that the guns have absolutely nothing to do with the carnage. This requires diversion, delusion, and dissembling, to a degree that seems to ratchet up in intensity with each mass shooting.
Which is where the conservative media come in. If you’re feeling unsettled about the murder of seven people at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Ill. and what it might say about your party’s gun fetish (and perhaps your own), they’ll tell you how to really understand what happened:
Fox News host Tucker Carlson blamed the massacre on medication given to young people, bleak economic prospects, and women nagging young men: “The authorities in their lives — mostly women — never stops lecturing them about their so-called privilege.” He added: “So, a lot of young men in America are going nuts. Are you surprised?”
Carlson’s colleague Laura Ingraham homed in on the real culprit: marijuana. “What can regular pot use trigger in young men in particular? Psychosis and other violent personality changes,” she said, blaming the media for “covering up the truth about the growing scourge of violent psychosis in our young people” created by weed.
Newsmax host Greg Kelly decided the shooter must be some kind of leftist, even though the minimal political views he had appear to be a barely coherent mishmash, based on what we know. Kelly said: “He looks a little antifa-ish, doesn’t he?”
Conservative radio and TV host Mark Levin saw the big picture, blaming “Cultural decay, the decay of the civil society, the war on cops, the way that human life is viewed, whether it's abortion, infanticide, whatever the issue.”
This illustrates an important function that conservative media, especially Fox News, play for the Republican base. Sometimes those media tell the base what to think, or what to think about, offering a buffet of stories and issues they’re supposed to be mad about at a particular moment.
But at times like this, they provide the base with arguments. It’s not about whether those arguments could actually persuade your niece during a Thanksgiving squabble, or whether they could survive a moment’s introspection. It’s just something to say, an answer to have at your fingertips that you can throw back at liberals and something you can tell yourself when you’re unfortunate enough to be exposed to a competing idea.
It doesn’t even have to make any sense at all. And the weaker the argument is, the more important it is that it activates ideas and values you hold strongly already, especially things you’re mad about.
Carlson clearly hates the idea that people — especially women — might lecture him about “privilege,” and he knows that large portions of his audience do too. After all, his show is a nonstop festival of grievance and resentment about race and gender; that’s what his fans tune in for. Of late, he has been lamenting the supposed decline of masculinity in the United States; he even promoted a special on the “end of men” that suggested testicle tanning to restore manly vigor.
Similarly, Ingraham has been on a crusade against cannabis for years. Recently she blamed pot for the Uvalde massacre, and there was no doubt where she’d point the finger over Highland Park. Her viewers have heard it many times before, and are likely to nod and say, “Yep, those damn kids with their reefers, that’s what the problem is.”
What we actually know so far about the accused shooter is both highly specific and familiar in its basic story of an angry and suicidal young man. There won’t ever be a single factor that explains the psychology of every mass shooter. Some grew up in poverty while others didn’t. Some have diagnosable mental illnesses while others don’t. Some are motivated by a specific ideology of hate while others are driven by nebulous rage at the world.
But there’s one thing every last one of them has in common, without exception, and it isn’t pot smoking or being nagged by women. It’s that they were able, with little difficulty, to get their hands on a weapon that they could use to kill as many people as they wished.
If you’re committed to a vision of a world in which that will continue to be the reality, you can’t entertain the idea that there will be problematic consequences, in the form of innocent people being murdered, by the weapons you fetishize, at school and at church and at the mall and watching a Fourth of July parade.
So the blame must be cast elsewhere. And if you aren’t quite sure where, tune into Fox or turn on your radio, and the conservative media will be happy to point you in a helpful direction. | 2022-07-06T18:32:36Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Conservative media mobilize to divert blame for Highland Park massacre - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/06/conservative-media-divert-blame-highland-park-massacre/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/06/conservative-media-divert-blame-highland-park-massacre/ |
My rural Kentucky county is awash in guns. Where does that leave me?
I should be armed when I jog, my neighbors tell me. A gun is their one-size-fits-all solution to everything.
Perspective by Teri Carter
Teri Carter is a writer living in central Kentucky.
Rifles for sale at the Knob Creek Gun Range in West Point, Ky. (Jon Cherry/Bloomberg)
I wake up thinking about guns.
I do not think about guns solely because 19 children and two teachers were shot to death in Uvalde, Tex., on May 24, or because a gunman opened fire from a rooftop on a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Ill., killing seven paradegoers and wounding many more.
I think about guns because, after three decades of political paralysis, Congress passed a law that requires more comprehensive background checks for young gun buyers, helps states pay for red flag laws, which allow judges to approve the removal of guns from people who may be in danger of using them on themselves or others, and bars more domestic violence offenders from buying firearms, closing the so-called “boyfriend loophole,” and I fear it will not be enough to stop the next mass shooter.
I think about guns, because our country is addicted to guns.
I live in rural Kentucky, in a county with a population of 23,000 people, and I have been told half a dozen times lately that I should be carrying a gun when I jog at the local park. What kind of gun? I wonder, as I lie there in the soft, predawn dark. What size gun? How often would I need to practice to remember how to use it? Where, in my spandex running clothes, would I carry a gun? I tripped on a tree root back in December and fell flat on my face. Would the gun go off if I fell? What if I shot myself? What if I shot someone else? Could I shoot someone?
I think about guns because guns are what I talked about most for the last several months as I ran in our local Republican primary for county magistrate. Not gas prices. Not the “stolen” election. Not caravans at the southern border. Not abortion. Not the mundane, budget-related duties of the seat I was running for. I talked about guns.
I am a Democrat who ran for local office as a Republican because in Anderson County, Kentucky, right down the road from the state capitol, Democrats no longer have a prayer of winning a partisan election, even if it is to serve in a nonpartisan job. This is die-hard Trump country now. Donald Trump won the county in both 2016 and 2020 with more than 70 percent of the vote. I figured that running on the Republican ticket, talking neighbor to neighbor with Republicans in a sensible manner about issues like guns would give me a fair shot.
I was wrong. I not only lost, I lost spectacularly. No matter how I tried, I could not convince voters that I was not going to show up at their door one day with a checklist, authorized by either our Democratic governor, Andy Beshear, or Democratic president, Joe Biden, and seize their guns. And when I was honest in telling them I believe AR-15-style guns are weapons of war and should be banned altogether? Voters laughed.
The term “gun culture” gets tossed around. But what does it mean to live in a place rooted in Trumpian (angry, unabashed, aggrieved, armed-to-the-teeth) 2022 gun culture?
I think about guns because, two days before our May 17 primary, a friend removed my campaign signs from his yard. Around 9:30 that morning, while I was driving to Sunday school and church, he had heard the pop-pop of gunshots as men in trucks drove by, randomly yelling my name and Hillary Clinton’s and cursing about liberals.
I think about guns because, in mid-April, it was rumored that a local machine parts shop had a doormat in the store with the face of a longtime female magistrate on it. It read “Wipe Your Feet Here.” I wanted to see this doormat for myself and ask some questions: Did they have a supply? Was it for sale? Who created it? The first two friends I told begged me not to go. Did I know the owner carries a gun? If I went, they each cautioned independently, would I take a law enforcement officer with me. I thought this sounded ridiculous. “Just have the officer wait for you in the parking lot!” one insisted. When I arrived at the shop, without the police, I pulled in behind a grayish gold truck with a “Let’s Go Brandon” sticker on the back window, and sat there thinking, “I don’t belong here. What am I doing?” I left.
I think about guns because, later the same day, I made myself go back to the shop. The owner was not there, so I asked the woman behind the counter my questions. She was angry. She went in the back to get a man. What man? Would he be armed and angry? I left as fast as I could.
People here openly carry their guns. Whether I am stopping by Kroger to pick up ice cream, grabbing a coffee on Main Street or stocking up on household supplies at Walmart, I am constantly aware that there are people around me carrying guns.
Who are the good guys with guns? Who are the bad guys with guns? How do you know?
I think about guns because, in the March 23 issue of the Anderson News, our weekly newspaper, there was a front-page story about a Republican state senator, Adrienne Southworth, who lives in my town, headlined, “Southworth bill would alter guns in school law.” Southworth’s bill proposed that citizens be allowed to carry guns in school buildings when students are not present.
I think about guns because I believe the Southworth bill was in response to the man who came to our school board meeting a few months earlier wearing a gun on his person. I was the citizen who pointed out the gun to the superintendent, after which the man was led outside to put his gun in his vehicle before returning to speak during the public comments section of the meeting.
I think about guns because the editor of our weekly newspaper regularly voices his full-throated support for guns. On June 14, he wrote, “Even in a nation so thoroughly divided by the 2nd Amendment, it’s nearly impossible to find anyone who doesn’t think schools need to be protected by trained professionals with guns and hardened as well as possible against intruders.” Nearly impossible? Really?
I think about guns because, in the previous week’s newspaper, the same editor wrote that when we reelected our county attorney “in last month’s primary, there isn’t a question that his pro-gun campaign messaging had something to do with it.” The county attorney won his primary handily. He will face no Democratic opposition in the general election.
Gun culture in the United States is like kudzu, often called “the invasive vine that ate the South” because of the way it systematically, over time, suffocated and destroyed native grasses, trees and plants until they became extinct. We can no longer go to school, parades, shopping malls, restaurants, concerts, night clubs, the grocery store, without wondering whether this is where we will get shot.
Guns culture is destroying our lives. And the solution most often proposed? More guns.
I have been waking up thinking about guns because, suddenly, there is a suspicious man hanging around the park trail where I jog. One day he drove up to talk to me. I thought he was trying to sell me drugs. A few days later, he tried to get a woman to go home with him. One morning I was running my last lap and spotted the man in a dark corner of the park, under some trees, as if he was lying in wait for me. I called law enforcement. As I stood next to the police car giving a description, I wondered, Would I feel safer here with a gun?
I think about guns, because thinking about guns in 2022 America is part of our all-day, everyday lives. When I warned a woman who often walks her dogs at the park about the suspicious man, she said as casually as if she were offering me a mint, “Oh, I’ll start carrying my gun. Do you have a gun?” | 2022-07-06T18:32:42Z | www.washingtonpost.com | My rural Kentucky county is awash in guns. Where does that leave me? - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/07/06/gun-culture-rural-kentucky/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/07/06/gun-culture-rural-kentucky/ |
Intel CEO discusses the global shortage of computer chips and investments to expand U.S. manufacturing capacity
A global shortage of computer chips has hobbled manufacturing worldwide over the past year spurring companies and governments to find ways to expand production. On Tuesday, July 12 at 12:00 p.m. ET, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger joins Washington Post columnist David Ignatius to discuss the global race to produce computer chips, Intel’s investments in U.S. manufacturing capacity and the role of government support.
CEO, Intel | 2022-07-06T18:34:09Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Intel CEO discusses the global shortage of computer chips and investments to expand U.S. manufacturing capacity - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/washington-post-live/2022/07/12/intel-ceo-discusses-global-shortage-computer-chips-investments-expand-us-manufacturing-capacity/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/washington-post-live/2022/07/12/intel-ceo-discusses-global-shortage-computer-chips-investments-expand-us-manufacturing-capacity/ |
Education was key to Republican Glenn Youngkin’s successful campaign for governor of Virginia, and it has figured prominently in his first months in office. Unfortunately, some of his moves — his first executive order forbidding the teaching of “inherently divisive concepts,” the establishment of a secretive tip line for people to snitch on teachers and his bid to oust the Loudoun school board — seemed to be outgrowths of the divisive ideology that drove his campaign. But his choice for education secretary — an expert in the use of data to drive education reform — offered some hope that Mr. Youngkin might be more interested in improving education than just weaponizing it. Now his first appointments to the state board of education offer further encouragement that Mr. Youngkin wants solutions for the issues that have long bedeviled education.
Andrew Rotherham is a former Bill Clinton education adviser and member of the Virginia state school board who co-founded a research nonprofit focused on improving learning outcomes for marginalized students. Grace Turner Creasey, an expert in early-childhood education, is executive director of the Virginia Council for Private Education. William D. Hansen, deputy secretary of education under former president George W. Bush, heads up a nonprofit dedicated to helping public charter schools build and finance facilities. Alan Seibert, former superintendent of Salem City Schools, is the constituent services and government relations officer for Roanoke City Public Schools. Suparna Dutta, a technology expert, is co-founder of the parent group Coalition for TJ (Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology).
The appointments predictably drew some criticism. Opponents of charter schools questioned Mr. Hansen’s appointment, and those who think Mr. Youngkin is out to destroy public schools pointed to Ms. Creasey’s selection. But Mr. Youngkin is right to establish a big education tent that is welcoming of new ideas. Charter schools, as their success in D.C. shows, can play a critical role in education; they offer choice to parents and are laboratories for innovation. Private and parochial schools, too, play a role and are affected by decisions of the board. Ms. Creasey would not be the first private school board member, and she taught for 10 years in public school systems. That Mr. Youngkin reached out to Mr. Rotherham, a Democrat whose nationally recognized work has been focused on underserved students, suggests the governor recognizes the need to address Virginia’s glaring racial, ethnic and income achievement gaps. We are less enthusiastic about Ms. Dutta’s selection. As a parent activist who supported Mr. Youngkin during the campaign, she helps him deliver on his commitment to parental engagement. But her work in the fraught debate over TJ — in which she opposed the school’s needed admission changes — are off-putting to those who worry about a retreat from diversity and equity.
Virginia education officials two months ago released a report that documented in devastating detail a years-long trend of declining student performance, made worse by the pandemic. Clearly, the board — fortified with its new members — has its work cut out for it.
Daniel Snyder proves why taxpayers should not help build his stadium | 2022-07-06T18:57:42Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Glenn Youngkin’s Virginia state board of education picks offer hope - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/06/glenn-youngkin-virginia-school-board-appointments/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/06/glenn-youngkin-virginia-school-board-appointments/ |
A 76-million-year-old dinosaur skeleton to go on sale
The Gorgosaurus skeleton is expected to sell in an auction for $5 million to $8 million.
A Gorgosaurus skeleton fossil will be auctioned in New York City this month. The Gorgosaurus, which was a relative of the T. rex, lived in what is now the Western United States and Canada. (Julia Nikhinson/AP)
The fossilized skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex relative that roamed the Earth about 76 million years ago will be auctioned in New York City this month, Sotheby’s announced Tuesday.
The Gorgosaurus skeleton will highlight Sotheby’s natural history auction July 28, the auction house said.
The Gorgosaurus lived in what is now the Western United States and Canada during the late Cretaceous Period. It was an apex carnivore (a meat eater with no predators), and it predated its relative the T. rex by 10 million years.
All of the other known Gorgosaurus skeletons are in museum collections, making this one the only specimen available for private ownership, the auction house said. Sotheby’s did not disclose who owns it. | 2022-07-06T19:06:18Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Gorgosaurus skeleton to be sold at auction - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/kidspost/2022/07/06/gorgosaurus-skeleton-to-be-auctioned/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/kidspost/2022/07/06/gorgosaurus-skeleton-to-be-auctioned/ |
Dave Sheinin
WNBA star and two-time Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner is escorted to a courtroom for a hearing in Khimki, just outside Moscow, on July 1. (Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP)
President Biden on Wednesday told the wife of WNBA star Brittney Griner, who has been detained in Russia since February on drug charges, that he is working to secure the basketball player’s release “as soon as possible,” the White House said.
During the call, Biden also read Cherelle Griner a draft of a letter that he is planning to send to Brittney Griner later Wednesday, according to the White House, which said Vice President Harris also participated.
“The President called Cherelle to reassure her that he is working to secure Brittney’s release as soon as possible, as well as the release of Paul Whelan and other U.S. nationals who are wrongfully detained or held hostage in Russia and around the world,” the White House said.
In a letter delivered to Biden on Monday, Brittney Griner, 31, expressed fear about not knowing how long she will be detained and urged the president to work for her release and that of other Americans detained abroad.
According to the White House, during the call Wednesday, Biden “offered his support to Cherelle and Brittney’s family, and he committed to ensuring they are provided with all possible assistance while his administration pursues every avenue to bring Brittney home.”
“Today’s call follows recent calls that National Security Advisor [Jake] Sullivan and Secretary of State [Antony] Blinken have had with Cherelle in recent weeks and this past weekend,” the White House said, adding that Biden had directed his national security team to remain in regular contact with Brittney Griner’s family.
Nearly 1,200 prominent Black women signed a letter to Biden and Harris urging the administration to secure Griner’s release from a Russian prison, an escalation of a pressure campaign by the WNBA star’s supporters that comes as her trial proceeds in a court outside Moscow.
The letter, which was delivered to the White House on Tuesday afternoon, was signed by a collection of Black female leaders from the realms of sports, entertainment, labor, business, politics and faith. It claimed that Griner is “enduring inhumane conditions” during her imprisonment and said, “It is imperative, President Biden, that you address this ongoing human rights crisis and make a deal to bring Brittney home quickly and safely.”
Griner, 31, was arrested in February at Sheremetyevo International Airport outside Moscow when customs officials allegedly discovered vape cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggage. At the time, she was returning to the country to join UMMC Ekaterinburg, the Russian team for which she plays during the WNBA offseason. In early May, the State Department declared Griner’s case a “wrongful detainment,” an official classification that elevated it to the office of the U.S. special presidential envoy for hostage affairs. | 2022-07-06T19:06:19Z | www.washingtonpost.com | President Biden Biden pledges to Brittney Griner’s wife that he’s working to secure the basketball player's release - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/06/griner-russia-biden/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/06/griner-russia-biden/ |
British diplomat among several foreigners detained by Iran
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has detained several foreigners, including a senior British diplomat, on espionage charges, state media said Wednesday.
The IRGC’s intelligence wing accused the foreigners, including the UK’s Deputy Head of Mission in Tehran, of collecting soil samples in a prohibited area of Iran’s central desert, where its operatives monitored them with drones, the Fars news agency reported.
“Britain’s second most senior envoy, who traveled to Iran as a tourist, is among them," the report said. “The footage shows that this person was collecting soil samples.”
A video posted by Fars news, which is linked to the IRGC, included images of the foreigners touring the desert. In the video, a reporter says that the IRGC was conducting a missile maneuver in the area — and that Iranian authorities planned to expel the British diplomat after he apologized for the incident.
The British government has not confirmed the arrest. | 2022-07-06T19:32:26Z | www.washingtonpost.com | British diplomat among several foreigners detained by Iran - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/06/iran-uk-revolutionary-guards/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/06/iran-uk-revolutionary-guards/ |
Bishops suspend priest convicted of child sex abuse, reopen probe
By Ana Vanessa Herrero
A Catholic parishioner holds a rosary during a mass in Caracas, on Dec. 15, 2021. (YURI CORTEZ/AFP via Getty Images)
CARACAS, Venezuela — The Catholic Church in Venezuela has reopened its investigation into a priest who was convicted of sexually abusing a child but was later returned to the ministry, officials said Wednesday.
The announcement came just over two weeks after The Washington Post reported on the case of the Rev. Luis Alberto Mosquera, the priest in Venezuela’s Lara state. Mosquera, 63, was convicted in 2006 of abusing a 6-year-old boy and sentenced to more than seven years in prison, but in 2008, he was released and allowed by the church to resume his work as a priest. A photo posted on his Facebook page in 2016 and reposted in 2017 showed him surrounded by children.
Mosquera’s case was one of 10 involving allegations of child sexual abuse scrutinized by The Post for the report published in June. In half the cases, dating from 2001 to 2022, The Post found that convicted priests were released early from their sentences or served no prison time at all. In at least three cases, they were allowed to return to ministry.
Bishop Mario del Valle Moronta Rodríguez, the first vice president of the Venezuelan Conference of Bishops, told reporters in Caracas on Wednesday that Mosquera had been suspended from ministry while the investigation was reopened. It was not clear when he was suspended or whether the church was investigating new allegations or reviewing the incident in which he was convicted.
“I cannot tell you the exact date because I am not the bishop of Barquisimeto, but he has been suspended,” Moronta said.
Mosquera confirmed to The Post in January that he was working as a priest in Lara, but declined to answer other questions. He could not immediately be reached for comment on Wednesday. People in Humocaro Alto confirmed to The Post that Mosquera had been removed from the parish without any explanation.
The bishops’ conference held an unusual news conference to discuss the church’s response to allegations of sexual abuse by its priests. | 2022-07-06T19:32:32Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Venezuela bishops suspend priest Luis Alberto Mosquera, convicted of child sex abuse, reopen probe - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/06/venezuela-priest-sex-abuse-catholic/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/06/venezuela-priest-sex-abuse-catholic/ |
Joe Rogan, right, said that he's declined to have former president Donald Trump, left, on his show multiple times. (Ross D. Franklin/AP/Gregory Payan/AP)
In fact, Rogan said Monday on Lex Fridman’s podcast that he has turned down Trump multiple times from appearing on Spotify’s “The Joe Rogan Experience.”
“I’m not a Trump supporter in any way, shape or form. I’ve had the opportunity to have him on my show more than once, I’ve said no every time,” Rogan said. “I don’t want to help him, I’m not interested in helping him.”
Rogan, who supported Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in 2020 and has said he would back Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis if the Republican were to run for president in 2024, described Trump as a “polarizing figure” and “an existential threat to democracy itself.”
Rogan, a stand-up comedian and color commentator for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, is a lightning rod with a huge following. Rogan’s show has an estimated audience of 11 million listeners an episode. Spotify acquired Rogan’s podcast library in 2020 in a reported $100 million deal.
Doctors call out Spotify for letting Joe Rogan spread ‘false and societally harmful’ covid-19 claims
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek wrote in a news release that he refused to “cancel” Rogan, saying, “it is important to me that we don’t take on the position of being content censor while also making sure that there are rules in place and consequences for those who violate them.” That support came around the same time that roughly 70 episodes of “The Joe Rogan Experience” were removed from the platform without explanation.
Shortly after Rogan’s controversies surrounding coronavirus misinformation and the many previous instances in which the host used the n-word, Trump offered his support to Rogan. The former president said in February that the embattled Spotify host should “stop apologizing.” Trump had claimed the media and Democrats had forced Rogan to “look weak and frightened” by apologizing.
“Joe Rogan is an interesting and popular guy, but he’s got to stop apologizing to the Fake News and Radical Left maniacs and lunatics,” Trump said in a news release from his Save America PAC. “How many ways can you say you’re sorry? Joe, just go about what you do so well and don’t let them make you look weak and frightened.”
Trump tells Joe Rogan to ‘stop apologizing’ for Spotify controversies | 2022-07-06T19:41:08Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Joe Rogan says he's turned down Trump as guest on Spotify podcast: 'I don't want to help him' - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2022/07/06/joe-rogan-trump-podcast-guest-spotify/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2022/07/06/joe-rogan-trump-podcast-guest-spotify/ |
A man has been charged with a bias crime, or hate crime, after prosecutors said he shouted racial slurs and physically attacked a 5-year-old and her father, who are of Japanese descent, on Saturday on a bicycle path in Portland, Ore.
Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt announced in a statement Tuesday that Dylan J. Kesterson, 34, has been charged with harassment, assault and multiple counts of bias crime in the attack. Authorities said a California father, mother and their daughter were riding bikes on the Eastbank Esplanade when Kesterson approached them, punching the father in the head and then punching the child in the helmet she was wearing at the time. Kesterson stopped when passersby intervened, authorities said.
The father, who has not been publicly identified, was treated at a hospital, but the girl did not sustain any injuries.
Kesterson was arrested not far from the scene.
An attorney listed for Kesterson in the court records did not immediately respond Wednesday morning to an email from The Washington Post requesting comment. Phone numbers listed for Kesterson were no longer in service.
The long, ugly history of anti-Asian racism and violence in the U.S.
Under Oregon law, a bias crime — or hate crime — is defined as a crime in which a person “intentionally, knowingly or recklessly causes physical injury to another person because of the person’s perception of the other person’s race, color, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability or national origin.”
After his arrest Saturday, Kesterson was released by the court on pretrial supervision and did not show up to his detention hearing Wednesday morning, said Elisabeth Shepard, a spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office.
A bench warrant has been issued for his arrest, and the district attorney will request that he be held without bail, Shepard said.
Portland City Commissioner Mingus Mapps (D), who called the incident “horrific” and “unacceptable,” has expressed concern that Kesterson was released from jail on the same day that he was arrested. “We have got to bring back public safety in this town,” he said in a statement Wednesday to The Post.
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler (D) has since reached out to the family, his office told The Post.
“I am outraged and disgusted by the assault that occurred on the Eastbank Esplanade,” he said in a statement. “We will not tolerate this kind of behavior in our community.”
The mayor added that he plans to request that the district attorney “pursue maximum penalty.”
Covid fueled anti-Asian racism. Now elderly Asian Americans are being attacked.
Hate crimes against Asian Americans have been on the rise in the United States since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Early last year, there was a surge of attacks in Northern California, including one in which an 84-year-old Thai man died after being shoved to the ground.
Then, a March 2021 shooting spree at three Atlanta-area spas left eight people dead, including six Asian women — sparking debate about whether the rampage, carried out by a White man, was considered a hate crime.
The shooter, Robert Aaron Long, was sentenced to life in prison.
Other incidents have made headlines this year. In March, a 67-year-old Asian woman in New York was punched in the head and face more than 125 times, stomped and spit on in what authorities called a “brutal” hate crime. Surveillance video showed a man, identified by authorities as Tammel Esco, punch the woman from behind, knocking her down, then continue to beat her until she was writhing on the ground.
In May, the FBI opened a federal hate-crime investigation into a shooting at an Asian-run salon in Dallas
After Saturday’s attack in Portland, Commissioner Carmen Rubio, who oversees the city’s Office of Equity and Human Rights, called it a “terrifying event” and apologized to those who were victimized.
“No one should ever fear for their safety/security — whether visiting our city or living here,” she tweeted. | 2022-07-06T19:54:12Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Dylan Kesterson charged with bias crime after punching a 5-year-old and her father, police say - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/07/06/oregon-bias-crime-japanese-family/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/07/06/oregon-bias-crime-japanese-family/ |
Should I post about the daughter I placed for adoption? Carolyn Hax readers give advice.
((Nick Galifianakis/For The Washington Post))
Dear Carolyn: Hi Carolyn, I am 45 and recently found the daughter whom I gave up for adoption when I was 16. My childhood was very traumatic and dysfunctional, therefore I knew that I couldn’t raise her properly or provide the best for her.
Since reconnecting we have established a great friendship and she fully understands and even appreciates that I gave her up for adoption. I am recently married and have a 2-year-old baby and step kids whom I adore. All have met her and are very supportive.
The problem is social media. I am very active and post often about my life and our family's adventures. I would like to start including my bio-daughter (with her permission) in these posts. But before I do I feel that I should at least offer up an explanation or part of the story so people I am connected to understand. I am not seeking validation but I feel it would be awkward or strange to just pop up with a new family member who looks like me that no one has ever seen or heard of.
My husband and friends think otherwise. They say it's no one’s business and that I don’t need to say a thing. But I think it would be weird not to, so I am torn.
Wondering: Talk about it with your bio daughter, and see what kind of social media “introduction” she’d be comfortable with. Then, go with that. As an infant, she had no part in any of the decisions that were made regarding her placement. She’s an adult now, and she’s the one who should have control over how she is presented to other people. If you have friends or family who find the sudden presence of this person to be odd, then perhaps they will reach out to you, and you can explain it to them privately. However, to post your explanation on social media for all to see? I think that would be insensitive. Plus, once it’s out there, it’s out there forever. Talk with your bio daughter, and follow her lead.
— Jo
Wondering: I agree with your husband and friends. You don’t have to make a big announcement, unless you want to. Just bring her into the Facebook fold, and as questions arise you can choose how and whether to answer them.
My mom was adopted and found her bio-mom when she was in her 60s and bio-mom was in her 80s. No big announcement, no nosy questions, just some sweet photos of them showing up to a restaurant in near-identical pants or getting together for a picnic. Good luck!
— Anonymous 1
Wondering: Oh, please do. My family was in this exact situation. I was adopted out, reconnected with my birthparents (who had subsequently married and had more kids). They never posted online the full explanation of how I came to be, but their close friends and family knew, and I eventually met those people in person.
This is your story to decide how you want to tell it (with your birth daughter’s input to the extent it overlaps with her story). You can subtly begin including her as your daughter and the people who need to know more will hear from you directly, or you can provide a quick backstory that you’re happy you’ve been able to reconnect with a daughter you had in your teen years. It will feel a bit weird because it is new for all of you as you reconnect, but eventually the family story becomes part of the background as you move forward. Congratulations and good luck as you establish your connection. This can be a fraught process even when all parties want to reconnect as trauma you thought you were over may bubble up, but loving openness can help heal.
— Swoozy
Wondering: My first reaction is that it’s your social media, not your husband’s and friends'. If you want to explain in a way that your daughter is comfortable with, there’s absolutely no reason you cannot or should not share this news with your social circle.
This feels so obvious to me that I’m struggling to understand the dilemma here. You definitely don’t owe anyone the deeply personal details of your teenage struggles, but acknowledging the facts of your first sentence, perhaps with some flourishes about how happy you are, seems perfectly natural.
All subject to the comfort level of your daughter, of course. Her feelings are vital to this discussion, and to a lesser extent, your immediate families. Otherwise, it’s your Instagram feed or Facebook wall to share as you will. | 2022-07-06T20:02:54Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Carolyn Hax: Should I post about the daughter I placed for adoption? - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/advice/2022/07/06/carolyn-hax-daughter-adoption-post-social-media/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/advice/2022/07/06/carolyn-hax-daughter-adoption-post-social-media/ |
In times of economic uncertainty, it used to pay to check with the bond market to see what signals it was sending. Is the economy headed into a recession? See whether yields are declining. Is inflation about to accelerate? See whether yields are rising. Bonds were the economy’s crystal ball. Now, they may be no better than a Magic 8 Ball in helping decipher the future.
Bond traders seem to be as confused as anyone at the moment. That can be seen in JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s weekly survey of bond market participants released on Wednesday. It showed the percentage of respondents expecting no change in prices and yields for US Treasury securities has surged to 74%, the most since mid-2017. Just 25% expected Treasuries to either rally or decline.
Sure, this may just be a sign that traders are stepping back and reassessing the landscape after the recent rebound in the bond market. But the market is always shifting, and the percentage of traders who describe themselves as “neutral” has rarely approached its current level, having averaged 55% over the past five years. In short, traders have no conviction.
Such an assessment is backed up by a surge in implied volatility as measured by the ICE BofA MOVE Index. It soared to 156.2 as of Tuesday. Not including the early days of the global pandemic, when the world was turned upside down, that’s the highest since the global financial crisis more than a dozen years ago. You don’t get these levels of volatility when traders are relatively confident in the outlook.
There is a lot to be confused about. The data coming out of the economy is as conflicting as ever. Talk of an impending recession has reached a fever pitch, yet data released by the Labor Department on Wednesday showed that job openings remained near record highs in May, with employers having two positions open for every job seeker. Also on Wednesday, the Institute for Supply Management’s index of services — which accounts for two-thirds of the economy — remained well in expansionary territory.
And yet the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s widely followed GDPNow Index, which aims to track the economy in real time, has dropped to minus 2.08% for the second quarter. If that proves true, it would be the second consecutive quarter of contraction, meeting the technical definition of a recession.
The outlook for inflation is just as muddy. The market for raw materials — a big driver of the recent high rates of inflation — has plummeted the last few weeks. The Bloomberg Commodity Index has tumbled 19% since June 9, with energy, agriculture and industrial metals all experiencing big drops. The tumble is a reason breakeven rates on five-year Treasuries, which are a measure of what traders expect the rate of inflation to be over the life of the securities, have declined to 2.50%, the lowest since September.
And yet my Bloomberg News colleague Rich Miller reports that a broad index of inflation expectations that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell flagged as being partly behind June’s jumbo interest-rate increase is expected to show a big rise when it’s published on July 15, perhaps to a record. The index of common inflation expectations comprises more than 20 indicators that measure the attitudes of consumers, investors and professional forecasters toward future price increases, Miller reported.Minutes of the Fed’s June policy meeting released Wednesday only added to the confusion. While policy makers agreed that interest rates may need to keep rising for longer to prevent higher inflation from becoming entrenched, even if that slowed the economy, they also noted that some business contacts told them that hiring and retention had improved and that pressure for additional wage increases appeared to be receding. In other words, who knows?
The market for Treasuries has long been considered the most important in the world and the one that drives all others. Bond traders were once deemed so powerful and all-knowing that Tom Wolfe described them as the “Masters of the Universe” in his classic 1987 novel “The Bonfire of the Vanities.” But these are not normal times. As we have witnessed time and again, the unprecedented fiscal and monetary policies of the last two years have made fools of even the best and brightest attempting to predict how markets and the economy would react. The recent uncertainty in the bond market shows that trend is far from over. More From Other Writers at Bloomberg Opinion:
• A ‘Reverse Ferrett’ Gets Up Markets’ Trousers: John Authers | 2022-07-06T20:03:07Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Bond Traders Are as Confused as Anyone These Days - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/bond-traders-are-as-confused-as-anyone-these-days/2022/07/06/a3fd063e-fd65-11ec-b39d-71309168014b_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/bond-traders-are-as-confused-as-anyone-these-days/2022/07/06/a3fd063e-fd65-11ec-b39d-71309168014b_story.html |
Fed says interest rates may need to go higher
After last month’s meeting, the Fed raised its rate by three-quarters of a point to a range of 1.5 percent to 1.75 percent — the biggest single increase in nearly three decades — and signaled that further large hikes would likely be needed.
U.K. probes Microsoft plan to buy Activision
The U.K. antitrust watchdog kicked off an investigation into Microsoft’s planned purchase of Activision Blizzard, joining other regulators in scrutinizing the $69 billion gaming deal.
The Competition and Markets Authority said Wednesday that it will consider whether the deal to combine the technology giant with the maker of the Call of Duty franchise will harm competition and lead to higher prices or reduced choice. The regulator said it will work with counterparts around the world and set itself an initial deadline of Sept. 1 to decide whether to launch an in-depth investigation.
The CMA has long advocated for a more forceful approach to reviewing deals, particularly by the biggest technology firms.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is also examining the deal, Chair Lina Khan told lawmakers in June.
Lisa Tanzi, Microsoft’s general counsel, said, “We’re committed to answering questions from regulators and ultimately believe a thorough review will help the deal close with broad confidence and that it will be positive for competition.”
An Activision spokesperson did not immediately respond.
United Airlines blamed the Federal Aviation Administration and the nation’s air traffic control system for exacerbating the issues plaguing the industry, saying the agency has been overwhelmed by the volume of flights. The carrier estimated Wednesday that more than 50 percent of its delay minutes and 75 percent of its cancellations in the past four months were because of FAA actions to manage air traffic and flight capacity. Those include holding aircraft in flight, assigning specific departure times, ground delays and reroutings.
Growth in the U.S. services sector eased in June to a more than two-year low as orders softened amid ongoing hiring challenges and capacity constraints. The Institute for Supply Management’s gauge of services slipped to 55.3 from May’s 55.9, according to data released Wednesday. Despite the softening, the index remains above the threshold of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. While the ISM’s index of new orders dropped two points, a measure of business activity — which parallels the ISM’s gauge of factory production — strengthened.
The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday said that the outlook for the global economy had “darkened significantly” since April and that she could not rule out a possible global recession next year given the elevated risks. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva told Reuters that the fund would downgrade in coming weeks its 2022 forecast for 3.6 percent global economic growth for the third time this year, adding that IMF economists were still finalizing the new numbers. The IMF is expected to release its updated forecast for 2022 and 2023 in late July, after slashing its forecast by nearly a full percentage point in April.
British Airways is scrapping another 10,300 flights through the summer season as it grapples with a staffing crisis that’s unleashed chaotic scenes across Europe’s aviation sector. With the latest round of cancellations, which follow others earlier this week, the unit of International Airlines Group SA will have pared about 13 percent of its schedule from April through October, it said Wednesday. Only short-haul routes are affected. | 2022-07-06T20:03:19Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Fed says interest rates may need to go higher - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/fed-says-interest-rates-may-need-to-go-higher/2022/07/06/82f606f8-fd2d-11ec-a07f-799ab6d06557_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/fed-says-interest-rates-may-need-to-go-higher/2022/07/06/82f606f8-fd2d-11ec-a07f-799ab6d06557_story.html |
Penny Mordaunt Photographer: Eleanor Riley/Getty Images Europe (Photographer: Eleanor Riley/Getty Images Europe)
It’s been a tumultuous 24 hours in British politics. As resignations pile up, the odds that Prime Minister Boris Johnson will be forced to resign shorten. But who would take over? Bobby Ghosh spoke to Bloomberg Opinion columnists Adrian Wooldridge and Clive Crook on Twitter Spaces on Wednesday afternoon. Here is part of their conversation, lightly edited for clarity and length.
Bobby Ghosh: Betting shops have the former Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt as the joint favorites to be Boris Johnson’s successor. Do you think either of them have the ability to bring the Conservative Party together and provide the leadership that Johnson seems unable to?
