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Man fatally shot on sidewalk in Prince George’s County
Police in Prince George's County are investigating a homicide. (Prince George's County police) (Prince George's County Police)
A man was fatally shot Thursday on a sidewalk in Prince George’s County, police said.
The incident happened around 5:45 p.m. in the 2900 block of Donnell Drive near Marlboro Pike in the Forestville area. Police were called for a report of a shooting. When officers arrived, they found a man on a sidewalk suffering from gunshot wounds.
Officials said he was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead.
An initial investigation found that it was not a random crime, and detectives are working to figure out a motive and find the killer. | 2022-07-15T11:49:56Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Gunshot victim found on sidewalk in Prince George's County - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/15/homicide-prince-georges-forestville/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/15/homicide-prince-georges-forestville/ |
Former Everton goalie Tim Howard is now the club's ambassador in the United States. (Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post)
Two English Premier League teams, Arsenal and Everton, will find themselves playing soccer in front of an American crowd on Saturday at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore as part of a preseason tour.
This weekend’s friendly matchup will be infused with the red, white and blue — one team’s past filled with American stars, the other’s future including one, and both playing in a Premier League where U.S. players and fans are becoming more common.
Before Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie and Tyler Adams were sparking bidding wars on the other side of the Atlantic, Europeans were skeptical about how good American soccer players could really be.
“Maybe 10 years ago, there was one or two (Americans) that would come over and hold their own,” said Everton captain Seamus Coleman, who’s been with the team since 2009.
As early as the 1990s, though, Everton could always be counted on to feature a steady stream of U.S. men’s national team players.
Tim Howard spent a decade with the club from 2006 to 2016 and serves as the club’s official ambassador in the United States. Though big names like Landon Donovan, Brian McBride, Joe-Max Moore and Preki made their names elsewhere, they all also had memorable moments wearing blue in Merseyside.
At a time when Americans were taboo, Everton was America’s team.
“When you hear stories about so many of the modern-day [American] Everton fans, it’s because of the time that I spent there,” Howard said at Everton’s open training in Alexandria on Thursday. “The amount of people that say, ‘I became an Everton fan because [of you]’ — that was very special to me.”
Frank Lampard, Chelsea F.C.’s all-time leading goal scorer who now manages Everton, specifically remembers the doubt that followed Donovan’s arrival at Goodison Park on loan in 2010.
“I think a lot of people in England, if I’m honest, were kind of going, ‘Oh, let’s see if he can do it in the Premier League,’” Lampard said. “And he was great.”
When asked, Lampard easily rattled off the myriad American Premier League players he remembered: Howard, John Harkes, Ian Feuer, Brad Friedel and more. But Lampard also played and managed during a changing time for Americans in Europe — they weren’t just odds and ends anymore but were blossoming into bona fide stars.
Lampard saw this change coming during a stint playing with New York City FC in MLS. Managing Chelsea before his time at Everton, Lampard also experienced firsthand U.S. soccer’s growth when he coached Pulisic, the USMNT’s biggest young star.
“I love Christian. Great kid. Great talent. It was a joy,” he said. The Chelsea legend also said that throughout the years he’s noticed something different about American players. “They all have a great application, desire, and you know what I’ve found? Politeness, a real humility. I like that. They work hard.”
Everton’s squad currently features no Americans, but Howard, Lampard and Coleman all say that the link between the United States and the Toffees is both historical and indelible.
On the other side of the pitch on Saturday will be the next up in a line of American Premier League keepers — Matt Turner, freshly signed to Arsenal from MLS’ New England Revolution. And he doesn’t want to hear anything about the American skepticism.
“They wouldn’t have brought me here if they didn’t think that I could compete,” Turner said. “So I’m going to take this preseason, every opportunity I get to step on the field, and play to the best of my ability.”
Howard said he spoke to Turner throughout the transfer process, saying he saw the same hunger and humility in him that Lampard noted of American players. Turner called Howard “a huge mentor” and said he knows he’s going to have to work for his minutes.
“Matt is no slouch,” Howard said. “He's the kind of guy who has that mentality. He wants to get in there and fight and understand what his role is and figure it out.”
Turner has his work cut out for him, as Arsenal has shown confidence in its No. 1 keeper, Aaron Ramsdale. But he’s there to compete for a starting role, just like Pulisic and Adams and Brenden Aaronson and Antonee Robinson and Zack Steffen and every other American making a name for themselves in the Premier League.
And while Turner might be the only Yankee on the pitch, Saturday’s matchup before thousands of American fans is indicative of a greater trend. As Americans get better and better at football, American fans get more invested in the Premier League. The 2021-2022 season was the second-most watched Premier League campaign in the United States, according to NBC Sports.
“With the World Cup coming in 2026 to the U.S., I think it’s a really exciting time to be an American soccer player and fan,” Turner said.
But at the end of the day, there’s always that name — English Premier League. Howard knows they’ll always have something to prove.
“American players will always continue to have to prove their worth because that’s how it’s always been done,” Howard said. “And it’ll take a long, long time to change that. But slowly but surely, it’s happening.” | 2022-07-15T12:11:42Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Everton-Arsenal will show how far U.S. soccer has come - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/07/15/everton-arsenal-americans-english-premier-league/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/07/15/everton-arsenal-americans-english-premier-league/ |
Open Championship live updates Tiger Woods’s struggles continue; Dustin Johnson surges into the lead
LIV golfers Dustin Johnson, Talor Gooch in contention
Tiger Woods has been unable to make up any ground after Thursday's miserable first round. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Thursday was a rough one for Tiger Woods in the three-time British Open winner’s return to major championship play after skipping last month’s U.S. Open.
Woods made that decision in part to ensure his readiness for this week, the 30th playing of the Open Championship at legendary St. Andrews, and the 150th overall. But his performance in the first round belied that plan, as he made a double bogey at the first hole and never recovered en route to a 6-over-par 78 and a four-way tie for 146th place. The 78 tied for his worst round ever at St. Andrews, and, as was the case earlier this year at the Masters and the PGA Championship, he looked to be in some discomfort walking the course.
Woods’s second round thus far has followed a more benign path, but he’s yet to make up any ground, going out at 1 over and pretty much extinguishing any chance of making the cut, which is expected to be even par or 1 under.
The Old Course was playing pretty easily for the golfers Friday morning, leading to some very low scores. Dustin Johnson, one of the more high-profile players to resign his PGA membership and join the breakaway LIV Golf tour, rocketed into the lead with a 5-under-par 67. He heads into the weekend at 9 under, one shot ahead of Thursday’s clubhouse leader Cameron Young.
Sergio Garcia, another big-name LIV player, fired a 6-under-par 66, just missing the low round of the day after Australian Adam Scott, the Masters champion in 2013 who was runner-up at the Open Championship the year before, birdied the last to wrap up with a 7-under-par 65.
Follow along for live updates on Woods’s second round, as well as a complete coverage from Friday at St. Andrews.
The 25-year-old Young, who had never even made a cut at a major until he finished third in May’s PGA Championship, begins his second round at 8:26 a.m. Eastern time. Rory McIlroy, who shot a 6 under 66 on Thursday will get his round started at 9:59 a.m.
Several members of the new, Saudi-backed LIV tour posted strong scores in Thursday’s first round. Americans Along with Johnson and Garcia, American Talor Gooch provided some positive representation for the LIV tour with a 3 under 69, good for a tie for second.
Friday’s second round will be broadcast on USA Network until 3 p.m. Eastern time, and will stream on Peacock from 3 p.m. until 4 p.m. Weather conditions at St. Andrews have been calm throughout the morning and look to stay that way, with temperatures in the mid- to high-6os and winds out of the north at 10-15 mph.
Dustin Johnson, one of the biggest names to leave the PGA Tour for LIV Golf, has moved into the lead, wrapping up his British Open second round with a long birdie at the last. Johnson shot a 5-under-par 67 on Friday, moving himself to 9 under for the championship, one shot ahead of Thursday’s clubhouse leader Cameron Young.
British Open leader board
After an opening bogey, Johnson tallied five birdies through 17 holes and is tied with first-round leader Cameron Young at 8 under par. Young tees off at 8:26 a.m. Eastern. Rory McIlroy, who was two strokes behind Young after the first round, gets going at 9:59 a.m.
Golfers in the a.m. wave played through some rainy conditions, which softened an Old Course that played hard and fast on Thursday. The rain appears to have moved out, and the wind is not expected to be much of a factor for the afternoon groups.
Talor Gooch, another golfer who left the PGA Tour for LIV Golf, sits two shots back of Johnson at 7 under; he finished his round at 3 under par. Masters champion Scottie Scheffler (3 under through 16 holes for the day), Tyrrell Hatton (5 under through 16), Adam Scott (7 under 65) and Patrick Cantlay (5 under through nine holes) also are two shots behind the leaders.