Adrian Wooldridge: Whoever wins would get a big boost, simply because they’re not Boris Johnson and come without the baggage and the reputation for lying.
I think Rishi Sunak is extremely good. He’s very bright, personable and well-organized. One of Boris’s many problems is that he’s a very chaotic administrator, so having somebody in Number 10 who can just keep the trains running on time would be an enormous boost.
However, he’s a pretty traditional Thatcherite, which means that he’s very uncomfortable with “levelling up,” particularly when it involves spending a lot of money. There are a lot of Tories, particularly on the right of the party, who would be very nervous about having a fiscally responsible leader who thinks that the most important thing to do is to put the country’s economic situation in order before they start cutting taxes. Plus, by resigning slightly after Health Secretary Sajid Javid, he painted himself as more of a follower than a leader — which is a gibe people already use against him. There is quite a lot of hostility within the party towards Rishi now. Six months ago, he was in the perfect position, but he’s fallen a bit since then.
Penny Mordaunt is an extraordinary figure, and I’m slightly surprised that she is so popular because she’s not in the Cabinet.
She represents a seat in Portsmouth, which is a long-standing Labour seat, which she’s shifted to the Tory column and has built her majority. So she’s quite good at representing the sentiments of the White British working class, without being particularly right-wing.
BG: It’s worth mentioning that some of the other contenders are Defense Secretary Ben Wallace, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, and new Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi.
Clive Crook: They’re all plausible candidates. I do think Rishi Sunak is right on the issues and it’s a sign of the times to see the right wing of the Tory Party being the anti-Thatcherite wing. The fiscal discipline that Sunak stands for is undeniably going to be necessary as part of this adjustment to post-Covid fiscal control. It’s a very difficult message for him to sell. I also think he deserves to be commended for what he said in his resignation letter, that people want to be told the truth and he’s willing to tell them the truth — whether it will get him the party leadership is another question altogether.
I’m a bit startled to see Penny Mordaunt though. I hadn’t thought of her as a policy heavyweight in the way some of the other candidates are.
AW: She’s been running a behind-the-scenes campaign for quite a long time and has published a book called Greater Britain, which is an attempt to cast an optimistic eye to the future. So she has been campaigning, but she’s not one of the big beasts of the party.
Ben Wallace would probably have quite a good chance because he’s sort of a bland, sensible, ex-Army person that people could get behind.
CC: He’s more of an old-fashioned Tory in some ways.
CC: Fixing the relationship with Europe is a challenge for the UK, and Johnson has been irresponsible across the board — picking needless fights, reversing himself, threatening escalation on certain quarrels, which he ought to know Britain can’t win. The UK needs someone who’s much more positive about developing a fruitful post-Brexit relationship with the European Union. It’s interesting to me that the other leading figures in the party have not been conspicuous on this subject. There’s no way to make the best of Brexit without cooperating with the EU, but a narrative along those lines hasn’t really emerged yet.
AW: Well the basic Conservative vote was a vote against Europe. A lot of Brexiters are very hostile to Europe either because they regard it as a restraint on a truly global trade policy, or because they regard it as just a lot of pernickety regulations. The Conservative Party hasn’t got beyond that anti-European mindset.
Again, I would look to somebody like Rishi Sunak, who was a Brexiter but would be much more mature because he’s economically literate about what sort of realistic relationship we could have with the EU. In comparison, Boris doesn’t care about economic policy. He’s never thought seriously about how wealth is created or how trade operates.
The one person we haven’t focused on yet is the person who, in many ways, is the most likely to replace Johnson: Liz Truss. She’s not top of that league table but she’s foreign secretary, has been very involved in trade policy and has support among the grassroots of the Conservative Party.
In lots of ways, she’s more hardline in her contempt for social democratic European policies and I think she would see herself as a person who had to take a very hard line with Europe, which I think would be very foolish.
CC: No, not really. One hesitates to say she might be worse than Johnson — what could be worse? — but in terms of the relationship with Europe, she is very much a hardliner who takes euro-skepticism to a self-destructive extreme. I think it would be poisonous for the relationship between the UK and the EU to have her as a leader. Someone like Rishi Sunak is more plausible. He has a more technocratic demeanor, he’d want to do deals and I can’t imagine him making grandstanding pro-British, anti-EU speeches.
Post-Covid, fixing the relationship with Europe is absolutely the most important thing that the UK government needs to do. The evidence of the cost of Brexit continues to mount: It’s complicating Britain’s efforts to get inflation down, it’s going to complicate efforts to restore fiscal control. Brexit is looming in the background of all these big policy issues and getting the relationship back towards some kind of cooperative mode is crucial.
BG: Both of you clearly think Rishi Sunak has it in him to govern in this very difficult moment. Does he have the credibility with the party base? Does he have the charisma to lead the party in an election or is that too far out for the party to care about right now?
AW: He has lost some of his credibility with the base over the Partygate fines and his wife’s non-dom tax status. Just before that happened, he was clearly the most popular person. But I think he’s very personable, he’s a technocrat, he’s not a chancer in the way that Johnson is. He negates all of Johnson’s bad features. He’s MP for a constituency in North Yorkshire. His parents were also immigrants who have made their own way in the world, which gives him an appeal to the immigrant community, which is quite an important swing vote in the UK. He also has the ability to appeal to the technocratic elites in Europe and the United States at the time when we need to have some credibility with the financial world because the UK economy is very shaky. | 2022-07-06T20:03:31Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Who Would Replace Boris Johnson? Here Are His Likely Successors - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/who-would-replace-boris-johnson-here-are-his-likely-successors/2022/07/06/7235f1dc-fd61-11ec-b39d-71309168014b_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/who-would-replace-boris-johnson-here-are-his-likely-successors/2022/07/06/7235f1dc-fd61-11ec-b39d-71309168014b_story.html |
By Hatice Cengiz
Hatice Cengiz, fiancee of the murdered Saudi dissident and Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, in April. (Murad Sezer/Reuters)
Hatice Cengiz was Jamal Khashoggi’s fiancee.
Dear President Biden:
My life turned upside down on Oct. 2, 2018, when my fiance, Washington Post contributing columnist Jamal Khashoggi, entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul to obtain a document that would legalize our marriage.
I waited outside the consulate for Jamal, anxious and delighted that our new life was just around the corner, but he never reappeared. Instead, he was cruelly tortured and killed. According to the Central Intelligence Agency, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman himself gave the order for the crime. Since then, the thought of what happened to Jamal and the details of the suffering he endured have haunted me every day.
In the days, weeks and years that followed, I watched in horror as my fiance’s killers roamed free. As I fought to go on with my life, President Donald Trump disregarded the calls to hold Jamal’s murderers accountable, and he rewarded them with billions of dollars worth of weapons. Calculating, cold politicians can never be trusted to bring about justice.
As I was on the verge of losing all hope, it was your remarks as you stood on a debate stage in November 2019 that rekindled my drive. You vowed to bring Jamal’s killers to justice. “Khashoggi was, in fact, murdered and dismembered, and I believe on the order of the crown prince,” you said, adding you would make Saudi Arabia “the pariah that they are.”
More so than by your pledges to diverge from the Trump administration’s policies and center on human rights and the rule of law, my hope was restored by your genuine decency and empathy.
President Biden, since then, I’ve discovered that we have one thing in common. You understand how it feels to have your future abruptly destroyed by tragedy, just as I do. In 1972, while on their way to buy a Christmas tree, a horrible car crash claimed the lives of your wife and your infant daughter.
I could see how that unbearable suffering influenced your political career. It gave you empathy and the capacity to understand those who had been wronged. I believed that you would be the one to follow your moral compass and do what is right. And on the day of your inauguration, I finally experienced happiness and had hope that I would eventually find justice.
You can imagine how shocked and disappointed I was to learn that you would break your promise and travel to Saudi Arabia to likely meet with the crown prince — the person who U.S. intelligence determined was responsible for ordering Jamal’s murder.
At a time when attacks on press freedom are at an all-time high, your visit will tarnish your reputation and send a message to autocrats all over the world that they can imprison, torture or even murder journalists with no repercussions.
President Biden, Jamal would ask you this question if he were still alive: Who will defend freedom, democracy and human rights if the United States doesn’t stand up to tyranny? If you don’t confront those who make a mockery of these fundamental values at a time when the world needs principled leadership now, then when?
President Biden, imagine yourself in my position, trying to move on while knowing that the people who killed your loved one are still free. Imagine the trauma of knowing that what happened to your loved one can and will happen to someone else because the perpetrators know there will be no consequences.
I, along with a countless number of Jamal’s friends, had faith that you would honor your promises. Your visit is not just a betrayal of your promises; it risks emboldening MBS, as the crown prince is known.
President Biden, if you go ahead with this visit, I implore you: Please use it to help those still suffering. Before meeting MBS, demand the release of all wrongfully detained people, such as Abdulrahman Al-Sadhan, the son and brother of U.S. citizens, who has been tortured, disappeared and sentenced to 20 years in prison — all for the crime of anonymously posting satirical tweets.
You can also ask for an end to unlawful travel bans, which have been abused to keep critics trapped inside the country, where their freedom of expression is curtailed. Ask about Loujain al-Hathloul, U.S. resident Aziza al-Yousef, and U.S. citizens Salah al-Haidar and Bader al-Ibrahim, who are all being held captive by travel bans.
President Biden, rather than helping to heal our anguish and sorrow with justice and accountability, this visit will significantly compound our grief and hopelessness. I implore you to cancel your trip and uphold your promise to pursue justice for Jamal.
Biden must not betray defenders of democracy in Saudi Arabia
From ‘pariah’ to ‘move past it’: How Biden set aside press freedom
Biden’s risky outreach to Saudi Arabia’s crown prince | 2022-07-06T20:04:20Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Dear President Biden: Please don’t break your promise to shun Saudi Arabia - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/06/hatice-cengiz-biden-should-not-go-saudi-arabia-jamal-khashoggi/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/06/hatice-cengiz-biden-should-not-go-saudi-arabia-jamal-khashoggi/ |
A daring flight to safety — and a story Biden should tell MBS
Rakan Aldosseri, left, with his father, Nader Aldosseri. (Nader Aldosseri)
The saga of a Saudi American teenager named Rakan Aldosseri is a small untold chapter in the catalogue of human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia. But it explains in simple terms why President Biden should demand greater accountability when he meets this month with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The Aldosseri story has some unlikely details — including the boy’s unsuccessful personal video plea to President Biden last year, followed by his dangerous flight to safety across the barren desert of the Empty Quarter in eastern Saudi Arabia. At bottom, it’s simply one more example of the dangers facing Saudi citizens who offend the kingdom’s leader.
Aldosseri’s problems began after he joined his father, Nader, in suing the kingdom in 2020 to assert their hereditary claims in a dispute over a 1995 refinery deal in St. Lucia. It was a humdrum legal matter, except that one of defendants named in the commercial action was MBS, as the crown prince is known.
The kingdom sought to dismiss MBS from the suit on the grounds that he enjoyed sovereign immunity — a tricky question for a person who isn’t formally head of state and one that U.S. courts have never resolved. And then bad things began to happen.
A Saudi Embassy spokesman in Washington declined to comment for this column.
On May 20, 2021, Rakan and his father planned to fly from Riyadh to Washington, leaving behind other family members. Young Aldosseri, a U.S. citizen who lives in the Pittsburgh area, told me in an interview that he wanted to attend summer camp. He was 13 at the time.
The kingdom’s covid-related travel ban had just been lifted; father and son had their boarding passes for Dulles International Airport outside D.C. But they were stopped at passport control, and after an hour’s delay, informed they couldn’t board.
“We were told … there was a ban on us being able to leave the country … I was later informed that the travel restrictions were imposed by the royal court,” Nader Aldosseri said in a court filing last year.
Frightened by the incident, Rakan sent a video plea on June 9to the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh. “Dear President Biden,” he said in a transcript of the video. “Me and my family are now hostages inside the kingdom of Saudi Arabia at the orders of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. … As a law-abiding citizen, I have done nothing wrong and the only thing I have been focusing on is to get good grades at school. ... I believe that MBS is punishing me and my family for seeking our rights in a U.S. federal court.”
Citing the Biden administration’s pledge to free all U.S. hostages, Rakan beseeched Biden: “Please free me and my family … please protect us from MBS … please bring us home.” Nader Aldosseri received a message from a State Department employee in Riyadh that same day the video was received. “I will share [the video] with the Embassy and with Washington,” he said.
But the Biden administration was silent, and the Aldosseris were getting desperate. They knew what had happened to Jamal Khashoggi, the Washington Post contributor who had offended MBS and been killed in Istanbul in an October 2018 operation approved by the crown prince, according to the CIA. Not wanting to tempt a similar fate, the Aldosseris made a bold decision to flee.
Their first plan was to ride two Sea Doo jet skis across the approximately 40-mile bay that separates the Saudi mainland from the small island kingdom of Bahrain. But the Aldosseris worried that they would be attacked by sharks or arrested by the Saudi coast guard on the way, so they abandoned the plan.
The Aldosseris’s second escape plan was even more audacious. Nader Aldosseri contacted a group of smugglers. They took him and Rakan to a staging area in southern Saudi Arabia and organized a fake hunting trip in rugged SUVs through the eastern dessert — buying sheep to eat on the trip and other provisions. Nader Aldosseri left his cellphone back in Riyadh to confuse any pursuers. The escapade cost nearly $30,000, but the two felt they had no choice.
The trip across the desolate dunes of the Empty Quarter took several days, skirting the kingdom’s southern border. The two escapees were stopped by Saudi police — who, to their relief, just warned them not to shoot any gazelles or other protected animals. In late June, they crossed into a neighboring Persian Gulf country.
They planned to fly from there to a regional hub and then on to the United States — Rakan using his U.S. passport and Nader using another gulf passport he had received years before. But a diligent passport officer noticed that their pre-travel PCR tests had been administered in Saudi Arabia and stopped them for further questioning. “I thought this was the end,” Nader Aldosseri told me. The authorities eventually cleared father and son.
When the two landed at the transit point, they once again thought they were home free. But this time, a passport officer noticed that Nader’s U.S. visa had some mismatched transliterations from Arabic. Nader Aldosseri recalls that he turned sadly to Rakan: “My son, this is it.” But once again, the authorities let the two pass. They arrived at Dulles in late June, the first Saudis who successfully escaped an MBS travel ban, as far as I know.
Now in the United States, the Aldosseris’s first priority was to get Rakan’s mother and sister to safety, too. They arrived in July. But in October, after the family disclosed their escape, Nader’s brother back in Saudi Arabia was briefly arrested and interrogated, other family members were blocked from traveling, and Nader says his bank accounts were frozen.
Rakan, now 14, told me he still hasn’t heard anything from Biden in response to his video plea, sent more than a year ago. He’d like to visit his grandmother and other relatives, but his father says it’s too dangerous.
Maybe when Biden meets with MBS, he will find the strength and decency to say what Rakan — along with the Khashoggi family and so many thousands of other oppressed Saudis — have been waiting to hear: Enough is enough.
Biden should ask MBS for a commitment that these abuses of human rights will never happen again. | 2022-07-06T20:04:26Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | A daring flight to safety — and a story Biden should tell MBS - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/06/mbs-saudi-arabia-family-escape-biden/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/06/mbs-saudi-arabia-family-escape-biden/ |
Terry McLaurin is ready to lead, as he and the Commanders celebrate new deal
Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin met the media Wednesday to discuss his new deal. (Craig Hudson for The Washington Post)
In an offseason of upheaval and controversy, Terry McLaurin’s return to the Washington Commanders’ team facility on Wednesday felt like the eye of a storm, a moment for the organization to exhale. Three years, two months and 10 days after Washington selected the kid from Indianapolis in the third round of the 2019 draft, the star wideout whose dependability and professionalism quickly made him a fan favorite is back and ready to lead.
McLaurin arrived on Tuesday to sign a three-year deal worth about $71 million. He walked into the atrium wearing a burgundy suit, and every TV played his highlight catches. He admired the “top class” red-carpet treatment, and on Wednesday, at a news conference, he thanked everyone who’d helped him achieve this dream: God; his parents, Terry Sr. and Grace; his sister Miah; his girlfriend Caitlin; his agent Buddy Baker; Coach Ron Rivera; Washington’s co-owners Daniel and Tanya Snyder; and all the “homies back in Indianapolis.”
“I cried some real tears because, for a lot of my life, I really had to grind and work for what I have now,” McLaurin said. “I had a lot of adversities, and some people didn’t necessarily believe in my ability. But my faith sustained me, the people in my village, the people that were praying for me, sacrificing for me. … Like, I had so many people that are the reason why I’m standing here today.”
Terry McLaurin reflects on his journey to today 🥲 pic.twitter.com/OgevcIwjIX
Over 40 minutes, McLaurin reflected and appreciated and expressed excitement about the team’s trajectory. He praised Carson Wentz for reaching out regularly during his 10-week holdout, and after the news conference, McLaurin said he was flying to California to run routes with his new quarterback.
To Rivera, McLaurin represents more than just a player in a roster build. He’s someone whose contributions on and off the field can help the team’s culture and image amid an offseason of firestorms, including an ongoing congressional investigation. Rivera said the move shows the fan base that change is not only possible but imminent. He called McLaurin an “organizational signing” who impacts football and business, and the signing signals to corporate partners that “we want to retain young men of this stature. We want young men of this magnitude out there representing our organization, our community, thus representing your brand.”
“We’re correcting our mistakes, and we’re getting a lot of support,” Rivera continued. “What we’re trying to do is put the best team on the football field because that will help build confidence ... . When you do something like this, and you retain a player of this magnitude on your football team, you’re telling the community, ‘We’re doing the best we can. We’re trying to put the best players in position so we can build something we can all be proud of.’”
Svrluga: Terry McLaurin is Washington’s most beloved player since Sean Taylor
McLaurin was asked what it’s like, as a player, trying to transcend the consistent distractions around the franchise.
“We trust Coach Rivera's vision and how he leads us,” he said. “He does a great job of really handling and taking all the pressures that come on to this organization from outside voices. … As leaders, Jon [Allen] and myself and the other guys in the locker room, we just try to put our best foot forward and represent this organization the best way we can on and off the field. We take that very seriously.”
On the field, Washington solidified its retooled offense and locked up one of the league’s top players at a position that exploded in value this offseason. By average per year, McLaurin’s deal is by far the biggest contract Rivera and his brain trust have given out ($23.7 million). But Rivera said all the factors at play made McLaurin “a priority,” and he hoped it sent “the right kind of message to our players. It’s about trying to retain as many of you guys as we can going forward.”
During his holdout, which began in late April after the draft, McLaurin said it felt “weird” to miss practice. He trained in Florida and texted with teammates, including Allen and tight end Logan Thomas, who’d dealt with similar negotiations last offseason. But nothing could replace the camaraderie of being on the field with teammates — a feeling magnified by the team’s warm-ups for the last practice before summer break. On social media, McLaurin saw players dancing to the song “Atomic Dog” by George Clinton, and receiver Marken Michel and cornerback Christian Holmes hit splits.
“Those are things you miss the most,” he said. “You can't recreate that in whatever training gym you're in or whatever field you're on.”
Now that McLaurin is signed through the 2025 season, it’s possible to imagine him as a player who could spend his whole career in Washington, one of the few on-field bridges between the franchise’s storied past and today. McLaurin himself seemed to entertain that idea. He said he tells former quarterback Doug Williams, now one of the team’s senior business advisers, “I just want to make that No. 17 continue to look good,” and on Tuesday, he met former Washington wide receiver Gary Clark, who told him stories about learning from Hall of Famer Art Monk and mentoring younger players.
“Seeing that [Super Bowl] ring on his finger, like that motivates me even more to give my all,” McLaurin said of Clark, adding, “Mr. Williams … knows what it takes to win it all, and he's been a part of that team. What does that feel like? What does that locker room look like? What do those practices look like as a leader? That's what I want to know.”
McLaurin’s deal will end when he is 30. That’s the same age Davante Adams will be at the end of this season after inking a five-year, $140 million deal with the Las Vegas Raiders following a March trade. McLaurin was asked if he wanted a shorter contract to better his chances of cashing in big one more time.
“I trusted the plan that my agent laid out in front of me,” he demurred, adding, “I was just really worried about what fits me. … I’m really not worried about the future too much.”
For now, McLaurin said, he’s focused on training camp, which begins July 27. He’s a captain, a paid man, a pillar. He wants to prove to his teammates — and himself — that he can help lead this franchise into a new era. The key, he said, was shown to him at a young age by his parents, who taught him to “work, work, work, work, work, work.” | 2022-07-06T20:05:15Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Commanders' Terry McLaurin is re-signed and ready to lead - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/07/06/terry-mclaurin-commanders-new-deal/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/07/06/terry-mclaurin-commanders-new-deal/ |
Phillip A. Washington ran transit systems in Denver and Los Angeles and was a member of Biden’s transition team
Michael Laris
Washington, who headed Biden’s transition team for transportation after the 2020 election, was named chief executive of Denver International Airport last summer, adding aviation to a career marked by experience in transit. He previously served as chief executive of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority from 2015 to 2021, holding the same role at the Denver Regional Transportation District before that.
Congress has since ordered changes at the FAA, passing legislation aimed at tightening the agency’s oversight of Boeing and other manufacturers. Provisions included funding for more technical staff and steps to guarantee the independence of Boeing employees who work on the government’s behalf.
Many industry officials praised Biden’s choice.
Kevin M. Burke, chief executive of Airports Council International — North America, said in a statement that as chief executive of Denver International, Washington demonstrated he was a “real innovator and problem-solver during one of the most difficult times our industry has faced.”
“His knowledge and experience are exactly what we need in an FAA administrator,” Burke said. “This will be particularly important as we continue efforts to implement the bipartisan infrastructure bill and begin work on the next FAA reauthorization.”
FAA needs to strengthen oversight following Boeing Max crashes
Todd Hauptli, chief executive of the American Association of Airport Executives, also praised Washington’s nomination, calling him an “incisive, thoughtful, deliberate and a gifted, intentional leader.”
Washington also received praise from the largest airline employees union, the Transport Workers Union of America, which said he has been “one of the strongest voices for creating and sustaining high-quality jobs with government investment — including when transitioning to new technologies.”
As head of the Los Angeles Metro system, Washington oversaw 11,000 employees and managed a budget of more than $8 billion, according to the White House. Los Angeles’s system transported 1.2 million boarding passengers daily using a fleet of 2,200 buses and six rail lines.
Washington is a 24-year veteran of the U.S. Army, where he held the rank of command sergeant major. He retired from active duty and was awarded the Defense Superior Service Medal, given to members of the military who “rendered superior meritorious service in a position of significant responsibility,” according to the Department of Defense.
Washington grew up on Chicago’s south side and has a bachelor’s degree in business from Columbia College, and master’s in management from Webster University.
FAA Administrator Steve Dickson to resign next month
Michael Laris contributed to this report. | 2022-07-06T20:05:59Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Biden taps Denver airport's Phillip Washington as FAA administrator - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2022/07/06/faa-administrator-phillip-washington-denver/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2022/07/06/faa-administrator-phillip-washington-denver/ |
Prices and complications are high almost everywhere. So how do you know how to travel?
(Video: Washington Post Illustration/iStock)
No matter how you travel this summer, it’s complicated — from travelers flooding airports and roads to literal floods canceling vacations.
So what’s the better option – flying or driving? With high gas prices and labor shortages at airports, picking your mode of transportation can feel like a double-edged sword. On one hand, you have traffic, fuel costs and a rental car shortage to deal with when driving. On the other, you have flight cancellations, long lines and high ticket prices.
“The decision of which mode to take depends on personal circumstances, the distance involved, and the need for speediness,” said Andrew Gross, a spokesperson for AAA. For example, if you only have a few days but need to go across the country, air travel is the move.
Much of the decision can come down to preference and distance. Here’s how to weigh whether you should hit the road or brave the airports.
You might be experiencing sticker shock at the pump, but unfortunately, flights aren’t cheap right now either, thanks to an increase in demand as pandemic restrictions eased.
“There are two primary factors you should consider when deciding whether to fly or drive — per-person price and total travel time,” said Scott Keyes, founder of Scott’s Cheap Flights.
It is important to break down how much each option costs. For example, if a trip to Cincinnati is $150 for a round-trip flight or $200 total in gas, flying comes out ahead if you’re flying solo, Keyes said. And there are other road-trip factors to consider, such as an overnight stop at a hotel or Airbnb if needed, plus meals.
Summer road trip? Our gas calculator can help you see your costs.
If you’re traveling with a family of four, however, then flying would be three times more expensive. “The most financially intelligent decision for summer vacation at this point would be to drive somewhere a few hours from home,” he said. “There are almost no cheap summer flights left, so flying is not the best financial choice for the summer.”
Kayak launched a summer trip calculator to help travelers decide this very question of driving or flying. The tool asks for your destination and dates, and then calculates the distance and time; how much fuel you’ll need and the cost; and rental car pricing, if you need one. Then you can compare it to flight prices to decide on the smarter decision.
While the aforementioned flight to Cincinnati may only take 90 minutes, it is important to account for the time in transit to the airport, going through security, waiting for your flight, and getting to your hotel or house from the airport, Keyes said.
“A 90-minute flight may actually mean five hours or more of total travel time,” he said. If driving to Cincinnati would take you double this time, it might be worth it to fly. But if driving there would only take you a few hours, driving is the move. And that’s only if your flights are still on schedule.
“Americans are not fazed by high airline ticket and fuel prices as they rush to ramp up travel that’s been curtailed for two years,” Gross said. This makes air travel chaotic. “In many instances, a trip of a few hundred miles might make sense to go by car versus flying right now, given the struggles the airlines are having dealing with volume,” he added.
Deciding when to fly over driving also depends on the weekend you’re traveling.TSA said the Friday before July Fourth was the busiest day for air travel since February 2020, with nearly 2.5 million passengers screened. Over the holiday weekend more than 1,400 flights were canceled, which was down from Memorial Day weekend and the weekend of Father’s Day and Juneteenth.
To avoid these complications as much as possible, weigh whether you can afford — both time-wise and financially — to fly early in the day. You are less likely to be canceled and will have more options for rebooking if you are.
Flying may still not be a realistic option for medically vulnerable people or children under 5 who aren’t fully vaccinated yet. Plus, maskless crowded spaces can be anxiety-inducing for anyone.
The risk of contracting the coronavirus while on an airplane is low, said Joseph Allen, an associate professor at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
That is a function of “great ventilation and filtration while the systems are running,” he said, except during boarding and deplaning because systems aren’t usually running at that time. He recommended wearing a high-grade mask that fits well if a traveler is feeling concerned.
You don’t have to wear a mask on planes. Do it anyway, experts say.
“Even if others aren’t masked, you’ll be well-protected,” he added. “One-way masking is very effective.” He also said it is not worth it to avoid drinking water. “The ventilation system is doing its job during the flight, and hydration is really important to staying healthy, especially on an airplane where there is low humidity,” Allen said.
In airports, however, the coronavirus exposure risk is higher, especially if fellow travelers aren’t masked. It is also important to note that masks are no longer required on flights, and if that makes you uncomfortable, driving is probably a better option. | 2022-07-06T20:06:05Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Should you fly or drive this summer? Here's how to decide. - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/tips/fly-or-drive-cost/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/tips/fly-or-drive-cost/ |
Transcript: Leadership During Crisis: Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D)
MS. ALEMANY: Hi, good morning, and welcome to Washington Post Live. I’m Jackie Alemany, a congressional investigations reporter here at The Washington Post, and my guest today is the Democratic governor of Washington State, Jay Inslee. Governor, welcome to Washington Post Live.
GOV. INSLEE: Good morning.
MS. ALEMANY: And remember, to everyone watching today, we always want to hear from you, our audience, so you can share your thoughts and questions for guests on Washington Post Live by tweeting @PostLive. Governor, it’s been less than two weeks since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. You met virtually with President Biden on Friday. What did you discuss about the impact of that decision, and what do you want to see President Biden do next?
GOV. INSLEE: Well, we talked about how the federal government could partner with us and assist us in our states that seek to be sanctuaries. Our state intends to be a full sanctuary for all American women who want these healthcare services. And so we talked about the ways the federal government could assist in that effort. And there are several. Obviously, number one, we're glad the president has come up--come out against the filibuster. So, we--if we get a couple more votes in the U.S. Senate to actually pass a national law protecting this right. But before that happens, there are several things the federal government can do. I suggested to the president an executive order to order the law enforcement agencies and the security agencies in the federal government to not cooperate with local prosecutors or law enforcement that tried to put their tentacles into my state when we try to protect women from other states to get these reproductive services. So, telling the FBI, Homeland Security not to cooperate with other local law enforcement to try to prosecute women who come to our state, that could be helpful. It sounded like the president was interested in this idea he's going to--he's going to review it. It's important that the federal government sort of jawbone the data collection agencies and the communications industry so that they protect the privacy of women. There's enormous personal information on--in communication websites about women's privacy and their health. That needs to be protected. And we need a federal law, or at a minimum these agencies should come out and say they're going to protect this--these privacy rights.
A third--and I think what ultimately may be the most important thing--is to make clear that women in America are entitled to access to Food and Drug Administration-approved pharmaceuticals that can provide this service. And I think, frankly, the most efficient, safest way to solve this is for women across the country to get telemedicine, be able to have a meeting with a physician in Washington, even though they're in another state, have a prescription for this pharmaceutical that is FDA approved, and have that mailed to the women no matter where they are. These are, we believe, a good reason to believe that the federal law which has shown that these are safe, effective pharmaceuticals trumps any state effort to deny access to these safe legal pharmaceuticals across the country. The president indicated they are reviewing that to see how to enforce such a thing, what litigation may be involved to make it clear that we can go that route. I actually think that can be the most powerful thing to have to provide sanctuary for American women.
MS. ALEMANY: And Governor, this decision we've all known it's been coming for quite some time now, really since Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed as a SCOTUS justice. I'm wondering if you feel that the Biden administration in the White House was sufficiently prepared from a policy perspective for the decision to be overturned a few weeks ago.
GOV. INSLEE: Oh, I think, you know, it'd be nice if within 24 hours we all had the full game plan. There is a reason to really read the decision first to figure out what's in the realm of the possible. But I do believe if the president didn't have--
MS. ALEMANY: Well, the decision--the decision was leaked last month and word by word was essentially the same as the initial Alito opinion leak.
GOV. INSLEE: Well, I'll tell you, I'm a governor, and I think that'd be great if within 24 hours we had the full federal response that was game planned out. I'm a little reluctant to criticize presidents who at the same time dealing with this have to deal with the Ukraine, and inflation, and shootings, mass shootings around the country. But I do believe the administration is on the right track now. It was a very engaging conversation with the president. He obviously understands this issue. I do believe they’re going to get to the right place--including, by the way, one thing we didn’t mention is federal financial help to our states, because obviously there's a lot of financial need to provide these services. We've appropriated about $8.5 million dollars in our state to be able to provide services when--for women who do come to our state. So having federal help in that regard I hope and I believe will be forthcoming. That's an important part of this.
MS. ALEMANY: And after his meeting with the--all the governors, President Biden has said that he was going to get home on Friday from Madrid and was going to have an announcement to make then. What announcement are you anticipating from him?
GOV. INSLEE: I wouldn't have a gameplan to--I don't have any insight, intel to share with you in that regard. I hope it is assertive, aggressive, and willing to have a litigation about these issues. I mentioned this issue about the FDA approved drugs--or pharmaceuticals. We should not be leery at all of having that tested in the courts. We should not be passive in this regard. This is a constitutional right that has been stripped from American women by a Republican court, that is leading us down to the road to minority rule. This is a very dangerous moment in America where the Supreme Court has decided to eliminate majority rule on guns. Americans want gun safety, but the Supreme Court took that away. Americans want freedom of choice for women. They took that away. Americans want action on climate change, and the Supreme Court said that the minority is now going to run the country. And so we should not be passive in this. We should be aggressive. If we have to push the bounds of these matters, we should do so. And that's what we hope the president will do in every way possible.
MS. ALEMANY: And I want to get into a little bit more about what you're doing in Washington. You want an amendment to your state constitution that guarantees a right to abortion. What are the prospects for that passing?
GOV. INSLEE: Short term, not good because we need a supermajority in our legislature. We have Democratic majorities, but they're not super majorities. So, at the moment until we have more Democrats, it will be difficult to actually pass that. But I do believe it is an important thing, and it's important for people to vote against a party who wants to take away this right. And having this constitutional amendment an issue will also help to clarify what's on the ballot this year. So, we do want to make clear we intend to try to pass a constitutional amendment. And the more Democrats that are in legislative seats, the better chance we'll have to do that to then go to the voters for approval.
States do have the right--and this is important, I think it's important to stress--every state legislative race in America today is a race where we have an opportunity to protect this choice, because state legislative bodies now can make these decisions. And people, if you're listening to this, and maybe you've voted Republican in the past, that party has left you and there's only one party right now that is available to you to protect a woman's right of choice, who will take action on climate, who will act reasonably on gun safety. Shoot, I just--you know, we just had this shooting the other day, and the first thing I do is I heard a conservative radio show talking about we need more guns. Look, we need people in the state legislative races to rescue this country, state legislative race and governors' races--the governors' races are so important now--because that is the place where we can protect these ancient values of majority control and common-sense decency to protect us against what is threatening our families--guns, the loss of reproductive health, and the climate change that’s eating us alive. And it is. We just had a town, you know, been around for hundreds of years in North Central Washington now’s under three to five feet of mud this morning because of two inches of rain--unprecedented, never happened before. We need to vote Democrat this year.
MS. ALEMANY: I do want to talk about that EPA ruling with you, but one more question on the topic of Roe v. Wade. You have joined a compact, as you mentioned, with Oregon and California to try to create, quote, "a safe haven for all people seeking abortions." I'm wondering if you can explain a little bit more how that would work in practice, if it would rely on federal funding, and if you think that there's any sort of electoral backlash or repercussions that might strike people, if powerful states joined together to try to defy a court ruling from the highest court in the land.
GOV. INSLEE: Well, look, we are taking action already, just within hours lately of the decision. We'd announced we would issue an executive order to my law enforcement, our state patrol to prohibit them from cooperating in investigations from other states. We intend to pursue legislation as soon as my legislature comes back into session to extend that requirement to all of our law enforcement agencies. As I've indicated, we put up $8.5 million to help increase access so the services are available to people. And this is a real thing for us, obviously, because we're right next to Idaho. So, we're seeing already people coming from Idaho who need these services. We've already talked about data protection. So, we've already taken action in our state. Oregon and California have done very similar things and intend to do so. And what we wanted to do, we had an Oregon-California-Washington agreement so that everybody knows the West Coast is a sanctuary, not just one state, to make this available to everyone in the nation.
Now, as I've indicated, we will--we will fight like the dickens in any litigation to protect our ability to take these actions, including this FDA issue. We have a very effective telemedicine system in our state where women can contact a physician in our state from anywhere actually in the world and get good reproductive advice and prescriptions. And we intend to guard our ability for our physicians to provide that telemedicine health, and we need the federal government, then, to help us affirm that the FDA has primacy over this issue so these can be shipped to women across the country. That, I predict, will be a major issue. We intend to prevail. Women deserve it.
MS. ALEMANY: Now, shifting to a topic I know you're particularly passionate about, last Thursday the Supreme Court ruled to restrict the EPA’s ability to regulate greenhouse gases. You were strongly critical of this ruling saying that the federal government would now be much less effective at limiting pollution and shift more of the burden to the state. How is Washington state going to pick up some of that burden?
GOV. INSLEE: Well, we have to recognize a reality. At the moment, under this Supreme Court decision, the Supreme Court has kneecapped the ability of the federal government to act boldly and forcefully against climate pollution. And we have to understand in my state that that means we have to accelerate our efforts. Now we've been pedaling really hard in our state against climate change, and I think it's fair to say that we have the--probably the most aggressive and environmentally just climate change and clean energy policies in the country. Others have done great work. California is doing some good work. Oregon's doing some good work.
So, but we need to accelerate it because even in our state, given the hole in the federal effort, our state is going to have to accelerate our efforts to reduce pollution. We've got a great zero, 100 percent clean electrical grid bill. We have the nation's best cap and invest bill to restrain pollution and invest it that also embraces environmental justice because we know the communities that have been swallowing this pollution longest are the those are living in poverty and BIPOC communities. We have a good low-carbon fuel standard. We just prohibited hooking up gas and commercial vehicles after 20 commercial buildings after 2023. But we need to continue to accelerate those efforts actually to meet our state's own climate goals.
So, the message is the federal government now has--is driving a car with three wheels, but we need to accelerate ours in states, and that'll be the case. Now here's the good news. Actions are taking place. I and former Governor Brown helped form the U.S. Climate Alliance a few years ago when Trump came into office. We now have 24 states that are part of the U.S. Climate Alliance that are taking measures against climate change. So over 60 percent of the U.S. economy is--comes from these 24 states. These states are making action against climate change. And again, this is another reason why governors’ races are so important this year, so that the work of Steve Sisolak in Nevada and Gretchen Whitmer in Michigan can continue to advance the ball against climate change.
I look out my window here--I live in a little island just west of Seattle--and I see the effects in my hometown. We had a kelp forest that used to be out here, disappeared, that helped our endangered salmon live--absolutely disappeared because the waters of Puget Sound are getting too hot for kelp to live in. Salmon could not go up our local river because the waters were too hot. We had the most dangerous air quality in the world, I'm sad to say, last summer, when the Methow Valley was on fire and the smoke, our kids couldn't go outside for a week and play, literally.
So, we need state action. We're getting it from Democratic states and Democratic governors. And but we have to understand this is just the beginning of the Supreme Court sort of reign of terror. I hate to use that term, but I think it's true. This effort to prevent the majority will in this country has just started. You know, they just took this case Moore versus Harper, which threatens our basic ability to count the votes and have fair representation in the House of Representatives. So, we're going to have to be more aggressive in our states, and that's going to be the order of the day.
MS. ALEMANY: And you're also working on a proposal for Washington to move away from natural gas. How is that going to work?
GOV. INSLEE: Well, because we now have electricity. Ben Franklin helped us discover it a long time ago, and now we can heat and air condition our homes very, very effectively and cost effectively with heat pumps. And so our Building Code Council last few months ago basically said we're not going to--going to hook up commercial buildings to natural gas after 2023. They will consider a similar proposal this fall for residential buildings. And fortunately, we have an extremely effective technology of heat pumps now can replace natural gas, which isn't natural; it's dirty. And there really is a reality we have to face. The gas that comes out of the ground, we're now putting our homes is dirty. It pollutes our homes.
Children who live in homes with natural gas are 25 percent more likely to develop asthma. Last week, there's research that came out that showed that the carcinogens that come out of natural gas stoves are much, much more prevalent than we originally thought--benzene, very dangerous carcinogen comes out of your stovetop if you use natural gas. And so our new science has shown, you know, natural sounds good, but it's actually dirty, and it's dangerous. And the health impacts are profound. And when people start to find out this, they're going to I think recognize that doing inductive stovetop cooking works really well.
You know, Microsoft, they're renowned for the great food they have for their employees. And they swapped out to go to inductive cooking. Gas is fun, because it's so variable, but inductive is even better, and it's available.
So basically, we have a technology that's available to us. It is much better for indoor air quality. It prevents children from breathing carcinogens in your home. And it reduces climate change gases which are so dangerous right now. We have to wean ourselves away from dirty gas. We're taking major steps to do that in Washington state.
And at the same time, we're building one of the best economies in the United States. I always stress that I try not to finish a paragraph without talking about the economic benefits of clean energy. We're replacing these dirty fossil fuels with battery technology. A company just went in with hundreds of employees in Moses Lake, Washington, making silicon anode batteries. We have the largest manufacturer of solar panels in the Western hemisphere of Bellingham, Washington. They're expanding rapidly. We have a fuel cell company that runs on hydrogen that can power a locomotive in Seattle. So, we're building a clean energy economy while we're taking care of our children's health.
MS. ALEMANY: Your vivid description of natural gas paints a rather grim picture. I'm wondering what you make of the Biden administration and the White House's pivot towards now supporting European goals to displace Russian energy imports. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has recently said that the U.S. supports efforts to ramp up natural gas production from somewhere other than Russia. Is that a mistake from the Biden administration?
GOV. INSLEE: I wouldn't necessarily say that. I say that--I think we have to do two things simultaneously. One, we have to plan for the long term to wean ourselves off of natural gas. That means we have to build infrastructure as fast as we possibly can to replace natural gas and certainly coal-fired electricity. We have to do that. There's no question about that. Simultaneously, while the--Putin is invading Ukraine, short-term keeping the economy from collapsing in Western Europe is a reality we have to face as well. We ought to be able to so both those things at the same time. But the key is we have to wean ourselves ultimately long term off this infrastructure. And that means building other infrastructure. Simultaneously, while we're responding to Putin's war, we have to build infrastructure that will replace fossil fuels. That means solar wind. That means potentially advanced nuclear, which we're developing here in Washington state. It means more efficiency. It means certainly the advent of battery technology, which is absolutely key to finishing the renewable portfolio that we intend to embrace. So, I think the--building the replacement is as important right now as looking at cessation of usage. Both have to happen simultaneously.
MS. ALEMANY: And you briefly ran for president in 2020, declaring that climate change was the most urgent challenge of our time. Are you thinking about running again in 2024?
GOV. INSLEE: Well, it's no secret that I ran for president, but it seemed like one at the time. I will tell you that. I have no plans beyond serving in my third term as governor, which I'm very engaged in. It's been a very engaging time to governor during COVID. We're fighting some great battles on climate change here. We're making some steps that other states are following, frankly. So, I feel I'm serving a useful purpose right here.
MS. ALEMANY: And the message on whether or not Joe Biden is going to run again in 2024 has been a bit murky. Do you think that he should run for reelection?
GOV. INSLEE: I think that's his decision, and he has said he intends to run, and I listen to what he has to say. But it's his decision. He's grappling with a lot of challenges right now. I'll tell you one thing. I'm glad he defeated Donald Trump and I hope relinquished him to the dustbin of history.
And right now, I think he deserves our support in his effort to pass a clean energy bill through the Senate. This is of critical importance right now. I have spoken to Senator Schumer recently about that. We do have an expectation that we will come out with a climate change bill this year that will reduce our dependence on coal in our electrical grid. Those talks are continuing. And I encourage the president to do everything humanly possible to get that deal done. I believe he's--and I've talked to him about this--I believe him, that he's going to do everything possible to fashion and forge an agreement that can pass with Senator Manchin’s signature. It's not going to be a perfect bill, but it needs to be net improvement against this toxic material that we're breathing right now. And I'm very hopeful he can achieve that.
MS. ALEMANY: And I want to get to a question from our viewers, Governor. We have Trudy Rising from Canada who asks, "Don't you think Biden has no choice but to be bold and simply make the Supreme Court bigger?" Now, to follow up on that question, I'm wondering would you support an expansion of the Supreme Court from the current nine members?
GOV. INSLEE: Well, I think there's a legitimate reason to try to hew to stability in our judicial system, and not upset it--upset the applecart every time decisions don't go your way. I think it's a legitimate concern. I will tell you, though, that if I was running the show, we would have a remedial change in the Supreme Court. And here's what I mean. The Republican Party through Mitch McConnell's unconstitutional refusal to hear a Supreme Court nominee during President Obama's term was clearly a violation of every single value and norm that we hold dear to try to have a fair judicial system. The Republican Party stole a Supreme Court seat from the American people--not from the Democratic Party, from the American people. And we ought to expand the Supreme Court, at a minimum by one seat, and that seat was stolen. So, I would certainly support that effort. Would that change everything? Maybe not, but it's the right thing to do. It's the fair thing to do, to right that grievous wrong.
MS. ALEMANY: And this Fourth of July weekend was marred with yet another mass shooting. After the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas last month, you ended a tweet by saying, "Your turn, Congress." What do you want Congress to do now that they're not doing?
GOV. INSLEE: Everything they can in a reasonable fashion. Assault weapon prohibitions, we want to move in that direction. Age limits are appropriate. Training requirements are appropriate. Gun security safety measures are appropriate. Red flag warnings are appropriate, along with attention obviously to mental health. And obviously the Supreme Court has put some limits on that regard--again, in an unconstitutional clear violation of what the Second Amendment means.
You know, Second Amendment very starts with the first language "a well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right will not be abridged." Was this--was this shooter the other day, you know, in a well-regulated militia? I don't think so. This whole decision to think that the Second Amendment protects mass shooters is nuts. Now, we're stuck with that at the moment with this Supreme Court. And someday another Supreme Court may get us back to what the Second Amendment really meant. But in the interim, we should be aggressive to pass the measures that are necessary to bring some commonsense decency and safety to our streets and our families.
MS. ALEMANY: And we are now four months from the 2022 midterms. There are indications that Republicans could possibly take back control of both houses of Congress. What is your prognosis and your argument for keeping Democrats in power?
GOV. INSLEE: My prognosis, I'm going to vote, I'm gonna get everybody I know to vote. I'm going to do what everybody does who's listening to this, which is talk to your nieces and nephews and your cousins and your neighbors and their children and get people to vote. And the more people who vote, the more we'll have majority decision making. And if we have more majority decision making, the things that I believe in, and I believe the vast majority of Americans believe in, will move forward--action on climate change, finding a way to protect a woman's right to health, commonsense gun legislation. All those things we've got the best chance of protecting when people vote. And if more people vote, we'll have better policies. And frankly, we'll have more Democrats that can effectuate these policies. I can't give you a prognosis. Life is too uncertain. I've been around long enough to understand that you never know what's around the next corner.
I will tell you that people, including Republicans, and including independents, including men, are outraged by this decision stripping American women of this constitutional right, which is I don't think--I'm trying to think another time when the Supreme Court has gone backwards and actually eliminated a well-enshrined constitutional right. This struck something very deep in Americans, including Republicans. And I've talked to a lot of them that are outraged by this decision. They recognize a rogue Republican majority that is running rampage through American traditions here. And they feel threatened by it. And it's an understanding of what going backwards means.
Again, this decision the Supreme Court has presaged--it's called Moore vs. Harper--for their next term of office, if they go that route--and they show every indication of going that route--could basically allow legislators to do any damn thing they want in federal elections. They could district any way they want. They could decide even potentially to ignore the popular vote in state elections for the president of the United States. That's how radical this group is. And so that's why voting is so much more important than it ever has been, to do everything we can to restrain this madness.
MS. ALEMANY: Governor, we have time for a few--
GOV. INSLEE: By the way, thank you, Washington Post, you editorialized in this subject this morning, and it recognized the danger. Look, in West Virginia, the Republicans in a 50/50 state, then Republican, gave 10 seats to Republicans and four to the Democrats. And this decision that probably will happen now will prevent the courts from doing anything about that. So, this is going to be gerrymandering gone loose to the nth degree, and it's very dangerous. It would destroy the effective representation of people in the U.S. House of Representatives.
MS. ALEMANY: And unfortunately, Governor, we are all out of time, so we're going to have to leave it there. But thank you so much for joining us today, Governor Inslee.
GOV. INSLEE: Thank you. Keep writing.
MS. ALEMANY: And thanks to all of you for watching. To check out what interviews we have coming up, please head to washingtonpostlive.com to register and find out more information about our upcoming programs. I’m Jackie Alemany. Thanks for joining us today. | 2022-07-06T20:06:11Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Transcript: Leadership During Crisis: Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/washington-post-live/2022/07/06/transcript-leadership-during-crisis-washington-gov-jay-inslee-d/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/washington-post-live/2022/07/06/transcript-leadership-during-crisis-washington-gov-jay-inslee-d/ |
Baker Mayfield leaves the Browns after four seasons. (Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
The Cleveland Browns finally completed the process of moving on from Baker Mayfield, agreeing Wednesday to trade the quarterback to the Carolina Panthers. The trade ends a four-year pairing in which Mayfield provided glimpses of potential stardom but did not entirely fulfill the promise attached to being a top overall choice in the NFL draft.
The Panthers confirmed the deal, announcing that it is contingent upon Mayfield passing a physical. The Browns receive a conditional fifth-round selection in the 2024 NFL draft. The pick can become a fourth-rounder based on Mayfield’s playing time in Carolina, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Mayfield agreed to reduce his $18.858 million salary for the 2022 season by about $3.5 million, according to a person with knowledge of the deliberations. The Browns will pay about $10.5 million of the remaining salary while the Panthers will pay approximately $5 million, according to that person.
The Panthers host the Browns on Sept. 11, the season-opening game for both teams.
Mayfield, 27, is under contract for only one more season after the Browns previously exercised their fifth-year option in his four-year rookie contract, making him eligible for unrestricted free agency next offseason. He joins Sam Darnold — the quarterback chosen third overall by the New York Jets in the 2018 NFL draft, two spots after the Browns took Mayfield — on the Panthers’ roster.
The deal comes 3½ months after the Browns replaced Mayfield in March by agreeing to trade for Deshaun Watson, the three-time Pro Bowl quarterback for the Houston Texans who did not play at all last season while facing sexual misconduct allegations.
The Browns are parting with Mayfield even with Watson facing a potentially lengthy suspension by the NFL under its personal conduct policy. The league argued to Sue L. Robinson, the former U.S. district judge who is the disciplinary officer jointly appointed by the NFL and the NFL Players Association, during a three-day hearing last week for an indefinite suspension of at least one season, according to a person familiar with the matter. The NFLPA is believed to have argued for no suspension.
Robinson instructed each side to submit a post-hearing brief due next week and will make her ruling thereafter. If she determines that Watson violated the conduct policy and imposes disciplinary measures, either side can appeal to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell or a person designated by him.
The Browns added veteran quarterback Jacoby Brissett this offseason but apparently believed that their relationship with Mayfield was irreparable, even with Watson’s uncertain playing status.
Mayfield gets his wish after requesting that the Browns trade him. The Browns initially informed Mayfield through his representative that they did not intend to comply with that request.
But the Browns also had been told at one point that they’d been eliminated from consideration for being able to trade for Watson. With the reversal by Watson and the trade with the Texans, the Browns likewise reversed course on Mayfield’s trade request, though it took months for the process to play out.
Mayfield’s salary was believed to have been an obstacle. The Seattle Seahawks also were linked to Mayfield in trade speculation. But the Panthers, another team that pursued Watson in March, will give Mayfield his chance for a fresh start months after the fraying of his relationship with the Browns was put on public display.
The Browns met with Watson on March 15 as part of the deliberations on that trade. Later that day, Mayfield acknowledged the uncertainty about his status with the Browns in a statement released on social media. He thanked the city of Cleveland and Browns fans in what amounted to a farewell address, even if Mayfield did not say specifically at that point that he would play elsewhere next season.
“I have no clue what happens next, which is the meaning behind the silence I have had during the duration of this process,” Mayfield said in that statement. “I can only control what I can, which is trusting in God’s plan throughout this process. I have given this franchise everything I have. That is something I’ve always done at every stage, and at every level. And that will not change wherever I take my next snap.”
Mayfield’s trade request — and the Browns’ initial rejection of it — came before the Watson trade. Mayfield then informed the Browns that he preferred to be traded to the Indianapolis Colts but would keep an open mind in case such a deal could not be worked out. The Colts instead traded for Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, keeping Mayfield on hold as the Browns’ options for dealing him dwindled.
The Browns never signed Mayfield to a lucrative long-term deal that would have signaled their confidence in him as their franchise quarterback. He played in 60 games and made 59 starts over four seasons with the Browns after being drafted No. 1 overall in 2018 out of Oklahoma, throwing for 14,125 yards and 92 touchdowns with 56 interceptions.
The Browns reached the playoffs in the 2020 season, with Kevin Stefanski as a rookie NFL head coach, but regressed to an 8-9 record last season. Mayfield struggled with injuries, throwing 13 interceptions to go with his 17 touchdown passes. | 2022-07-06T20:50:48Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Browns send Baker Mayfield to Panthers, ending drawn-out saga - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/07/06/browns-trade-baker-mayfield-panthers/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/07/06/browns-trade-baker-mayfield-panthers/ |
Gunfire is not only killing kids. It’s killing childhood experiences.
I grew up performing in parades. My children have never attended one.
Empty chairs, a bicycle and a stroller are seen after a mass shooting at the Highland Park Fourth of July parade. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
They have never gone because the risks of taking them to that type of public gathering have felt too high in recent years. Like many parents, even before this past Fourth of July saw a gunman turn a parade in Highland Park, Ill. into a massacre that left seven dead, dozens injured and countless people traumatized, I had already played out that possibility in my mind.
“Viral videos of masses of people fleeing from one perceived threat or another on American streets have become a staple of social media,” wrote my colleague Marc Fisher, in a recently published piece. “In many cases, as in Washington, Philadelphia and Highland Park on the Fourth, cameras capture people first looking to each other — to their friends and relatives, as well as the strangers around them — for cues before deciding whether to flee, almost as if they trust the reaction of the crowd at least as much as, if not more than, their own instincts.”
In that piece, he wrote about two teachers from Chicago who celebrated on the National Mall. He noted: “Everyone seems to be on edge these days: When a bag of chips popped open on their Metro train that morning, they recalled, passengers jumped.”
An 11-year-old boy’s killing isn’t proof black lives don’t matter to black people. It’s proof of our collective failure.
A girl’s reaction to the Nationals Park shooting made the world look at D.C.’s gun violence problem
On July 5, President Biden posted a tweet saying, “Jill and I hope you had a happy Fourth of July, America. God bless you all. And may God protect our troops.”
Among the many responses was this one: “Mr. Biden; I’m sure you won’t read this but in case you do — PLEASE do something about gun control. I am terrified to take my children outside anymore. Parades, elementary schools, shopping malls, nothing is safe. Help please.” | 2022-07-06T21:03:51Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Gun violence is killing American childhood experiences - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/06/guns-killing-childhood-experiences/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/06/guns-killing-childhood-experiences/ |
Montgomery school board candidates weigh in on learning losses, police
Students arrive to return to in-person school after pandemic closures at Montgomery County's Sherwood High School in Sandy Spring on April 8, 2021. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
Ahead of the upcoming primary election, Montgomery County school board candidates discussed how they would address learning losses and mental health challenges seen since the pandemic began.
Like others around the country, the school system — Maryland’s largest, with roughly 159,000 students — is trying to recover after two school years that have included virtual learning, increased school violence, and teacher and staff shortages. Earlier this year, Montgomery County school administrators renewed an agreement with the county’s police department that would bring officers back in schools with a narrower and more defined role as “community engagement officers.” The plan has been controversial among some parents and families.
Against that backdrop, voters will choose candidates to fill four school board seats in the upcoming election: District 1, District 3, District 5 and the At-Large position. In total, 14 candidates are running for office in the primary election set for July 19. Early voting begins July 7.
The Washington Post posed questions to the candidates on a range of issues. Below are responses edited for brevity and clarity.
Alex Fahmy, 27, of Damascus, mentors students who want a career in sports, coordinates sports camps and coaches youth sports.
Top issues: Emphasis on parental rights in education, more transparency, eliminating mask mandates, emphasis on trade and financial literacy, need for police in schools
Schools need to stay open for in-person learning; children learn best in a classroom setting. We need to focus on having children be more active. Focus on trades, coding classes, music and arts programs, and overall learning new skills.
What is your position on police in schools?
If the superintendent of Montgomery County Public Schools has security, then so should our children and teachers. I support police in schools.
Teacher salaries need to be based on the cost of living. We need to have an audit find spending cuts and reinvest that money in our teachers. I also want to implement signing bonuses for new hires, along with more incentives and step increases for seasoned teachers, and schedule one half-day each month.
Jay Guan, 36, cites his upbringing as a low-income ESOL student as providing a unique perspective in helping address the opportunity gap in the school system. He is a systems engineer who is active in the school system’s parent teacher association, as well as the Asian Pacific American Student Achievement Action Group. He lives in Clarksburg with his wife and son.
Top issues: Safe and effective operations, transparency, easy access to school data
We need to expand the availability of year-round school/summer school and tutoring to those most in need. We do need mental health professionals and to adequately staff school wellness centers. We can expand our recruitment to mental health professionals who are working to fulfill supervised internship/clinical hours for their licensure. Lastly, we need to include mental health support personnel in each school’s staff assignment and planning.
I am in support of the community engagement officers. School safety requires comprehensive solutions that include the police, mental health professions, social workers and much more. It is not an either/or between police and mental health support.
We need to pay commensurate salaries for the jobs that they perform, and accord the respect that professionals [like them] deserve.
Grace Rivera Oven, 53, is the founder and chief executive of UpCounty Hub, a nonprofit that tackles food insecurity in upper Montgomery County. She is a Germantown resident and has been a community advocate for roughly 35 years, including running an after-school program for high-risk youth. She is an MCPS graduate and had three children in the system.
Top issues: School safety, expansion of mental health and wraparound services, closure of the opportunity gap, and ending lunch debt with free school meals for all
We need to close the opportunity gap, meaning the focus needs to be on our students who are not doing well academically in schools that are Title 1. We must ensure that we work with families, while making sure the same opportunities to take Advanced Placement classes and get internships are available. Transportation should not be a barrier for these students, especially for after-school activities. We need to ensure access to counseling, and any barriers are overcome so that our most vulnerable youth can take advantage of our health programs.
As someone who has worked in the state attorney’s office and ran an after-school program for high-risk youth, I understand where parents and the majority of teachers and administrators are coming from. However, having school resource officers in our schools is not the magic answer to keeping our students safe. We need to invest in after-school programs, counselors, restorative justice practitioners and behavior specialists.
Our current teachers, paraeducators and support staff need to have their needs and concerns heard so they are motivated to stay, and we must work to establish the resources every educator requires to foster an environment that cultivates new staff members.
Esther Wells, 35, is a certified public accountant specializing in corporate taxes. She cites her background in professional finance among her qualifications for a role on the board. She has tutored students in MCPS and seeks to elevate the voices of the most vulnerable populations. She lives in Gaithersburg with her two sons.
Top issues: Recovery from disrupted education, student and staff mental health, mistrust between the community and MCPS
My plan is to refocus MCPS on core subjects such as math, comprehension and reading. Offer Saturday school, night school and summer school to students that need additional support. Allow teachers more time to teach and reduce the level of testing that we currently offer our students.
MCPS has a robust offering of mental health services, support and community resources available for students and teachers such as student support groups. Normalize seeking therapy and give everyone the attention they need to be okay. We need to ensure that students have a trusted adult who will listen and act appropriately in response to what they are saying.
The new [community engagement officer] program should be more comprehensive to include partnerships and responsibilities to all stakeholders. Prevention is key. We need to ensure ALL schools are safe and secured at all times. MCPS needs to invest in technology and professionals to identify threats to our community early and disarm them discretely. Inspire students through leadership initiatives to speak up and speak out against bullying and threats. Engage with parents and families for repeat incidents of fights in school. Apply wraparound services to get to the root cause/issue to then support the student and family.
Listen to the concerns of our current MCPS teachers, paraeducators and support staff. Create a pipeline of diverse high school and college students to enter the field of teaching by providing subsidies and incentives throughout their education journey to certification. Invest in a mentoring program where experienced teachers and first-year teachers can discuss best practices, have a safe space to voice concerns and receive support as they navigate our school system. Increase substitute teacher pay, ensure adequate planning periods, provide work-life balance.
Marcus Alzona, 50, is a computer scientist in Bethesda who says the board needs a member who understands the potential and limitations of technology and who can provide guidance for STEM education and school infrastructure.
Top issues: Keeping schools open and safe, having common-sense voices for parents on the school board and proper and effective use of technology for STEM and curriculum transparency
MCPS was one of the last schools to reopen and the effect on our students was severe, hurting poor and minority children the most. Montgomery County needs school board members who will push back on reflexive school closures not backed by the science. Innovative approaches utilizing technology must be utilized to help with student learning loss, while simultaneously providing parents with curriculum transparency.
We must listen to our principals, who unanimously want school resource officers in MCPS schools. The board must stop portraying police as a problem and return to viewing the police as a partner in keeping our schools safe.
Education is essential work, and our teachers, paraeducators and support staff need to be paid accordingly. The school board gave our teachers only a 3.35 percent cost-of-living raise, yet gave the superintendent a $368,000 compensation package, a $73,000 increase — a slap in the face to all of the front-line teachers who have worked hard over the past year. We need to fund teachers, not executives.
Incumbent Scott Joftus, 54, is a co-founder and president of FourPoint Education Partners, which helps school boards and superintendents improve outcomes for students, especially those who are underrepresented. He teaches courses for master’s students in education policy at George Washington University. He lives in Bethesda.
Top issues: Improve engagement of and communication with stakeholders, addressing the lost learning time resulting from the pandemic, student and staff mental health
Continuing to invest in mental health professionals, tutoring, after school and summer school, pre-K, and higher salaries for educators and staff; and increasing investments for “community schools,” which is an approach to providing health and social services at the school site.
We must ensure that underrepresented students are not unfairly disciplined or arrested. I support the transition from school resource officers to Community Engagement Officers. Schools will still have access to police officers in cases of illegal activity, violence or potential violence, but police officers will not maintain a constant presence in our schools and will be trained to act appropriately in appropriate situations. Also support significant budget increases for mental health services and wellness centers.
The Maryland Blueprint, which I strongly support, requires school districts to increase the salaries of teachers, which we’ve done this year, with more forthcoming. We also need to make sure that MCPS is providing high-quality support to principals to help them create school cultures that are welcoming, supportive and academically engaging. For recruiting, we need to continue to “grow your own,” through career pathway initiatives at high schools and incentives for paraprofessionals and other professionals to become teachers.
Julie Yang, 52, of Potomac, has a long career in education, including 11 years with the Montgomery County school system, where she has previously worked as a college and career counselor. She resigned in December to run for the board and says her deep knowledge of the system and of the needs of the community make her qualified for the position.
Top issues: Student and staff mental health, staff recruitment and retention, and mitigation of pandemic learning disruption
Have a student-centered mental health approach by asking our students what they most need and allow time and space for our students and staff to build relationships. Also take a proactive [approach] and have mental health as a permanent agenda item for the board, and gradually decrease the student-to-counselor/psychologist ratio to provide more individualized service.
When addressing the learning gap, targeted summer school, and tutoring services, are needed. We also need a closer partnership with the families.
We need mental health support, collaboration with MCPD and strong relationships. Police in schools are not to be involved in student discipline, but to address crime, and build trusted relationships with the school community. We need to have periodic reviews of how the program is working.
Build stronger partnerships with universities and local community groups to attract and diversify our workforce. For retention, better training and support at the local school level. Allow time and space for educators to exchange ideas, collaborate and build a strong community.
Valerie Coll, 61, is a recently retired teacher from MCPS. Her experience as a teacher has made her well-versed in the system, she said. She lives in Colesville.
Top issues: Transparency, communication, oversight
How would you help students recover from earning losses and mental health challenges seen during the pandemic?
I support the wellness centers as outlined by MCPS. Elementary students, however, have traditionally been given the short end of the stick when it comes to addressing mental health needs. We must follow guidelines to improve the ratio of counselors to students and we have to stop the practice of having counselors serve as “teacher in charge” if administrators are out of the building or to cover classes in case of absences.
This lack of counseling in real time for students at all levels is also a reason for the gaps in learning. MCPS dropped the ball in jumping back into academic programming without first assessing where students were in their social and emotional health.
I am curious and interested to see how the SRO 2.0 program will actually function. I am in favor of the [board of education] requesting specific details on how MCPS security staff is hired, trained and effective in schools and across the system. I would like to see our school security staff work with the office of staff development and with MCPS counselors at all levels to better focus on building relationships and monitoring student behaviors.
We have to build a better pipeline of students wanting to teach here at MCPS. Expand infant and child development programs at high schools in partnership with local universities to increase enrollment in teacher degree programming. We need to offer increased opportunities for staffers as participants in programs that already exist for them to become teacher-certified through a compacted program with local universities. We also need to improve the salary scale for teachers and substitutes. The school board has to direct MCPS to improve its human resources department and stop appointing former administrators who are not HR experts to positions of executive administration.
Dawn Iannaco-Hahn, 47, works for the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services as a therapist for the Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Support Services program. She lives in Silver Spring with her husband and two middle-school-age sons. She plans to bring her experience as a parent, advocate and mental health expert to the board.
Top issues: Increased mental health services and supports, improved pay and incentive programs for staff, addressing significant educational disruption, career readiness, quality career and technical education programs
MCPS needs to create a comprehensive school mental health program modeled after the National Center for School Mental Health. MCPS needs to build on its partnerships with local mental health agencies to be able to provide therapeutic services in all school buildings. MCPS also needs a better social/emotional curriculum that is more relevant and relatable.
MCPS needs to offer intensive, in-person tutoring services after school and on weekends and to offer more robust Saturday and summer school programming to all students at every grade level. Students with [Individualized Education Programs] need the compensatory services they are legally entitled.
We need to give the power back to the principals because they know their school community and its needs best. Officers in schools should not be involved in any disciplinary actions. We need to work on building relationships between school counselors, social workers and psychologists and any police or security placed in a school.
Updating and modernizing job requirements/descriptions to attract highly qualified people, changing hiring protocols and salary guidelines, create more incentive programs, better pay for staffers.
Incumbent Brenda Wolff, 69, is a retiree from the U.S. Department of Education. Her experience as a trained attorney, she said, has given her analytical skills that have supported the school board’s oversight role. Her daughter is a teacher and her grandson a student in MCPS. She currently serves as the school board’s president. She resides in Silver Spring.
Top issues: Social and emotional learning, mental health, pre-K opportunities, closing the opportunity gap, strategic use of funds
I have championed the use of out-of-school time to extend learning. Having tutoring available after school and making summer school more available to students who need it is one way learning gaps are being addressed, along with increasing enrollment in Saturday school.
Perhaps the most important strategy for mitigating learning is through classroom instruction. Supporting student and staff mental health in an environment conducive to learning requires a multi-tiered approach. I have supported having a menu of mental health supports, including teletherapy.
Balancing the interests of students — many of whom have experienced problematic encounters with the police — with the police role in securing the over 208 campuses requires a willingness to take positions that please neither side. I am committed to continue working with [the police department] to provide officers serving our schools professional development on issues such as adolescent development, de-escalation, restorative justice and antiracism that they need.
I am aware that money and benefits alone will not solve the problem, but it does help us compete with surrounding jurisdictions. I have also championed our “grow your own” initiative, where we work with high school students who are interested in teaching, staying in touch with them throughout college, and offering internships and student teaching so that when they have their credentials they want to return to MCPS.
Mike Erickson did not respond to questions.
Michael Fryar, 53, an attorney representing children and adults with education and mental health issues, started his career as a classroom teacher in Connecticut. He lives in Gaithersburg and has two children in middle school.
Top issues: Focusing on core learning concepts and providing support both in and after school for students to recover from pandemic learning losses; curriculum transparency and school choice by expanding magnet programs; creating theme schools; and introducing charter schools in the county.
Curriculum needs to be refocused on core essential skills with in-school and after-school help. Home services need to be expanded to support all families, particularly our most marginalized. We need in-school mental health supports, beginning with classroom teacher support and training.
We need CEOs in schools because they serve as a source of information for issues occurring within the community, reported by responsible students who want to remain safe. MCPS has in-school gang issues that have created multiple incidents of violence and crime and may well have led to the Magruder [High] School shooting. Ignoring this reality is putting children in harm’s way.
Reduce the amount of testing. The average fifth-grade teacher in Montgomery County spends one out of five days in the school year dealing with test prep, testing and post-test data collection.
More administrative support for discipline. Teachers are spending an inordinate amount of time focusing on a few children with discipline issues.
More preparation time. When I was a teacher, I had a lunch time for meals and a separate planning time that was specifically to reset the classroom and prepare for the rest of the day’s lessons. Now lunch and planning periods are filled with meetings, trainings and other useless time wasters.
J “Domenic” Giandomenico, 42, is a political consultant who has worked on education and workforce development legislation and policy for several organizations. He is the full-time caretaker of his two children, one of whom was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder.
Top issues: Learning loss after covid, teacher burnout, stronger measures of accountability and equity, retaining and recruiting teachers
My team-teaching plan is designed for providing students with more direct instruction in an efficient and equitable manner. Team teaching distributes our best teachers to more students and supports them with less-experienced teachers. The experienced teacher focuses solely on instruction, while the junior teacher handles classroom management.
Regarding mental health care, there is no substitute for hiring trained professionals, and we have to do whatever it takes to make that happen.
Children cannot learn if they don’t feel safe, and we must take all steps necessary to ensure that protection — that includes bringing police officers back into schools and implementing much stronger accountability throughout MCPS. I share the many concerns and apprehensions over having a police presence in schools. Our only option for keeping students safe is to bring back good government, regain the public’s trust and reestablish consent of the governed.
My team-teaching plan will relieve teacher burnout. I want to make MCPS wages exempt from county income tax, give all MCPS employees priority access for county programs (such as affordable housing) and add a designated seat on the board of education for teachers.
Incumbent Karla Silvestre, 49, is a director of community engagement at Montgomery College. She is the current vice president of the school board. She is an educator with experience in STEM, teaching English as a second language, and with at-risk youth. She also is a MCPS parent and lives in Silver Spring.
Top issues: High expectations for all students, recruiting the best and diverse teacher talent through a “grow your own” program, providing accessible mental health support to all students
Students need to be in school every day of the school year, receiving instruction in a high-quality curriculum from a highly qualified teacher. Students that need additional help should receive tutoring or participate in summer school. We have created a wide array of mental health supports this school year, and I will ensure that these services are reaching the students that need them the most.
Police officers are needed to respond to violent crimes and weapons in schools. At every high school, we need social workers, mental health services, restorative justice and youth development so we can focus on preventing students from engaging in high-risk behaviors and avoiding serious incidents. And we need to ensure that the unequal treatment of Black and Brown students is not perpetuated in our schools.
We must strive to have a workforce that reflects our community, and we can do that through a “grow your own” program that supports interested MCPS graduates to go into education and return to work in MCPS. We must better market our competitive salaries, support for new teachers and generous benefits packages. | 2022-07-06T21:03:58Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Montgomery County school board race: Candidates discuss learning loss, police - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/07/06/montgomery-county-school-board-election-candidates/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/07/06/montgomery-county-school-board-election-candidates/ |
Demonstrators gather on July 3 to protest the Akron, Ohio, police shooting death of Jayland Walker. (REUTERS/Gaelen Morse)
Two years ago, the country reacted in disbelief and horror to the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. His murder raised troubling questions about policing in America and the use of deadly force. Did racial bias play a role in his agonizing death? Was training a factor? How could there be such disregard for a human life?
Those same questions are now being asked again following the death of another Black man who police shot more than 60 times after what was supposed to be a routine traffic stop.
Jayland Walker, 25, was killed by police in Akron, Ohio, on June 27 in an incident that sparked days of protests, prompting authorities to impose a curfew and cancel Independence Day celebrations. Police said they had tried to pull Mr. Walker over for unspecified equipment and traffic violations at 12:30 a.m. when he fled and a chase ensued. About 40 seconds after the chase started, police said, a gunshot was fired from Mr. Walker’s car. After several minutes, according to police, Mr. Walker, who had no criminal record, got out of his car and ran away on foot. Police said they deployed Tasers but couldn’t subdue him. Seconds later, after police say Mr. Walker stopped and turned toward the officers, they opened fire.
More than 90 rounds were discharged, and it appears from the police body cam videos of the chase and shooting that shots were fired even after Mr. Walker fell to the ground. “It was absolutely excessive,” said the attorney for Mr. Walker’s family. “The way the law required, indeed, the way we are all required, to look at this is through the eyes of a reasonable police officer as it’s happening. I ask you, as he’s running away, what is reasonable? To gun him down? No, that’s not reasonable.”
Mr. Walker was unarmed when he was shot. Police said they found a handgun in the car, but it’s not clear whether it was loaded. He had no criminal record. Eight officers directly involved in the shooting have been placed on administrative leave; the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is conducting an inquiry and will turn the case over for review to the state attorney general.
There are many unanswered questions that will determine if these officers should be criminally prosecuted. Foremost: Was a gun discharged during the chase that gives credence to officers’ claims they feared for their lives? While the delay in the release of information has been troubling, it is important not to prejudge the outcome of this case. There must be a thorough investigation and a full airing of the findings. Aside from the specific issue of possible criminal culpability, there should be some renewed soul searching by law enforcement authorities — both in Akron and across the nation — about practices that have resulted in unarmed Black suspects being killed by police more often than Whites.
We hoped that after Floyd’s death, departments would reassess the use of deadly force, improve training and question the wisdom of tactics like giving chase to drivers with broken headlights. That this young man is dead after being stopped for a traffic violation is not only a needless tragedy, but it is just plain wrong. | 2022-07-06T21:12:34Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Akron, Ohio, police shooting of Jayland Walker raises same questions - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/06/akron-ohio-police-shooting-jayland-walker/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/06/akron-ohio-police-shooting-jayland-walker/ |
Passengers in Colombo, Sri Lanka, try to board an overcrowded train amid a fuel shortage on July 6. (Chamila Karunarathne/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
In its recent history, Sri Lanka has withstood civil war, a devastating 2004 tsunami and 2019 terrorist attacks that killed 269 people in Colombo, the capital. Now the nation of 21.8 million, just off the southern tip of India, finds itself tested by a profound economic collapse that could spawn a humanitarian crisis and political upheaval.
The disaster’s short-term cause lies in the coronavirus pandemic, which dried up Sri Lanka’s flow of tourist earnings. The government compounded the damage by banning fertilizer imports to save foreign currency in 2021; the perverse result was crop failure and a need for more food imports. Burdened with $51 billion in foreign debt, Sri Lanka is essentially bankrupt and cannot afford imported food or fuel. Citizens must wait days for rations and street protests flare regularly. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is negotiating for an International Monetary Fund bailout — but also pleading with Russian President Vladimir Putin for emergency fuel shipments.