Johnson led the British Open after two rounds the last time it was held at St. Andrews, in 2015. He collapsed with consecutive 75s over the weekend, however. | 2022-07-15T12:11:48Z | www.washingtonpost.com | The Open Championship: Tiger Woods tee time, tracker and live updates - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/07/15/tiger-woods-the-open/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/07/15/tiger-woods-the-open/ |
The burned forest of Torres del Paine National Park still hasn't recovered from a fire in 2011. (Photos by Shivya Nath for The Washington Post)
According to the last census by the Chilean National Forestry Corp., their population grew more than 800 percent between 1999 and 2018, to 84,827 individuals — drawing marine wildlife enthusiasts to the archipelago for a chance to swim at a responsible distance with them, strengthening the link between conservation and tourism-driven livelihoods. Though classified to be of least concern on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List, the seals remain vulnerable to entanglement in fishing nets and plastic debris, overfishing, mercury poisoning and oil spills. With climate change, the warming waters and altering marine ecosystem of the Pacific Ocean will probably affect their ability to do long-distance foraging, too.
Nath is a digital nomad. Find her on Twitter and Instagram: @shivya. | 2022-07-15T12:37:53Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Traveling in Chile reveals effects of climate change - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2022/07/15/travel-chile-patagonia-climate-change/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2022/07/15/travel-chile-patagonia-climate-change/ |
As you may have heard, the US inflation rate is 9.1%. That is, the consumer price index for all items as estimated for June by the Bureau of Labor Statistics was 9.1% higher than it was a year earlier.
Other economic indicators generally aren’t measured this way. With retail sales it’s the percentage change from one month to the next that gets the headlines. With employment it’s the monthly change in the number of jobs. With gross domestic product, in the US at least, it’s the annualized quarterly change .
In its monthly CPI news releases the BLS actually does mention the monthly percentage change — as in the change from May 2022 to June 2022 — before the annual comparison to the same month a year earlier, but this tends to get a lot less attention, probably because it’s so much smaller (1.3% in June) and harder to make sense of. That’s easy enough to fix, though. Here’s what it looks like if we follow the GDP example and annualize the monthly CPI change.(1)
Measured this way, US consumer prices rose at a 17.1% annualized pace in June. That’s awful! But it is also, as is clear from the chart, possibly not very informative. Monthly CPI changes are volatile, and annualizing them just makes them more so.
I’m pretty sure that the monthly and three-month core inflation measures better reflect what’s been going on in the US economy over the past year than the annual change does. There was a spectacular burst of inflation last spring that subsequently subsided, only to be followed by new, smaller but still major waves — the latest of which certainly hasn’t crested yet in the CPI data.For context, consider what the current GDP trajectory would look like if we measured it as we did inflation. Year-over-year GDP change will still be positive even if the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s current gloomy GDPNow forecast of a second quarter in a row of declining GDP comes to pass. (I’ve started the chart with the quarter ending December 2020 because the wild GDP swings of the previous two quarters would otherwise make it really hard to read.)
There are some questions about what those quarterly GDP declines really mean, given that job growth has continued at a healthy pace and GDP would have risen in the first quarter if it hadn’t been for a big increase in imports that may have reflected US economic strength more than weakness. But it seems pretty obvious why we pay attention to quarterly GDP changes. In retrospect, annual GDP change gives a smoother, clearer view of the medium-term trajectory of the economy, but at turns in the business cycle that view is usually out-of-date. (The chart stops short of 2020 for the reason mentioned above.)
To some extent all of the economic indicators discussed here are out-of-date, of course. The CPI is among the timeliest, but the numbers released this week are supposed to represent average prices over the entire month of June. There’s been much pointing in recent weeks to signs that inflationary pressures are receding — gasoline prices, among the biggest inflation drivers so far this year, are down 8% since mid-June. Maybe this will have an impact on the next CPI report. If it does, though, the place to look will be in the monthly changes and not the annual ones.
Commodities Never Belonged in Your Portfolio: Jonathan Levin
(1) Contrary to popular belief one does this not by multiplying the monthly percentage change by 12 — although when percentage changes are small that gets one pretty close to the correct number — but by dividing the current-month CPI by the previous month’s, taking the result to the 12th power and subtracting one. (Or by adding one to the monthly percentage change, taking that to the 12 power and then subtracting one.) | 2022-07-15T12:42:08Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Inflation Is Even Worse If You Measure It the Proper Way - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/energy/inflation-iseven-worse-if-you-measure-it-the-properway/2022/07/15/4b653a9a-0432-11ed-8beb-2b4e481b1500_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/energy/inflation-iseven-worse-if-you-measure-it-the-properway/2022/07/15/4b653a9a-0432-11ed-8beb-2b4e481b1500_story.html |
Identifying Recessions Is More Art Than Science
Recession fears spike as inflation soars. Fair enough. But it’s not actually clear what people are afraid of.
Two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth may qualify as a slump, but it’s not necessarily a recession. Formal responsibility for identifying US recessions falls to an eight-person panel of prominent academics serving on the Business Cycle Dating Committee of the National Bureau of Economic Research.
Their work is rigorous, but it’s always been as much art as science. One of the first economists to formulate the idea that booms and busts were more than disasters — in other words, that they followed a kind of predictable sequence of discrete stages — was a French statistician, Clement Juglar. His tripartite framework of prosperity, crisis and liquidation captured the wave-like movement from booms to busts and back.
This wasn’t the only problem. The nomenclature used to describe the various stages of the business cycle remained equally vague. Mitchell and Burns explained that their “working definition” of the business cycle consisted of four sequential phases: expansion, recession, contraction and revival. But beyond this schema, the word “recession” was left undefined.
Burns grudgingly acknowledged that the term “recession” might be used to describe “a decline of aggregate economic activity which is (a) of moderate size, (b) fairly widespread, and (c) lasts from about eight months to a year or a little longer.”
Moderate? Fairly? What did these words actually mean? For its part, the NBER continued to shy away from using the word “recession,” focusing instead on identifying the peaks and troughs of economic life. But the financial press began referring to the period from peak to trough as a recession, and the NBER eventually followed suit.
In 1978, the NBER created the Business Cycle Dating Committee, appointing Stanford economist Robert Hall as its head. (Hall remains in place today.) In 1980, as the economy struggled with economic malaise, Hall tried to warn the Wall Street Journal that his group didn’t offer easy answers. “We’ve been criticized for not having a formula,” he warned. “But there isn’t any way to teach a computer to define recessions.”
Indeed. The challenge of calling a recession continued to depend on the sort of analysis normally associated with intelligence agencies, where disparate data is weighed and sifted in a laborious fashion, and where qualitative judgments count as much as quantitative ones. This was increasingly out of step with the pretensions of theoretical economics, which preferred to begin with equations, only using data to prove a foregone conclusion.
Yet the NBER remained faithful to Mitchell’s intuitive, data-driven approach. A press release from 2001 defined a recession as a “significant decline in activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months, visible in industrial production, employment, real income, and wholesale-retail trade.” Likewise, the NBER’s current website lists a comparable definition, citing a “significant decline in economic activity.”
On one level this seems outrageous. Why should a little-known group of eight economists get to date the business cycle, much less define the scope of national suffering? There must be some econometric model – an algorithm, please! – that would take the guesswork out of this business.
• A Recession Won’t Be as Scary as It Sounds: Allison Schrager | 2022-07-15T12:42:10Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Identifying Recessions Is More Art Than Science - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/identifying-recessions-is-more-art-than-science/2022/07/15/76a57f22-0436-11ed-8beb-2b4e481b1500_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/identifying-recessions-is-more-art-than-science/2022/07/15/76a57f22-0436-11ed-8beb-2b4e481b1500_story.html |
Mark Zuckerberg’s Ruthlessness Is What Facebook Needs Now
WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 23: Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies before the House Financial Services Committee in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill October 23, 2019 in Washington, DC. Zuckerberg testified about Facebook’s proposed cryptocurrency Libra, how his company will handle false and misleading information by political leaders during the 2020 campaign and how it handles its users’ data and privacy. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) (Photographer: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images North America)
Alphabet Inc. CEO Sundar Pichai sent a surprising memo to his staff this week: “Moving forward, we need to be more entrepreneurial, working with greater urgency, sharper focus, and more hunger than we’ve shown on sunnier days,” he wrote, according to tech news site The Verge.
But the sharper tone is necessary. Tech has entered an unfamiliar era of uncertainty, marked by tumbling shares and hiring slowdowns — challenges that would have been shocking even a year ago. To make matters worse, social media firms like Google’s YouTube, Facebook and Instagram are also facing heightened regulatory scrutiny while trying to refashion their products on the fly to fend off competition from ByteDance Inc.’s TikTok.
Zuckerberg is, according to his own reported description, a wartime CEO by nature. He was influenced by the writings of Facebook investor Ben Horowitz, who posits that a peacetime CEO “focuses on the big picture,” while a wartime CEO “cares about a speck of dust on a gnat’s ass.” While a peacetime CEO tries to minimize conflict, a wartime CEO “heightens the contradictions.”
Relentlessly ambitious and competitive to the point of being paranoid, Zuckerberg has run Facebook with a sense of urgency even when times were good. In 2012 he chased Instagram and bought the company for $1 billion after warning his CFO that the company “could be very disruptive to us,” according to emails published in antitrust proceedings against the company. Two years later he bought WhatsApp for $19 billion for apparently similar, defensive reasons.
That naturally caught the ire of antitrust regulators, and Zuckerberg’s shameless approach to cloning competitors has also earned him accusations of being a copycat. (A running joke is that Snap Inc. CEO Evan Spiegel is Facebook’s head of R&D, thanks to all the features Facebook has aped from the smaller company.) But when times are lean, that kind of ruthlessness can also help protect a company’s bottom line.
Zuckerberg still has much to do to fix the harms Facebook’s algorithms have inflicted on society.(2) But when it comes to protecting the company’s bottom line, there seems to be no one more committed to the task. He could well become the envy of his peers.
Twitter Still Wants Musk’s Money: Matt Levine
When Data Privacy Became a Startup’s Nightmare: Andy Mukherjee
Why the IPhone Is Missing From Foxconn’s Asia Tour: Tim Culpan
(1) Zuckerberg’s $19 billion purchase of WhatsApp has yet to prove a major financial benefit to Meta, though. The company has for years said it was planning to bring advertising to WhatsApp, which has not happened, though there are more than 1 million businesses paying it for “click to WhatsApp” ads. The division’s contribution to revenue is still unclear.
(2) There is only one sign that Zuckerberg is making amends for Facebook’s social harms: his shift to the metaverse. Virtual reality is not very addictive and likely won’t have the same kind of harmful social impact that Facebook has had. | 2022-07-15T12:42:10Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Mark Zuckerberg’s Ruthlessness Is What Facebook Needs Now - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/mark-zuckerbergs-ruthlessness-is-what-facebook-needs-now/2022/07/15/14bca374-042e-11ed-8beb-2b4e481b1500_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/mark-zuckerbergs-ruthlessness-is-what-facebook-needs-now/2022/07/15/14bca374-042e-11ed-8beb-2b4e481b1500_story.html |
By Adam P. Ebbin
Spencer Geiger, left, of Virginia Beach, and Carl Johanson, of Norfolk, demonstrate Feb. 4, 2014, outside the federal court in Norfolk. (Steve Helber/Associated Press File Photo)
Adam P. Ebbin, a Democrat, represents Alexandria in the Virginia state Senate.
In a July 10 interview on Face the Nation with Robert Costa, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) outlined a doomed proposal to ban abortion care after 15 weeks, discussed a potential presidential bid and offered his thoughts on same-sex marriage.
In addition to his troubling comments on plans to limit abortion access, I was concerned by his comments on the status of marriage equality in Virginia.
During an alarming period in which the reactionary wing of the Republican Party has unmasked its brazen homophobia and swiftly moved to insert it into the policies and laws of states across our country, LGBTQ Virginians deserve honest and full-throated support from their head of government.
Nationally, it is clear there is a bull's eye on the LGBTQ community; so, it was disappointing to hear Youngkin, when pressed on whether he intended to protect marriage equality, erroneously reply, “In Virginia, we actually do protect same-sex marriage in Virginia. That’s the law in Virginia.”
Let’s set the record straight. Since the passage of the infamous 2006 “Marshall-Newman Amendment,” Virginia’s Constitution has explicitly banned same-sex marriage. A statutory ban on same-sex marriage remained in the Code of Virginia until it was repealed in 2020. But our Constitution remains preeminent, meaning the thing protecting marriage equality in Virginia is the Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell v. Hodges. As the new Supreme Court has lurched to the extreme, Justice Clarence Thomas, in a concurring opinion overturning the right to bodily autonomy protected by Roe v. Wade, outlined the rights he believes should be toppled next: stating all rights born from the right to privacy are “erroneously decided” and “errors'' to be “corrected.” These rights include same-sex relationships, the right to birth control and the right, decided in Obergefell, to same-sex marriage.
In February, Youngkin’s Republican House majority killed Del. Mark Sickles’s (D-Fairfax) and my amendments to repeal the stain of the Marshall Newman Amendment our Constitution and replace it with an affirmative right to marry regardless of gender.
The governor is either incompetent in his understanding of Virginia law, or he made the deliberate decision to obfuscate his plans for LGBTQ rights in his statement. Though his administration has hit some stumbling blocks early in his tenure, I would have hoped that he has at least read and understands our Constitution. The governor knows marriage equality is hanging on by a thread — both in the commonwealth and across the nation — and his disingenuousness and lack of leadership on this issue puts LGBTQ Virginians at risk.
If Obergfell is overturned, there will be irreparable harm to LGBTQ couples. Our humanity and our relationships will be deemed illegitimate by the law. Additionally we will lose the myriad rights marriages ascribe to families, including the legal ability to jointly adopt a child into a loving home, to make medical decisions for your spouse, to inherit property and file taxes jointly.
Though I am disappointed by Youngkin’s statement, I can’t feign surprise. As a candidate, Youngkin refused to support marriage equality. He supported discrimination against transgender students and stoked fears over LGBTQ -affirming literature in his quest for office. The governor has shown a desire to cloak his less popular, more conservative policy stances from the public, something made more concerning by his inaccurate statement on Face the Nation. At a fundraiser on the campaign trail last year, Youngkin told his supporters that “I’m gonna be really honest with you, the short answer is, in this campaign, I can’t [address abortion],” but “When I’m governor, and I have a majority in the House, we can start going on offense [on abortion].” Since taking office, he has done exactly that, pushing aggressively to limit access to reproductive health care.
The governor knows marriage equality is popular: More than 70 percent of Americans support it. So his track record of shying from unpopular positions he holds until an opportune moment strikes should not be overlooked.
However, if the governor truly believes marriage equality should be an assured right in Virginia, it is time for him to take action. As the leader of his party, he need only make a few phone calls and an amendment to the Constitution guaranteeing marriage equality would pass the General Assembly to be sent to the voters.
Until he takes that action, we should not take him at his word. | 2022-07-15T12:42:41Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Marriage equality is not safe in Virginia. Youngkin knows that. - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/15/marriage-equality-is-not-safe-virginia-youngkin-knows-that/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/15/marriage-equality-is-not-safe-virginia-youngkin-knows-that/ |
A collection that captures baseball’s heroes, and their human stories
Review by Steven V. Roberts
The Brooklyn Dodgers' Jackie Robinson, the first Black major league baseball player, steals home in a 1948 game against the Boston Braves. Columnist Ira Berkow took a creative approach to showing Robinson's impact. (AP)
Good sportswriting is not mainly about who won the game. It’s about who played the game — their flaws and fears, triumphs and tears. It’s also about the social setting in which those games are played, about the way sports reflect and reveal our humanity. In this collection of his newspaper columns, “Baseball’s Best Ever: A Half Century of Covering Hall of Famers,” Ira Berkow quotes another sportswriter, the immortal Red Smith, on this point: “Games are a part of every culture we know anything about. … The man who reports on these games contributes his small bit to the record of his time.”
Berkow, who wrote mainly for the Newspaper Enterprise Association syndicate and then for the New York Times, donates more than a “small bit” to that record. I often found myself skipping over the statistics and the standings he writes about — we already know what happened, after all — and focusing on the personal stories, especially the ones about failure and disappointment. Here for instance is Mickey Mantle, a boyhood idol of mine, who told Berkow in 1971, three years after retiring from the New York Yankees: “Playing baseball is all I’ve ever known. It makes me kind of bitter that it’s all over. You look around and see other guys my age, other guys forty years old, who are just starting to reach their peak in other jobs. And I’m finished.”
Some statistics can be fascinating, however, and one of my favorite columns features all the ways in which baseball’s biggest stars screwed up. Warren Spahn, one of the best left-handed pitchers of all time, gave up 434 home runs. Babe Ruth led the majors in strikeouts in four different years and whiffed 1,306 times — a benchmark for decades until Mantle flailed even more often. The record for grounding into double plays in a single World Series is seven — held by Joe DiMaggio. “At times, as the evidence shows, even the greatest among us aren’t great, or even very good,” Berkow writes. “Somehow, though, that’s heartening.”
All collections of previously published pieces contain strengths and weaknesses. They can capture moments in real time, unfiltered by false nostalgia or faulty memory. But they can also feel dated and repetitive. Too many columns here focus on anodyne speeches by Hall of Fame inductees and elegiac tributes to recently departed old-timers.
But at his best, Berkow can turn a phrase like an all-star second baseman turning a double play. Here he describes Ozzie Smith, the ineffable shortstop of the St. Louis Cardinals: “He leaps, he dives, he whirls. He seems to appear behind second base as if popping from underground; he can soar and stay aloft like a hummingbird and wait for a line drive to arrive.” Of Kirby Puckett, a rotund yet robust hitter for the Minnesota Twins, Berkow says that he “is built like a keg of dynamite and periodically explodes like one.”