The prospect that Mr. Putin could use Sri Lanka’s pain to expand Russian influence over the Indo-Pacific region is one reason — apart from the human tragedy — for the United States to pay attention. Another is the prospect of similar desperation in other heavily indebted nations. Rising interest rates, coupled with oil and food supply shocks emanating from the war in Ukraine, are exacerbating the debtor nations’ difficulties. Of 73 countries the Group of 20 declared eligible for a special pandemic-related Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) in 2020, 41 are at high risk of debt distress, or already in it, according to a recent International Monetary Fund report. Ethiopia and Zambia have requested some relief under the DSSI and 20 other countries show signs of needing it this year, according to the IMF.
The parallels with the debt crisis of the ’70s and ’80s are striking. One factor complicating today’s situation relative to past debt crises is that the most deeply indebted countries owe money not just to Western governments and banks, but to private bondholders and, crucially, to China. Some 18 percent of their borrowing is from Beijing, which — unlike democratic counterparts —generally does not offer “soft” credit. Sri Lanka is a good example: China and Japan each hold about 10 percent of its foreign debt, but the latter’s money came at much lower interest rates and longer maturities, according to Nikkei Asia. China also operates separate from the Western-backed Paris Club of official creditors, which makes transparency about the loans it has extended elusive.
The upshot is that the United States should use its power as the IMF’s largest shareholder to help countries restructure their debts, but this will be much harder to do with a multiplicity of private bondholders involved and with China engaged in the equivalent of international predatory lending. Sri Lanka presents an opportunity for the Biden administration to fashion a rescue in conjunction with other members of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue — India, Japan and Australia. That could both mitigate suffering and show the entire Indo-Pacific that it pays to deal with the United States rather than China or Russia. | 2022-07-06T21:12:52Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Sri Lanka's debt crisis calls for U.S. help - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/06/sri-lanka-debt-crisis-us-aid/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/06/sri-lanka-debt-crisis-us-aid/ |
Macy Gray, left, and Bette Midler. (Paul Morigi/Jerod Harris/Getty Images/Washington Post illustration)
In the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s decision last month to overturn the fundamental right to an abortion, many celebrities have spoken out about what they see as a loss of reproductive rights and bodily autonomy.
Then came Bette Midler.
The entertainer, in a tweet posted Monday, wrote that women around the world “are being stripped of our rights over our bodies, our lives and even of our name!”
“They don’t call us ‘women’ anymore; they call us ‘birthing people’ or ‘menstruators,’ and even ‘people with vaginas’! Don’t let them erase you! Every human on earth owes you!” she added.
The same day, an interview between media personality Piers Morgan and singer Macy Gray aired in which Morgan brought up the controversy over trans athletes competing in women’s sports.
“I will say this, and everyone’s going to hate me, but as a woman, just because you go change your [body] parts, [it] doesn’t make you a woman. Sorry,” Gray said.
Both entertainers were trending on social media this week as transgender advocates and allies called out what they saw as transphobic remarks.
Journalist Soledad O’Brien responded to Midler’s tweet: “Love you lady, but no one’s stripping me of my name. … I think it’s a way to be inclusive of people who need a wide range of health care options.”
Another Twitter user wrote: “It’s not trans people who are taking away my right to bodily [autonomy]. We’re all fighting the same fight.”
Some on social media referred to the celebrities as “TERFs,” an acronym for “trans-exclusionary radical feminists” — and drew comparisons to author J.K. Rowling, who has come under criticism from trans advocates in the past. (On Tuesday, Rowling seemed to support Gray’s comments, tweeting, “Today feels like a good day to ensure I’ve bought Macy Gray’s entire back catalogue.”)
Midler and Gray, who have long been seen as allies to the LGBTQ community, responded to the criticisms Tuesday. In a tweet, Midler said her statement was in response to a “fascinating and well written” opinion piece that ran in the New York Times over the weekend, which argued that “women” was becoming a forbidden word, edged out by gender-neutral terms such as “pregnant people.”
“There was no intention of anything exclusionary or transphobic in what I said; it wasn’t about that,” Midler wrote.
In a statement shared with The Washington Post, Gray said: “I have nothing but love for the LGBTQ+ and transgender community and have been a supporter since day one. My statement on Piers Morgan was grossly misunderstood. I don’t hate anyone. I respect everyone’s right to feel comfortable in their bodies and live their own truth.”
Conservatives find unlikely ally in fighting transgender rights: Radical feminists
Many trans advocates and allies saw in Midler and Gray’s comments the kind of talking points typically associated with anti-trans feminists, who are also known as TERFs or “gender critical” feminists.
These anti-trans feminists have recently found common ground — and increasing visibility and power — with conservative evangelical Christians, a group that has been largely credited with mobilizing, politically and socially, to curtail abortion and other reproductive rights.
Midler and Gray’s remarks are also coming at a significant time for both trans people and cisgender women, experts note: Both groups are widely seen as the most invested in — and vulnerable to — a recent rollback of reproductive rights and bodily autonomy.
Given the political moment, it’s no wonder the two celebrities touched off a conversation about transphobic language, defining womanhood and more. We asked advocates and experts to contextualize what’s at play.
Who are TERFs?
In the past decade, TERF has become increasingly common as a shorthand way of identifying a person who self-identifies as a feminist but is unwilling to include transgender women and girls in their advocacy — and more frequently, have actively sought to exclude trans women from women’s spaces.
They were considered a fringe offshoot of the women’s right movement of the 1970s and are still a relatively small group, according to Heron Greenesmith, a senior research analyst for LGBTQ justice at Political Research Associates, a left-leaning social justice research and strategy organization. In recent years, Greenesmith has been monitoring and studying anti-trans feminists.
What interests Greenesmith about this group is how it adopts feminist principles “while actually undermining bodily autonomy ... one of those foundational principles of feminism,” they said.
Proponents of anti-trans feminism have argued that trans women diminish the power and rights of cisgender women. Originally, “TERF” referred to a specific, radical feminist ideology, but in recent years it has become an umbrella term to describe anyone who opposes trans rights or advocacy in the name of feminism.
Some anti-trans feminists have said they consider the TERF acronym to be a slur, favoring the phrase “gender critical” instead.
‘A problem of language’
The fact that Midler and Gray, who both consider themselves allies of the LGBTQ community, could knowingly or unknowingly spout anti-trans rhetoric is a sign of how much that messaging has proliferated in the mainstream, experts say.
According to Jules Gill-Peterson, an associate professor of history at Johns Hopkins University, Midler’s tweet — and the New York Times opinion piece that inspired it — are rooted in a panic over language. But that focus actually diminishes the concerns of trans people at large, Gill-Peterson said.
“My reading on the panic around gender-neutral or gender-inclusive language is that it’s basically disingenuous,” Gill-Peterson said. “I don’t think any trans organizers, advocates or trans people would name gender-inclusive language as the No. 1 most urgent issue trans people are facing in the United States.”
In recent years, many U.S. medical and governmental institutions, advocacy groups and media organizations, including The Washington Post, have moved to adopt more gender-neutral language — part of a larger, worldwide trend of making gendered language more inclusive of transgender, nonbinary and gender-nonconforming people. The fight over abortion rights has magnified this effort — as well as criticism of it.
While LGBTQ advocates and allies have noted that trans men and nonbinary people also seek abortions — and often encounter systemic barriers and discrimination along the way — these same individuals and organizations have often reiterated the importance of recognizing cis women in these conversations.
In recent guidance shared on Twitter, the Trans Journalists Association wrote: “It is unnecessary to avoid the word ‘women’ by substituting phrases like ‘birthing people,’ ‘people with uteruses,’ and the like. This language can offend both transgender and cisgender people.”
Gill-Peterson sees the furor over language such as “birthing people” as a “sort of attempt to drive a wedge” between groups that are actually aligned in their goal of protecting bodily autonomy and self-determination: “Sometimes these language games are actually a way of further delegitimizing everyone involved.”
‘Different ways to be women’
On the other hand, Gray’s comments, which focused on how one cannot change their body parts and be considered a “woman,” appear to tie back to the larger issue of “gender essentialism,” or the idea that the only genders are male and female and are defined by certain physical characteristics, said Greenesmith.
While the urge to define what womanhood is has been around for some time, the question of how one defines a woman has been a recurring fixation among conservatives this year.
Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was asked how she would define a woman during her confirmation hearings, for example. And at a GOP event earlier this year, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said that she had an “easy answer”: “We’re a creation of God. We came from Adam’s rib.”
Republicans thought defining a ‘woman’ is easy. Then they tried.
Speaking with Morgan, Gray said: “Being a little girl is a whole epic book, you know? And you can’t have that just because you want to be a woman.”
The comments echo a transphobic trope that trans people are deceitful or duplicitous, said Greenesmith. Gray’s remarks also erase the experiences of trans children, and trans girlhood specifically, they said.
This is personal for Greenesmith, who said that it has been an “astonishing revelation” to realize that “I wasn’t raised as a girl. I was raised as a nonbinary person.”
“That is the same thing that trans women say: ‘I wasn’t raised as a man. I was told that everything I did was wrong and shaped into, sometimes violently, what a man should be,’ ” Greenesmith said.
In Gray’s comments, Gill-Peterson sees the more established problem of defining who a proper girl or woman is — what they look like, what their background is, how they behave.
“There’s no one criteria that all women share. Particularly when we think about how race, class and disability cut through and divide women as a class of people,” she said. “You’re just slowly, slowly shrinking the population of people who are deserving of recognition and deserving of dignity and humanity and personhood.” | 2022-07-06T21:12:58Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Bette Midler, Macy Gray and why transgender advocates are upset - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2022/07/06/bette-midler-macy-gray-transgender-advocates/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2022/07/06/bette-midler-macy-gray-transgender-advocates/ |
Nipsey Hussle shooter found guilty of first-degree murder
A motorist drives past a street mural of the late rapper Nipsey Hussle last month in downtown Los Angeles. (Chris Pizzello/AP)
A Los Angeles County jury on Wednesday convicted a man of first-degree murder in the 2019 fatal shooting of rapper Nipsey Hussle, according to the Associated Press. The man, 32-year-old Eric R. Holder Jr., was also found guilty of two counts of attempted voluntary manslaughter for injuring others at the scene.
Hussle, the Grammy-nominated artist born Ermias Joseph Asghedom, was shot in March 2019 outside the Marathon Clothing Store, a business he owned in his south Los Angeles, his hometown. A coroner that same day determined that Hussle, 33, died of gunshot wounds and ruled his death a homicide.
Prosecutors said Hussle and Holder were both affiliated with the Rollin’ 60s Crips gang, according to the AP. Holder’s attorney Aaron Jansen didn’t deny during the trial that his client shot and killed Hussle, but he asked the jury to consider the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter, the AP reported. Jansen said Holder acted in the “heat of passion” after Hussle said there were rumors Holder was working with authorities.
Jansen said in a statement Wednesday that he was “deeply” disappointed in the verdict and that he had expected an uphill battle “given the high-profile circumstances surrounding the case.” He added, however, that he was “grateful that the jury agreed with us, in part, that the case was overcharged”; prosecutors originally argued for two counts of attempted murder for the injured bystanders.
“We will move on to sentencing set for September 15, 2022, and then appeal,” Jansen added.
Nipsey Hussle rapped about the broken America he was trying to fix
After years of putting out music, Hussle released his first and only studio album, “Victory Lap,” in February 2018; it debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, and peaked at No. 2 after his death. Hussle, who grew up in the Crenshaw neighborhood, was known to give back to his community through business deals and philanthropy. The day of Hussle’s death, a member of the Los Angeles police commission tweeted that he had a meeting scheduled with the rapper for the next day in an effort to reduce gang violence.
Prosecutors underscored Hussle’s community work during the closing arguments of Holder’s trial.
“This man was different,” Deputy District Attorney John McKinney told the jury, according to the AP. “He wanted to change the neighborhood. He kept the same friends. And the neighborhood loved him. They called him Neighborhood Nip.” | 2022-07-06T21:13:04Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Nipsey Hussle shooter found guilty of first-degree murder - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2022/07/06/nipsey-hussle-murder-verdict/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2022/07/06/nipsey-hussle-murder-verdict/ |
Michigan artist-animator Mike Thompson visited two gun shows to learn what's required to buy an AR-15-style weapon. This illustrated reporting piece is based upon what he learned. (Mike Thompson/Counterpoint)
Sandy Hook Elementary. San Bernardino. Stoneman Douglas High. Uvalde. AR-15-style weapons are so common in American mass shootings that graphics journalist Mike Thompson read up on the rifles and asked himself a question:
How difficult would it be to obtain a weapon “that can fire the standard round used by NATO troops at 3,000 feet per second,” as he put it?
The Detroit area-based artist and animator went to two gun shows to find out. He then turned the project into an illustrated report that he already had planned for release Tuesday, the day after the Fourth of July parade mass shooting in Highland Park, Ill., that killed seven people.
“The answer, unfortunately, is that it is mind-numbingly simple to obtain such a weapon,” says Thompson, a former Detroit Free Press and USA Today cartoonist. He spent about two weeks producing an illustration and an animated video syndicated by Counterpoint.
Thompson says he has “no problem“ with people owning firearms for self-defense — but not just any weapon.
“My concern with the AR-15 is the weapon’s velocity — which is insanely high — the type of ammunition it can fire and the fact that it can easily be modified to become fully automatic,” says Thompson, who noted: “There’s no need for civilians to possess such incredibly powerful weapons and no need for anyone outside the military to possess such ammunition.”
In creating the project, the artist, who didn’t have much prior experience with gun culture, says he was struck by “how polite and nice everyone was at both the gun shows I visited. I couldn’t help but notice the contrast between the civility of the vendors and potential buyers, vs. the fact that AR-15-style rifles were being offered for sale.”
Ultimately, his cartoon highlights how rapid the background check was — and how quickly he could leave a show with a weapon “suited for the battlefield.”
Here is what some artists told The Washington Post about work they have created since the Highland Park shooting:
“The tragic events in Highland Park served as a very grim reminder of the torrid pace of mass shootings in the United States this year. So when I returned to the newsroom Tuesday, I wasn’t just thinking about the insanity that occurred the day before — I was thinking about the madness that, on average, has plagued this country every single day of 2022. Living inside a shooting gallery seemed to capture the insecurity of life in America. Having that gallery operated by the NRA seemed to properly credit those most responsible for that insecurity.”
— Clay Bennett, Chattanooga Times Free Press
“Coming up with the idea, I thought about how we, as Americans, yearly celebrate our freedom and Independence while feeling increasingly scared for family, friends and our fellow citizens — as maniacs continue to be allowed access to military-type weapons. Americans need to wake up and vote out those unwilling to buck the NRA.”
— Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal Constitution
“Mass shooting events are like a Möbius strip, and I am getting weary of trying to comment on something that American society isn’t moving fast enough to prevent. It’s like ‘The NRA presents “Groundhog Day.” ’ I thought of the dreadful damage these freaks and their federal enablers are inflicting on social order, and how commenting on this is practically useless and emotionally horrifying.”
— Jack Ohman, The Sacramento Bee
“The cartoon was obviously created because of the Highland Park shooting, but I think it applies to many of the mass shootings. When these tragedies first happen and there is little to no information, I see people on social media immediately speculating on the race and political affiliations of the shooter. I think people are searching and trying to make sense of these senseless acts. Without answers, we guess.”
— Tim Campbell, Counterpoint | 2022-07-06T21:13:11Z | www.washingtonpost.com | How cartoonists are taking on gun culture after Highland Park shooting - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/comics/2022/07/06/cartoons-guns-highland-park-mass-shooting/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/comics/2022/07/06/cartoons-guns-highland-park-mass-shooting/ |
Pig heart recipient died of heart failure, study finds
David Bennett, left, with his son David Bennett, Jr, in Baltimore on Jan. 12 as he recovers after receiving the first successful transplant of a genetically modified pig’s heart at at the University of Maryland Medical Center. (University of Maryland School of Medicine)
Doctors at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have concluded that a man who received a first-of-its-kind pig-heart transplant in January died two months later of heart failure. The reasons for the failure remain under investigation.
All the subsequent information gathered will be applied when they are ready for the next xenotransplant patient. That includes clues about how to prevent issues that may have contributed to the heart failure, including a reaction to a drug aimed at preventing rejection.
“We are still trying to figure out what went wrong; we don’t have a single answer,” said Muhammad M. Mohiuddin, co-leader of the pig heart study and professor of surgery and scientific/program director of the cardiac xenotransplantation program in the medical school.
“But we don’t consider this a setback,” he said. “We consider that he lived through the surgery the first win. When he seemed to be recovering and doing well for two months, we really thought that was a huge success. If we could have identified the reason his heart gave out suddenly, he might have walked out of the hospital.”
Bennet, 57, had been bedridden and hooked up to a lifesaving heart-lung bypass machine for eight weeks with end-stage heart failure before the transplant with the genetically modified pig heart. He was not eligible for a traditional heart transplant and federal regulators granted him a “compassionate use” exemption to have the experimental pig-heart transplant. Such animal organ transplants are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
For now, any more such transplants will be considered on a “case by case basis,” according to a statement by a FDA spokesperson to the Baltimore Sun.
The agency wouldn’t comment on if and when regulators would allow human trials, which typically mean larger numbers of transplant patients, multiple hospital sites and data collection with the goal of approval for the procedure. The Wall Street Journal, citing “sources familiar with the matter,” reported last week that the FDA was devising such plans.
FDA officials acknowledged to the Sun a need to address the shortage of organs for transplant.
“Xenotransplantation represents an option to help address the shortage of human allografts and organs for transplantation,” according to an FDA spokesperson.
But the FDA also cited the complexity and risk from animal transplants, including transfer of infections, and the need to “carefully assess” those risks compared with the potential benefits in any trial.
“Overall, FDA will not allow an investigational product to be used unless it believes that such risks are appropriately minimized and acceptable for the clinical situation,” the spokesperson said. “Because of the potentially serious public health risks of possible zoonotic infections, FDA has instituted policies such as long-term patient monitoring and prohibitions against blood donation to mitigate against the risk of infectious-disease transmission.”
Mohiuddin said doctors have been in touch with the FDA about human trials but said there would be more animal studies in the meantime.
“I think the presentations made to the FDA by those in the field indicate that the best path forward is through a human clinical trial,” he said. “We are eager to see how the FDA responds to this input and whether they will issue new guidance on this. As of now, we are proceeding with additional primate studies to see what more we can learn.”
But Mohiuddin said doctors already know the findings from Bennett’s transplant will lead to changes to practices and techniques in future human transplants.
Patients and their families have been contacting him and other doctors since the transplant was announced, but there is no timeline to request approval for another transplant.
About 110,000 Americans are waiting for an organ transplant, with more than 6,000 dying annually while they’re on the list, according to federal figures. | 2022-07-06T21:30:05Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Pig heart recipient died of heart failure, study finds - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/pig-heart-recipient-died-of-heart-failure-study-finds/2022/07/06/affe06ec-fcdc-11ec-a7eb-d66bb98bbf0f_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/pig-heart-recipient-died-of-heart-failure-study-finds/2022/07/06/affe06ec-fcdc-11ec-a7eb-d66bb98bbf0f_story.html |
Islamist attack on prison frees hundreds
Around 440 inmates are on the run after a suspected raid by Islamist Boko Haram militants on a prison in Nigeria’s capital Abuja on Tuesday night, an Interior Ministry official said.
The raid, and a separate ambush on an advance convoy of Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari — who was not present — heading to his hometown in the northern state of Katsina, highlights Nigeria’s security challenges, especially in northern regions where armed insurgents and gangs are rife.
He said the suspected Boko Haram attackers came for members in the prison.
“They came specifically for their co-conspirators, but in order to get them . . . some of them are in the general [prison] population so they broke out, and other people in that population escaped, as well, but many of them have returned,” Belgore said.
“The attackers opened fire on the convoy from ambush positions but were repelled by the military, police and security personnel accompanying the convoy,” a spokesman said.
Opposition leader targeted, allies say
Tunisia’s main opposition leader Rached Ghannouchi has been summoned by a judge over money-laundering allegations, his Ennahda party said on Wednesday, accusing the authorities of targeting him for political reasons.
The July 19 summons is to answer questions about the allegations, which Ennahda says are untrue and a result of “distortion and fabrication.”
Ghannouchi’s court date is less than a week before Saied holds a referendum on a new constitution that he has written broadly expanding his powers while limiting checks on his actions, a referendum that Ennahda says it will boycott.
Saied has said that his actions were needed to save Tunisia from years of political paralysis and economic stagnation and that his constitution will uphold people’s rights and freedoms.
17 dead in Pakistan's monsoon rains: Three days of monsoon rains left at least 17 people dead and damaged dozens of homes across southwest Pakistan, officials said Wednesday. Streets and homes were flooded in various parts of Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province, the provincial disaster management agency said. Rains have inundated areas across Pakistan, disrupting normal life. Sherry Rehman, the minister for climate change, told a news conference in the capital of Islamabad that 77 people were killed in rain-related incidents in Pakistan since June.
Fugitive extradited to Italy after 28 years: A convicted mobster who was one of Italy's most-wanted fugitives and reputedly one of the world's most powerful drug brokers arrived in Rome on Wednesday, extradited by Brazil after 28 years on the lam. Rocco Morabito held the No. 2 position on the list of Italy's most wanted and dangerous mobsters. He was convicted two decades ago in absentia of drug trafficking as part of the 'Ndrangheta organized crime syndicate, which does billions of dollars in cocaine business. | 2022-07-06T21:35:05Z | www.washingtonpost.com | World Digest: July 6, 2022 - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/world-digest-july-6-2022/2022/07/06/05f45ec0-fd19-11ec-a07f-799ab6d06557_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/world-digest-july-6-2022/2022/07/06/05f45ec0-fd19-11ec-a07f-799ab6d06557_story.html |
His work helped open new frontiers in physical chemistry and nanotechnology
Robert F. Curl Jr. in 2016. (Jeff Fitlow/Rice University)
Rice chemistry professor Robert F. Curl Jr. and others noticed surprise readings on the spectrometer: evidence of 60 carbon atoms bonding together, possibly in a hollow cluster shaped something like a soccer ball. Dr. Curl painstakingly went through the results.
Dr. Curl and two colleagues, Richard Smalley from Rice and Harry Kroto from England’s University of Sussex, shared the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1996. And buckyballs became famed as a kind of Swiss Army knife of the molecular realm — with potential applications ranging from vessels for hydrogen fuel storage to paint-on solar panels to ultra-strong armor. It was also adopted as the name of a magnetic office toy.
“Bob was our insurance policy,” said James Heath, president of the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle and one of the graduate students involved in the 1985 experiments. “We were all excited, but he checked every detail before we could announce anything. He made sure what looked interesting was not actually boring.”
Here's a plastic that changes color like a shimmering opal
Robert Floyd Curl Jr. was born in Alice, Tex., on Aug. 23, 1933, son of a Methodist minister whose job took the family hopscotching around Texas. His father also helped establish Methodist Hospital in San Antonio.
When Mr. Curl was 9, his parents bought him a chemistry set for Christmas. “Within a week, I had decided to become a chemist,” he wrote in an autobiographic sketch for the Nobel Foundation.
As a young assistant professor, Dr. Curl began experiments on semiconductors using a laser-and-vacuum apparatus in Smalley’s lab. Dr. Curl then suggested his friend Kroto come from Britain to use the lab for his work, attempting to re-create unusual carbon chains identified by radio astronomy in interstellar clouds and red giants, old stars with relatively low surface temperatures.
That’s how “we got into the carbon business,” Dr. Curl recalled in a 2016 Rice News interview.
The concept of carbon arranging itself in molecular structures, such as spheres or tubes, had been part of scientific inquiry and theories for decades. It wasn’t proved until the unexpected findings from the Rice experiments. The initial work was published in Nature in a manuscript, “C60 Buckminsterfullerene.” (C60 refers to the 60 carbon atoms arrayed in 12 pentagons and 20 hexagons.)
“No one had ever heard of round carbon before,” Heath said.
It also laid set a new course for nanotechnology, making innovative materials and devices at a near-atomic scale. The strength and stability of buckyballs — in 60-atom form and bigger — has offered dozens of possible uses because of their shape and electron-bonding properties.
Since 1985, buckyball-shaped carbon molecules have been found in nature in some ancient geological formations, possibly delivered by meteors, and in sooty flames. “Think of this the next time you light a candle,” said the presentation speech for the Nobel Prize by Lennart Eberson of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
These silk worms got a nanotube diet. They produced super silk.
“Reporters asked us, ‘Tell us how you made this great discovery,’ ” Dr. Curl told the Houston Chronicle in 2008. “Well, it was a stroke of luck. The only credit you can claim is not ignoring your stroke of luck.” | 2022-07-06T21:35:11Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Robert Curl, Nobel co-winner for 'buckyball' discovery, dies at 88 - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/07/06/robert-curl-dies-buckyball-chemistry/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/07/06/robert-curl-dies-buckyball-chemistry/ |
Rights aren’t negated by other rights
Demonstrators gather April 25 outside the Supreme Court as the case of former Bremerton High School assistant football coach Joe Kennedy was argued. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
The July 2 editorial “The church-state wall is crumbling” incompletely described the rationale for the Supreme Court decision in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District.
In Section C of the majority opinion, the court summarized the crux of the argument: The school district argued that the establishment of religion clause in the First Amendment takes precedent and “trumps” the other two clauses: free exercise and free speech. Huh? The argument that one of our fundamental rights articulated in the First Amendment negates or reduces its companion rights is inimical to the written words, the spirit and the intent of the Constitution. That dog just don’t hunt.
Martin D. Giere, Fairfax Station
The July 2 editorial on the Supreme Court decision with regard to a football coach who led prayers on the 50-yard line after games objected “to dismantling the wall between church and state.”
Only one Founder spoke of a wall of separation between church and state: Thomas Jefferson. The Founders were against the “establishment of religion,” by which they meant the kind of constitutional order that existed — and still exists — in Britain, where the Anglican Church is the state church. The Founders often encouraged religion and often made religious comments insofar as they spoke of God.
The notion that America’s constitutional order is based on a wall of separation between church and state is misguided, but the Founders did not want the state to favor a particular religion or religious sect.
Stephen Miller, Reston | 2022-07-06T21:35:30Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Rights aren’t negated by other rights - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/06/rights-arent-negated-by-other-rights/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/06/rights-arent-negated-by-other-rights/ |
A hotel damaged by a Russian airstrike in Chernihiv, Ukraine, on April 4. (Heidi Levine for The Washington Post).
As the battle for the east of Ukraine intensifies, we take you to a city north of Kyiv that survived weeks of Russian siege. It also happens to be the hometown of Kostiantyn Khudov, a Ukrainian journalist who has been working for The Post since before Russia’s full-scale invasion in February.
The relationship between foreign and local journalists is a crucial one — as Kostiantyn and The Post’s Siobhán O’Grady explain, it allows the world to see what’s happening in cities like Chernihiv.
Today we go there with Siobhan and Kostiantyn, and learn what it’s like to cover a war so close to home. | 2022-07-06T21:35:42Z | www.washingtonpost.com | A rescue mission outside of Kyiv - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/podcasts/post-reports/a-rescue-mission-outside-of-kyiv/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/podcasts/post-reports/a-rescue-mission-outside-of-kyiv/ |
By Jennifer McDermott, Geoff Mulvihill and Hannah Schoenbaum | AP
North Carolina Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper signs an executive order designed to protect abortion rights in the state at the Executive Mansion in Raleigh, N.C. on Wednesday, July 6, 2022. The order in part prevents the extradition of a woman who receives an abortion in North Carolina but may live in another state where the procedure is barred. (AP Photo/Gary D. Robertson). (Gary D. Robertson/AP) | 2022-07-06T21:35:48Z | www.washingtonpost.com | States move to protect abortion from prosecutions elsewhere - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/states-move-to-protect-abortion-from-prosecutions-elsewhere/2022/07/06/2c398ba4-fd6a-11ec-b39d-71309168014b_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/states-move-to-protect-abortion-from-prosecutions-elsewhere/2022/07/06/2c398ba4-fd6a-11ec-b39d-71309168014b_story.html |
Transcript: ‘Capehart’ with Tonya Lewis Lee, Co-Director & Co-Producer, “Aftershock”
MR. CAPEHART: Good afternoon, and welcome to the “Capehart” podcast on Washington Post Live. I am Jonathan Capehart, associate editor at The Washington Post. According to the CDC, Black women are three times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than White women. Various factors contribute to the Black maternity mortality crisis in the United States, from lack of access to quality healthcare to systemic racism, and the new and powerful documentary “Aftershock” dives into it all. Joining me now is the co-director of the film “Aftershock” and my longtime friend Tonya Lewis Lee. Tonya, welcome to “Capehart” on Washington Post Live.
MS. LEE LEWIS: Jonathan, thank you so much for having me.
MR. CAPEHART: Well, thank you again for being here. Let's jump right on in and talk about the documentary "Aftershock." You’re a New Yorker and the deaths of the two women whose stories you focus on were in your own backyard. What brought your attention to Shamony Gibson, Amber Rose Isaac, and this larger epidemic?
MS. LEE LEWIS: Well, first of all, I've been hearing about Black women dying from childbirth complications for many years. I was a part of an infant mortality awareness raising campaign here in the United States, and the numbers are the same for Black babies that died before their first birthday three to four times the rate of White women. And in 2019, Shamony Gibson passed away from a pulmonary embolism, and her mother, Shawnee Gibson, who is a reproductive rights advocate activist, put out a call to action when Shamony passed away. She had a community service celebrating Shamony’s life and wanted people to come and talk about, you know, the issues that were related to her death. And so my co-director and co-producer Paula Eiselt and I reached out to Shamony--I'm sorry, reached out to Shawnee and filmed them during the celebration.
Also, the men--Omari, who was Shamony’s partner, had a group of men coming together talking about loss when you lose a partner from childbirth complications. And then several months later, in April of 2020, Amber Rose Isaac passed away, and Omari reached out to Bruce McIntyre, who was the partner of Amber. And we just reached out to him to offer support and told him about the film that we were making and asked if Bruce wanted to participate. I will say that Amber on her own, while she was going through her pregnancy, posted on Twitter about poor treatment that she was receiving. So, she was already herself putting the word out about what was going on with her.
MR. CAPEHART: Right. And I'm going to ask all about that in a little bit. But since you brought up Shawnee Gibson, Shamony’s mother, let's play a clip from a--if I remember correctly, it is of Shawnee doing activism on behalf of her daughter and other women who have suffered accordingly.
MR. CAPEHART: And so the two Black men we saw, the first one was Omari, who you were talking about, and the second one we see is Bruce, who we hear his voice at the end naming the names and saying we see you, we hear you. Why did--why did you choose to look at the--at this topic through their eyes? It's the stories--the story of their partners passing away, but we're seeing the aftershock through their eyes, in addition to Shamony’s mother.
MS. LEE LEWIS: Absolutely. And I think, you know, the point is, is that the men are the ones that are left behind. I mean, Omari and Bruce are raising their children, you know, with Amber and Shamony gone. And I think that, you know, when we talk about maternal mortality and maternal morbidity, it feels like we're just talking about what happens to women. By death, it happens to the women, but it happens to their families, it happens to their partners, it happens to their children, it happens to their mothers, it happens to their--to their communities. So hence the aftershock is for everyone who is left behind picking up the pieces.
And I will say that Omari and Bruce in particular are--you know, they're amazing men in that they both became very activated. I mean, Bruce, especially. Amber passed away in April 2020, as I mentioned, and he got right out there, I want to say within weeks of Amber's passing away, had a press conference and has been pounding the pavement ever since in terms of his activism, bringing--working to bring a birthing center to the Bronx, trying to come up with solutions so that other women and families don't have to go through what he's gone through.
And Omari, similarly. I mean, as I mentioned, Omari has become a man who really does reach out to other fathers who go through this situation and offer support, and they've created a community, a brotherhood that no one wants to be a member of and yet they find support from each other and power in what they can do for their community. So it's--as difficult as it is, it is a beautiful thing to watch how these men come together and really work for their families and for our communities.
MR. CAPEHART: And you know, the other thing--I'm writing this down before it before I forget--a couple things. One, Omari, in addition in his reaching out, he's an artist. And so he does portraits for the surviving men of their--the partners they lost. But the other thing that is so wonderful to see--and it's actually kind of enraging that this is a big deal--seeing the vulnerability of Black men having lost the mother of their children and grieving in ways that quite honestly society either doesn't show or doesn't want to see.
MS. LEE LEWIS: Absolutely. I will say--I often say I'm a very lucky woman in that I grew up with lots of beautiful Black men around me--my father, my uncles, cousins. And so I look at Omari and Bruce and I--really, I love them. And they're beautiful men. Are they the exception? I don't know. I mean, because I've been lucky in seeing men who are able to be vulnerable. But I think it's really important, the point you're making, Jonathan, is that the representation has not been there. And we need to see more images of Black men as--who care about their families, who care about their communities, who can be vulnerable and support one another. And it's been amazing for me as a filmmaker to really watch Omari and Bruce find other men and support other men as they go through this horrific process of grieving.
MR. CAPEHART: You know, I actually--I'm just going to go out there and say that Omari and Bruce are the rule. The exception is actually being able to see them and see them portrayed. So, I think there are two strands to your documentary "Aftershock." There's the racism involved, and we played it in the intro clip. And it's in the movie where every time, you know, the fire department, the EMTs and other people showed up at Shamony Gibson's and Omari’s home, the first question is, was she on drugs? Was she on drugs? The assumption because she's--because she's Black that that she's on drugs. Can you just talk a little bit more about the racism aspect of this before we turn to the medical, the big medical thing you bring up in "Aftershock"?
MS. LEE LEWIS: Absolutely. And I appreciate you mentioning that about that issue [audio interference] drugs. I think the other thing, Bruce talks a lot about how Amber, when Amber was pregnant, she wasn't feeling well. She was tired. She was a preschool teacher. She went to her doctor and said she thinks she needed to take family medical leave because she wasn't feeling well. And the doctor told her, well, what's wrong with you? Every--there are other people here who are pregnant, you can--you can keep working. But Amber actually wasn't feeling well because her platelet levels were dropping. And so again, that's a little--that's a racist kind of trope like, oh, you're lazy, you don't really want to work. And so often Black women--and as you showed that clip where Bruce is saying, Amber Rose Isaac, we see you, we hear you, is that when women are expressing pain or expressing something doesn't feel right, they're often sort of just pushed to the side and told, oh, you'll be fine, either rest or keep going or doing whatever. And Black women just are not listened to when--or believed when they talk about the pain and what they're going through.
MR. CAPEHART: Right. And what's brought up in another portion of the documentary is how the experience of Serena Williams, during her pregnancy and how she almost lost her life because the doctors and the nurses would not listen to her when she was telling them--telling them about her--initially about her pain.
Let's talk about this really interesting medical aspect to all this. You get into the business of childbirth. And Dr. Neel Shah, who’s an OB-GYN, said there's been, quote, "an explosion in C sections since the 1970s." And he explains that C sections take less time and cost less for the hospital than a vaginal birth. But the hospital is paid more for doing C sections. And most important, Black women undergo the surgery the most. What's going on here, and what role does race play in that trend?
MS. LEE LEWIS: Yeah, I mean, first of all, C sections, as you mentioned, have gone up. C sections are major surgery. I think, unfortunately, because they've become so commonplace, people don't think of C sections as being major surgery. And we see a correlation with maternal death going up as C sections have gone up. In fact, it is more dangerous for my 27-year-old daughter to give birth today than it was when I birthed her. And so what we're seeing is that women really need support when they give birth. You know, birthing is a natural process. It is not a pathology. Women are not sick. And too often, what happens is that doctors want to hurry up and push labor along. And so we're put on Pitocin very quickly to get that labor going. And if things don't progress the way we need them to progress, then, you know, we're moved quickly into a C section. And as Neel Shah says in the film, you know, as a Black woman, if you don't have the support that you need, you get pushed into that C section. And unfortunately, Black women are--often do not have the support they need to be able to labor the way they should to have a healthy vaginal birth.
MR. CAPEHART: So one of the--one of the most powerful lines I've heard in a long time, either in print or in movies or documentaries, comes from your film. And this comes after we're introduced to Felicia and Paul Ellis. This is the couple who live in Tulsa, Oklahoma. And she's weighing her birthing options in Tulsa, which Dr. Shah points out has a national maternal mortality rate that is double the national average just in general, so that means for Black women it's even more. And Felicia poignantly says--this is the quote--"a Black woman having a baby is like a Black man at a traffic stop with the police." Why was it important to include their story in "Aftershock"?
MS. LEE LEWIS: Well, first of all, we met Felicia when she--as she has told us--she was thinking and she says in the film, she was planning to have a birth at a hospital just like everybody else. And we did want to follow--while we were following the fathers who were left behind and Shawnee, we did want to follow a pregnant woman and see what that process was like for her. But throughout as she begins her process or as she's thinking about it, she says, well, maybe I should see what other options are out there for me. And she decides to look into a birthing center and to midwives, getting doula care, to find the support that she really needs for herself.
And Felicia really does say a few things. I mean, she talks about Serena. I mean, she says, you know, when she heard about Serena, it was like she's the--you know, the most--she's the best athlete in the world. And if she has to fight for herself, what does that mean for the rest of us. But what's so beautiful about Felicia’s story--and I don't want to give things away--but she ends up finding the right birthing situation for her and we get to see a birth that has a wonderful outcome because of the support system that she has around her. And so it was really important for us to show what a truly supported birth looks like in our film.
MR. CAPEHART: Right. And not to give too much--too much away, but we--I’m going to give it away.
MS. LEE LEWIS: Go ahead. Give it away. Give it away.
MR. CAPEHART: But it's beautiful. We actually get to see Felicia Ellis go through the process of having the baby to the point where we see the baby and just how natural and beautiful the experience--at least as a viewer, from my--from my--from my distance of watching it, just how it seemed like a beautiful experience for her to be able to give--have the birth that she wanted.
MS. LEE LEWIS: I think Felicia would agree with that. I think she would say she had the birth that she wanted, that it was beautiful. She felt really wonderfully supported by the women who were there with her assisting her. Her husband was there assisting her. She felt very safe in that environment and very protected in that environment so that she could do the work of bringing her beautiful baby Lily earthside for us. And so I just think that Felicia really is the example of what--of what we all would want for ourselves and for our children.
MR. CAPEHART: I mean, that's not to say it wasn't hard. I mean, you hear--you hear her going through it. But the end result, the end result was beautiful.
Another thing you do in the film, Tonya, is, you know, not only talk about sort of the business behind birthing, but also the role Black women played unwillingly in fostering the--what we now know as OB-GYN care. Talk more about that.
MS. LEE LEWIS: Yeah, so you're talking about the midwives. I mean, you know, midwives have been around since the time of ancient, and midwives came to this country not only as enslaved people. There were midwives who attended to indigenous people. I know midwives came with the colonizers that came here so, you know, when people settled here. So, you know, midwives have been around forever. And unfortunately, here in the United States, as we moved into modern medicine and moved people into the hands of doctors and into hospitals, there was a campaign that was launched against midwives to depict them as dirty and unsafe, so that we would then go into the medical system. And it's really unfortunate because the United States is the only industrialized nation that does not have midwives integrated into women's care, and those other countries have better birthing outcomes than we do.
So the data shows that when midwives are integrated into women's health, there are better outcomes. And you know, it's my hope--and to this day, midwives, there are not that many midwives. There are not that many midwives of color. And it's my hope that with the film, we really can help with a conversation about how midwives can be valuable to women and also to doctors and hospitals. I mean, you know, there are doctors out there like a Dr. Neel Shah who really like working with midwives. You know, that's not to say we don't need obstetricians and gynecologists. But I think if everybody works together, we can see that we could have better outcomes for sure.
MR. CAPEHART: Yeah, in the film, you really go through the history of midwifery and then how men moved in, took it over, White men in particular really took it over while at the same time using Black bodies as tools for perfecting that portion of medical science. And you also, to your point about, you know, depicting midwives as dirty, there were also stories--you show newspaper stories of how they were hunting midwives, how they had basically criminalized midwifery to the point where I'm sitting here thinking here in 2022, given what happened with the repeal of Roe v. Wade and what the states are doing, that there's a parallel thing happening here, no?
MS. LEE LEWIS: Oh, I think absolutely, right? I mean, at the end of the day, this is about controlling women's bodies, getting into women's business, understanding what's happening, because, you know, as Helena Grant, the midwife expert in our film says, midwives were the original abortion practitioners, right? I mean, it was controlling our reproductive health, and men wanted to get in there and understand what was going on with women. And look, we can go back to enslaved women, you know, where abortion wasn't legal for us. We were raped, we were forcibly bred and we could not get rid of those babies we didn't want, but midwives did help us figure out ways. And so, you know, we're still having the same conversation about men controlling what goes through a woman's body, which is I just--I can't believe we're still here having these conversations about men controlling women's bodies. The fight continues. It never ends. It's a lot of power for a woman to be able to give birth. And I guess we'll just keep having this conversation until it's done.
MR. CAPEHART: And in fact, it was Helena Grant, who said the quote that I was--I was thinking of when she says in the film, Black women have been experimented on to perfect the profession of gynecology. That's what I--that's what I was thinking about. We've got an audience question that--from Nancy Mance in California to pick up on the conversation about Roe v. Wade, where she asks, how does this issue dovetail with the recent Supreme Court decisions and the state responsibility to Black women and healthcare?
MS. LEE LEWIS: You know, the thing about it is, is that unfortunately, Black women and brown women, I think, are going to bear the brunt of these decisions. I think we're going to be the ones again who suffer the most under these laws. And so again, it's about control over our bodies. It's about making sure we get the best healthcare possible.
And unfortunately, you know, this kind of decision just waters down maternal healthcare, women's healthcare in general. And I think it's a very frightening time. And I think what's going to happen is, you know, as you think about, you know, women who may need to have abortions for their--for their own health, for their own well-being--there again, as I talked about earlier, people not believing Black women when they talk about their pain or what they're going through, how many bars are they going to have to go over to prove that they need the care that they need? And I think this is--this is where we're really going to see some serious issues.
MR. CAPEHART: You know, during the film we see Bruce and Omari evolve into activists. Congresswoman Lauren Underwood introduces the Black Maternal Momnibus Act to improve maternal health among vulnerable populations. And I bring all that up to bring up a second question that we got from the audience, this one from Washington, D.C., from Monique Frazier, who's asking, how are you using the documentary to inform and shape public policy, both federal and state?
MS. LEE LEWIS: Well, I think we're really using the film to raise awareness for everybody. You know, I think it's important, first of all, that everybody understand that there is an issue in this country and that voting does matter. It does impact, as we see. I mean, again, going back to the question about the Dobbs decision, you know, who is in office determines who is in the--our court system, which determines our laws, right? So, I think it's really important that we're all really aware of what the issues are out here that affect all of us--women, children and families. And then we need to think about how we're voting so that the laws really support our communities in a real way, not in a way that is philosophical or theoretical.
MR. CAPEHART: I got to ask a follow-up, because if you read the papers, and you hear some of the frustration, you know, you've got some folks, especially some young folks who say, but we voted, we voted you, meaning Democrats and President Biden, in and now look. Roe v. Wade has been overturned. Why should we--what the solution is to vote again to bring people in?
MS. LEE LEWIS: Yes.
MR. CAPEHART: Your reaction to that.
MS. LEE LEWIS: Yes. The solution is to vote again, because you can't put this at the feet of Biden. This came from those who voted for Donald Trump. And I will say I get very upset. I get very upset because I think about all of the women who voted for Donald Trump not just the first time but the second time, so that he had the option to place those justices that he could in the Supreme Court that then went on and voted the way they did on Dobbs.
So, what I say to people is, yes, voting matters. You need to vote again and again and again. Or you can run for office and change your world. But voting is everything. That's how we got here. And especially local elections are important, too. Those determine how we have birthing centers, what kind of laws affect midwives and doulas. All voting really matters. Get involved.
MR. CAPEHART: I asked that selfishly, because I'm actually--I'm working on a--I'm working on a column on this very thing. But that's a whole--that's a whole other soapbox. We got a little bit of time left, and I'd get you on two--on two things. One, what's your end goal for a film like "Aftershock"?
MS. LEE LEWIS: I mean, you know, ultimately, my end goal is better birthing outcomes for Black women, and ultimately, all women, right? Because I often say even if you don't care about the state of Black women, if you pay attention, what's happening to those that are most vulnerable, you know that it will ultimately come for you. And really White women are not doing as well as their counterparts in European nations either. And so my hope is that with the film, we raise awareness, that people understand that there are other birthing choices out there for them, that women seek the options that are best for them, so they have the best support at birth, and that our communities, our societies, our politicians, our legislatures, work to help support birthing people.
MR. CAPEHART: And finally, because we're introduced to them, we followed their stories, what are Omari and Bruce up to now?
MS. LEE LEWIS: Yeah, I mean, Omari and Bruce are--again, as I said, they're just amazing. Omari continues to paint. He's having shows and just developing an amazing body of work, working with lots of fathers. Unfortunately, every day somebody else unfortunately passes away from childbirth complications. So, he remains in touch with them and supporting the community.
Bruce has been really working legislatively. He worked on passing a law so that New York state can now have midwife-facing birthing centers. He's working to bring that birthing center to the Bronx. But in the meantime, he has worked with others. A doula, Myla Flores, who is in the film, as well as a woman named Nubia Martin, who's in the film, together they've worked and created what they've called Womb Bus, which is a bus that drives around and provides health care services for women in the community. So, Bruce remains very active. In fact, I think he's going to the White House next week, talking about the issues. He's probably bringing Omari with him. They remain very active, and I think we're going to see a lot of them in the years to come.
MR. CAPEHART: Right. In my notes here it says Bruce founded the saveArose Foundation, and Omari is the founder and president of the Advancement of Reproductive Innovation Through Artistry and Health Foundation. So those two men are busy. In addition to doing all those things, they're taking care of the children who lost their moms.
MS. LEE LEWIS: Beautiful children. Anari and Khari are Omari’s children. Elias is Bruce's son. They are beautiful young children, and they're doing a remarkable job while they do everything that they do. And I appreciate you mentioning saveArose Foundation and ARIAH Foundation. And anyone who wants to support their work, you can go to aftershockdocumentary.com and find their organizations and support them and follow them.
MR. CAPEHART: The key line from the "Aftershock" documentary which crystallizes this issue is a Black woman having a baby is like a Black man at a traffic stop with the police, and that came from Felicia Ellis, who was pregnant in the movie, and she gives birth in the movie in a very beautiful moment. Tonya Lewis Lee, co-director and co-producer of "Aftershock," which premieres on Hulu on July 19th, thank you so much for coming to "Capehart" on Washington Post Live.
MS. LEE LEWIS: Thank you so much, Jonathan, for having me.
MR. CAPEHART: And as always, thank you for joining us. To check out what interviews we have coming up, head to WshingtonPostLive.com. Once again, I’m Jonathan Capehart, associate editor at The Washington Post. Thanks for watching “Capehart” on Washington Post Live. | 2022-07-06T21:36:19Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Transcript: ‘Capehart’ with Tonya Lewis Lee, Co-Director & Co-Producer, “Aftershock” - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/washington-post-live/2022/07/06/transcript-capehart-with-tonya-lewis-lee-co-director-co-producer-aftershock/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/washington-post-live/2022/07/06/transcript-capehart-with-tonya-lewis-lee-co-director-co-producer-aftershock/ |
An antiabortion supporter sits behind a sign that advises the Jackson Women's Health Organization clinic is still open in Jackson, Miss., on July 6. (Rogelio V. Solis/AP)
Democrats hoping to change the rules of the Senate in a futile bid to pass a federal law protecting abortion rights are displaying the most myopic political thinking since liberals called for defunding the police.
Then, as now, their anger was righteous and raw. Millions of Americans took to the streets in the spring of 2020 to protest systemic racism after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. But the shortsighted demands to divert resources from law enforcement continue to hobble Democrats who never even embraced the idea. Revising the filibuster will hurt even more in the long term.
The left’s thirst for Senate Democrats to do something about Dobbs is understandable, but the reality is that weakening the filibuster would simply open the door for Republicans to pass their own far-more-punitive federal restrictions once they inevitably return to power.
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) points to seven bills restricting abortion rights that would have passed the Senate in recent years had it not been for the 60-vote threshold necessary to overcome a filibuster. With Roe gone, Sinema says the filibuster is “more important now than ever.”
Republican visions of an abortion-free America will turn very real if the Democrats pursue this goal. Just two years ago, when Donald Trump was president, 53 senators voted to advance a 20-week abortion ban and 56 senators backed a Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, which would have created criminal penalties for doctors who failed to follow new federal standards after procedures went awry. In 2015, 53 senators voted to ban federal funding for Planned Parenthood. In 2006, 57 senators voted to make it a federal crime to transport a minor across state lines to get an abortion without notifying her parents in advance.
Marc A. Thiessen: Weaken the filibuster before a wave election? That would be a bad move, Democrats.
Pretending Democrats can carve out a narrow filibuster “exception” that Republicans won’t exploit to their own ends later requires a willful blindness to political reality. Republicans would use an abortion exception to pass all sorts of federal restrictions on abortion as soon as they have the votes.
Democrats should have learned this lesson by now. In 2013, then-Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) wrangled the votes to get rid of the filibuster for nominations, but he insisted it would not apply to the Supreme Court. That opened the door in 2017 for his successor as majority leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), to remove the high court exemption so he could confirm Justice Neil M. Gorsuch. If Reid had left the original 60-vote threshold in place for all nominations, Justice Amy Coney Barrett — who cast the deciding vote to overturn Roe — might not have been confirmed on the eve of the 2020 election.
“The filibuster is going to protect the interests of Democrats in the future, as it has in the past,” said Ronald Weich, who was chief counsel to Reid and is now dean of the University of Baltimore School of Law. “We’d live to regret it. … I don’t know how you get the genie back in the bottle.”
Besides, Senate Democrats don’t even have a majority ready to codify the principles of Roe. A vote in May only mustered 49 votes. Nor should Democrats take any solace that two Republican women currently in the Senate identify as pro-choice. Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski faces a tough reelection fight in November. Pro-lifers may not even need the vote of Maine’s Susan Collins.
Biden surely understands these dynamics, and he’s spoken eloquently in the past about the virtues of the filibuster. So why did he announce his support for suspending the rules? It’s the same reason he backed “going nuclear” earlier this year to expand voting rights, which also fell short.
Grassroots Democratic activists are angry and talk to each other in a deafening echo chamber called Blue Twitter. The president is insecure about his standing with his base. He is worried liberal voters will stay home this fall if he doesn’t take steps to secure reproductive freedom. And his aides know that abortion is not an issue he has always been comfortable discussing.
Nonetheless, it would be madness for Democrats to roll back the filibuster four months before midterm elections when the president’s approval rating is below 40 percent, and the Senate is split 50-50. Democrats only control the chamber because of the tiebreaking vote of Vice President Harris.
Five years ago, when she was a freshman senator from California, Harris joined 60 other senators in signing a letter that called for saving the legislative filibuster. Back then, Trump was publicly berating GOP leaders to change the rules to pass his agenda. But McConnell resisted that pressure.
Now it’s time for Biden, Harris and the current Democratic leader, Sen. Charles E. Schumer (N.Y.), to do the same and reject demands from their left. | 2022-07-06T23:06:23Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Um, Democrats? Meddle with the filibuster at your peril - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/06/busting-filibuster-abortion-crazy/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/06/busting-filibuster-abortion-crazy/ |
If an embryo is now a person, mortality rates just soared in Alabama
A third of fertilized eggs self-abort. That has catastrophic public health implications if they’re considered people.
Perspective by Daniel Wikler
Andrew Koppelman
Gov. Kay Ivey signed into law Alabama's Human Life Protection Act on May 15, 2019. The law, which outlaws abortion, did not go into effect until Roe v. Wade was overturned last month. (Hal Yeager/AP)
Now that the Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade, states have begun enforcing statutes that forbid abortion. The states with laws specifying that personhood begins at the moment of conception carry extra baggage: Paradoxically, death rates for their youngest citizens will spike. Statutes supposedly intended to protect the lives of the unborn will instead, at least on paper, produce a result that would ordinarily be reckoned as catastrophic and demand dramatic responses that have nothing to do with abortion.
Those enacting these statutes have failed to face squarely the fact that more than 30 percent of human embryos spontaneously self-abort. This occurs most often within weeks of conception, and without the knowledge of the pregnant woman, but there is no doubting that it does occur, day after day. Laws stipulating that human personhood begins at conception mean that each of these rejected embryos is the death of a young human being.
Deaths of the very youngest are conventionally recorded in health statistics as the “infant mortality rate,” defined as the number of deaths per 1,000 live births. These statistics have not traditionally included stillbirths. State statutes stipulating that human life begins at conception specifically negate the moral basis for defining the infant mortality rate in terms of live births, however, broadening the scope of society’s concerns to include the death of every fertilized egg. The intent of these statutes was, of course, to provide to these youngest the protection of the state against intentional termination of life, but by erasing birth as the starting point for the state’s protection, it simultaneously, if inadvertently, also removes birth as an event of any significance for public health. In effect, these laws reclassify stillbirths as deaths of the very young and record their passing not as shadows on the well-being of pregnant women but as losses of life on their own account.
Deaths of the very young are taken seriously by governments worldwide, both because any death of a child is a tragedy and because mortality rates are widely viewed as indicators of a population’s overall health. Reducing the rate of mortality of the youngest in the United States was among the first priorities of the federal Children’s Bureau when it was created by President William Howard Taft in 1912. It has long been a mark of shame that dozens of countries, including Bosnia and Belarus, have lower infant mortality rates than the United States.
States with laws tying human personhood to conception have shown great concern about their own infant mortality rates. In 2017, for example, Gov. Kay Ivey convened the Alabama Children’s Cabinet to hasten progress in lowering the state’s rate, which then was 9 per 1,000 live births — making it the last in the nation. The resulting State of Alabama Infant Mortality Reduction Plan of 2018 set a goal of achieving a 20 percent reduction in infant mortality in three targeted counties within five years.
Thanks to the Dobbs decision overturning Roe and Alabama’s Human Life Protection Act, adopted in 2019, every fertilized egg that self-aborts would count as the death of a young human being. By this reckoning, the mortality rates of the youngest people in Alabama increased from 9 per 1,000 (excluding stillbirths) before Dobbs to 319. By comparison, the (unadjusted) infant mortality rate in Afghanistan — the world’s highest and a cause for great concern in global health — is 105.
If Ivey felt impelled by an infant mortality rate of 9 per 1,000 to convene a meeting of her Children’s Cabinet, and then took credit for a plan to reduce this rate in three counties by 20 percent, what kind of response would be appropriate to address a mortality rate of 319? If these 319 were among those we conventionally view as infants, and they were dying each day in Alabama from, say, a horribly more lethal coronavirus variant that targeted the youngest among us, all of us would count it as a five-alarm public health emergency. Wouldn’t we call for a remedy to be developed at warp speed?
And if scientists told us that they were at a loss to save these children because too little was known about the causes of these deaths and that there was no clear pathway to develop a remedy, would we not call for a crash research program — something on the order of the Manhattan Project, or a moonshot, whatever it takes — rather than complacently accept the deaths of 319 per 1,000 of the youngest persons, day after day and year after year?
A week has passed since Dobbs was handed down, and yet there are no reports of woe and mourning in Alabama or the other states that have enacted these laws, such as Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri. State law has affirmed that the death of every embryo as a result of self-abortion is the moral equivalent of the death of an infant, but perhaps the citizenry has not yet become aware of the implication for the mortality rates among their youngest. If they don’t know that nearly a third of fertilized eggs perish spontaneously every day, that would be understandable. What will they think when they find out this inconvenient truth? Our guess is that for all but a few, the most common response will be a shrug. And what message about the beginning of human personhood is communicated in that shrug?
The obvious response is that the death of an embryo is not the kind of loss that upsets us the way the loss of children and infants does, nor indeed even a cause of the sorrow that we might feel when a late-term pregnancy is terminated in stillbirth. Yet Alabama’s Human Life Protection Act affirms the contrary. That has strange implications that extend beyond these nonsensical spikes in mortality rates.
No one knows whether those pregnancies could be prolonged by prompt medical intervention, because no one has thought it worthwhile to try. But transient pregnancies are detectable: The body produces hormones that increase during pregnancies and then, in a large number of cases, suddenly stop. That’s how we know that spontaneous abortion happened. If the lives of millions of babies are endangered, it follows, then, that the state would be justified in demanding that women be constantly tested for pregnancy. Under present law, a parent whose neglect endangers a child’s life can be criminally prosecuted, and child welfare authorities have the power to investigate whenever there is any likelihood of such danger. Those laws have sometimes been deployed against pregnant women. If every fertilized egg were a person, the state would be justified in carrying out constant, intrusive surveillance of all women of childbearing age.
It is unlikely that the fruits of this surveillance would be an increase in the number of live babies. The eggs that spontaneously abort are probably defective in some way. But abortion opponents already think that abortion is wrong, even if the embryo suffers birth defects so massive that it will live only a few days: Killing it is still wrong. The same logic easily applies to eggs that could be kept alive for a short time, dying in the fourth rather than the second week of pregnancy, for example.
It is not clear how, if one posits that an embryo is a person from the moment of conception, one avoids this totalitarian nightmare. In fairness to the antiabortion movement, almost none of them want that. But how do they avoid that conclusion? Note that some of these state laws make exceptions for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest, or cases in which abortion is needed to save the life of the pregnant woman. Though perhaps these exceptions are offered merely as accommodations to political necessity, anyone who favors them would seem not to believe that embryos and fetuses have the same moral status as adults and children.
We are not claiming that we can prove that a fertilized egg is not a person with rights. No one has come up with a definitive argument showing that either side of that debate is correct or mistaken. Advocates on each side have pointed to biological data that they find supportive of their view; in most cases, the other side acknowledges the biology but denies that it bears on the moral issue. Those whose position derives from faith cannot convince those who do not share that faith. Philosophers have in recent years introduced many novel arguments, but none has established a consensus. It seems unlikely that the debate will ever be resolved.
Yet a clear resolution is necessary to justify the crushing burden that an uncompromising abortion ban imposes on women. If you’re going to do this to people, you had best be sure that you’re right — but the fact of spontaneous abortion shows that opponents of abortion do not themselves believe what they are saying. If they don’t, why should we? | 2022-07-06T23:06:29Z | www.washingtonpost.com | If an embryo is now a person, mortality rates just soared in Alabama - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/07/06/infant-mortality-self-abort-alabama/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/07/06/infant-mortality-self-abort-alabama/ |
The president came to Cleveland to tout his administration’s work to protect pensions, but the message of the midterms was never far from view
President Biden speaks at Max S. Hayes High School in Cleveland on July 6. (Daniel Lozada/Bloomberg News)
CLEVELAND — President Biden, struggling to confront high inflation that has dimmed the outlook for his party’s chances in the midterm elections, came to this swing-state Wednesday and ratcheted up his rhetoric in what was a more partisan, campaign-style event that provided a preview for how Biden will cast the upcoming election.
He ridiculed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) for threatening to scuttle legislation designed to boost semiconductor manufacturing. He called a plan from Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) “shameful.” And he triggered boos from the crowd at the mention of the Sen. Lindsey O. Graham’s (R-S.C.) name.
“Unfortunately, that’s probably Trump calling me,” Biden said when a cellphone rang in the audience.
Biden came to a high school in Cleveland to announce new protections that could help some 3 million Americans whose retirement benefits have faced potential insolvency amid the financial fallout of the pandemic. Aid for the multi-employer pension plans was included in the coronavirus relief package Biden signed into law last year.
But he often deviated from the prepared text, injecting “not a joke” nine times, recounting expressions from his father and wandering around the stage as he mounted a defense of his stewardship of the economy.
“You all remember what the economy was like when I was elected — a country in a pandemic with no real plans how to get out of it. Millions of people out of their jobs, families and cars, remember, backed up for literally miles,” he said.
“The previous administration lost more jobs in his watch than any administration since Herbert Hoover ― that’s a fact,” Biden added. “All based on failed trickle-down economics to benefit the wealthiest Americans.”
He lingered in the room long after his speech was over, spending 45 minutes mingling with attendees, taking selfies and shaking hands.
But Biden’s appearance was also a reminder of some of the political challenges he is facing. A politician who has long prided himself on being a sought-after surrogate — and one with blue-collar appeal in states like Ohio — is a less desirable commodity at the moment for some within his party.
The state’s two highest profile Democratic candidates — U.S. Senate nominee Tim Ryan and gubernatorial nominee Nan Whaley — both cited scheduling conflicts for not being in attendance Wednesday.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, asked by reporters on Air Force One on the way to Cleveland, said that they were in close contact with the candidates, and said they were supportive of some of the administration’s actions that were announced during the trip.
“I just listed out a long list of other elected officials who will be with him on this trip,” she said, which included Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), and several members of Congress. “I think that counts for something as well.”
Asked why Biden has continued coming to the state — it was his sixth trip to Ohio as president — when his approval ratings are low and the state has been trending toward Republicans, Jean-Pierre responded, “He will go wherever he needs to go to talk directly to the American people. … I think it makes a difference for them to hear from their president directly.”
The state highlights many issues that will be a factor in the upcoming elections.
Biden has touted an Ohio-based Intel semiconductor factory — saying in his State of the Union address that it is “the ground on which America’s future will be built” — but the $20 billion plant is on hold, a July 22 groundbreaking ceremony canceled as it awaits clarity on congressional legislation.
The killing of Jayland Walker, a 25-year-old Black man who was shot by police in Akron, Ohio, has also brought protests and fresh attention to Biden’s inability to do more to address police reform and systemic inequalities. And after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the state now has a ban on abortion after six weeks.
While Biden never mentioned abortion rights, he did address the semiconductor plant — and alluded to McConnell’s threat to thwart bipartisan legislation that would boost such manufacturing if Democrats revive a separate effort to pass legislation on the energy and economy.
“He’s going to block the passage of the legislation that will provide for another $100 billion invested in this state,” Biden said. “Folks, this is not right. This is not right. And that’s why this election is going to be so darn important.”
Biden also opened his remarks with a comment about Walker’s death, saying that the FBI and others are investigating.
“If the evidence reveals potential violations of federal criminal statutes, the Justice Department will take the appropriate action,” he said.
Much of his remarks, though, centered on labor unions, long a mainstay of Biden’s political base.
“There was only one word you heard most often in my family. Not a joke,” Biden said. “Most important word wasn’t unions. It was dignity, dignity. Everyone’s entitled to be treated with dignity.”
Frank Grace, a local official with Teamsters Local 473, said he was grateful for Biden’s swift action to help union pensions. Some of his union’s members vote Republican and blame Biden — “mostly for gas prices” — but he views some of those issues as out of the president’s control.
“Yes, the economy is a mess,” Grace said. “But that’s true for the whole world, coming out of the pandemic.”
Many in the crowd agreed. They’re struggling with gas prices, they’re worried about retirement. But they don’t cast blame on Biden.
“Can I retire? When? And how will I do when I retire?” said Tracy Radich, an elementary school teacher active in the teachers union.
“‘The price of gas, the price of everything, it’s hard on everybody,” she said. “But I don’t know how much of this you can lay at the feet of the president.”
Over 200 multiemployer plans were on pace to become insolvent in the near term because their investments struggled during economic crises, according to the White House, which would impact nearly 3 million workers who had paid into pension plans.
The funding from the American Rescue Plan means that those pension plans that faced near-term insolvency, with potential benefit cuts for workers, will now remain solvent through 2051. In addition to preventing future cuts to pension plans, those who had previous cuts to their pensions will have those reversed, according to the White House.
“When unions do well, everybody does well,” Biden said. “Everybody does well. Not a joke. Not a joke.” | 2022-07-06T23:06:36Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Biden offers midterm preview in Ohio campaign-style visit - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/06/joe-biden-midterm-message/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/06/joe-biden-midterm-message/ |
Experts say people should plan their escape route, move away from gunfire, and find a way to regain a sense of control
Items left near the crime scene of the July 4 shooting in Highland Park, Ill. on July 6, 2022. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post)
Recent mass killings in Highland Park, Ill., Uvalde, Tex. and Buffalo have proved that such violence — while rare — is growing more common, and can happen anywhere, any time.
In a 2017 piece headlined “How to protect yourself during a mass shooting,” security expert Ed Hinman wrote of the important of “advancing” a location, whether it be a public setting or an organized event.
“Before settling into your seat or spot, ask yourself: If there’s an attack, what will I do?” he wrote.
“It only takes a moment to answer this question before you sit back, relax and enjoy your outing,” Hinman added. “Think of it as making regular deposits in a survival bank and then, if an emergency arises, being able to make a potentially lifesaving withdrawal.”
“First thing you want to think about is pretty common-sense, which is get down and if you can determine which direction [gunfire is] coming from get away,” Correia said. “That’s our general rule.”
In mass shootings, Correia said, “the perp tends to be wildly firing and so your very best bet is to be as small a target as you can and getting away as fast as you can.”
Correia suggested getting behind a solid structure if possible. Using a car as a shield may not be ideal if the vehicle is made of weaker materials like fiberglass or plastic. If there’s an option, concrete or brick walls “can be very helpful,” and would offer better protection than stucco or sheet rock dividers.
“If it’s a true heinous active shooter who is looking to target individuals, getting to a place you can’t be seen is very helpful,” Correia said.
While much of a person’s ability to successfully react under the stress of a deadly threat like a mass shooting stems from instinct, such inclinations are “definitely trainable,” Correia said.
“Calm is a superpower. And the ability to stay calm under stress is life-and-death in an emergency, no matter what the emergency is,” Correia said.
“One thing you have to realize is no one knows how they’re going to react or respond,” said Jin Kim, a retired FBI agent who was the active shooter coordinator in the Crisis Management Unit. “When it happens to them, it’s in the most average, routine, mundane moment of their day.”
Gunmen in mass shootings get more sophisticated over time — throwing more advanced challenges at those trying to escape their lines of fire. The Highland Park suspect, for instance, is alleged to have taken a sniper’s position from a rooftop on the parade route which gave him a tactical advantage.
“As a collective, we underestimate the offender and the offender cohort every single day,” Kim added.
None of Duffy’s patients were in Highland Park or directly affected by the shooting, but they were all in shock and in pain. Duffy said he spent 13 hours in appointments at his office talking through the latest American tragedy — this one in the Windy City’s backyard.
“Everybody’s been talking about the same thing,” Duffy said in a phone interview after the sessions. He and other experts have been offering the public advice for how to cope.
“There’s no reason to think this wouldn’t happen again and what brings people hope, oddly, is to brainstorm about, ‘What do you think we can do about it?’,” Duffy said. “I think people like the idea that they could contribute somehow to some kind of solution.”
Caroline Giroux, a trauma psychiatrist and professor at the University of California-Davis, also said it’s important for people who are gripped by panic, afraid of the next massacre at a school, mall or public event, to find a sense of control. Advocating for changes, she said, is one of the best outlets, especially if by lending your voice you can join with like-minded others.
“It’s really important to grasp any area of control we have, even if it’s only our voice,” Giroux said. “We need to get louder, we need to join our voices and that in itself can keep us going. That in itself can make us step out of our paralysis and get out of the door every day.”
Don’t brush off the fear you or your loved ones are feeling
“In good conscience I cant say, 'No, we’re going to be fine, ' ” he said. “I always agree that this is really scary.”
“I find the least useful thing to do no matter who I’m talking to is to tell them it’s okay, everything’s going to be okay, because everybody’s got way too much access to all the information,” he said.
How to protect yourself during a mass shooting
Giroux recommends practicing lifestyle hygiene: getting regular, adequate sleep, eating well, exercising, socializing and engaging in mindfulness. That doesn’t have to be a traditional exercise like meditation, she said. It can be as simple as focusing on what you are doing during mundane tasks like folding laundry or gardening.
It’s important to have “some kind of mindfulness practice every day,” she said. | 2022-07-06T23:36:36Z | www.washingtonpost.com | How to stay safe in a mass shooting - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/07/06/mass-shooting-safety/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/07/06/mass-shooting-safety/ |
Witnesses recount harrowing struggles to survive that they’re still replaying in their head days later, trying to make sense of tragedy
Robert Klemko
People’s belongings lie abandoned along the parade route after the mass shooting at the Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Ill. (Cheney Orr/Reuters)
HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. — Randy Winters couldn’t convince his wife to come to this year’s Fourth of July parade — she was too upset about the Supreme Court abortion decision for her to “celebrate America,” she told him. But he went anyway, snagging a spot near the commuter rail tracks that cut through town.
As he watched the Highland Park High School marching band file by, playing a patriotic tune, Winters, 56, told a friend: “This is what it’s all about. America isn’t so bad after all.”
“And then I heard boom-boom-boom-boom-boom,” Winters said. “People were just screaming ‘Shooter!’ ”
Nearby, Ashlee Jaffe, 39, was sitting on a park bench with her son. They had just finished breakfast at Walker Bros.’ Original Pancake House when the gunfire started.
Before she could piece together what was happening, a bullet struck Jaffe’s left hand. She yanked her 5-year-old underneath the bench and wrapped her body around him as he shrieked.
Multiple people were killed and injured in a shooting at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Ill. on July 4. (Video: The Washington Post)
Around her, hundreds of paradegoers were making the same frantic calculations, desperately seeking shelter as bullets rained from the sky. Some ran toward open coffee shops and restaurants. Others hid behind ceramic flower pots or sprinted down the street. Two days after the shooting, many residents of this town were replaying the scene in their minds, trying to make sense of tragedy.
“We didn’t know where [the shooter] was located,” said Joel Kagan, who was at the parade with his family. “We didn’t know that he wasn’t on the ground. We didn’t know that he was on the roof. We didn’t know where he was. We only heard the shots, which kept coming and coming and coming.”
Kagan fled to Smart Jewelers, the store he owns, where he sheltered in place with 16 people — including 11 he didn’t know. They spent the next couple of hours there before police escorted them to their vehicles.
From two stories up, the gunman reloaded his Smith & Wesson M&P15 semiautomatic rifle, once and then again, officials later said, firing 90 bullets in about a minute.
The suspect, Robert E. Crimo III, had been planning the massacre for weeks, police said. On the day of the shooting, he climbed a fire escape to the roof of a business and aimed a rifle into the heart of this Chicago suburb’s shopping district near the start of the parade route, according to authorities.
Minutes after children pedaled by on bicycles festooned with streamers and American flags, their pet dogs in tow, the gunman opened fire.
Marissa Haas attends the parade every year — even returning from a vacation home in Wisconsin to make sure she sees the marching band, dogs in costume and firetrucks. On Monday, she and her daughter had just watched the marching band go by when they heard pops. At first, Haas thought they were shots fired by the Civil War reenactors — a parade staple.
But the shots grew faster.
“That’s when my sister screamed, ‘Oh my God, it’s real. Get up and go!’ ” said Haas, 48.
“I looked up and masses of people were flying toward us,” she said. “My sister grabbed her 3-year-old and her husband grabbed their 6-year-old. My daughter got up and ran.”
Haas’s 9-year-old nephew froze in the street, not moving. “I said, ‘Jack, I need you to run with me,’ ” Haas said. “I was probably hurting him, but I just grabbed him by the waist and was, like, carrying him.”
Haas’s 6-year-old niece and her brother-in-law lost their shoes in the street from running so fast.
Cassie Goldstein told NBC News on Tuesday that she was at the parade with her mother, Katherine Goldstein, when they heard what they thought were firecrackers. “And then I looked up, and I saw the shooter shooting down at the kids,” the 22-year-old told anchor Lester Holt. “And I told her that it was a shooter and that she had to run.”
Shortly after they started running, Katherine Goldstein was shot in the chest and hit the pavement, her daughter said. “I knew she was dead,” Cassie Goldstein told NBC. “I just told her that I loved her, but I couldn’t stop, because he was still shooting everyone next to me.”
When Emily Lieberman, a pediatrician, heard the bullets, she scooped her 5-year-old in her arms; her husband grabbed their 8-year-old. After getting separated from her husband in the rush, Lieberman and her 5-year-old found their way into an open winery, entered a single-person bathroom, locked the door and shut off the light.
After a few minutes, others fleeing the scene started banging on the door, pleading for Lieberman to open it. She did, and 16 people crammed inside, frantically texting loved ones. Two hours later, her husband and brother-in-law slipped past a barricade in a car to pick her up.
“The fact that my children will have this memory for the rest of their lives is what’s most devastating,” Lieberman said.
Karen Abrams found a hiding place in Country Kitchen, four blocks from the shooting. When she emerged an hour and a half later she saw a man walking away from the scene covered in blood. “I asked him if he was okay, and he said, ‘It’s not my blood, but I don’t know if I’ll ever be okay.’ ”
She made her way toward the intersection to see if she could find any family and friends, but she was stopped by a man. “You don’t want to see this,” he told her.
According to police, Crimo abandoned his rifle and made his escape by blending in with terrified crowds rushing from the scene. He wore women’s clothing and makeup to cover his facial tattoos, according to Christopher Covelli, a spokesman for the Lake County Major Crime Task Force.
‘Code Blue’
Soon after the shooting ended, Lauren Silva, Tom Brooks and Morgan Brooks crept out of the underground parking garage where they had been hiding.
They emerged to a gruesome sight: bodies on the ground, chairs, teddy bears and Barbie dolls abandoned in the stampede. Shaken, they were about to return to the garage when Morgan Brooks looked at a victim and saw a toddler was pinned beneath him, he said. He and his father pried the boy, Aiden McCarthy, out from under the man they later identified as Kevin McCarthy.
Authorities later confirmed that Kevin McCarthy and Aiden’s mother, Irina McCarthy, were killed in the shooting.