One of this volume’s recurring themes is the intersection of race and baseball, and Berkow has a creative way of showing the impact of Jackie Robinson, who integrated the sport in 1947. He turns to Ed Charles, a journeyman infielder in the 1960s, who recalled “the biggest day of my life,” when he was 13 and Robinson came through his hometown in Florida with the Brooklyn Dodgers. “I realized then I could play in the major leagues,” Charles said. “When it was over, we chased the Dodger train as far as we could with Robinson waving to us from the back. We ran until we couldn’t hear the sound any more. We were exhausted but we were never so happy.” For another angle Berkow interviews Larry Doby, who integrated the American League just after Robinson’s debut and remembered the loneliness of being a pioneer once the games were over: “It’s then you’d really like to be with your teammates, win or lose, and go over the game. But I’d go off to my hotel in the black part of town, and they’d go off to their hotel.”
I laughed a lot, too. One of my favorite characters is Lefty Gomez, a southpaw pitcher with the Yankees in the ’30s who once said about the slugger Jimmie Foxx, “He’s got muscles in his hair.” Lefty’s catcher Bill Dickey recalled a game when Gomez kept shaking off his signs as Foxx came to bat. Finally Dickey ran out to the mound and asked Lefty what he wanted to throw. “I don’t want to throw him nothin’,” replied the pitcher. “Maybe he’ll just get tired of waitin’ and leave.”
A big part of baseball, often hidden from the fans, is the nagging injuries that plague many players — especially catchers — during a six-month season. Said Johnny Bench, one of the best backstops ever, “I’ve been shot up with so many painkillers to stay in the lineup that if I were a race horse I’d be illegal.” Rod Carew recalled rooming with Tony Oliva, an outfielder who had suffered torn cartilage in his knee: “I’d be asleep and wake up and hear Tony cry like a baby in the night because of the pain.”
Finally here are two bits of folk wisdom that apply to sportswriters (and book reviewers) as well as ballplayers. One comes from the old Cardinals pitcher Dizzy Dean: “I ain’t what I used to be, but who the hell is.” And this one from hurler Catfish Hunter, a country boy from North Carolina: “The sun don’t shine on the same dog all the time.” True enough, but the sun shines on, and through, enough of these columns to make this collection well worth reading.
Steven V. Roberts teaches journalism and politics at George Washington University. His latest book is “Cokie: A Life Well Lived.”
Baseball’s Best Ever
A Half Century of Covering Hall of Famers
By Ira Berkow.
Sports Publishing. 528 pp. $40. | 2022-07-15T12:42:47Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Book review of Baseball's Best Ever: A Half Century of Covering Hall of Famers by Ira Berkow - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/07/15/collection-that-captures-baseballs-heroes-their-human-stories/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/07/15/collection-that-captures-baseballs-heroes-their-human-stories/ |
Disfigured soldiers of World War I found a hero in their healer
Review by Sharrona Pearl
Surgeon Harold Gillies, center, helps accept an American donation of hospital equipment in Basingstoke, England, in July 1940, during World War II. In earlier years, working to reconstruct soldiers' wounded faces during World War I, Gillies pioneered many plastic surgery techniques. (AP)
If the face is the mirror of the mind, as Saint Jerome observed, then what happens when the face is disfigured by the savagery of war? “Whereas a missing leg might elicit sympathy and respect,” Lindsey Fitzharris writes in her examination of World War I facial injuries and repairs, “a damaged face often caused feelings of revulsion and disgust.”
Her book “The Facemaker: A Visionary Surgeon’s Battle to Mend the Disfigured Soldiers of World War I” conveys the emotional, physical and psychical effects of having an injured and altered face, directly from those who had to deal with them. That’s both the soldier-patients and the medical personnel who cared for them, tried to heal them and sometimes could only stand helplessly alongside them.
Fitzharris, a medical historian, anchors her story around Harold Gillies, an innovative plastic surgeon who dedicated his practice — and indeed his life — to facial reconstruction. For each of Gillies’s new procedures or experimental interventions, Fitzharris offers a long history of plastic surgery, acknowledging the debts Gillies and others had to, in particular, Indian and Chinese doctors as well as more recent Western approaches.
In many ways, this is the story of a hero. Gillies not only pioneered a number of important plastic surgery techniques but also was profoundly committed to giving disfigured soldiers back their dignity. He treated their bodies and, Fitzharris makes clear, their minds and souls. Gillies was, in her rendering, not just a surgical trailblazer but also a key figure in expanding what counts as health and what counts as treatment. The importance of the face — of appearance — in how we understand ourselves and how others understand us has a very long history; the ability to intervene in such powerful ways, electively or otherwise, is rather newer.
War has always driven developments in medicine and healing, partly because it creates so much need. Gillies met that need in more ways than one.
There are a lot of powerful stories in this book. But Gillies’s heroism isn’t quite enough to drive a narrative. The soldiers are treated gently and with respect, although we don’t really get to know them enough to distinguish them from one another. I’m not sure we could, with the limited material available, but there is an ache, a kind of loss in this series of snapshots.
Fitzharris is presented with a tricky dilemma: how to honor these men as people in their own right, and not just experimental subjects or links in the chain of Gillies’s research agenda. Gillies, Fitzharris makes clear, did not view them that way; the research was in service of them rather than them providing an opportunity for research. Fitzharris sticks close to the procedures, the operations and the soldiers who underwent them. Gillies’s own life takes a back seat, though we have some biographical details.
We don’t always know what the soldiers thought about it all. That’s understandable: Fitzharris has pieced together this series of vignettes from soldiers’ letters, combined with Gillies’s records and hospital archives. Along the way, we learn a great deal about hospital administration, health care on the front and the staggering efforts required to save even a few lives in highly turbulent conditions. We learn about bravery, as well as profound commitment to and respect for human life in a situation designed to eradicate both. We learn straight from the soldiers themselves.
We already knew that pain is real. That faces matter. That disability lies as much in how others treat people and how the world does or does not accommodate differences in bodies and minds. That doesn’t make the soldiers’ testimony any less powerful, empathetic and meaningful.
Sharrona Pearl is an associate professor of history and bioethics at Drexel University. Her most recent book is “Face/On: Face Transplants and the Ethics of the Other.”
The Facemaker
A Visionary Surgeon’s Battle to Mend the Disfigured Soldiers of World War I
By Lindsey Fitzharris | 2022-07-15T12:42:53Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Book review of "The Facemaker: A Visionary Surgeon’s Battle to Mend the Disfigured Soldiers of World War I" by Lindsey Fitzharris - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/07/15/disfigured-soldiers-world-war-i-found-hero-their-healer/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/07/15/disfigured-soldiers-world-war-i-found-hero-their-healer/ |
Why Britain welcomes international bad guys — and their money
Review by Balaji Ravichandran
Oliver Bullough writes that Britain made itself a “butler” to the world’s rich and powerful by setting up offshore tax havens, creating an artificial currency and allowing oligarchs to buy influence. (Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg)
In 1835, Britain took out a loan for 20 million pounds, which then amounted to some 40 percent of its annual income. The loan, worth 300 billion pounds (more than $350 billion) today, was not paid off until 2015, at the taxpayers’ expense.
Britain has often claimed that this money went toward the abolition of slavery and the slave trade. But not a cent of it went to the formerly enslaved or as reparations. Instead it went to enslavers, who wanted compensation for the loss of income from their “properties.” If the acts of abolition took decades to pass, after multiple failed attempts, it was in no small part because British lawmakers, hundreds of whom had interests in and income from slave trade and labor, would not consent until the government capitulated to their demands.
This “compensation” has cast a long but hidden shadow in British history. Among its beneficiaries were the ancestors, already rich from slave labor, of the actor Benedict Cumberbatch and of David Cameron, who was serving as prime minister in 2015.
This forgotten piece of history reveals an important truth about Britain. It is a place where politics has always had an incestuous relationship with the rich, and where money trumps morals. Oliver Bullough, in his latest book, “Butler to the World: How Britain Helps the World’s Worst People Launder Money, Commit Crimes, and Get Away With Anything,” charts the newest manifestation of this corruption.
His account begins with the 1956 Suez Crisis, which, in the wake of World War II, was a point of national humiliation for Britain. As Dean Acheson, secretary of state under President Harry Truman, put it, “Britain has lost an empire and has not yet found a role.” It soon did, argues Bullough. With the help of its bankers, almost all drawn from its upper classes, it set about transforming itself into a “butler” — another very British invention — who serves his rich and powerful patrons without making his presence or intercessions on their behalf explicit. This is the guiding metaphor of the book, which he takes from the Jeeves and Wooster novels of P.G. Wodehouse. (Jeeves was a valet, not a butler. But never mind.)
The first step in the formation of “Butler Britain,” as Bullough infelicitously puts it, was the creation of the eurodollar, an artificial currency devised by bankers in London that allowed them to trade in dollars within Britain, without being subject to American regulations on currency. They thus avoided the postwar weakness of the sterling and drew on the vitality of the dollar. This severed the dollar’s relationship to the bullion well before President Richard Nixon made it official in 1971. “Money,” writes Bullough, was now worth whatever “someone would pay for it” — which only the rich could afford to do, and from which the bankers stood to profit.
The second step was the transformation of Britain and many of its remaining insular possessions — Gibraltar, Jersey, the British Virgin Islands — into offshore tax havens. This allowed the wealthy to sequester their money, in dollars, under British jurisprudence while avoiding the regulations and taxation of poorer countries, which were drained of their revenue. Britain itself suffered. Because of competition from countries like Gibraltar, lawmakers in Britain set about liberalizing laws on gambling and reducing the tax burden on bookmakers, who nevertheless moved to Gibraltar to avoid paying any tax at all. This allowed them to put profits back into advertising and nurture a new generation of gamblers. For those with a gambling addiction, this proved fatal. As many as 650 suicides a year in Britain have been linked to gambling.
Those seeking to bring blood money into Britain, however, need not have looked too far. Thanks to a loophole in Scottish law, anyone can register a company in Scotland without having to reveal the identity of its owners or the provenance of its funds. All one needs is an address. This obscure law has been used to commit international fraud, steal $1 billion from Moldova and aid the arms trade between Ukraine and the Persian Gulf — all detailed in the book.
Perhaps the most disturbing story in the book involves, appropriately enough, Russia and Ukraine. Given the strategic importance of Ukraine as a purveyor of Russian gas, President Vladimir Putin installed a puppet to oversee the Ukrainian side of this business. This man was Dmitry Firtash, whose identity was long hidden. Once exposed, however, he was able to move to Britain under its “golden visa” scheme, which allowed anyone wealthy enough to immigrate in the name of “investment.”
Firtash partnered with an aristocrat named Raymond Asquith, who now holds a peerage in Parliament. He donated money to the University of Cambridge, was hosted by Parliament, opened the London Stock Exchange and even met the Duke of Edinburgh. His ascent through the British establishment was astonishing, and nobody thought to investigate where his money came from. (He bought gas at artificially low prices, then sold it at a high premium.) Were it not for the FBI and its investigations into money laundering by the Russian mafia, Firtash might not have been arrested at all. He was captured by the Austrian authorities in 2014 and has since been fighting extradition to the United States in Viennese courts. Yet, even after this, his aristocratic partners in Britain continued to support and protect him. This is just one example of how much Russian money flowed into Britain after 1991 and the political influence it purchased.
None of this would have been possible, Bullough argues, without the collusion of British lawmakers, or the bankers and lawyers with whom they had intimate ties. The bankers, for their part, gave the same two excuses: one, if we don’t do it, someone else will; two, our work will create wealth, reduce poverty and promote peace. (As the head of Goldman Sachs once modestly put it: “We’re doing God’s work.”) Most British lawmakers either looked the other way or drained the nation’s investigative agencies of money and resources in the name of austerity. This is in stark contrast to the United States, where agencies such as the FBI have far greater independence and power.
One can sense the urgency and dismay in Bullough’s writing, but, given the political direction of Britain at the moment, he is not optimistic. Britain is better than this, he says. Why, I do not know. Nor am I convinced of his central conceit — Britain as butler — which he hammers in at every opportunity, and which soon becomes tiresome. A butler, Bullough must know, is constrained by his class and opportunities. Britain isn’t. It chooses to be corrupt and complicit.
This April, Boris Johnson became the first sitting prime minister in history to be found guilty of breaking the law, for holding parties during the pandemic lockdown. Fortunately for him, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine allowed him to deflect attention from his long history of iniquities. This is ironic, as Johnson and his predecessors paved the way for Russian oligarchs to “invest” money in Britain. The oligarchs, in turn, donated money to the Conservative Party, bought up newspapers, supported Johnson’s campaign, were made peers and were given access to the highest levels of the British government. Now Johnson has the temerity to stand on the global stage and pretend to support Ukraine and abhor Russian interference. There is no image more fitting to represent the face of Britain today.
Balaji Ravichandran is a writer based in New York.
How Britain Helps the World’s Worst People Launder Money, Commit Crimes, and Get Away With Anything
By Oliver Bullough
St. Martin’s. 288 pp. $28.99. | 2022-07-15T12:43:11Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Book review of “Butler to the World: How Britain Helps the World’s Worst People Launder Money, Commit Crimes, and Get Away with Anything,” by Oliver Bullough - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/07/15/why-britain-welcomes-international-bad-guys-their-money/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/07/15/why-britain-welcomes-international-bad-guys-their-money/ |
Zelensky’s path from floundering president to wartime leader
Review by Emily Tamkin
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv last month. Russia's invasion has put a spotlight on his leadership skills. (Ludovic Marin/Pool/AFP/Getty Images)
Ukrainian political analyst Serhii Rudenko has written the first major biography of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to appear in English. In announcing the publication of “Zelensky,” Polity, which is putting out the work, translated by Michael M. Naydan and Alla Perminova, noted that Rudenko, who has written other works on Ukrainian politicians, is based in Ukraine and was “responding to emails from a bomb shelter.” Any review of this book must begin with the acknowledgment that its very existence — much like the transformation of a man from TV star to stumbling president to nearly universally admired wartime hero — is no small feat. There is, after all, a war going on in Ukraine, as there has been since late February.
This is more a biography of a presidency than of the president. Though the book spends some time on other moments in his life — the year of his birth, the launch of his acting career and his wife all have chapters — the vast majority takes place between 2018 and 2022, between Zelensky’s decision to run for president and his presidency thus far.
The book is not organized chronologically, making it somewhat hard to keep track of what happened when, and who was in and out of favor with Zelensky at various points. Nor is it organized thematically. Or rather, each chapter has a theme — Zelensky’s relationship to a given person, or a particular world event — but there does not appear to be much rhyme or reason as to why any given chapter follows another.
It should also be said that the book is somewhat awkwardly translated and that sometimes the author directly contradicts himself. “Those who took the actor’s performance to be a famous comedian’s joke had no idea that Zelensky had already decided to run for president a long time before,” he writes of Zelensky’s Dec. 31, 2018, televised campaign announcement. On the next page, he writes, “Zelensky himself, according to the former Head of the Office of the President Andriy Bohdan, didn’t make the final decision to participate in the presidential campaign until December 31, 2018.”
More concerningly, the chapter on Zelensky’s dealings with President Donald Trump contains a glaring factual error. “The American press urged Trump to put pressure on his Ukrainian counterpart to speed up the investigation into Biden’s son,” Rudenko writes. This is not what happened. Many believed that Trump pressured Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden’s son with the goal of hurting a domestic political opponent (namely, Biden); the American press then reported on it. Rudenko goes on to say that had Zelensky investigated the son, Biden, as U.S. president, might not have provided such staunch support to Ukraine. This seems to slightly miss the point, which is that Ukraine, a sovereign state, was being used for domestic political purposes. For American readers less familiar with the ins and outs of Ukrainian politics than Trump’s impeachment saga, such as myself, the Trump chapter casts doubt on the rest of Rudenko’s analysis.
Perhaps most frustratingly, although Rudenko often draws comparisons between the various crises of Zelensky’s presidency and the strength and resolve he’s displayed since Russia began its all-out assault on Ukraine, he spends considerably less time analyzing how the same person was capable of being all these things: TV star, clown, reported oligarchic ally, disappointing president and heroic wartime leader.
Toward the end of the book, Rudenko writes, “Everyone in Ukraine today, without exception, has just one enemy, the victory over which the existence of the Ukrainian state depends.” There is no doubt that the actions and choices of Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin, have fortified and unified the Ukrainian people. “Zelensky is no longer playing the role of the president. He is the leader of a nation that, with weapons in its hands, is defending its freedom and independence.” But what was it that allowed him to transform from one to the other?
Despite all of that, there are some high points in the book. The chapters about Zelensky and members of his presidential team at various points of his administration are especially strong and read as crackling little political dramas. The chapter on Ihor Kolomoisky, the oligarch to whom the president is reportedly tied (though at some points more than others, as the book makes clear), is especially biting. It’s hard to think of a better opening to any chapter of any recent book than: “Legends abound about this person. One of them is that, at a business party, he cut off part of the tie of one of his top managers with a cake knife.”
Even with all the jumping back and forth across time and theme, certain truths emerge about Ukrainian politics and Zelensky: Ukraine has long been plagued by corruption and nepotism. Politicians have promised to do better and then have gone back to the status quo. And Russia, in threatening Ukraine’s sovereignty, has managed to unite Ukrainians and turn a floundering president into a leader.
But the war isn’t over yet, and neither is Ukraine’s history. Neither, for that matter, is Zelensky’s story. This book, for all its flaws, is a first picture of this person in this place at this time. One hopes that, in the not-too-distant future, the war will be over, the story will continue and there will be other books to join it.
Emily Tamkin is senior U.S. editor at the New Statesman. She is the author of “The Influence of Soros: Politics, Power, and the Struggle for an Open Society” and the forthcoming “Bad Jews: A History of American Jewish Politics and Identities.”