Tom Brooks gave Aiden to Silva, he said. Meanwhile, Morgan Brooks ripped off his Grateful Dead T-shirt to try to make a tourniquet for Kevin McCarthy, who was bleeding profusely from his inner thigh, he said. Back below ground, Silva tried to comfort Aiden by telling him about her own children.
Soon after, Silva handed the boy off to Greg and Dana Ring, who had run to their car in the parking garage after narrowly escaping the shooting. Police eventually reunited Aidan with his grandparents.
A few miles away, Jaffe, a pediatric physiatrist in Philadelphia, sat in the emergency room waiting area at NorthShore Highland Park Hospital with her hand wrapped in gauze. She heard staff repeating the words “Code Blue” as emergency vehicles dropped off victims. About 30 people were injured in the shooting, along with the seven killed.
Less critical patients began to take seats around her: a war veteran who said he’d never been shot at in combat but suffered a bullet to the leg at the parade; a couple who had their legs peppered with shards of broken glass as storefront windows shattered beside them.
Jaffe caught a ride to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, where she received stitches.
“I guess if you have to get a gunshot wound in a mass casualty event, I am so fortunate to have that one,” Jaffe said.
In other parts of town, families were urged to stay inside as police searched for the gunman. Drivers seeking to rescue loved ones from hiding places near the parade route were turned away by officers. Those who ventured out from hiding in the hours after the shooting sprinted down sidewalks and through parking garages toward home or their cars, unsure whether the terror was over, they said.
‘This is it’
Christopher Covelli, a spokesman for the Lake County Major Crimes Task Force, said the suspect in Highland Park, Ill., contemplated targeting Madison, Wis. (Video: AP)
As Highland Park residents were sheltering in place, Crimo borrowed his mother’s car and began to drive, police said.
Officials say the suspect traveled to Madison, Wis., where he “seriously contemplated” using a KelTec rifle and approximately 60 rounds that were in his car to commit another shooting, according to Covelli.
Covelli said it was unclear why Crimo did not follow through but said there were indications that he did not think he’d done enough planning. The suspect continued to drive, eventually abandoning his phone in neighboring Middleton, Wis., Covelli said.
Eventually, authorities say, Crimo made his way back to the North Chicago area, where Ryan Lerman, 19, was delivering pizzas. He was nervous while starting his shift, given that the shooter was still on the loose, he said. Some of Lerman’s co-workers had even called out, too frightened to come to work.
As he drove through the northwest suburbs, Lerman kept an eye out for a silver Honda Fit, the car authorities said the gunman was driving. Then, while sitting inside his Hyundai at an intersection in Lake Forest, he saw one. He was, he said, “just horrified.” What if the shooting started again?
Police arrested a “person of interest” hours after a shooting at the Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Ill. (Video: The Washington Post)
Before he could call in what he saw, a swarm of patrol cars pulled up, lights flashing. Lerman backed up, then pulled out his phone and started recording as officers jumped out of their cars. They stood back, guns drawn, and gave Crimo orders over a loudspeaker, the footage shows.
“He just, like, instantly complied,” Lerman recalled. “I think he was just, ‘This is it.’ ”
He kept recording as the suspected shooter, seemingly emotionless, lay on the pavement and a swarm of officers closed in. Then authorities directed Lerman and other motorists away from the scene as they prepared to close the road.
He snapped pictures of the line of patrol cars and an armored vehicle.
It was scary, he said, and surreal. He lives in a suburb 10 miles from Highland Park and knew people who had to run from the gunfire at the parade.
By about 6:25 p.m., Crimo was taken into custody, Assistant State’s Attorney Ben Dillon said. He confessed to Highland Park police, saying he had fired three 30-round magazines at the crowd, according to Dillon.
Brittany Shammas in Highland Park and Mark Berman in Washington contributed to this report. | 2022-07-07T00:37:31Z | www.washingtonpost.com | How the Highland Park parade shooting unfolded: A marching band, then gunshots - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/07/06/highland-park-parade-shooting/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/07/06/highland-park-parade-shooting/ |
The study by researchers Texas State University found officers missed several opportunities to halt the massacre at Robb Elementary School.
Reggie Daniels pays his respects at a memorial at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Tex., on June 9, 2022. (Eric Gay/AP)
A rifle-wielding Uvalde police officer had the Robb Elementary gunman in his sight before he entered the school building but was concerned about hitting kids and asked for permission to take the shot — and didn’t get it, according to an after-action report released Tuesday.
The officer’s supervisor “either did not hear the request or responded too late” to stop the 18-year-old shooter — one of several missed opportunities to halt the carnage that ended the lives of 19 children and two teachers.
Researchers from the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training Center (ALERRT) at Texas State University, which specializes in active-shooter training, also found tactical errors and potential breaches of protocol in a review of the police response to the worst school shooting in the United States in nearly a decade. Subject matter experts based their findings on a one-hour briefing with an investigating officer and evidence such as surveillance footage, verbal testimony and radio logs.
The Texas Department of Public Safety and Gov. Greg Abbott (R) asked ALERRT to examine the police response. It’s one of several reports and investigations underway by local, state and federal officials examining law enforcement’s much-criticized reaction to the massacre. It took one hour, 11 minutes and 26 seconds after the first officers arrived at the scene for law enforcement to enter the classroom and kill the gunman. In the intervening minutes, injured and dying children in Rooms 111 and 112 were trapped and called 911 begging for help.
A three-person Texas House quasi-judicial committee has spent weeks interviewing 36 people — 19 of whom are law enforcement officers — behind closed doors and is expected to pull together an investigative report by late July. The committee said witnesses have been cooperative but Uvalde County Sheriff Ruben Nolasco has so far ignored requests to testify and could face subpoena.
The Justice Department is also reviewing the law enforcement response to the attack.
While the ALERRT report echoes much of what Texas Department of Public Safety officials outlined for state senators earlier this month, the training experts added context and perspective to understand what should or could have happened if law enforcement had executed their training. Their timeline, however, falls short of explaining why certain decisions were made.
“Ultimately it is unclear why the officers decided to assault the room at 12:50:03,” the report said. "While we do not have definitive information at this point, it is possible that some of the people who died during this event could have been saved if they had received more rapid medical care.”
Much of the blame and anger has been directed toward Uvalde school police chief, Pedro “Pete” Arredondo, who recently resigned from his city council post. But the authors focused on the individual actions of responding officers at the scene and the chaos clouding the multiple missed opportunities police had to stop the shooter.
A lawyer for Arredondo did not respond to requests for comment.
In the case of the Uvalde police officer, waiting for permission to use deadly force cost precious time, the report said. The officer at 148 yards away would have been justified in taking the shot but he was concerned about missing and injuring students.
The hesitation doomed the likelihood of stopping the massacre before it started.
“When he turned back to address the suspect, the suspect had already entered the west hall exterior door at 11:33:00,” the authors wrote.
Pete Blair, ALERRT’s executive director and one of the report authors, said that under Texas law, it is not necessary for an officer to ask for permission to use lethal force. Though individual departments may have policies for specific circumstances, he said the officer ultimately had the authority to make a call on his own.
“He didn’t need permission," Blair said.
A Uvalde school district officer who arrived at the school property in minutes drove so quickly that he missed the gunman. Experts said had he approached more slowly, “he might have seen the suspect and been able to engage him before the suspect entered the building.”
The first three Uvalde police officers on scene retreated when they were fired upon inside the school, leading to a loss of momentum, the report said. Two officers were grazed as the gunman’s bullets pierced through sheetrock walls.
But what followed was a series of baffling decisions that did not appear to adhere to protocol for active shooting situations. Officers are trained to “stop the killing” and then “stop the dying,” but law enforcers in Uvalde were fixated on keys and locks for doors they had not tried to open. The shooting continued while police failed to develop an alternative plan to attack the gunman.
Officers had body armor and rifles but they did not return fire. Arredondo called for a SWAT team. They asked for ballistic shields. The chief tried to negotiate with the unresponsive shooter. But none of those requests seemed to prompt immediate action to save lives, the report said.
“The first priority is to preserve the lives of victims/potential victims. Second, is the safety of the officers, and last is the suspect," experts said. “This ordering means that we expect officers to assume risk to save innocent lives."
“It is not surprising that officers who had never been shot at before would be overwhelmed by the directed gunfire,” the report said.
Every law enforcer, the report noted, should know there is a chance they will be injured or killed.
Arredondo testified for hours before the Texas state House committee in a closed-door session but has seldom spoken publicly after the shooting. His lawyer, George E. Hyde, previously told the Texas Tribune that he was engaged as a first responder and “not in the capacity to be able to run this entire organization” reacting to the shooting.
“The lack of effective command likely impaired both the Stop the Killing and Stop the Dying parts of the response,” the report stated.
The report also affirmed that a Uvalde school teacher had closed the exterior door behind her when she retreated inside the building. But it was unlocked. The shooter had no problem entering. Had it been locked, however, the gunman could have shot out the windows and accessed the door anyhow.
It’s the first time ALERRT has been asked to produce a formal after-action report, Blair said. DPS officials provided the briefing and access to evidence. The report is the first installment of an expected three-part study, Blair said.
“Much of what they did is not consistent with our optimal response, but you have to give people the benefit of the doubt,” Blair said. “The purpose of this is not to say these guys screwed up or are responsible, but to identify what things went well and what didn’t go well.”
Texas state Sen. Roland Gutierrez (D) said the report presented nothing new to the fact that the police response was flawed and stands in stark contrast to what law enforcement did in other recent mass shootings. The senator noted the report was lacking in details about the role Texas state troopers played.
“DPS facilitated that report,” Gutierrez said. “Are we really supposed to believe that the guy who broke up cafeteria fights was running the show that day?” | 2022-07-07T00:37:43Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Uvalde police missed chances to stop Robb Elementary shooter, report finds - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/07/06/uvalde-school-shooting-report/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/07/06/uvalde-school-shooting-report/ |
Zambian soccer star Barbra Banda ineligible because of high testosterone
Zambia's Babra Banda (11) scored a hat trick against China during the Olympics last summer but isn't eligible to play in the Africa Cup of Nations. (Andre Penner/AP)
Zambian soccer star Barbra Banda, a prolific scorer who netted two hat tricks at last summer’s Olympics, has been ruled ineligible for the Africa Cup of Nations because of high testosterone levels.
The Confederation of African Football, which runs the Cup of Nations, defers to FIFA eligibility rules, according to a BBC report on Wednesday. In that report, a CAF spokesperson disputed the notion that the continental federation had banned Banda, saying “there is no such decision from the CAF medical committee.”
Banda burst onto the international stage by recording back-to-back hat tricks against the Netherlands and China at the Tokyo Olympics. That was Zambia’s first appearance in women’s soccer at the World Cup or Olympics, and Banda’s second hat trick powered a 4-4 draw against China.
The International Olympic Committee and FIFA have different eligibility standards for gender verification, hence Banda’s appearance in the Olympics but not the Cup of Nations.
FIFA’s gender verification policy, which dates back to May 2011, dictates that “androgenic hormones have performance-enhancing effects” and thus “gender verification is of particular importance.” The public document does not indicate a specific testosterone threshold.
FIFA is in the process of updating its 2011 policy, according to a report from Reuters last month. A FIFA spokesperson told Reuters that the organization is “reviewing its gender eligibility regulations in consultation with expert stakeholders.”
Andrew Kamanga, the president of Zambia’s soccer federation, is reportedly in Morocco during the Cup of Nations and working with CAF to find a solution. Banda also is training in Morocco, but a resolution is unlikely before the end of the tournament.
Without Banda, Zambia managed a scoreless draw Sunday against Cameroon and beat Tunisia, 1-0, on Wednesday in Casablanca. The Zambians lead Group B with four points and can clinch a trip to the knockout stage with a draw or win Saturday against Togo. Zambia is seeking to clinch its first trip to the World Cup, with the top four teams automatically advancing and two more going to intercontinental playoffs.
Banda plays for the Chinese club Shanghai Shengli but has been connected with a possible move to Real Madrid.
Gender eligibility requirements have become a prominent topic across international sports in recent years. Last summer, two Namibian sprinters were barred from the women’s 400 meters at the Tokyo Olympics because of naturally high testosterone levels. South African middle-distance runner Caster Semenya, who won gold in the women’s 800 meters in 2012 and 2016, has faced eligibility questions surrounding testosterone levels for over a decade.
In addition to the IOC and FIFA, the international federations of swimming, cycling, and track and field have in recent years announced new gender eligibility policies or plans to revisit their policies.
What you need to read on international soccer
The U.S. men’s national soccer team qualified for the FIFA World Cup in Qatar this November. The World Cup draw is set. Here’s what that means for the USMNT.
Nine months after Denmark star midfielder Christian Eriksen collapsed on the field when his heart stopped during a Euro 2020 game, he returned to the pitch on which he was revived.
Some of the biggest stars of the U.S. women’s national team publicly criticized the U.S. Soccer Federation in the wake of allegations of abuse against male NWSL coaches.
Read more soccer news. | 2022-07-07T01:33:49Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Zambian soccer star Barbra Banda ineligible because of high testosterone - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/07/06/barbra-banda-zambia-testosterone/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/07/06/barbra-banda-zambia-testosterone/ |
6. Has the monkeypox virus mutated?
From just a handful of cases in Europe in early May, more than 7,100 cases, mostly in men, were reported across the region, as well as in the Americas, the Middle East, Asia and Australia by early July. One death was reported in an immuno-compromised person. Experts told a WHO meeting that monkeypox had been circulating undetected in Europe since at least April. Preliminary research estimates that among cases who identify as men who have sex with men, the virus has a reproduction number greater than 1, which means more than one new infection is estimated to stem from a single case. A UK study found anonymous sex has proved to be a barrier to effective contact tracing, with only 28% of men able to provide the names of recent sexual contacts. This may challenge efforts to stem transmission ahead of LGBTQ pride celebrations occurring in major cities around the world. Data from outbreaks in Canada, Spain, Portugal, and the UK suggest venues where men have sex with multiple male partners are helping to drive spread.
The illness is usually mild and most patients will recover within a few weeks; treatment is mainly aimed at relieving symptoms. For the purposes of controlling an outbreak, the CDC says smallpox vaccine, antivirals, and vaccinia immune globulin can be used. Vaccination against smallpox can be used for both pre- and post-exposure and is as much as 85% effective in preventing monkeypox, according to the UK Health Security Agency, which is offering the Imvanex smallpox vaccine to close contacts. It lists cidofovir and tecovirimat as antiviral drugs that can be used to control outbreaks. Tecovirimat was approved by the European Medical Association for monkeypox in 2022 but isn’t yet widely available, according to the WHO. Newer vaccines based on non-replicating versions of the vaccinia virus have been developed. Bavarian Nordic A/S, the only company with an approved vaccine specifically for monkeypox, will supply the US with more than 4 million doses of its Jynneos immunization in 2022 and 2023, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. The main way to prevent infection is by isolating patients suspected of having monkeypox and ensuring health staff wear appropriate personal protective equipment.
10. Is monkeypox a pandemic threat?
A meeting of the WHO’s Emergency Committee on June 23 determined that, at present, the event doesn’t constitute a public health emergency of international concern. Just over a week later, Hans Kluge, the WHO Regional Director for Europe, intensified a call for governments and civil society to scale up efforts to prevent monkeypox from establishing itself across a broader area. Small numbers of cases have been reported among household members, heterosexual contacts and non-sexual contacts, as well as among children. Where information is available, close to 10% of patients were reported to have been hospitalized either for treatment or for isolation purposes, Kluge said.
(Updates to add section 5 on asymptomatic infection, updates number of cases in section 7.) | 2022-07-07T02:08:38Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Understanding Monkeypox and How Outbreaks Spread - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/understanding-monkeypox-and-how-outbreaks-spread/2022/07/06/cc541aac-fd95-11ec-b39d-71309168014b_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/understanding-monkeypox-and-how-outbreaks-spread/2022/07/06/cc541aac-fd95-11ec-b39d-71309168014b_story.html |
“Our babies see people get shot while they’re at a playground, and there’s no counseling,” one South Side resident said
“Ain’t that something? Our babies see people get shot while they’re at a playground, and there’s no counseling. They have to suck it up and deal with it,” said Bobbie Brown outside her home in Chicago's South Side. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post)
CHICAGO — No new counseling resources are being launched on this city’s impoverished South Side, even after a man was shot to death in broad daylight, feet from a playground, days before July Fourth.
This year’s holiday violence was tame in Chicago compared with the previous year, when more than 100 people suffered gunshot wounds and 17 died, according to Chicago Police Department data.
Orphaned by gun violence. Two kids, two shootings, two parents gone.
Brown, a community activist and organizer, describes herself as the neighborhood’s “Big Mama.” She flies two American flags above the front door of her duplex. One is red, white and blue; the other — red, black, and green — is known as the Black Liberation flag. Her property is a neighborhood safe haven, she said.
This spring, a young man was shot down the block and came sprinting into her yard, resting on her gazebo deck. As she tried to render first aid, police arrived. She said they watched and waited for an ambulance, their body cameras activated, but did not assist.
“I’ve never seen so much blood in my life,” Brown said. “I looked up at them. No one cares. No one said anything, or even gave me advice on what to do. But they’re recording me.”
A detective later told her the man was pronounced dead at the hospital. Brown did not have the names of the officers who responded to her home, and Chicago police said The Washington Post would need to file a Freedom of Information Act request for details about the response to the incident.
In communities scarred by weekly and sometimes daily violence on the South Side, news of the Highland Park shooting was met with mixed emotions. For many, the rapid response — aided by Chicago police officers lent north — poured salt in very recent wounds.
D.C. teen killed in spate of shootings over July Fourth weekend
Champagne Gardner, a 29-year-old nursing assistant, said she was sleeping at her mother’s home in the Grand Crossing neighborhood early Sunday when her mother decided to call the police about the noise coming from a party on her block. With dispatchers on the phone, her mother stepped outside to get the exact address. As she stood in front of the home that was hosting the party, she heard gunshots.
Gardner says it took law enforcement 45 minutes to arrive, despite the nearest police station being one mile away. A 24-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene, and two women were taken to the hospital with gunshot wounds, police said. Chicago police did not respond to a request for comment.
“It was sad to hear about Highland Park,” Gardner said of the suburb where the median household income is $147,067, according to the 2020 Census. “But at the same time, we’re used to that kind of stuff here. There was a shooting at that same house last year.”
Gardner’s family doesn’t let their young children play beyond their fenced-in backyard in Grand Crossing, where the median household income is estimated at just over $29,000. Likewise for Shermiya, a 35-year-old mother of three who asked to be identified only by her first name out of safety concerns. Taking her children to a July Fourth parade — or any large gathering — in her neighborhood would be unthinkable, she said.
She lives catty-corner to the 6600 block of South Evans Avenue, where at 2:50 a.m. on Tuesday police responded to a report of gunshots. A 31-year-old who was shot six times was taken by ambulance to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. Two other people were treated for gunshot wounds.
'When it's a shooting on a city street, nothing happens'
Shermiya, a Triton College-trained engineer, drives her three children 45 minutes west each morning during the school year, outside city limits. Her parents live there, and the children use their address to attend school.
The children haven’t been allowed to leave their home on foot — even to play in their yard — since last year, when someone was shot on the nearby street corner. After the police left the area, a young man who neighbors believed to be the shooter approached Shermiya’s 10-year-old son while he was playing out front and asked if he’d seen anything. A watchful neighbor urged the boy to go inside.
“After that it was like, no more playing out here,” Shermiya said. “I don’t allow my kids outside. I don’t have any friends. I don’t come and socialize in this area. I don’t trust it here.”
To her, the Highland Park television coverage served as little more than a reminder that the suburb one hour away exists in a different universe.
“It was on for hours and hours,” Shermiya said. “And it’s like, people are getting shot every day around here, around the corner, up the street. But they still don’t cover it because it’s not enough White people down here.”
J.R., 50, who lives down the block from Shermiya and closer to the site of the South Evans shooting, and who agreed to be identified only by his first name out of safety concerns, said he hadn’t noticed any police or media response at all on South Evans over the weekend.
“We’re ignored here,” he said. “Kids get shot here — they throw them in the bag and keep on going. But they got the whole SWAT team out there in Highland Park trying to get the bottom of this sh--.”
Brown was likewise irked by the differences she’s observed in how Black citizens are often treated and the arrest of Robert Crimo III, the suspect in the Highland Park shooting. Officers apprehended him after a car chase Monday evening without using force.
“I didn’t see their foot on his neck,” she said. “They handled him with kid gloves. ‘Turn on over, baby.’ He ain’t dead? Where they do that at?”
Perspective: Telling George's Floyd's story gave us a deeper understanding of racism
To her, the poverty of the inner city and its consequences are intentional. Segregation, redlining, housing discrimination and a lack of public resources have produced a community full of vacant homes and underperforming or shuttered schools, she said. Harper High School, down the street from her home, became notorious for its lack of educational resources, crumbling infrastructure and frequent violence before it was shuttered in 2021.
Brown’s son and daughter both served in the U.S. military, she said. Hers is the only home on the block with an American flag hanging above the front door.
“We were forced here, so I don’t have a country to go back to,” Brown said. “This is my country. They should treat me like it is, but they don’t.”
As Brown spoke on Tuesday afternoon, leftover fireworks banged across the street. She didn’t flinch. While Highland Park witnesses described confusion in the moments after the shooting began, with many mistaking the gunshots for fireworks, there is little confusion here among well-trained ears.
“When it’s a gunshot,” Brown said, “there’s a little bit more oomph to it.” | 2022-07-07T02:08:44Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Chicago killings on July 4 weekend invisible next to Highland Park - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/07/06/chicago-violence-highland-park/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/07/06/chicago-violence-highland-park/ |
The move prompted criticism of the White House from fellow Democrats
President Biden speaks while meeting virtually with governors July 1. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg News)
After facing opposition from Democrats in Kentucky, the White House has not put former state solicitor general Chad Meredith’s name forward as a nominee. A round of federal judicial nominations released last week did not include Meredith. It was unclear Wednesday whether the White House would ever move forward with nominating him.
The email, released Wednesday, was titled “close hold,” meaning information that is not supposed to be widely distributed. Minix said he would “share the info and appreciate the heads up.”
“Sorry for not including this in the original email,” wrote Marshall, a former lieutenant governor in Nevada who joined the White House’s Office of Intergovernmental Affairs in August. “But I wanted to clarify that the email I sent was pre-decisional and privileged information. Please let me know if you have any questions. Thank you. Kate.”
The governor’s office initially told news outlets the exchange between Marshall and Minix was conditional and could not be released. It was ultimately obtained Wednesday by The Washington Post and other news organizations after a public records request. The office of Beshear, a Democrat, declined to comment on Wednesday, referring reporters to statements he made in a news conference.
The revelations have ignited criticism of a president who vowed to do everything he could to protect abortion rights — and urged incensed voters to express their anger by voting for fellow Democrats in the midterms.
They have also raised tensions between the White House and Democratic elected officials in Kentucky, including Rep. John Yarmuth and Beshear, who confirmed and criticized the administration’s intent to nominate Meredith.
“If the president makes that nomination, it is indefensible,” Beshear said at a news conference last Thursday. He pointed to Meredith’s role in a series of controversial pardons at the end of the governorship of Republican Matt Bevin, including of a man convicted of raping a child. Beshear called Meredith “an individual who aided and advised on the most egregious abuse of power by a governor in my lifetime.”
Yarmuth issued a recent statement accusing Biden and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) of striking a prior agreement over Meredith.
“Given that a judicial position isn’t currently open on the Eastern District Court, it’s clear that this is part of some larger deal on judicial nominations between the President and Mitch McConnell,” Yarmuth said in a statement. “I strongly oppose this deal and Meredith being nominated for the position. That last thing we need is another extremist on the bench.”
Scott Sloofman, a spokesman for McConnell, denied there was any such arrangement. “Discussions about Judge Caldwell’s seat have only involved who should fill Judge Caldwell’s seat,” Sloofman said in a statement, referring to the vacancy that was ultimately revealed publicly.
Both the White House and the Kentucky governor’s office have declined to expound on the conversations and decisions involving Meredith.
“So we don’t — we — we make it a point here to not comment on any — on any vacancy, whether it is on the executive branch or judicial branch, especially those that have not — have not — the nomination has not been made yet,” she told reporters. “So I don’t have anything to say on that. It is something that we just don’t comment on.”
Critics have gone after the White House for not having a better plan to protect reproductive rights — or other privacy rights that could be affected by the decision — especially because a draft opinion leaked weeks before the official ruling.
“We are in a national abortion crisis,” said a statement from groups including NARAL Pro-Choice America and Planned Parenthood Federation of America. “We are in this moment because antiabortion judges were intentionally nominated at every level to take away our fundamental right to abortion — and given his record, we know Chad Meredith would be no exception.” | 2022-07-07T02:09:09Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Biden planned to nominate antiabortion before Roe decision, emails show - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/06/biden-kentucky-abortion-judge/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/06/biden-kentucky-abortion-judge/ |
Mystics guard Ariel Atkins earned a second WNBA all-star nod after getting voted in by the league's coaches. She scored 10 points in Wednesday's win at Atlanta. (Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP)
ATLANTA — Ariel Atkins knows the deal as she quietly grinds away. The Washington Mystics guard will make her second consecutive WNBA all-star appearance Sunday as the league’s biggest stars gather in Chicago, but it won’t be because she was voted in by fans. Their attention will be focused on others despite Atkins having won an Olympic gold medal and a place on four straight all-defensive teams — and being voted by coaches to back-to-back all-star teams.
“I think respect, more than anything, is kind of top tier for me,” Atkins said before the Mystics’ 85-66 win against the dream to close out the first half of the WNBA season. “I mean, you would love to be the most marketed and the most X, Y, Z and all that type of things, But you get respect from coaches in the league, that’s pretty dope to me.”
Atkins helped the Mystics (14-10) into the break with 10 points in just under 26 minutes, adding her usual lockdown defense. Although she suffered through foul trouble and struggled with her shot — she was just 2 of 7 from the field — she came in against the Dream (10-12) averaging 16.2 points in her previous five games and shooting a combined 57.1 percent in the previous two. She credited the uptick in production to the overall evolution of the offense.
Although the Mystics still came into the game ranking No. 9 in points per game, the operation had improved with the ball moving side-to-side and creating opportunities. Atkins said that’s allowed teammates to find her for open shots instead of her having to create off the dribble.
“Part of it, I think she’s had a little more rest time,” Mystics Coach Mike Thibault said. “Tried to cut her minutes a little bit. I probably rested her too long in the first half [against the Sun]. I might have taken a rhythm from her.”
Atkins has been more outspoken than ever this season as the 25-year-old gets more and more comfortable with her expanding role. The marketing — and fan votes — may not be there yet, but the on-court acknowledgments are what’s most important.
“Any encouragement in the W is huge to me,” Atkins said. “This is a league, it's a young league, and it's built on the back of trailblazers and amazing women. So any time I get to have my name next to one of theirs is — I don't even know if I can put that into words.”
Things to know about Wednesday’s game
The Mystics improved to 4-0 against Atlanta on the season and have won six straight overall against the Dream and 12 of the past 13 matchups.
The Dream started fast, taking a 12-4 lead to start the game, but the Mystics closed the second quarter on a 9-0 run to take a 41-36 halftime lead. The visitors never trailed in the second half.
Elena Delle Donne was dominant, posting a season-high 26 points on 10 for 17 shooting, to go along with eight rebounds. Natasha Cloud finished with 13 points and four assists. Shatori Walker-Kimbrough scored 12 points off the bench and Myisha Hines-Allen totaled 14 points and six rebounds.
“We have such a solid team,” Delle Donne said. We’ve got really good scorers, and we know that no one really has to force much. You can always find that next person and knock the shot down. So it’s fun to play in an offense like that. It’s taken a little bit of time for us to feel that out and learn what each other like. But it’s starting to flow much better, we’re starting to trust in one another. we’re starting to learn that we don’t have to force much and we can get to the next side or the next person.”
The Dream shot just 41 percent from the field.
Schedule relief
The Mystics have played a WNBA-high 24 games before the all-star break, leaving 12 games in the final month of play. Thibault expects to use the coming off days for more practice time and to get players more rested.
Delle Donne is expected to play all but a couple games down the stretch, and the team will take a mini-vacation July 22-24 around the Commissioner’s Cup, when it has six days between games. Seven of their final 10 games are at home.
Minutes watch
Thibault said Alysha Clark is no longer on a minutes restriction, though he keeps a close eye on her. The team has monitored Clark throughout the season as she’s returned from a foot injury that kept her out of 2021. Thibault said he’s watching everyone’s minutes closely due to the sheer abundance of games during the first half of the season. | 2022-07-07T03:22:39Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Mystics go into the all-star break by continuing to dominate the Dream - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/07/06/mystics-dream-wnba-all-stars-ariel-atkins/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/07/06/mystics-dream-wnba-all-stars-ariel-atkins/ |
Man with molotov cocktails arrested blocks from U.S. Capitol
The U.S. Capitol during July Fourth celebrations. (Mariam Zuhaib/AP)
U.S. Capitol Police arrested a District man on charges of possession of molotov cocktails and attempting to throw one of the bottles at two officers several blocks northwest of the Capitol complex Wednesday, police officials said.
Authorities said there was no indication the man targeted the Capitol or members of Congress, and it did not appear he was connected to any protests in the area.
The incident unfolded on Massachusetts Avenue NW just west of North Capitol Street, where two officers arrived after receiving a report of a person carrying the cocktails about 3:30 p.m., Capitol Police said in a statement.
The officers told authorities that a man threw a molotov cocktail at the officers as he tried to light it, officials said.
The man fled, but officers stopped him and the man dropped another molotov cocktail “that was made with a tequila bottle stuffed with a sock and a liquid later determined to be a petroleum based accelerant by the USCP Hazardous Material Response team,” the statement said.
“Both of our officers were treated for minor injuries. Thankfully they are going to be okay,” said Sean Gallagher, acting assistant chief of police for uniformed operations. “We appreciate their quick action that, without a doubt, kept the community safer.”
Police recovered a backpack that contained two other bottles of liquid, but investigators did not describe the liquid.
Officials identified the man as Bernard L. McCutcheon, 26, and said authorities charged him with two counts of assault on a police officer, one count of possession of a molotov cocktail and other offenses. | 2022-07-07T03:35:43Z | www.washingtonpost.com | U.S. Capitol Police arrest a man armed with molotov cocktails - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/06/molotov-cocktail-us-capitol-police/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/06/molotov-cocktail-us-capitol-police/ |
MINNEAPOLIS — Aerial Powers had 22 points and 11 rebounds and the Minnesota Lynx beat Chicago 81-78 on Wednesday to end the Sky’s winning streak at five games.
COLLEGE PARK, Ga. — Elena Delle Donne scored nine of her season-high 26 points in the fourth quarter to help Washington beat Atlanta. | 2022-07-07T03:41:24Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Aerial Powers has 22 points to help Lynx beat Sky, 81-78 - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/wnba/aerial-powers-has-22-points-to-help-lynx-beat-sky-81-78/2022/07/06/dbbf45d6-fd9d-11ec-b39d-71309168014b_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/wnba/aerial-powers-has-22-points-to-help-lynx-beat-sky-81-78/2022/07/06/dbbf45d6-fd9d-11ec-b39d-71309168014b_story.html |
We’ve often encountered a bar with many solo open stools; is it appropriate to ask someone to move over to get two stools together? I am not a very vocal or forthright person, so having your opinion in my back pocket will give me the social fortitude to handle the situation next time.
The rule is one bar stool per person. In an empty bar, it is perfectly reasonable to spread out — so long as you are prepared to scoot over as the bar fills up. It is therefore less trouble for everyone if, in an already crowded bar, one does not leave gaps. (And yes, it is perfectly proper to request that patrons close gaps.)
Unfortunately, my father had to leave the trip early due to illness. His lady friend chose to remain with the group to enjoy the rest of our itinerary. Here is the difficulty: She never offered to contribute to any expenses, and as a result, the rest of the group covered all of her incidentals. Further, she expected someone else to carry her luggage.
If Lady Friend understood subtlety, she might have noticed that continuing the trip when your father was ill, though not technically impolite, was not the way to convince the family how much she cared about him. | 2022-07-07T04:36:51Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Miss Manners: How do you pick a seat at a crowded bar? - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/advice/2022/07/07/miss-manners-bar-stool-seats/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/advice/2022/07/07/miss-manners-bar-stool-seats/ |
Physician Emma Boulton is director of Clinic 66 in Sydney. (Stephanie Simcox for The Washington Post)
SYDNEY — Access to abortion became easier in Australia on Thursday as decriminalization took effect in South Australia state, part of a wave of liberalization that contrasts with recent moves in the United States.
For the most part, abortion is not the subject of polarizing national debate Down Under, as it often is in American politics. But the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade shocked many Australians, leading thousands to attend rallies in support of abortion rights.
“It never really gets a lot of attention, and this is the most attention that it’s gotten,” said Daile Kelleher, chief executive officer of Children by Choice, based in Brisbane. “This is probably a bit of a watershed moment in Australia where people are showing that they care about this.”
While pregnancy terminations are legal in each of the country’s eight states and territories, people often face difficulties of access, especially outside major cities, reproductive health experts say. “Abortion is a zip-code lottery,” said Bonney Corbin, head of policy at provider MSI Australia.
In many countries, abortion is protected by law, not court decision
Getting one can be especially expensive for those not covered by Australia’s universal health insurance, such as some migrant workers, she said, and travel costs can pose an added burden.
But the South Australian changes should lower barriers, allowing abortion to be provided on demand while regulating it through health law rather than the criminal code. Any doctor — or nurse, in the case of a medical termination — can provide an abortion up to 23 weeks into a pregnancy.
Previously, terminations could be done there legally only in a handful of hospitals, mostly in the state capital, Adelaide, with the approval of two doctors, and only for patients who had been living in the state for at least two months. Both doctors had to agree that the patient’s physical or mental health would be at risk without an abortion or that the child would be born “severely handicapped.”
The change also allows patients to complete abortions at home via telehealth consultations with interstate providers.
“It’s a big day, and it’s important for South Australian women and providers that abortion is treated more like other health care,” said Brigid Coombe, co-convener of the South Australian Abortion Action Coalition.
Across the country in Sydney, sexual health center Clinic 66 was preparing to accept new patients on a rainy day this week. As of Thursday, the clinic can prescribe MS-2 Step, a package of two medications that trigger a miscarriage, to patients nationwide.
Outside, the street was quiet. There were no protesters brandishing dolls and pamphlets; it’s illegal to picket or harass people at an abortion provider. Inside, women slouched in brown leather chairs, scrolling on their phones in the waiting room as receptionists talked on the phone. But much of the clinic’s work was happening outside the building.
On Monday, two doctors performed 20 telehealth consultations for abortions via the clinic’s online portal. One doctor was in Newcastle, in New South Wales, the other 620 miles away, on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula. One patient was from a small town in Queensland, another from the national capital, Canberra. The doctors sent digital prescriptions for MS-2 Step for patients to take to their pharmacies, enabling them to complete an abortion at home. In some cases, the clinic mails medication to patients directly.
“We’ve had so many clients who were just incredibly grateful for that care,” said Emma Boulton, the clinic’s director. “It’s really rewarding to be able to look after women.”
Until now, South Australian patients had been driving to Victoria to access abortion via telehealth consultation, Boulton said. “But women really value being able to do this in the privacy of their own home,” she added.
Almost 60 percent of Australians believe a woman should always be able to obtain a termination if that is her choice, according to a 2019 poll by the University of Sydney’s United States Studies Center that revealed a range of more liberal attitudes compared with those of Americans. Religion seemed to be a factor, the study’s authors said at the time; census results released last month also showed Australia to be secularizing rapidly, with almost 40 percent of people declaring no religion, up from 22 percent a decade earlier.
“You can say that we’re going in opposite directions” on abortion, said Gwen Gray, a political scientist specializing in reproductive rights at Australian National University.
Yet the liberalization is relatively recent. Two years ago, women in Tasmania reported flying to the mainland for surgical abortions because it was easier than getting one in the island state. Now, the conservative state government has made the procedure available in three public hospitals.
Four years ago in Queensland, abortion was illegal except in cases that seriously threatened the mother’s physical or mental health. In 2010, the state took a young couple to trial — they were acquitted — after the woman had an abortion with MS-2 Step medication. Now, public health services are legally required to provide a pathway to a termination for any patient, and the procedure is available at many public hospitals.
Abortion was decriminalized in the Northern Territory in 2017, New South Wales in 2019, and now, in South Australia. But patients in some areas still face hurdles.
In Western Australia, one doctor must refer a patient to a second doctor, who will provide the abortion. After 20 weeks’ gestation, the patient must sit before a panel of up to six experts, two of whom must agree to allow the termination.
In Queensland, Kelleher said, pregnant people who contacted her had reported some health workers flouting legal requirements by declining to help them with an abortion or refusing to refer them to someone who would. And delays within hospitals could be lengthy, she said, citing a recent case in which a woman ended up giving birth despite seeking an abortion at nine weeks.