By Serhii Rudenko
Translated by Michael M. Naydan and Alla Perminova
Polity. 208 pp. $25 | 2022-07-15T12:43:17Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Book review of Zelensky: A Biography by Serhii Rudenko - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/07/15/zelensky-biography/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/07/15/zelensky-biography/ |
Eugene Scott
A small group of abortion rights activists march from the U.S. Supreme Court to the House of Representatives office buildings on Capitol Hill on July 6, 2022, in Washington, D.C. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
One bill, the Women’s Health Protection Act, would enshrine the protections of Roe v. Wade into law. The House already passed the bill last year but it failed to advance in the Senate. Another bill, the Ensuring Women’s Right to Reproductive Freedom Act, would reaffirm the right for someone seeking an abortion to travel freely across state lines.
“Women’s health decisions are her own. They don’t belong to politicians in Washington, D.C., or in state capitals or in the Supreme Court of the United States,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Thursday. “They belong to a woman, her family, her God, her doctor, her loved ones.”
The bills are likely to pass the House but almost certain to fail in the Senate, where they would require 60 votes or the suspension of filibuster rules and a simple majority. Both are unlikely. In May, Senate Republicans and Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) blocked the Women’s Health Protection Act, and on Thursday, Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) blocked the Senate version of a bill that would have protected travel across state lines for those seeking an abortion, accusing Democrats of attempting “to inflame, to raise the what ifs.”
His comments came amid intense focus on a case of a 10-year-old Ohio girl who was raped and had to travel to Indiana to undergo an abortion because the procedures are now banned in Ohio state after six weeks.
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), a co-sponsor of the Senate bill, pushed back at Lankford, saying “radical, anti-choice policymakers” at the state level were already threatening to criminalize interstate travel for abortions — and that even the prospect of that legislation was having a chilling effect on abortion providers in states where the procedure remains legal.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that some states are going to continue to move forward with these kinds of legislation,” Cortez Masto said. “This is a form of gaslighting, to keep insisting that American women will be able to get care when we know that anti-choice legislators and groups are working to stop them from doing so. What legislators are doing across the country to restrict women from traveling is just blatantly unconstitutional.”
Despite the bills’ doomed futures, Democrats have been under pressure from their base to show they are doing everything possible to preserve abortion rights in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision. Pro-abortion rights activists have already accused the White House of not taking enough action — particularly since a draft of the Supreme Court decision was leaked in early May.
However, Pelosi defended the Biden administration’s response on Thursday.
“I have no question about this administration’s support for a woman’s right to choose and to take the necessary actions to ensure that,” Pelosi told reporters. “This is something that is core to who we are. It’s about freedom. It’s about health care. It’s about respect for women. And that is something that the president is wedded to.”
White House officials have reportedly been debating internally whether to declare abortion access a public health emergency. President Biden has said he would support altering the filibuster rules in the Senate to preserve abortion rights, while pushing pro-abortion rights voters to make their feelings known at the ballot box, starting in November’s midterm elections.
Pelosi echoed that sentiment on Thursday, suggesting that only by electing more Democratic senators to get around the filibuster would Congress be able to pass legislation that “truly impacts a woman’s right to choose” — not just what she called “halfway” measures. | 2022-07-15T12:43:30Z | www.washingtonpost.com | House to vote on bills to codify abortion rights after Supreme Court strikes down Roe v. Wade - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/15/house-abortion-roe-v-wade/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/15/house-abortion-roe-v-wade/ |
Manchin deals a stunning blow to Democrats' efforts to fight climate change
Good morning and welcome to The Climate 202! How are you celebrating the end of a long week for climate news? We're planning to eat pasta alone in silence. 🙃 But first:
Manchin won't support reconciliation bill with new climate spending
It looks like climate provisions are getting stripped from Democrats' economic package.
Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) told Democratic leaders yesterday that he wouldn't support a budget reconciliation package that includes new spending on climate change or new tax increases targeting wealthy Americans or corporations, The Washington Post's Tony Romm and Jeff Stein scooped last night.
The stunning shift marks a major setback for party leaders, who had hoped to advance a central element of their agenda before the midterm elections. Climate activists also argue it's a major setback for the planet, whose catastrophic warming would have been slowed by the significant new spending on climate and clean energy.
The development — confirmed by two people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the talks — threatens to blow up the delicate negotiations over the reconciliation package seven months after Manchin scuttled the original, roughly $2 trillion Build Back Better Act.
The setback comes despite weeks of seemingly promising negotiations between Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Manchin in pursuit of a broader deal that would have made a significant investment in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, incentivizing clean energy and putting more electric vehicles on the road.
“Political headlines are of no value to the millions of Americans struggling to afford groceries and gas as inflation soars to 9.1 percent,” Manchin spokeswoman Sam Runyon said in a statement. "Senator Manchin believes it’s time for leaders to put political agendas aside, reevaluate and adjust to the economic realities the country faces to avoid taking steps that add fuel to the inflation fire.”
‘A gut punch’
Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) told The Climate 202 that he was angry but not surprised by Manchin's decision to walk away from the climate spending, given his income from his family's coal business. (The income complies with Senate ethics rules.)
“It is a gut punch but not a surprise. Anyone who understands who Mr. Manchin is, where he gets his wealth, what he actually cares about, can't really be surprised,” Huffman said in an interview.
“It's nevertheless a huge blow to climate activists, to the majority of Americans who are demanding bold action on the most important existential issue of our time,” he added. "And I hope they understand that this is one man. This is not the Democratic Party. This is one very corrupted, compromised man who was probably never going to be part of the solution, despite this tease that we've all been exposed to, on and off, for the better part of a year."
Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), whose panel has jurisdiction over the clean energy tax credits in the package, lamented that “nearly all the issues in the climate and energy space had been resolved” after months of deliberations.
“This is our last chance to prevent the most catastrophic — and costly — effects of climate change," Wyden said in a statement. "We can’t come back in another decade and forestall hundreds of billions — if not trillions — in economic damage and undo the inevitable human toll.”
Without the reconciliation bill, America is on track to miss President Biden's target of cutting the nation's emissions 50 to 52 percent by 2030, according to an analysis released Thursday by the Rhodium Group, an independent research firm.
“That package was a really important component of meeting the goal,” Ben King, an associate director at Rhodium and co-author of the analysis, told The Climate 202.
Other routes
Jamal Raad, who leads the climate advocacy group Evergreen Action, told The Climate 202 that the White House no longer has an excuse to consider approving new fossil fuel projects to help secure Manchin's elusive vote.
He called on Biden to block fossil fuel infrastructure that would lock in emissions for decades to come, including ConocoPhillips's Willow project on Alaska's North Slope and new offshore oil and gas leasing in federal waters.
“The White House needs to end the Willow project and all new leasing in the Gulf of Mexico and in Alaska,” Raad said. “They need to send a message that if [Manchin] isn't going to play ball to invest in clean energy, what the White House is doing on fossil fuels is done.”
Huffman said the development underscores the need to bolster Democrats' razor-thin majority in the Senate, where the party needs all 50 votes in the caucus, plus Vice President Harris’s tiebreaking vote, to use the special process known as budget reconciliation to overcome Republicans’ expected filibuster.
“Let's stop empowering this puppet of the coal industry to be his own branch of government," he said, "and let's get on with it."
Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), who co-sponsored a major cap-and-trade bill that died in the Senate in 2010:
Biden to visit Saudi Arabia, which has a long history of climate ‘obstructionism’
President Biden's visit to Saudi Arabia on Saturday has sparked a flurry of criticism from human rights activists over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
But in addition to its human rights abuses, the oil-rich kingdom has a record of trying to weaken language in landmark climate agreements and scientific reports, according to experts who track international climate diplomacy.
“They have a long history of climate obstructionism,” Alden Meyer, a senior associate at the energy think tank E3G, told The Climate 202.
“They've tried to water down or weaken various provisions over time,” said Meyer, who has attended nearly every United Nations climate conference since the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.
At talks in Katowice, Poland, in 2018, Saudi Arabia worked with Kuwait, Russia and the Trump administration to sideline the findings of a U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change special report on global warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius.
A leak of documents obtained by Unearthed, the investigative arm of Greenpeace, shows that Saudi Arabian and Australian officials pushed to delete references to phasing out fossil fuels from the IPCC's Sixth Assessment Report.
At the COP26 summit in Glasgow, Scotland, last year, climate activists accused the Saudi negotiators of trying to soften language about the need to phase out oil, gas and coal.
“I think for many years, the Gulf states didn't really know how to engage in international climate negotiations. Rightly or wrongly, people saw them as spoilers,” Ben Cahill, a senior fellow in the Energy Security and Climate Change Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told The Climate 202.
Efforts to reach Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Energy — which says it “discovers and exploits the Kingdom's resources, from oil, gas, and minerals, to achieve the highest return" — were unsuccessful.
But Saudi Arabian Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al-Saud previously denied accusations that the nation had tried to hamper the COP26 talks, dismissing them as “lies and fabrications.”
House passes National Defense Authorization Act with controversial offshore wind provision
The House on Thursday passed the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2023 by a vote of 329 to 101, despite some Democrats expressing concern that a provision in the $840 billion bill would stifle the party’s clean-energy goals as it moves to the Senate, Kelsey Carolan and Elizabeth Crisp report for the Hill.
The controversial amendment would ban offshore wind developers from using construction boats with multinational crews, requiring instead that they be staffed by U.S. citizens or people from the boat’s origin country.
Opponents argue that the amendment would derail the nation's renewable-energy goals because the United States does not have enough of its own specialized workforce.
Rep. Jake Auchincloss (Mass.), the only Democratic veteran to vote against the national defense bill, said in a statement that he “cannot vote for a bill that would unnecessarily inflate the Pentagon’s budget at the cost of clean energy jobs in my district.”
Auchincloss also led a letter on Thursday to Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and ranking Republican Roger Wicker (Miss.), asking them to remove the amendment from the Senate companion bill. The letter was signed by 30 other House Democrats.
Democratic voters want more from Biden on climate
More than 80 percent of Democrats think President Biden could be doing much more to combat climate change, according to a new Pew Research Center survey of more than 10,000 adults released Thursday, Nina Lakhani and Oliver Milman report for the Guardian.
The nationwide survey also found that younger voters in both parties are most frustrated with the pace of political action on environmental issues. The survey was conducted during the first week of May — before the Supreme Court's decision limiting the Environmental Protection Agency's authority to tackle climate pollution from power plants.
The Earth saw one of its warmest Junes ever recorded last month, according to data released by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Chris Mooney reports for The Washington Post.
According to NASA’s data set, which includes measurements dating back to 1880, this June was more than about 2 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than an average June in the late 1800s, tying with temperatures from June 2020 as the highest ever.
NASA's assessment differs slightly from a report released Thursday by NOAA, which concluded that last month was Earth’s sixth-warmest June on record since 1880. The discrepancy is likely because of differences in the agencies' treatment of polar regions, experts said, with NASA’s including more data points from the rapidly warming Arctic and Antarctic.
Regardless, scientists said the story told by both datasets is the same: Human-induced climate change is worsening extreme heat events.
Be a better beachgoer: Eco-conscious and wildlife-friendly — Nevin Martell for The Post
Unforgiving heat wave in Texas and Southern Plains to worsen next week — Jason Samenow for The Post
California went big on rooftop solar. It created an environmental danger in the process. — Rachel Kisela for the Los Angeles Times | 2022-07-15T12:43:36Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Manchin deals a stunning blow to Democrats' efforts to fight climate change - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/15/manchin-deals-stunning-blow-democrats-efforts-fight-climate-change/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/15/manchin-deals-stunning-blow-democrats-efforts-fight-climate-change/ |
McLean’s ace found the ‘magic pill’ and is now an MLB draft prospect
Griffin Stieg, shown during a May practice with McLean, hopes to be drafted early in the upcoming MLB draft. (John McDonnell/The Washington Post)
Griffin Stieg, armed with a mid-90s fastball and an effective change-up and curveball, is one of the top high school pitching prospects in the area.
He got national attention as part of the Future Star Series, committed to play for Virginia Tech and was named first-team All-Met after a stellar senior year at McLean. The next big accomplishment could be having his name called in the first 10 rounds of the MLB draft, which begins Sunday.
But in 2021, as a junior, Stieg let failure get to him. Whenever he felt victimized by a bad call, a tough hop or a teammate’s error, Stieg struggled to rebound. McLean went 7-7 during a shortened season, and Stieg — though still a productive player — wasn’t reaching his potential.
“I didn’t have my best year. It was hard,” Stieg said.
So he took action. Stieg enlisted the help of a former major league player to truly focus on the mental aspect of baseball.
As a senior, Stieg’s went 9-1 on the mound with 93 strikeouts and a 0.90 ERA in 54⅔ innings. He also batted .368 with four home runs. For that he can partially thank former Tampa Bay Rays and Cleveland Guardians outfielder Brandon Guyer.
Since he retired from baseball in 2020, Guyer, a Herndon High and University of Virginia product, has focused on helping athletes improve their competitive mind-set.
Guyer made a speech to the athletes at McLean just before the start of last season. As he often does when addressing a group of students, he concluded the speech by holding up a wrist band he wore during the 2016 World Series and imparting a piece of knowledge: “Your thoughts determine what you want and your actions determine what you get.”
Then he waited.
Stieg — who he didn’t know at the time — ran up to Guyer to grab the wrist band. A few days after their introduction, the pair were working together.
Using the tenants he has established in his Major League Mindset program, Guyer has helped Stieg accomplish his goal to, as Stieg puts it, “stay sharp on the field and always be present, focus on the field and really give my whole attention to this atmosphere.”
Guyer says he struggled with his own mental toughness during his high school career at Herndon, but he worked at it and picked up plenty of knowledge during a pro career that spanned 10 years.
One of the foundational aspects of Stieg’s improvement comes from a meaningful breath, something Guyer calls “the magic pill.” It’s not a breath to calm the player but rather to move toward “energized tranquility.” It’s meant to use nerves as fuel to reach peak performance.
In a matchup against Washington-Liberty in May, Stieg failed to get on base in his first three at-bats, but he centered himself with a meaningful breath and got a hit in his next plate appearance. He regularly does this on the mound, too.
As Stieg helped carry McLean into the Class 6 playoffs, his teammates noticed the changes their ace made.
“He stands up there with confidence,” catcher JW Harrington said. “You can just tell that it’s 100 percent about the game. He doesn’t get in his head much.”
Stieg and Guyer now have weekly meetings, and Stieg often called Guyer following games to discuss his performance.
“I don’t even care about the results cause I know those will take care of itself,” Guyer said. “I just want to know from [him], ‘How were you with your process?’ ”
Stieg’s final performance of his high school career, against Herndon in the region semifinals, was not his finest; he was knocked out in the first inning of a 10-8 loss.
That disappointment provides another opportunity for Stieg to use the tools he has developed over the past year.
“It didn’t go how I wanted it to go,” Stieg said. “They helped me out with getting me those strategies to be able to bounce back and learn from that instead of overthink about it.”
After the high school season, Stieg worked out with the Los Angeles Angels and Los Angeles Dodgers. He is one of several local high school players who could be drafted early this weekend: Gonzaga’s Nicholas Morabito and O’Connell’s Jack O’Connor are likely to be the highest selections from the D.C. area.
Stieg’s next challenge will be choosing where he will take the mound in the near future — with the pro team that drafts him or in Blacksburg, Va., to play for the Hokies.
Regardless of his path, Stieg will bring along Guyer’s teachings as his baseball career progresses. “They’re getting someone who knows how to compete and loves to compete,” Stieg said. “[Someone who] is not going to shy away from failure and is going to learn from it.” | 2022-07-15T12:44:06Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Griffin Stieg leaned on Brandon Guyer and is now an MLB draft prospect - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/07/15/mcleans-ace-found-his-magic-pill-is-now-an-mlb-draft-prospect/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/07/15/mcleans-ace-found-his-magic-pill-is-now-an-mlb-draft-prospect/ |
Nicole Asbury
School systems in the metro area saw an increase in teacher resignations this year. Educators cited several reasons for leaving the professions, including burnout. (Donna St. George/The Washington Post)
Teachers in parts of the D.C. area resigned in unusually high numbers at the end of the most recent school year, according to data obtained from school districts and analyzed by The Washington Post.
Resignations spiked enormously at the end of the 2021-2022 academic year in D.C. Public Schools and in several Northern Virginia districts, including Fairfax County, the state’s largest school system. But the numbers of teachers resigning held fairly steady in Virginia’s Loudoun County Public Schools and in Maryland’s Montgomery County and Prince George’s County school systems.
The D.C.-area resignations come amid a wider national trend of teachers leaving the profession in the years since the pandemic began, which forced schools nationwide to suddenly veer online. Managing hybrid teaching left many educators exhausted. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics data as reported by the Wall Street Journal, about 300,000 public-school teachers and staffers quit their jobs between February 2020 and May 2022, representing a 3 percent decrease in the workforce.
Educators say the reasons for resigning vary. But some cite the difficulty teachers faced readjusting students, many of whom had grown accustomed to pandemic-era remote education, to in-classroom learning this past year. Federal data released in early July showed that students in more than 80 percent of public schools are struggling with their behavior, social-emotional well-being and mental health — and that 50 percent of schools are reporting increased acts of disrespect by students toward educators.
Kimberly Adams, president of the Fairfax Education Association teachers group in Northern Virginia, said some teachers are also leaving because they are tired of the ongoing debates over how American schools should teach about race, racism, U.S. history, gender identity and sexual orientation. Parents across the country are pushing for greater involvement in their children’s education, including oversight of lesson plans and curricula, and many regularly attend once-sleepy school board meetings to share their displeasure.
“I think it’s a perfect storm,” Adams said, referencing the combined effects of pandemic-induced exhaustion, a jump in student misbehavior and parental anger over the management of public education. “A lot of people are just saying, ‘I can’t do this anymore,’ and telling us they would rather have a job where they feel valued.”
She added: “Teachers are just feeling attacked by the public on every front. I don’t think we’ve heard enough from the people who support us.”