Coombe said that the battle for equitable access wasn’t over, and that the overturning of Roe crystallized for many the need to protect their rights.
“It certainly made the public sit up and take notice,” she said. | 2022-07-07T04:41:00Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Access to abortion in Australia becomes easier amid Roe v. Wade - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/07/australia-abortion-law-roe-v-wade/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/07/australia-abortion-law-roe-v-wade/ |
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson departs 10 Downing Street in London on July 6. (Chris J. Ratcliffe/Bloomberg News)
“Partygate,” the catchy name given to a rolling scandal involving rule-breaking pandemic parties at Downing Street, earned him the ignoble prize of being the first British prime minister to be charged with a crime while in office. And though he became prime minister in 2019 after pledging to “get Brexit done,” his government is still mired in the details, even threatening to pull out of its own deal regarding the Northern Irish border.
There are too many other scandals to list. The one that seems to have turned his own government against him, however, is a grim example of political shamelessness at work. It centers on whether the prime minister knew about the allegations against Chris Pincher, a Conservative member of Parliament who recently quit as deputy chief whip following sexual misconduct allegations.
Downing Street initially said the prime minister did not know of the previous allegations when he promoted him. Soon, it was forced to backtrack and acknowledge that Johnson had in fact been informed. On Tuesday evening, two formerly loyal senior politicians — Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Health Secretary Sajid Javid — resigned from his government. Within 24 hours, dozens of others had followed.
A normal prime minister might have resigned, too. Johnson, for better or worse, has never abided by the norms. As James Butler wrote for the London Review of Books on Wednesday, though Johnson has lost many jobs, few exits have come been through resignations. “His sole political resignation, as foreign secretary under Theresa May, was simply the first step in a successful campaign for her job,” Butler wrote.
On Wednesday, Johnson pointed to the historic size of his 2019 electoral win as justification for ignoring everything else. “Frankly, the job of a prime minister in difficult circumstances when you have been handed a colossal mandate is to keep going, and that’s what I’m going to do,” he said in Parliament.
Once that might have worked. British parliamentary politics are driven by informal cycles of scandals, shame and sacrifice. Johnson had short-circuited this routine. He had the scandals but never the shame, while others were his sacrifice. Johnson survived a no-confidence vote from his own party just last month, but the scale of the votes against him led many to suggest he should resign anyway.
But if the relentless pace of scandals hadn’t worn the prime minister down, it wore down his allies. They realized they were being sullied by his reputation, rather than burnished by it. “We may not have always been popular, but we have been competent in acting in the national interest,” Javid wrote of the Conservative Party in his resignation letter. “Sadly, in the current circumstances, the public are concluding we are now neither.”
The speed and scale of resignations from Johnson’s government over the past 24 hours are unlike anything in recent British political history. As this chart from the Institute of Government shows, only the doomed post-Brexit premiership of May bares any comparison. (The number of resignations continued to climb after the chart was made).
And public attitude has clearly swung, too. A snap poll conducted by YouGov on Wednesday found that more than two-thirds of Britons believed Johnson should resign, including majorities of Conservative voters and those who voted to leave the European Union — Johnson’s base.
The two charts above are clearly linked. Those turning on Johnson do so because he has become a liability, rather than an asset. “The message is that this party wants to have a future after Johnson,” wrote Darren Lilleker, professor of political communication at Bournemouth University, in an analysis of the many resignation letters released Tuesday and Wednesday.
Johnson could be happy to go down with the ship. The prime minister even hinted Wednesday that he could force an early general election, rather than allowing an internal leadership contest within the Conservative Party (under current rules, an election must take place before May 2, 2024). It would be an act of ritual suicide, given recent polling. Johnson, who began his premiership with a historic electoral victory, is flirting with ending it via a historic electoral defeat.
It’s almost noble. The prime minister who never seemed to take the job seriously is now in a battle to hold onto it. He is even battling his former supporters, who would rather he resign so an internal leadership contest can take place without an election.
But as Johnson fights on, the country he leads is suffering through a crisis of its own. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development recently estimated that Britain would have the worst economic growth of any G-20 country outside Russia next year. Inflation is expected to hit 11 percent year on year this autumn, higher than any other G-7 nation.
And while there is no shortage of global factors, economists say that Johnson’s signature policy — Brexit — will come to be seen as a key culprit for these lost years of stagnation and decline. This era of audacity and rule-breaking in British politics may be about to end, but its repercussions will outlast it by a long way. | 2022-07-07T04:41:07Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Boris Johnson could be brought down by a collective cringe - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/07/boris-johnson-cring-shameless-liability/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/07/boris-johnson-cring-shameless-liability/ |
Park Sang-hak, a North Korean defector-turned-activist, holds to release a balloon bearing masks and medicines in the border town Gimpo, South Korea, Wednesday, July 6, 2022. The South Korea activist said Thursday he launched more huge balloons carrying COVID-19 relief items toward North Korea, days after the North vowed to sternly deal with such activities and made a highly questionable claim they were a source of the virus. (Courtesy of Fighters For A Free North Korea via AP) (Uncredited/Fighters For A Free North Korea) | 2022-07-07T05:11:53Z | www.washingtonpost.com | S Korean group floats balloons toward North amid animosities - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/s-korean-group-floats-balloons-toward-north-amid-animosities/2022/07/07/8ee7b396-fdad-11ec-b39d-71309168014b_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/s-korean-group-floats-balloons-toward-north-amid-animosities/2022/07/07/8ee7b396-fdad-11ec-b39d-71309168014b_story.html |
The invasion has certainly delivered a series of shocks to global commodity markets that have threatened the food security of the most vulnerable countries, especially African ones. These shocks, however, appear to have more to do with energy prices and freight insurance rates than with the disruption of Ukrainian agricultural exports — which Ukraine does its best to maintain despite near-impossible conditions. And if Putin does have a “hunger plan,” he recently shot himself in the foot by lowering Russia’s grain export duties. That move and forecasts of a bumper harvest in a number of countries have been driving wheat prices down; it’s likely that an acute food crisis will be avoided this year and next.To try to shed some light on what’s been going on, I’ll use the example of wheat, probably the world’s most important food crop, of which both Russia and Ukraine are major exporters.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Ukraine was responsible for 8.2% of total wheat exports in the June 1, 2020 — May 31, 2021 marketing year and 9.5% of estimated total exports in the 2021-2022 marketing year. The war’s effects have only kicked in in the last two months, with Ukraine’s share of exports shrinking to less than 5% of the total. According to Ukrainian government data, the drop has been much steeper: In June, wheat exports shrank by a factor of five year-on-year. In any case, even with its Black Sea ports blocked or occupied, Ukraine has kept up a considerable export stream. Deputy Infrastructure Minister Mustafa Nayyem recently posted on his Telegram channel that since the war began, physical cargo volumes sent from Ukraine to Romania have increased 460%; agricultural cargoes taken by rail to the Romanian port of Constanta account for the bulk of that increase.
This doesn’t mean the poorest consumers in Africa aren’t vulnerable. European wheat is more expensive than at any point since 2011; Russian wheat was last this costly in 2013. Though there is no grain shortage, a jump in fuel costs — caused in part by Vladimir Putin’s military adventure in Ukraine — has driven up prices and imposed a heavy financial burden on importers. Transportation costs have increased — because of the fuel prices for everyone, and because of a jump in insurance costs for Russian producers. According to the UN, between February and May the cost of shipping dry goods such as grain has rocketed 60%. Costlier shipping and Russian companies’ difficulties in finding insurers and shippers further threaten the global food supply by undercutting fertilizer exports, in which Russia leads the world. The U.S. has even offered to send “comfort letters” to vessel owners leery of handling Russian grain and fertilizer because of the threat of Western sanctions.
The World Can Stave Off Putin’s Food Fight: Clara Ferreira Marques
It’s Time to Get Biofuels Out of Your Gas Tank: David Fickling
• The World’s Food System Is Too Dependent on Wheat: Jessica Fanzo | 2022-07-07T06:42:54Z | www.washingtonpost.com | A Global Famine Is Still an Avoidable Disaster - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/a-global-famine-is-still-an-avoidable-disaster/2022/07/07/77ec4fd0-fdb2-11ec-b39d-71309168014b_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/a-global-famine-is-still-an-avoidable-disaster/2022/07/07/77ec4fd0-fdb2-11ec-b39d-71309168014b_story.html |
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversees a launch drill for a Hwasong-12 rocket at an undisclosed location on Sept. 16, 2017. (AFP Photo/KCNA via KNS)
TOKYO — North Korea has tested an unprecedented number of missiles this year as it expands its weapons program. Until recently, it usually boasted about each test in state media — sometimes with dramatic flair.
But since April, that information has dried up. North Korea has stopped sharing details, photos and videos of the half-dozen missile tests it has conducted since then, including that of a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile as it develops long-range weapons that could reach the East Coast of the United States.
It takes a constellation of information from various sources to try to piece together what may be going on with North Korea. Its hyperbolic weapons announcements are always taken with a grain of salt, and cross-checked with information provided by the United States, South Korea, Japan, commercial satellite imagery, weather data and other sources.
But weapons analysts say it’s better than no information at all, especially when it comes to Pyongyang’s newest weaponry, as they gauge the regime’s progress in pursuing leader Kim Jong Un’s nuclear ambitions.
“As analysts, we always look for more information, even if from state media, so there’s no question that the opacity in recent weeks has been detrimental,” said Ankit Panda, weapons analyst and a senior fellow in the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
The prolonged lack of disclosure since April may reflect the country’s struggle with a coronavirus outbreak, which it recently said had begun that month, some experts say. On May 12, North Korea announced its first positive case, though there were reports of cases near the North Korea-China border long before then. In the following weeks, North Korea warned of an “explosive” outbreak.
Since then, Kim has sought to emphasize officials’ response to the health crisis, especially given the concentration of people afflicted with covid-like symptoms in Pyongyang, where the country’s elites live.
“I believe the lack of disclosure is affected by the coronavirus outbreak. It is likely that by the end of April, North Korea’s leadership realized how severe its outbreak has become,” said Park Won-gon, professor of North Korean Studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul. “Pyongyang’s residents will likely not view Kim Jong Un’s missile launches in a positive light as they are dealing with the covid crisis.”
Park said this calculation may also be affecting the North’s decision on when to conduct its seventh nuclear test, which would be its first since 2017. Intelligence officials from the United States, South Korea and Japan say North Korea has apparently completed preparations for its next nuclear test, and is waiting for the right political timing. A nuclear test, typically detected by seismic monitors, would sharply increase tensions in the region and with the United States.
As nuclear test looms, North Korea reports intestinal epidemic
“It can’t conduct its seventh nuclear test quietly without revealing it. In addition to military calculations over when to conduct its test, there is also a political calculation” that is linked with the message Kim needs to send domestically, Park said.
While North Korea often releases incomplete information about weapons tests, it sometimes publishes photos and videos that help analysts make sense of their significance — for example, depending on whether Kim is reported to have personally overseen a launch.
Even when North Korea announced previous domestic crises, such as food shortages or devastating floods, it still often touted its weapons development through a military parade or propaganda about its tests, said Colin Zwirko, senior analytical correspondent at NK News, a Seoul-based North Korea monitoring website.
North Korea’s newfound restraint may also be a sign that it has been testing existing technology rather than trying out new developments, said Panda, the weapons analyst. According to the South Korean and Japanese governments, the tests Pyongyang conducted in May included several suspected short-range missiles, which the country has routinely launched this year.
When North Korea is ready to reveal a qualitatively new system, it will be sure to let the world know, he said.
“They’re also generally shifting toward much more frequent operational and developmental testing like we’d see in other military powers,” Panda said. "We should perhaps expect the higher tempo of testing to coincide with less publicity overall.” | 2022-07-07T06:43:50Z | www.washingtonpost.com | North Korea stops boasting about missile tests amid covid crisis - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/07/north-korea-nuclear-missile-tests-covid/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/07/north-korea-nuclear-missile-tests-covid/ |
Russia-Ukraine war live updates Western artillery making impact; Russian forces draw toward Slovyansk
Updates from key battlefields: Ukraine expects intense combat in Slovyansk
Ukrainian service members use a French self-propelled 155 mm/52-caliber Caesar howitzer to fire toward Russian positions at a front line in the eastern region of Donbas on June 15. (Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images)
Western artillery pieces that have been flowing into Ukraine since spring are starting to make a difference on the battlefield, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his Wednesday night address, inflicting “very noticeable strikes” on Russian logistical targets.
But after weeks of fighting, outgunned Ukrainians have ceded most of Luhansk, Ukraine’s easternmost region, to Russian forces, the area’s governor said. The Kremlin’s troops are also closing in on the Donetsk city of Slovyansk, which the British Defense Ministry predicted would be the next key battleground in the Donbas area, and assaulting nearby settlements with barrel artillery and multiple-rocket systems, according to the Ukrainian armed forces. Although Russia hasn’t claimed any territorial gains since July 3, according to the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War think tank, analysts expect its forces to resume more significant offensive operations.
The World Health Organization on Wednesday continued to sound the alarm about the war’s impact on food security. As many as 828 million people were affected by hunger last year, the WHO said in a new report, and global price spikes caused by the war threaten to cause “global destabilization, starvation and mass migration on an unprecedented scale.”
President Biden on Wednesday told the wife of WNBA star Brittney Griner, who has been detained in Russia since February on drug charges, that he is working to secure the player’s release “as soon as possible,” according to the White House.
Canada was the first of several NATO members to ratify Finland and Sweden’s accession to the military alliance Tuesday, after delegations signed protocols for the two Nordic states to join. Lawmakers in all 30 member states must approve their admission, and the process is expected to take months.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken is heading to Indonesia Thursday for a gathering of Group of 20 foreign ministers that will focus on food and energy security. A traditional one-on-one meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is not on the agenda, according to the State Department.
By Emily Rauhala and Quentin Ariès2:33 a.m.
BRUSSELS — European lawmakers voted Wednesday to move ahead with a plan to label some nuclear and natural gas power as “green” energy, a closely watched decision that could shape climate policy for years to come.
In February, weeks before Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion of Ukraine, the E.U.’s executive arm presented a plan to classify some natural gas and nuclear power as “transitional” green investments in some circumstances, spurring a furious backlash.
Five months later, as Russia wields natural gas as a weapon and the global energy crisis intensifies, legislators at the European Parliament rejected an objection to the proposal in a 328-to-278 vote.
By Amy Cheng and Andrew Jeong2:31 a.m.
Air raid sirens blared early Thursday throughout Ukraine, including in the capital Kyiv, the Black Sea port of Odessa and the southern Mykolaiv region, Ukrainian officials said. On the previous day, Russian missile attacks on Kharkiv, the second-most populous Ukrainian city before the war, pulverized the campus of a university, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Slovyansk: Russian forces are expected to launch an offensive against this eastern Ukrainian city, the governor of the neighboring Luhansk region, Serhiy Haidai, said late Wednesday on Telegram. His remarks align with an assessment by the British Defense Ministry that said the city could be the site of the next key battle in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region. At least two people were killed and seven injured after Russian missiles struck a market and a residential area earlier this week.
Luhansk: Ukrainian fighters are clinging on to territory on the outskirts of Luhansk, the country’s easternmost region, Haidai said on Wednesday, days after Ukrainian troops retreated from Lysychansk, their last significant foothold in the area. Civilian evacuations are continuing daily, including by train, he said.
Toretsk: Russian rockets hit residential buildings in this eastern Ukrainian town, Pavlo Kyrylenko, the regional governor, said on Wednesday. Three people were trapped under the rubble after the structures were hit, he added. He urged residents of the Donetsk region to evacuate, saying the entire area was unsafe for civilians. | 2022-07-07T06:43:54Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Latest Russia-Ukraine war news - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/07/russia-ukraine-war-putin-news-live-updates/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/07/russia-ukraine-war-putin-news-live-updates/ |
Pedestrians along Wall Street near the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., on Monday, June 27, 2022. Money managers betting on a sustained global rebound will be left sorely disappointed in the second half of this crushing year as a protracted bear market looms, even if inflation cools. (Bloomberg)
Nonsense and Sensibility
It’s my job to make sense of markets, and I do it gladly. It can be fascinating. The problem is that this implies that there is some sense in what markets are doing. At times like this, such a belief grows much harder to sustain.
Let’s start with the behavior of the two-year Treasury yield, one of the most important building blocks of global finance, over the last month since the eve of publication of shockingly bad inflation data for May. It’s been quite a ride. In the space of a month, two-year rates went from 2.7% to 3.4% and back again — and in the last 24 hours, they’ve made it back to 3%. Somersaults like this are just not normal.
Why did the bond market make its latest swerve? In the current febrile environment, data that are generally regarded as distinctly second-tier can have a big impact. Wednesday morning brought at least two data points to spark the thought that maybe a recession isn’t yet inevitable, even if the market has suddenly tried to price that in. First, the JOLTS survey of vacancies showed more job openings than had been expected. Yes, the total number is down slightly, but it’s still far higher than had ever been seen before the post-pandemic reopening. On the face of it, with that many employers looking to hire that many people, it’s crazy to brace for an imminent recession:
Then there was the purchasing manager survey of services, to follow last week’s very disappointing data on manufacturing. The services sector is at a different point in reopening, and remains in a much healthier state than manufacturing; the overall figure is down, but remains strong and better than expectations. Perhaps of particular interest given the inflation angst, the survey also showed that service providers are finding that prices are still a serious problem. The number has dipped slightly, but is still higher than it had ever been before last year, save only for September 2005, the month of Hurricane Katrina:
At the margin, both of these data points suggest we should be a bit more cautious about assuming that the Federal Reserve will have to desist swiftly in its interest rate hikes. For those wanting evidence that the economy is already slowing down, there were mortgage application data. One of the most immediate impacts of a tightening monetary policy and higher rates should be a decline in the demand for mortgages, and that seems to be exactly what the Fed has wrought:
Taken together, this data wouldn’t normally fuel quite such a shift in the bond market. But times aren’t normal. Also, more importantly, Wednesday afternoon saw publication of the minutes to the Federal Open Market Committee’s June meeting, which you can find here. There were no big surprises for anyone who had listened to Jerome Powell’s press conference on the day of that meeting, or to his words last week at the central banking powwow in Sintra, Portugal. But with sentiment taking hold that the Fed would soon have to reverse course, there had been hopes that the fine print would reveal “get-out” clauses to provide an excuse not to hike rates too much. They weren’t there. That was disappointing.
You can find Bloomberg’s analysis of the minutes here. The main passages to read, I’d argue, are as follows:
This rams home the message that the Fed is prepared to make interest rates outright restrictive, and not just neutral. Then comes:
Participants noted that, with the federal funds rate expected to be near or above estimates of its longer-run level later this year, the Committee would then be well-positioned to determine the appropriate pace of further policy firming and the extent to which economic developments warranted policy adjustments. They also remarked that the pace of rate increases and the extent of future policy tightening would depend on the incoming data and the evolving outlook for the economy.
This is the closest approach to a “get-out” clause. Once they’ve hiked swiftly and aggressively to reach a point where rates are restrictive, which could come as soon as September, then the Fed’s governors can pause to look at incoming data before deciding what to do next. They’re not, however, giving any particular sign that they expect to have to start cutting rates quickly. Finally:
Many participants noted that the Committee’s credibility with regard to bringing inflation back to the 2% objective, together with previous communications, had been helpful in shifting market expectations of future policy and had already contributed to a notable tightening of financial conditions that would likely help reduce inflation pressures by restraining aggregate demand.
There are no apologies here for scaring the markets and pushing up rates. As most readings of the vexed history of monetary policy in the 1970s would tell you, the Fed’s priority now is to regain lost credibility and bring inflation expectations under control. Retreat without doing this and they evidently think that there could be further damage to the economy.
None of this should have come as a nasty shock for anyone paying attention. But the lack of the hoped-for pleasant surprise, in this environment, sent bond yields back upwards.
The Atlantic Widens
While the excitement intensifies in the US, European bond markets are also moving to set new extremes. However, they aren’t going in the same direction. That ratchets up the dollar ever further. The British pound dropped below $1.19 for the first time since 1985, while the euro fell under $1.02 for the first time in two decades. The last few days have brought no particular new news on the British or eurozone economies, but that’s certainly not what you’d think to look at the currency charts:
Why is this? The prime driver, I think, is a dramatic divergence in the way the bond market views the economy on either side of the Atlantic. Usually, the bund and dollar yield curves move in the same direction. In other words, at any one time the gap between 10- and two-year bond yields will be widening or narrowing in unison. But now the German bund yield curve is as steep as it has been since 2019, while the Treasury yield curve is emphatically inverted after the last few days’ trading. On the face of it, that means that bond traders think the US faces a recession, while still seeing the likelihood of more inflation in Germany without aggressive rate hikes to rein it in:
There is at least one simple reason for this divergence: Europe is much closer to Russia, and much more dependent on its energy. Declining commodity prices globally betoken the risk of an economic slowdown, but the risk of extreme inflation in energy prices for Europe remains intense. That would act as a tax on the economy, increasing inflation and making it far harder for the European Central Bank to hike rates.
This dynamic leads to a weak currency for Europe, which at least renders its exporters more competitive but also accentuates problems in paying for raw materials. But it’s fascinating to see how different the pattern looks over two years and over 10. The gap between two-year Treasurys and bunds has widened above 2.5 percentage points, to a spread not seen since 2019. Meanwhile, the decline in 10-year Treasury yields means that they now trade at a slightly lower yield than bunds. The differential has been eliminated.
So as it stands, the market has priced in a Federal Reserve that hikes far more aggressively than the ECB over the next two years — while also pricing the two economies to endure similarly anemic growth over the next 10. The gap is roughly as wide as in 2018, when the ECB was still intervening to keep rates negative while the Fed was trying to press on with quantitative tightening to normalize its policy.
The war in Ukraine gives a good exogenous reason why the two economies are perceived to be in such different places. It’s still hard to see how this dysfunction can last much longer.
The Fed still wants us to brace for inflation; many in the bond market are busy betting for a decline. So, what to do?
The quantitative team of Guido Baltussen, Laurens Swinkels and Pim van Vliet at Robeco Assset Management in the Netherlands has produced a new historical study looking at the performance of different investment factors and asset classes in different inflation regimes, going back to 1875. The bottom line for a classic portfolio of 60% stocks and 40% bonds is not surprising. If inflation stays reasonably under control, below 4%, then both nominal and real returns should be healthy. Low inflation between 0 and 2%, of the kind to which we became accustomed for a decade after the Global Financial Crisis, tends to foster the best real returns. The only inflation regime that brings negative real returns is, unsurprisingly, high inflation, which the researchers defined as 4% or more.
What about factor investing? A number of different market anomalies have been shown to be persistent over time. The quants tested for value (cheap will beat expensive), momentum (winners keep winning and lowers keep losing), low risk (lower risk investments tend to outperform) and quality/carry (investments generating a higher cash yield tend to do better). When defined as the return generated by going long the best securities according to a factor and short the worst, all of these factors tended at least to be positive over history over all four inflation regimes they examined. They also appeared to be relatively unaffected by the inflation environment:
If this looks suspiciously like a free lunch (and it does), bear in mind that anomalies tend to reduce or disappear once they’ve been discovered. Some of the big opportunities to exploit market anomalies in the later decades of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th are now much reduced or non-existent, as people have spotted and arbitraged them away.
The most topical results come from their stress test, when the quants looked at results during specific bad times: (1) recession orexpansion (as defined by the National Bureau of Economic Research); (2) falling or rising earnings growth; (3) bear or bull equity markets; (4) increasing or decreasing interest rates; and (5) increasing or decreasing inflation. The sample includes 30 officially declared recessions. When looking at particular tough environments, they tested both a standard 60/40 portfolio, plus a 60/40 portfolio that had been juiced up by using factor exposures as well.
Deflationary slumps turn out to be difficult but not impossible for asset allocators, as might have been guessed from the experience of life between the GFC and the pandemic. Adding the factor exposures improved returns in every case. Even without them, a 60/40 portfolio made money during recessions, falling earnings, and during the early stages of rising inflation from a low base:
So if the latest market swivel is accurate, and the next few years are more like a deflationary slump, then that’s not such a bad outcome for those trying to manage assets. Stagflation is a different matter. As they say:
Periods of stagflation are truly bad times, as for example nominal equity returns average -7.1% per annum, yielding double-digit negative returns in real terms. During the bad times, equity, bond, and global factor premiums remain consistently positive. As such, factors help to offset some, but not all, of the negative impact of high inflation in recessionary times.
When inflation is high, any given additional problem makes it much harder to cope. If stagflation does lie ahead, then history suggests that declines for 60/40 investors are inevitable. Factor investing might reduce the damage a bit, but it can’t be expected to help turn a profit:
All of this research helps to explain today’s bizarre atmosphere, where the prospect of a contracting economy is greeted as good news. If you are managing money, it beats the heck out of stagflation. It also suggests that there are certain investment anomalies that are so deeply rooted in human nature that they won’t go away. Which is, I suppose, reassuring. The whole paper is worth reading in detail.
How to come to terms with another extraordinary day in British politics, in which Boris Johnson has lost more than 40 of his ministers, faced advice from his remaining loyal lieutenants that the game is up, and still opted to press on? One serious concern is that he appears to have a plan to announce a plan combining tax cuts with spending on things that people like. That might be popular in the short run. With the currency already under siege, the chances that it could soon deteriorate into disaster look pretty high to me.
As for music to accompany the day, this acoustic version of The Verve’s great “Bittersweet Symphony” accompanied BBC Newsnight’s list of the politicians to resign. It’s very effective. The original continues to be an anthem of 1990s Britpop, with a great video. Back in the day, Margaret Thatcher inspired some great music in those who disliked her. Try Stand Down Margaret by The Beat, recorded in 1982 eight years before Margaret stood down, the Specials’ cover of Bob Dylan’s Maggie’s Farm (which had a very different political meaning in 1980s Britain, and which they changed to “Ronald’s Farm” when in the US) or Tramp The Dirt Down by Elvis Costello. Thatcher was nobody’s idea of a quitter and promised to “fight on,” but when she had the same experience that Johnson has just suffered, being warned by her cabinet that she didn’t have their support if she tried to fight on, she resigned the next morning. Would that Johnson had her self-awareness. As it is, Monty Python as ever provides the best analogy for British politics; Johnson resembles nobody so much as the Black Knight.
I still don’t see how Johnson can survive very long. But it’s amazing to behold what’s possible if one can only lose the ability to feel shame or embarrassment.
• Can China Really Prosper Without Freedom? Maybe Not: Ian Buruma | 2022-07-07T08:14:20Z | www.washingtonpost.com | The Fed Signals It’s Not for Turning, But Markets Are - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/energy/the-fed-signals-its-not-for-turning-butmarkets-are/2022/07/07/704120fe-fdc0-11ec-b39d-71309168014b_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/energy/the-fed-signals-its-not-for-turning-butmarkets-are/2022/07/07/704120fe-fdc0-11ec-b39d-71309168014b_story.html |
Surveillance video released by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation shows the explosion that destroyed the Georgia Guidestones on July 6. (Video: The Washington Post)
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said “unknown individuals” detonated an explosive device around 4 a.m., destroying a large portion of the Georgia Guidestones. The structure, which has been dubbed an “American Stonehenge,” originally consisted of four 19-foot granite slabs, a center stone and a smaller block capping the top. Video footage released by law enforcement shows a car leaving the scene shortly after the blast, though the GBI did not specify whether the driver was connected to the incident. Later in the day, authorities demolished the whole monument, citing safety reasons.
The enigma of the Guidestones, located in Elberton, a city roughly 110 miles east of Atlanta that calls itself “the Granite capital of the world,” can be traced to the late 1970s. Around that time, a man identified as R.C. Christian commissioned the project on behalf of a group of out-of-state Americans who wanted to remain anonymous, according to the Elberton Granite Association, a trade group. People who knew Christian’s real identity took an oath of secrecy that has not been broken.
The Guidestones’ funders wanted to make “a moralistic appeal” to humanity, according to the trade group, and etched 10 guiding principles onto the stones. The multilingual manual for humanity has been a popular spot for visitors over the past four decades.
The instructions, repeated in eight languages on the four upright slabs, are largely uncontroversial. They urge humanity to protect nature and care for fellow citizens. But two entries in particular raised eyebrows: They called for the world’s population to be capped at 500 million and encouraged reproduction to improve “fitness and diversity.” (There were some 4 billion humans alive in the late 1970s.)
Scientists discover the origin of Stonehenge stones — quarries 180 miles away
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who has spread and supported unfounded conspiracy theories, told Jones in an interview Wednesday that the monument represented a future of “population control” as envisioned by the “hard left.”
“There is a war of good and evil going on, and people are done with globalism,” she said, adding that she would wait for the results of the investigation.
The Guidestones also got a fringe mention in the state’s GOP gubernatorial primary this year. Educator Kandiss Taylor, who finished a distant third to the victorious incumbent, Brian Kemp, pledged to dismantle the monument and fight the “Luciferian Cabal” that she suggested was behind it. On Wednesday, she called the Guidestones “satanic,” applauded the destruction and alluded that the incident might be an act of God.
Despite the controversy, many Elberton residents are proud of the Guidestones. The city’s mayor said the monument attested to the exemplary craftsmanship of local masons, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“There is only one community in the world that could build such a monument,” he added. | 2022-07-07T08:14:32Z | www.washingtonpost.com | What are the Georgia Guidestones, and why were they destroyed? - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/07/07/georgia-guidestones-blown-up-explosion/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/07/07/georgia-guidestones-blown-up-explosion/ |
In this image from the House of Commons, Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons, London, July 6. (House Of Commons/AP)
Before the breakfast shows on television were over, there were 53 resignations, including four Cabinet ministers in just two days. Many of the letters including brutal assessments of Johnson’s tenure and critiques of his honesty. Some pleaded with him to go.
Nadhim Zahawi, who was appointed chancellor, the second most important job in government on Tuesday, turned on Johnson on Thursday and told him to step down. He tweeted: “Prime Minister: this is not sustainable and it will only get worse: for you, for the Conservative Party and most importantly of all the country. You must do the right thing and go now.”
Boris Johnson is under pressure to resign. How did he get to this point?
Johnson had until now refused to bow to pressure to resign, saying that he has a 14-million vote mandate from the British voters who cast their ballots for him and his party in the last general election in 2019.
But his authority has evaporated quickly over the last 48 hours, with longtime colleagues and allies telling him to go — resignations seemed to be landing every few minutes.
There were so many resignations it became unclear that Johnson and his aides could fill the spots quickly enough to keep the government going. Ministers in charge of security, the courts, technology, education, finance, Northern Ireland, science have all left their jobs.
Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis was among those who resigned from his position in the Cabinet on Thursday morning. He said that the British government requires “honesty, integrity and mutual respect” and it is “now past the point of no return.”
Security minister Damian Hinds, the departing Security Minister told Johnson, "it shouldn’t take the resignation of dozens of colleagues, but for our country, and trust in our democracy, we must have a change of leadership.”
Frost said, “the government can’t continue, that’s very clear, and I hope the prime minister might have reflected overnight and come to that same conclusion himself."
Some began to make comparisons to former U.S. president Donald Trump’s attempt to cling to power. Bernard Jenkin, a Conservative lawmaker and chair of the powerful Liaison Committee, told the national broadcaster that Johnson “can go with some dignity” or he can be “forced out like Donald Trump, clinging to power and pretending he’s won the election when he’s lost."
Boris Johnson defies calls to resign amid mass exodus from his government
Up until Thursday, Johnson had shrugged off calls for him to go. At a fiery session of the weekly Prime Minister’s Questions, he said: "Frankly, the job of a prime minister in difficult circumstances when you have been handed a colossal mandate is to keep going, and that’s what I’m going to do.” | 2022-07-07T08:31:45Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Boris Johnson expected to quit amid mass resignations - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/07/even-more-resignations-boris-johnson-still-clings-power/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/07/even-more-resignations-boris-johnson-still-clings-power/ |
A recent survey by the Network of Central Banks and Supervisors for Greening the Financial System found that, of two dozen financial regulators, 20% are using taxonomies and another 60% plan to use, or are considering using, one. But in a sign of the difficulties ahead, the European Parliament’s vote in July to allow some natural gas and nuclear plants to be labeled as green for a while to help relieve tight energy supplies -- a situation worsened by the war in Ukraine -- was criticized by some investors and climate activists. | 2022-07-07T09:45:53Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Why Saving the Climate Requires a Tough Taxonomy: QuickTake - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/energy/why-saving-the-climate-requires-a-tough-taxonomy-quicktake/2022/07/07/119ff48a-fdcf-11ec-b39d-71309168014b_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/energy/why-saving-the-climate-requires-a-tough-taxonomy-quicktake/2022/07/07/119ff48a-fdcf-11ec-b39d-71309168014b_story.html |
Alex Morgan has scored 17 goals in her past 17 combined appearances for the national team and NWSL-leading San Diego Wave. (Miguel Sierra/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
MONTERREY, Mexico — On Saturday, two days before the U.S. women’s national soccer team began its quest for World Cup and Olympic berths, Alex Morgan celebrated her 33rd birthday here.
Her father, Michael, visited. There were churros and cake, hugs, songs and well-wishes from teammates, several of whom are a decade younger.
“They definitely keep me young,” she said in an interview. “So much youthfulness. Sometimes I forget my age. I’m like: ‘Okay, you’re not 23; you’re 33. You have to act like you’re 33.’ ”
To say Morgan has gotten better with age isn’t precise. After all, she has been awfully good since she broke into the sport’s most decorated women’s program in 2010. She has ascended to fifth on the U.S. scoring chart with 117 goals and won two world titles while also serving as a cornerstone of the nascent National Women’s Soccer League.
More accurately, she has adapted with age and, in the past six months, gained a second wind.
With a two-goal effort during a 3-0 victory over Haiti on Monday, Morgan has pocketed 17 goals in her past 17 combined appearances for the national team and the NWSL expansion San Diego Wave.
“She’s baaaaack!” gushed teammate Megan Rapinoe, who turned 37 on Tuesday. “The old ones are doing okay, I guess.”
Until this spring, when goals began to flow again, there were no assurances Morgan would be back for this Concacaf W Championship, a two-week, eight-nation regional tournament to decide places in the two global competitions.
Following last fall’s post-Olympic tour with his veteran core, U.S. Coach Vlatko Andonovski summoned many inexperienced players, including Washington Spirit striker Ashley Hatch, the NWSL’s scoring champion last year.
It was the start of a two-year stretch between major tournaments, and besides needing to evaluate prospects, Andonovski wanted to send a clear message to the elders that they would have to show they belonged — through their club performances or intangibles, such as leadership and experience.
Morgan, Rapinoe and others were left off several rosters.
“I was told straight up: I have to be producing to be on this team,” Morgan said. “I’d talk with Vlatko before every camp. That’s something I really respect about him, having those hard conversations, even though that’s not what I wanted to hear at the time. It was something that I look back on, and having more clarity was important.”
The pause came at an important time for Morgan, who had a tumultuous season with the Orlando Pride and a disappointing Olympics in Tokyo, where the top-ranked Americans sputtered through the tournament, lost to Canada in the semifinals and took home a bronze medal.
“I was pretty burnt out,” she said. “I wasn't in a mind-set where I was happy with my production level and how I was playing. It was noticeable.”
The first step was leaving Orlando, where a midseason coaching change and winless ruts prompted a request for a trade closer to family in Southern California.
“It wasn't a pleasant [NWSL] experience, at least last year,” Morgan said. “It was very divided” in Orlando.
With a fresh league start and a break from the national team, Morgan poured her energy into not only sharpening her game but helping mold the Wave.
“As an expansion team, I wanted to make sure it was done the right way,” she said. Midway through the season, San Diego (6-2-3) is first in the 12-team league, and Morgan leads the regular season scoring race with 11 goals, including four in a May 7 game against Gotham FC. She also had four goals in six games during the Challenge Cup, a preseason tournament.
“I was just happier in life,” she said. “The goals came by me investing in San Diego 100 percent. And it really was the first time I was able to focus on one team and one team only. I wasn’t thinking, ‘How can I get back on the national team?’ I was thinking, ‘How can I make San Diego successful?’ ”
With Morgan’s scoring rate surging, Andonovski invited her back for two friendlies late last month against Colombia.
Speaking about Morgan’s career arc, Andonovski said: “It’s not easy to be in the best form for 10 years. Sometimes it’s because of the environment. Sometimes it’s because of players around you. Sometimes it’s just simple motivation. It’s hard to motivate yourself or to commit to this game for 10 years every day of your life, every hour, every minute that you spend on the field.
“This time there is something else that motivated Alex to show what she can do. She is enjoying the moment, and when they feel it, they take full advantage of it.”
On Monday, she scored seven minutes apart in the first half. The first was a gem — a leaping, no-look touch with the outside of her foot while making a near-post run on Mallory Pugh’s cross. The second was a looping header, set up by Kelley O’Hara. Earlier in the match, she nodded a header off the crossbar.
“In the NWSL, she tore it up,” captain Becky Sauerbrunn said. “And then she's carrying that form on with the national team, which is what we need.”
Morgan’s game has evolved in recent years, from speed demon racing behind defenders to nuanced forward. She must play with her back to the goal, find solutions against opponents that typically play in a deep formation and compress space.
And, she added, “you have to be that ruthless finisher.”
With up to five games in 15 days, Morgan and some other starters from the Haiti match are expected to be on the bench Thursday against Jamaica (1-0-0). Hatch is likely to start in Morgan’s place.
A U.S. victory, combined with Haiti beating or tying Mexico, would clinch a top-two finish in Group A and seal a place in the World Cup — Morgan’s fourth.
“I know it sounds crazy, but I do believe she’s actually playing better every time you see her on the field,” Andonovski said. “The goals the other day … that’s Alex Morgan in a nutshell: When you need it the most, you can count on her.” | 2022-07-07T09:46:17Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Alex Morgan adapts with USWNT - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/07/07/alex-morgan-uswnt/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/07/07/alex-morgan-uswnt/ |
Shohei Ohtani on Wednesday became the first player to strike out 10 batters, drive in two runs and steal a base in the same game since the RBI became an official stat in 1920. (Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Shohei Ohtani’s dominance has almost become normal, and yet he often finds a new way to make history. Wednesday was another one of those nights as Ohtani put himself in a class of his own again.
The Los Angeles Angels two-way star pitched seven innings in a 5-2 win over the Miami Marlins, allowing two hits without surrendering an earned run. At the plate, he delivered a two-run single in the fifth to give the Angels the lead for good. And on the base paths, he recorded his 10th stolen base.
Since the RBI became an official stat in 1920, Ohtani is the first player to strike out 10 batters, drive in two runs and steal a base in the same game, according to ESPN Stats & Info.
Ohtani is in the middle of an illustrious stretch, even by his standards. He has pitched 28⅔ consecutive innings without allowing an earned run, dating back to the fifth inning of a June 9 start against Boston, and has won five consecutive starts. He also is one of six pitchers since 1913 (including Clayton Kershaw twice) to have a four-start span with no earned runs and 40 strikeouts.
Of course, none of those pitchers hit like Ohtani. Since that June 9 start against the Red Sox, he is batting .305 with a .398 on-base percentage and .634 slugging percentage — making his 1.032 on-base plus slugging nearly triple the measly .364 mark that opponents have managed against him.
From the archives: Shohei Ohtani is the star that baseball never knew it needed
On the mound, Ohtani continued his unblemished record despite a slow start Wednesday. The Marlins scratched out a first-inning run on a throwing error, a double and a sacrifice fly. They added a walk and a single in the second. But then Ohtani retired the next 13 batters, striking out eight of them, while the Angels built a 5-1 lead.
Over the past four weeks, Ohtani has raised his OPS from .765 to .839 and lowered his ERA from 3.99 to 2.44.
While Ohtani’s night was historic, he has recorded other similar performances this year in an encore to his American League MVP season. Last month, he pitched eight scoreless innings one day after clubbing two three-run homers. And on May 5 at Fenway Park, Ohtani pitched seven scoreless innings with 11 strikeouts and also hit a 109 mph line drive off the Green Monster. | 2022-07-07T09:46:23Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Shohei Ohtani pitches, hits his way into history again - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/07/07/shohei-ohtani-record/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/07/07/shohei-ohtani-record/ |
Drugmaker AbbVie shielded profits from U.S. taxes, Senate report says
The new report from Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee comes as lawmakers struggle to advance a broader economic package that could retool international tax laws
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) speaks during a Senate Finance Committee hearing Oct. 19. The committee issued a report July 7 critical of the pharmaceutical giant AbbVie. (Pool/Reuters)
President Donald Trump’s signature tax overhaul nearly five years ago allegedly opened the door for the pharmaceutical giant AbbVie to shield much of its U.S. sales from federal taxes, according to Senate Democratic investigators, who said their new findings reflect a “clear need to reform” the system.
The report Thursday from the Senate Finance Committee comes as Democrats continue to wrangle over a broader rethink of the laws governing the taxes companies pay on income generated in the United States and abroad. Party lawmakers and top Biden administration officials hope to overhaul the tax code as part of their long-stalled package of economic initiatives, but they have failed to sell their global proposals to Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.), a centrist holdout.
“It’s critical that Congress takes steps to fix this broken system, so nurses and firefighters aren’t paying higher tax rates than Big Pharma,” Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the chairman of the panel, said in a statement.
In investigating AbbVie, the maker of the popular arthritis drug Humira, the Democrats on the Senate’s top tax-focused committee found that the drug company in 2020 generated 75 percent of its sales in the United States — but only reported 1 percent of that income for U.S. tax purposes. According to the report, AbbVie was able to shrink its tax burden as a result of Trump’s 2017 law, which changed how companies calculate their tax bills on profits generated internationally.
Essentially, the law set up a minimum 10.5 percent tax on income derived from patents, trademarks and other assets abroad. The move was meant to ensure that other changes to the tax code did not spark a wave of offshoring, with companies shifting their operations from the U.S. to low-tax havens overseas.
Democrats’ minimum tax proposal could hit these ultra-profitable corporations
AbbVie benefited because it had based its patents, trademarks and other assets for the sale of Humira with subsidiaries in Bermuda, while manufacturing key parts of the drug via a branch in Puerto Rico, the Senate Democrats’ investigation found. These and other tactics helped AbbVie sharply reduce the taxes it owed, lowering its effective U.S. rate in 2018 to about 8.7 percent from 19 percent a year earlier, the data show. For 2021, AbbVie expected to pay an estimated effective tax rate of about 12.5 percent, it said earlier this year.
But that proposal also faltered last year, another casualty of Manchin’s resistance to adopting the Build Back Better Act. Republicans, meanwhile, sought to protect their 2017 tax law at all costs, arguing the sum total of changes rejuvenated the U.S. economy.
In recent weeks, Manchin privately has expressed resistance to the Biden administration’s approach, according to two people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the delicate talks. While the moderate has discussed alternatives with Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), the two people familiar with the deliberations raised fears that the international tax provisions could fall out of the package entirely.
Aides to Wyden, who helped draft the plan, stressed in their report Thursday that their findings with AbbVie illustrated the consequences of inaction. “It is imperative that Congress enact needed international tax reforms that would close loopholes that allow drug companies like AbbVie to stash their profits in tax havens,” they wrote. | 2022-07-07T09:46:29Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Drugmaker AbbVie shielded profits from U.S. taxes, Senate report says - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2022/07/07/abbvie-taxes-democrats-senate/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2022/07/07/abbvie-taxes-democrats-senate/ |
Live updates Boris Johnson expected to resign as U.K. prime minister
Conservatives push back at idea of Johnson staying in office until fall
Johnson to address nation Thursday. What else has happened so far?
‘Boris Goneson’: Britain reacts to Johnson’s expected resignation
Analysis: The cringe of Boris Johnson
Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures as he speaks during the weekly Prime Minister's Questions on June 22. (Jessica Taylor/AFP/Getty Images)
LONDON — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to announce his resignation Thursday amid a party revolt and is due to give a statement to the nation, his office told The Washington Post.
More than 50 members of his own government have resigned in 48 hours, saying they no longer have faith in his leadership after a series of scandals, the latest involving an ally accused of improper sexual conduct.
The BBC, the public broadcaster, said Johnson had agreed to resign but hoped to stay in office until the autumn while a leadership contest takes place to replace him. After days of digging in and refusing to step down, Johnson’s departure will come as a relief to many Conservative Party lawmakers who accused him of plunging Britain into a near constitutional crisis.
By William Booth5:45 a.m.
LONDON — In fast-breaking news, Boris Johnson has reportedly agreed to resign but hopes to stay in office until fall. During that time, his Conservative Party would pick a new prime minister to replace Johnson. There would be no general election.
As the world watched Johnson’s government unravel, Defense Secretary Ben Wallace stepped forward to pledge that basic government functions would go on. “A number of us have an obligation to keep this country safe, no matter who is PM. The Party has a mechanism to change leaders and that is the mechanism which I advise colleagues to use,” he said.
By Adela Suliman5:33 a.m.
LONDON — After days of digging in and refusing to step down, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to resign. He will address the nation later Thursday, his office told The Washington Post.
Johnson has been teetering on the brink of resignation after almost 60 members of his government resigned their posts in just 48 hours, pushing his scandal-hit leadership into further chaos.
The latest blow came after two Cabinet ministers, who had been promoted within the past two days, publicly called on Johnson to leave office.
Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi, who replaced Rishi Sunak as Britain’s top finance official after the latter’s shock resignation Tuesday evening, told lawmakers Wednesday he backed the prime minister.
The next day, he penned a letter — shared on Twitter — in which he urged Johnson to “leave with dignity.”
Johnson’s new Education Secretary, Michelle Donelan, also ended her brief tenure Thursday morning. “I see no way that you continue in post, but without a formal mechanism to remove you it seems that the only way this is only possible, is for those of us who remain in cabinet to force your hand,” she said.
Johnson rose to power on a promise to “get Brexit done.” He secured a huge parliamentary majority for his Conservative Party in a 2019 election, which he argued this week gave him a public mandate to stay on. But his popularity took serious dents after a string of scandals, from police fines over coronavirus lockdown parties to a brouhaha over the cost of decorating his official residence.
Johnson will announce he will step down from office Thursday, but he intends to remain as prime minister into the fall, British media reported. A contest for the leadership of his Conservative party will take place over summer.
By Jennifer Hassan5:20 a.m.
“BORIS IS GONE,” “Boris Goneson” and “Tory meltdown” were among the topics trending on Twitter on Thursday morning as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson prepared to resign after days of growing pressure within and outside his Conservative Party.
“We don’t need to change the Tory at the top — we need a proper change of government. We need a fresh start for Britain,” tweeted Keir Starmer, leader of the center-left opposition Labour Party.
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who leads the pro-independence Scottish National Party, welcomed the news. There will be “a widespread sense of relief that the chaos of the last few days (indeed months) will come to an end,” she said.
“The Westminster system is broken,” she added, condemning the Conservatives for allowing him to lead despite numerous political scandals.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan, a Labour member, said that the last days of Johnson’s tenure marked “one of the most shameful sagas in the history of British politics.”
The Daily Mail, which had been largely supportive of Johnson, compared him to a lubricated barnyard animal in a front page published before news of his imminent resignation. “Can even Boris the greased piglet wriggle out of this?” it asked.
The right-wing tabloid predicted that Johnson’s lucky streak could soon be over despite his history of being able to “escape seemingly impossible situations.”
By Annabelle Timsit, Karla Adam, William Booth and Adela Suliman5:09 a.m.
LONDON — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is in serious trouble — again — with more than 50 members of his government resigning in 48 hours and many more in open revolt.
Ministers and aides, including several high-level members of his Cabinet, say they no longer have faith in his leadership after a series of scandals, the latest involving an ally accused of sexual misconduct.
Johnson rose to power on a promise to “get Brexit done.” He secured a huge parliamentary majority for his Conservative Party in a 2019 general election, which he had argued this week gave him a public mandate to stay on. At times, during his nearly three years at No. 10 Downing Street, as the British prime minister’s office is known, he was popular with much of the public.
But his popularity took serious dents through a series of scandals, from police fines over coronavirus lock down parties to the cost of decorating his official home, and on Thursday he woke up to another wave of resignations by government officials and party members declaring that the embattled prime minister must step down immediately — for the sake not only of his Conservative Party but for the country.
By Karla Adam and William Booth4:44 a.m.
By Adam Taylor4:44 a.m. | 2022-07-07T09:46:35Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Boris Johnson resigns live updates: U.K. Prime Minister stands down - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/07/boris-johnson-resign-live-updates/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/07/boris-johnson-resign-live-updates/ |
She died and became the ‘Christmas Tree Lady.’ Now we know her name.
A woman who took her own life in a Fairfax cemetery is an Iowa native, but many other questions remain
Annette Clough displays an author portrait her sister, Joyce Marilyn Meyer Sommers, had commissioned for a book she self-published in 1968. (Caitlin O'Hara/for The Washington Post)
Many mysteries remain about the woman found dead in a Fairfax County cemetery in 1996, but one has just been solved: her identity.
She was Joyce Marilyn Meyer Sommers, originally from Davenport, Iowa, the oldest of five children of Arthur and Margaret Meyer, according to DNA analysis and her family. She was 69 years old when her body was found, and her family has no idea how or why she decided to end her life in Annandale, Va., shortly before Christmas.
“The way she planned it out, that was her,” said her sister, Annette Meyer Clough, one of two remaining immediate family members. “She was very careful. We couldn’t find her.”
Who is the ‘Christmas Tree Lady’? Lab seeks to ID woman in 1996 suicide
For a quarter-century, the unidentified woman in Pleasant Valley Memorial Park was known as “the Christmas Tree Lady,” because she had placed a small Christmas tree on a blanket next to her, sometime early on Dec. 18, 1996. Neatly coifed, smartly dressed, her pockets contained no identification but two envelopes with a $50 bill and the same typed note in each: “Deceased by own hand...Prefer no autopsy. Please order cremation, with funds provided. Thank you, Jane Doe.”
Then she laid down and suffocated herself.
Fairfax police tried for years to identify the woman, and her death became a lasting subject among true crime groups on the internet. In 2000, with help from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the police released a color drawing of the woman. Nothing.
In recent years genetic genealogy has blossomed as a law enforcement tool, in which forensic analysts try to match one person’s DNA profile with another similar DNA pattern, and comb through the family tree for connections. So in January, Othram Inc., a Houston-area lab which has had success identifying remains found as far back as 1960, took on the “Christmas Tree Lady.”
In May, Othram got a potential hit: an 88-year-old man in Virginia Beach, David Meyer, might be the woman’s brother. Fairfax police cold case homicide detectives drove to Virginia Beach, Detective Melissa Wallace said, and showed him the color drawing of the woman. But he couldn’t confirm that it was his sister because he hadn’t seen her in at least 50 years, Wallace said. The woman had distanced herself from her family long ago.
The man’s family directed the detectives to a sister living outside Phoenix: Clough. Clough told the investigators that the color drawing was “1000 percent” her older sister, Joyce Meyer Sommers. The detectives submitted DNA from Clough, and Othram analyst Carla Davis confirmed that the woman who had been unidentified since 1996 was Sommers.
“I was stunned. Just stunned,” Clough said. “The family had looked for her. They were still looking for her a year after she had died. ... I am relieved to know that something horrible didn’t happen to her. It sounds like something she’d been planning for a long time.”
In an interview, Clough related what the family knew of her sister, who essentially vanished in the 1980s. She said Joyce Marilyn Meyer was born in July 1927, the oldest of three girls and two boys, and grew up on a farm outside Davenport, Iowa. Sommers attended Iowa State University, then moved to Los Angeles where she got a job at Seventeen magazine and lived with an aunt, Clough said. “She was very creative and very smart. She was artistic,” Clough said.
From 2000: Unsettling tales of the unknown dead
Then Sommers left Seventeen to begin teaching second grade at a Catholic school in Los Angeles.
“It was difficult,” Clough said of her sister’s life as a teacher in the 1950s. “She had 60 second-graders and she didn’t have a background in education. She was very meticulous, staying up until the wee hours to do lesson planning.”
Around that time, Clough said, Sommers began seeing a psychiatrist. “At that time, psychoanalysis was all about blaming the family, blame the mother. It sort of estranged her from the family.” Clough said her sister was first married around 1959 and later divorced.
At some point in the 1960s, Clough said, their mother traveled to California for a 24-hour confrontation session with Sommers, in which Sommers accused the mother of being a terrible parent. “It was just awful,” Clough said. “It broke my mother’s heart.”
Clough continued to write letters to her older sister, but Sommers rarely revealed much when she replied. Sommers moved to Seattle and married James E. Sommers, but didn’t tell her family of the event. Police found a divorce certificate showing that Joyce and James Sommers divorced in 1977, and did not have any children.
Sommers then moved to Tucson. “She had a trailer in a trailer park,” Clough said. “She wasn’t very happy in that situation.” In the 1980s, her siblings all went to visit Sommers in Tucson, where she asked the family to build her a house, Clough said. The family couldn’t do that and Sommers was unhappy, Clough said.
“After that visit, she dropped off the face of the earth,” Clough said. Her family did not hear from her again.
The siblings tried to locate her in the early 1990s, Clough said. Her brother Larry Meyer, now deceased, traveled to the trailer in Tucson, but it had been abandoned, Clough said. Inside a refrigerator in the trailer, the brother found four copies of a book called “The Target Child,” which Sommers apparently wrote and self-published, about what she claimed was a traumatic childhood. Clough said she didn’t think her parents were abusive or that any of her siblings suffered while growing up.
In the early 1990s, Larry Meyer and Clough’s ex-husband hired a private detective to try to find Sommers, Clough said. “We were surmising she was with a cult someplace,” Clough said. She said the effort to locate her sister was extensive, and there were some hints that Sommers had moved to the East Coast, but “they never found her anywhere. The case was cold.”
Wallace said police databases show that Sommers may have lived in Northern Virginia sometime in 1996, possibly in Alexandria. A LexisNexis database — which compiles public records — revealed one address for Sommers in downtown Washington, a townhouse on Massachusetts Avenue which has since been incorporated into another building.
And then, somehow, Sommers chose the cemetery on Little River Turnpike in Annandale, in a section near where babies and children are buried. Detectives found no connection between Sommers and any of the graves, and Clough said she believed her sister did not have any children, despite a large scar across her stomach that detectives thought might have come from a Caesarean delivery. Clough theorized that her sister chose the children’s section of the cemetery as a symbolic nod to her belief that children can be permanently damaged by their parents.
But where Sommers spent the last decade of her life, what she did during that time, and why she decided to take her own life are still unknowns.
“I always had the expectation that some way, somehow, we’d find a way to identify her,” said retired Fairfax homicide detective Steve Milefsky. “I was excited to learn that somebody’s family would find out what happened to her.” He said detectives “always figured she was from out of the area, and she didn’t want to be found.” Milefsky noted that Fairfax has some other unidentified bodies, and “I think it’s meaningful to identify these people.”
Wallace said she is hopeful that more Fairfax cases will be solved. Virginia has 222 active “long-term unidentified” cases statewide and created a position specifically for investigating them last year, according to Arkuie Williams of the state medical examiner’s office. Nationwide, the Justice Department’s National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, or NamUs, aims to match missing person cases with unidentified bodies or skeletons, and about 8,200 unidentified people are in the database.
Data on a genealogy site led police to the ‘Golden State Killer’ suspect. Now others worry about a ‘treasure trove of data’
Othram and other genetic genealogists use open public databases of DNA profiles to search for matches with unidentified remains, a process which some have criticized as an invasion of privacy. “We’re hoping it doesn’t get shut down,” said Detective Jon Long of the Fairfax cold case squad. “It’s a really great tool, to be able to get some of these cold cases solved, when we can’t get it done any other way.”
Othram, which specifically built its lab to use genome sequencing to help law enforcement, has helped “crack several-hundred cases at the local, state, and federal level,” chief development officer Kristen Mittelman said, “many of which had been unsolved for decades and were previously deemed ‘unsolvable’ by all other technologies. There is no better feeling than knowing that you play a key role in identifying victims, perpetrators, giving answers to families and facilitating justice.”
If you or someone you know needs help, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255). Crisis Text Line also provides free, 24/7, confidential support via text message to people in crisis when they text to 741741. | 2022-07-07T10:33:41Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Joyce Meyer Sommers identified as 'Christmas Tree Lady' - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/crime-law/2022/07/07/christmas-tree-lady-identified/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/crime-law/2022/07/07/christmas-tree-lady-identified/ |
Jordyn Poulter, second from left, with her volleyball teammates after they won gold medals at the Olympic Games in Tokyo last year. Poulter's medal was stolen from her car and found in a bag of trash by a woman walking her dogs. (USA Volleyball)
Maria Carrillo stepped outside the back door of her office to walk her two dogs one evening when she noticed a plastic fast-food bag had been dumped on her property.
“Homeless people live behind my business at night, so I assumed it was just some of their litter to clean up from over the weekend,” said Carrillo, 50, who lives and works as an accountant in Anaheim, Calif.
When she picked up the McDonald’s bag, it felt heavy and she thought there might be a rock inside.
She opened it and saw an object gleaming in the middle of the crinkled hamburger wrappers and empty french-fry boxes. It looked exactly like an Olympic gold medal.
She pulled it out and saw the words “Games of the XXXII Olympiad Tokyo 2020,” as well as the five Olympic rings and the Greek goddess Nike.
“My first thought was, ‘This is so beautiful — is it for real?’ ” she said about her June 27 discovery.
The discarded medal and the red, white and blue ribbon attached to it were in excellent condition, Carrillo said.
She phoned her husband, Noe Hernandez, 49, who runs Noel Barber Shop nearby, and he told her that the medal was likely fake. Carrillo decided to hurry over to his shop so he could see it. To her, it looked real.
“Noe has a friend who works for the police department, and it turned out he was coming in for a haircut,” Carrillo said. “As soon as [the officer] saw it, he told my husband it was real and that it had been stolen.”
“We were like, ‘Oh my God, this is really somebody’s Olympic gold,’ ” added Hernandez.
Police checked their files and told the couple that the gold medal belonged to Jordyn Poulter, the starting setter of the 2020 U.S. Women’s Volleyball Team. On May 25, she had reported it stolen from her car while it was parked in her garage in Anaheim.
Poulter said she had mistakenly left it there one day after she had been carrying it around with her to show it to friends.
Poulter and her teammates won the medal in the Summer Olympics after they beat longtime rival Brazil, and took home Olympic gold for the first time in the team’s history.
“People are curious about it and like to touch it and see how heavy it is,” Poulter said in an interview with The Washington Post. “It was my way of sharing the medal with anyone who feels connected to sports or Team USA.”
On the day it was stolen, Poulter said she accidentally left her car unlocked and someone had taken the medal and a few other items from the center console.
“I’d forgotten to take it out of the car,” she said. “When I saw it had been stolen, I felt instant regret. I also felt stupid for not locking the door.”
“I thought my medal was long gone,” Poulter added. “I made peace with the fact that I’d probably never see it again.”
Many people assume that Olympic medals are made of solid gold, Poulter said, but that isn’t the case.
“At the Tokyo Games, because it was the most sustainable games, they used recycled computer parts and smartphones to create the inside of the medals, then plated them in gold,” she said.
The Games had actually been held in July 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic, but the International Olympic Committee kept 2020 on all of the Tokyo medals and merchandise.
Poulter, who has played volleyball since age 7, said it was a lifelong dream to stand on the Olympic podium and feel the weight of a gold medal around her neck.
“To me, my medal was priceless,” she said.
About two weeks after the break-in, Anaheim police arrested a suspect in the theft, but they were unable to recover Poulter’s medal. The Orange County District Attorney’s Office charged Jordan Fernandez, 31, with vehicle burglary and other offenses on June 7. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on July 8.
Carrillo said she and her husband had not heard any news reports that the medal had been stolen, which is why they were stunned when they learned it was real. Carrillo said they wondered if somebody might have discarded it behind her business after trying to sell it at the pawnshop next door.
A gold medal from the Tokyo Games is estimated to have a value of about $812, but Carrillo said she knew the sentimental value was much higher.
“It’s the highlight of an athlete’s life,” she said.
“We wanted to do the right thing and get it back to this young athlete who had worked so much of her life to compete at the Olympics and win a gold medal,” she added.
Police are still investigating how the medal ended up behind Carrillo’s business.
“We celebrate the good deed that this couple did in coming forward,” said Sgt. Shane Carringer, spokesperson for the Anaheim Police Department. “An Olympic medal would be extremely hard to sell, and it’s really of the most value to the person who won it.”
Carrillo put the medal around her neck to see what it would feel like to wear Olympic gold, she said. But it never crossed her mind to keep it.
“I came to this country from Mexico 30 years ago and cleaned houses to earn enough money to start my own business,” she said. “I know what it is like to work hard to achieve a dream. The person who lost this medal deserved to have it back.”
Poulter said she was in Canada for a volleyball tournament when she learned that her medal had been found. As soon as she returned to Anaheim on July 5, she stopped by the police department to pick it up.
“I hardly have words to express my gratitude to this couple for turning it in,” she said. “In the next couple of weeks, I want to go over there and thank them in person.”
She said she plans to give Carrillo and Hernandez a $1,000 reward for doing the right thing.
“It’s crazy that it was stolen and crazy how it was found,” said Poulter. “But I’m really happy to have it back.”
She will never again leave her Olympic gold in the car, she said.
“I’m thinking I’ll send [the medal] home to my parents’ house in Denver and let them look after it,” said Poulter.
As for Carrillo, she said she won’t look at a bag of trash in quite the same way again.
“When you think of all the places it could have ended up, I’m glad it ended up here,” she said. | 2022-07-07T10:33:47Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Maria Carrillo found Jordyn Poulter's Olympic volleyball gold medal in trash - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2022/07/07/olympic-gold-medal-volleyball-poulter/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2022/07/07/olympic-gold-medal-volleyball-poulter/ |
The former president makes millions appearing at events that resemble his political rallies.
Sarah Fowler
Former president Donald Trump speaks at an American Freedom Tour event outside Memphis in June. (Karen Pulfer Focht/Reuters)
SOUTHAVEN, Miss. — On a Saturday morning at an arena outside Memphis, Terri Owens joined the crowd streaming in to see former president Donald Trump.
They lined up according to how much they’d paid.
At the far end of a white entrance tent, near a bus wrapped with a photo of Trump’s head on a muscular, shirtless body, were attendees who paid $55 for a pair of tickets as “citizens,” a general admittance option. At the front, closest to the doors guarded by Secret Service agents, stood a “presidential” tier who shelled out $3,995 each.
Owens, a 53-year-old nurse, bought a pair of VIP tickets for $800. She wasn’t clear on where the money was going — nor did she care.
“I really wanted to do my part in contributing to where he can keep doing what he’s doing, traveling around,” Owens said. “I know he probably doesn’t need financial help by any means, but just to do my part in supporting him because I believe in what he’s doing.”
In fact, the fees aren’t going to Trump’s political action committee, his $100 million war chest for a presumed third presidential campaign. This event was not a Trump rally, where attendance is free.
Instead, it was a for-profit show, more like a rock concert. The proceeds benefit Trump personally as part of a multimillion dollar deal to speak at the events, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.
The program, the “American Freedom Tour,” is the work of a longtime motivational speaker promoter with a trail of bankruptcy filings and business disputes across the country. A Trump adviser said very little vetting was done on the organizers.
A spokesman for the tour, Republican media consultant Larry Ward, said the 2020 election inspired the new business venture. “The tour was inspired by a nation of disappointed voters and a love for President Donald J. Trump,” he said. Ward declined to discuss Trump’s financial deal.
Trump’s spokesman, Taylor Budowich, said the former president enjoys supplementing his own rallies with speeches at events organized by other groups, such as the American Freedom Tour, National Rifle Association, Turning Point USA and the Faith and Freedom Coalition. “There is a tremendous demand for President Trump in every corner of the country and he is driven by his love for America to continue leading the MAGA movement into 2022 and beyond by sharing his America First vision in front of massive crowds,” Budowich said.
Former presidents including Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama have often taken paid speaking gigs after leaving office and have been criticized for cashing in on their service. But those fees were generally paid by businesses, not individual fans who may not understand where the money is going. Clinton and Michelle Obama have charged for book talks, with no ambiguity about the use of the proceeds.
“Paid presidential speeches are nothing new. It’s nice work if you can get it,” said Mark K. Updegrove, president of the LBJ Foundation and author of “Second Acts: Presidential Lives And Legacies After The White House.” “The difference here is Trump is doing this under the guise of a political rally. There might be a little deception there.”
It is also common for politicians to offer access to big spenders, though the money usually goes to a campaign — not just a candidate’s direct pockets. Trump’s moneymaking is especially brazen considering that he is the only modern ex-president to contemplate running for president again.
“You have a person who is effectively running for president who is accumulating financial IOUs,” said Jeffrey A. Engel, director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University. “Donald Trump has never cared if his financial dealings appear improper. Trump plays by different rules.”
Indeed, many gathered outside Memphis drew few distinctions from Trump’s prolific campaign fundraising. Stephen Maybank, 60, bought “citizen” tickets with his wife after hearing about the event through texts and emails similar to fundraising appeals from the campaign. “This is just another form of donation for us,” he said.
The speaker series has attracted more than two dozen Republican luminaries, such as former secretary of state Mike Pompeo, talk radio host Dan Bongino and right-wing influencer Candace Owens. One speaker who has participated in the program said they negotiated a deal through a speakers bureau and agreed to do the speech because it was so lucrative.
Those who pay more are granted access to backstage events, such as photos and private Q&As. Top dollar garners a “patriot” experience with a private after-party and access to Trump — though the site doesn’t list how much this costs. The group declined to specify the rate, only that it was more than $4,000.
The tour’s organizer, Brian J. Forte, has produced events with motivational speaking stars such as Tony Robbins and entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk. Forte’s seminars promise to teach strategies for business success, including personal reinvention. His own career path has gone through a winding chain of setbacks.
Forte built a “Get Motivated” events business with his sister and her husband, making $200,000 a year plus monthly bonuses, according to court records. But the couple divorced in 2011, leading to a messy ownership dispute, including lawsuits in federal court in Florida and Virginia.
The parties eventually settled, but Forte’s business disputes did not end there. In 2014, a federal judge in Texas ordered a company he was working with to stop using the “Success” trademark that another firm owned. Forte was also involved in ventures that were separately accused of stiffing a production company hired to put on events in Seattle and Portland and of using the “Get Motivated” trademark and customer database without making required payments. Both those cases were dismissed. Ward said the vendor was paid and the trademark conflict was resolved.
Forte lived large, driving a Maserati and flying private, according to court records and social media posts. But the expenses caught up with him — in a 2018 bankruptcy filing, he reported making $11,500 a month but not enough to cover his expenses, plus more than $2 million in debt. The bankruptcy case was dismissed after Forte failed to make required reports and fees.
By 2020, Forte was 48, unemployed, with no income to cover his court-ordered child support, according to an affidavit. “I am currently trying to get sponsors for new events,” Forte wrote.
His fortunes changed after the election. Forte was approached by Chris Widener, a motivational speaker who was veering from business into politics, with video blog posts echoing Trump’s false claims of mass voter fraud. In an interview with the far-right broadcaster OAN, Widener said he wanted to create a new event that would give solace to downtrodden Trump supporters.
“They’re deplorable, they’re racist, they’re sexist, xenophobic, transphobic — they’ve been beaten up for five years,” he said. “Wouldn’t it be amazing if we did some rallies around the country, and got conservatives together, so that folks could look around and say, ‘I’m not alone.’”
The tour debuted last October in Jacksonville, Fla. The stop near Memphis on June 18 was the seventh so far, with another planned in Milwaukee in August.
Trump’s speeches at the events are often shorter than his signature political rallies. In addition to Trump, his son, Donald Trump Jr., and other right-wing stars such as pardoned author Dinesh D’Souza and Pinal County, Ariz., sheriff Mark Lamb, the tour has featured speakers offering investment advice and promoting personal finance courses.
The Fort Lauderdale event, for instance, featured Bob Kittell, a professional speaker who teaches memory-improvement techniques. He declined to comment. Melanie Cimino D’Angelo, a retired real estate agent who attended the event, said she and her husband paid about $100 for the follow-up financial seminar but couldn’t afford the six-month financial coaching course, which she recalled costing thousands of dollars. “It was crazy, I don’t think they got too many people,” she said. “If we could afford to venture into it further, they gave us a lot of good information.”
Ward, the tour’s spokesman, said the programs “come with a 100% money-back-guarantee.”
At the tour stop near Memphis, Widener’s vision connected with 18-year-old Maddie Cummings, a barista starting community college in the fall. Cummings said she wasn’t able to openly voice her opinions at work without leading to conflict and wanted to attend the event because “you’re spending the day with people who have the same thoughts as you.” Her grandfather, Robert Edwards, of Hernando, Miss., bought tickets after seeing an ad on the highway, for between $50 and $200 each.
The event was staffed by unpaid volunteers who got to watch the speeches free. Ronni Schwartz, 57, from Marianna, Ark., who chairs her county’s Republican Women’s club, said Trump inspired her to run for justice of the peace. Schwartz said she wanted to be able to tell her grandchildren, “I did everything possible to try to save us,” she said. “I pray that we save us and that we can do this ... That’s what Trump has taught me.”
Schwartz came with Lindsey Palmer, who serves as election commissioner in Lee County, Ark. Palmer declined to say if she thought the 2020 election was stolen. “I think there was something going on,” she said.
Forte has embraced his new political persona. At the Memphis event, he declared, “There is no right and left anymore. There is right and wrong.” | 2022-07-07T10:33:53Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Trump makes millions from for-profit speech series - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/07/07/trump-for-profit-speeches-american-freedom-tour/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/07/07/trump-for-profit-speeches-american-freedom-tour/ |
Lawmakers face a fast-ticking clock as they try to secure a deal that would deliver on Biden’s goals and satisfy Manchin’s concerns
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) speaks at a news conference on Capitol Hill on June 22. (Oliver Contreras/For The Washington Post)
Democratic leaders are racing to finalize a revised proposal to tackle climate change and jump-start the nation’s transition to clean energy, part of a larger sprint to strike a deal with Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) on their stalled spending bill this month.
The frenzied deliberations reflect weeks of private talks between Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Manchin, a centrist who scuttled negotiations over the party’s last attempt at a broader spending package in December. A climate agreement would help the country meet President Biden’s ambitious clean-energy goals, even as Manchin pursues policies that would still promote fossil fuels.
While top Manchin aides say they are far from a deal, some Democrats are still hoping to finalize a retooled climate proposal as soon as next week, when lawmakers are set to return from recess, according to two people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly. Already, party leaders have held advanced discussions with the West Virginian on spending to combat climate change, including how to curb emissions of methane, a potent planet-warming gas, the individuals said.
Last year, Democrats proposed placing a fee on oil and gas companies’ methane emissions as part of their ill-fated legislative package, known as the Build Back Better Act. But Manchin raised concerns about the fee, saying it would be duplicative of proposed regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency. Democrats are now working out with Manchin a potential solution that would exempt companies from the methane fee if they comply with the EPA regulations once the rules are finalized, the two people familiar with the matter said.
The individuals cautioned that lawmakers and their staff are still discussing the idea and that no final deal on methane — or the rest of their climate agenda — has been reached. Over the past year, Democrats have repeatedly thought they were close to striking an accord with Manchin, only to see negotiations collapse at the last moment because of misunderstandings, miscommunications and lingering policy differences.
“Suggestions that a reconciliation deal is close are false,” said Sam Runyon, a spokesman for Manchin, in a statement. “Senator Manchin still has serious unresolved concerns and there is a lot of work to be done before it’s conceivable that a deal can be reached he can sign onto.”
But Senate Environment and Public Works Chair Thomas R. Carper (D-Del.), whose panel has jurisdiction over the methane fee, believes the potential compromise would ensure that companies are reducing their methane emissions regardless of EPA regulations, those familiar with the matter said. Finding a legislative solution to the issue has taken on added significance since the Supreme Court last week limited the EPA’s powers to curb greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.
The haggling over climate provisions comes after Democratic leaders finalized a plan to lower prescription drug prices for seniors, signaling progress on another key pillar of their economic agenda. Under the plan, the federal government would for the first time be allowed to negotiate the price of certain drugs on behalf of Medicare beneficiaries. Some party lawmakers saw the development as crucial toward crafting a broader package that could come to the Senate floor as soon as the end of July, a timeline Schumer previously outlined to his caucus.
But a wide array of issues — about the size, scope and cost of the package — remain up for debate.
On climate, for example, Democrats are still wrangling with Manchin over a tax credit for electric vehicles. The West Virginia lawmaker has voiced concern that the tax incentive could be a handout for wealthy Americans who purchase expensive electric cars. While the issue is unresolved, a potential compromise could involve “means testing,” in which the tax credit would be restricted to consumers who earn below certain income thresholds.
Another unresolved issue concerns a suite of tax credits for producers of clean energy from sources such as wind and solar power. Manchin has indicated that he will not support a spending bill that includes what’s known as direct pay, in which payments are sent directly to companies that produce clean energy for consumers. A potential compromise could involve restricting eligibility for direct pay to nonprofits, according to one person familiar with the matter.
The overall price tag of the climate and energy provisions in the spending bill could total around $300 billion to $350 billion, though the amount will change as negotiations continue. That pales in comparison with the $555 billion climate package in the earlier version of the bill that passed the House last year.
Manchin has argued that such spending could add to the national debt and worsen inflation as prices are skyrocketing. But the smaller amount on environmental programs may be difficult to accept for some liberal House lawmakers, who view the measure as their last chance to pass robust climate legislation before the midterm elections this fall, when Republicans could wrest control of Congress. | 2022-07-07T10:38:03Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Chuck Schumer, Joe Manchin work to clinch deal on climate and energy - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/07/07/climate-reconciliation-bill-manchin/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/07/07/climate-reconciliation-bill-manchin/ |
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