In the metro area, educator resignations rose most dramatically in the nation’s capital this year.
The public school system in D.C., which serves more than 50,000 students, employs about 4,000 teachers on average each year. In 2019, the last full school year before the pandemic, 239 teachers resigned. But from January to June in 2022, the most recent year, 372 teachers quit their jobs — representing a 52 percent increase from the average number of resignations during the same time period over the previous three years, and accounting for about 9.3 percent of the total teacher workforce.
While resignations are up, D.C. Schools Chancellor Lewis D. Ferebee said the school system has been hiring teachers faster than it did last year. He said, as of early July, there were fewer vacant slots than at this time last year, though the school system did not provide specific numbers.
“We have more people in the pool than we had last time,” Ferebee said. “I am excited about the progress we made, but I’m keenly aware that we still have more progress to make.”
The D.C. State Board of Education has released multiple studies on teacher attrition rates and found that, while the school system’s turnover rate had shown some improvements in the years before the pandemic, it is still higher than in other cities. The latest 2021 study found that the percentage of teachers leaving the school system — a figure that includes all forms of attrition, retirements and firings as well as resignations — averages 17 percent over the last 12 years.
School system leaders have countered that the city’s retention rate is higher when considering teachers who rated “highly effective” on the District’s controversial teacher evaluation system, which ties teachers’ bonuses to student performance.
Jacqueline Pogue Lyons, president of the Washington Teachers’ Union, said she is concerned about the number of resignations and cited the ongoing and prolonged teacher contract negotiations as an example of the need for the system to build better relations with its employees.
“DCPS does the best at getting the best and brightest teacher in the classroom,” Lyons said. “But they are failing in keep them here.”
Two Washington Teachers’ Union members — an elementary school teacher and a psychologist — said in interviews that this past year was the hardest of their careers and they decided to resign.
The employees, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they are still searching for new jobs, said they had more responsibilities this year with little support. With students returning to school after more than a year in virtual learning, the psychologist said she had to conduct more student evaluations, accompanied by written reports, than ever before.
And the teacher said as she and her students were trying to get reacclimated to being back in classrooms, administrators micromanaged and put extra pressure on teachers to ensure that students were improving academically to make up for learning losses.
“I almost feel like I was forced out,” said the 49-year-old teacher who resigned in March. “I feel like they forgot that we were just coming off of a pandemic.”
In Maryland, by contrast, teacher resignations remained largely unchanged in the Montgomery County system, while shrinking in Prince George’s County.
The school system in Montgomery County serves about 160,000 students, making it the largest district in the state, and employs roughly 13,600 teachers, according to school data.
The number of teachers resigning in Montgomery hovered in the high 500s between the 2018-2019 and 2020-2021 school years — on average 534 teachers resigned each year. In 2021-2022, the most recent academic year, 576 teachers resigned their positions: a small decrease from the 2020-2021 school year, which saw 610 resignations, although an increase of nearly 8 percent from the average. The number of teachers who left their jobs is equivalent to about 4 percent of the workforce.
In Maryland’s Prince George’s County, which serves 128,271 students, according to system enrollment reports, 539 teachers resigned as of June 15 — marking the lowest count of resignations in four years. The number represents roughly 5.4 percent of Prince George’s roughly 10,000 teacher employees. Prince George’s saw an average of 699 resignations per year between the 2018-2019 and 2020-2021 school years. This year’s total resignations represents a 23 percent decrease from that average.
Prince George’s County Public Schools’ deadline for teachers to resign is Friday. Donna Christy, president of the Prince George’s County Educators’ Association — a union that represents the district’s teachers, has said she expects more teachers will leave. Montgomery County Public Schools has no deadline for resignation notices, but the school system encourages teachers to file resignations with enough time to hire for the upcoming school year.
In Northern Virginia, teacher resignation trends varied by system. Those in Fairfax, Arlington and Alexandria saw increases in resignations, while the Loudoun school system saw little change in resignation totals.
Fairfax County Public Schools, which enrolls 178,635 students, per state data — making it the largest district in the state — saw 896 teacher resignations in 2022. That represents a roughly 45 percent increase compared to the average number of resignations between 2018 and 2021: 620. This year’s total is also equivalent to roughly 5.6 percent of the teacher workforce, which typically comprises 16,000 employees, according to spokeswoman Julie Moult.
Moult said the district is worried for next year.
“We do have some concerns about teacher shortages for this upcoming year,” she said. “We will be doing all we can in the next seven weeks to ensure we fill any gaps.”
Adams, the Fairfax Education Association leader, predicted that a couple hundred jobs will remain unfilled by the time school starts this fall. But she is hopeful that some openings will be filled soon, due in part to training programs the school system is hosting; for example a webinar that encourages assistant teachers to become full-time teachers. She said her association is also leading similar “grow-your-own” work.
“I think Fairfax is trying to put in place some pieces,” said Adams, whose association has roughly 4,000 members. “There was a shortage of teachers last year because some colleges didn’t have enough enrollment in their teacher prep programs — and I think now we’re seeing those teacher prep programs getting more and more students, so that will hopefully help too.”
Officials in Arlington Public Schools will also spend the summer working to fill an atypically large number of empty positions. Arlington, which enrolls 27,045 students, according to state data, saw 284 teachers resign between August 2021 and mid-May 2022. The district usually employs about 3,000 teachers, per spokesman Frank Bellavia.
That is 96 percent higher than the average number of resignations between 2018-2019 and 2020-2021: 145. The number of people quitting their jobs this year accounts for 9.5 percent of Arlington’s teacher workforce.
Asked whether the school district is worried about staff shortages this fall, district spokesman Bellavia said “APS like other school districts continues to work throughout the summer to fill teaching positions as well as other vital positions to maintain operations of a school district.”
Bellavia added that the district was holding a job fair meant to entice candidates for vacant positions on July 12. And the school district will hire substitutes as needed “to ensure all schools are staffed on the first day,” he said.
Alexandria City Public Schools, which enrolls 15,299 students, per its website, saw 212 teacher resignations this past school year. That is about 28 percent higher than the average number of resignations across the preceding three school years: 166 each year. The tally of educators who quit in 2021-2022 represents about 14.4 percent of the teacher workforce, which numbers 1,474 according to Alexandria Chief of Human Resources Melanie Kay-Wyatt.
“We recognize that many school divisions throughout the nation will be managing some degree of teacher shortages this coming fall,” Kay-Wyatt said when asked about possible concerns for staffing this fall.
She added that Alexandria will “aggressively and creatively recruit staff” this summer by hosting recruitment events and “targeted interview events for specialized positions” as well as advertising in print and online news publications, websites and social media. Kay-Wyatt said the district will also work with universities and professional associations “to drive top talent to our application portal.”
In Loudoun County Public Schools, which serves 81,642 students, per its website, 339 teachers submitted resignations this academic year. This marks a very slight — 5 percent increase — over the rate of resignation between the 2918-2019 and 2020-2021 school years, during which time 321 teachers resigned each year on average. The resignations in 2021-2022 account for 5 percent of the total teacher workforce, which comprises 6,808 teachers, according to spokesman Wayde Byard.
Byard wrote in a statement that “historically, LCPS has been over 95% fully-staffed for licensed positions to start the school year, a target we anticipate hitting again for 2022-23.” He added that Loudoun will fill any teacher vacancies at the start of next year by hiring a short- or long-term substitute. As of July, he said, Loudoun has managed to fill some positions and is down to 284 licensed teacher vacancies.
Doug Burns, an Arlington Public Schools high school teacher, said many of his colleagues found the most recent school year unusually difficult.
“Recalibrating students was certainly one issue, but recalibrating a lot of teachers was another,” he said. “I think there were a lot of new teachers ... that hadn’t had a lot of experience in the classroom teaching, they’d been hired during the pandemic.”
He said it felt like there was too little time for older, more experienced teachers like himself — aged 54, Burns has been teaching for almost three decades — to give their younger colleagues the help and mentoring they needed.
Burns, who teaches English at Wakefield High School, said he recalls close to 20 teacher resignations or retirements at his school this year, a much higher rate than in previous years. He said several of those who resigned were teachers who had only worked at the school for one or two years.
Burns said he too found the past year tough, and occasionally had what he called “the grass is greener musings," wondering if it was time to leave and try some other career — he’s not entirely sure what. But ultimately, the triumphs and joys of teaching outweigh its sorrows, he said, and he is sticking with the profession for now.
“I just got my AP scores yesterday from my seniors, who are not always the most reliable group to take their exams,” he said. “And it was the best they’ve ever done: a 90 percent pass rate and we crushed the national average and the Arlington average and the Virginia average.”
Looking to next year, he added, “I am hopeful.” | 2022-07-15T13:16:57Z | www.washingtonpost.com | D.C., Maryland and Northern Virginia teachers resign in greater numbers - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/07/15/teacher-resignations-rise-dc-area/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/07/15/teacher-resignations-rise-dc-area/ |
Former congresswoman and gun-violence survivor Gabby Giffords arrives before speaking at a Gun Violence Memorial installation on the National Mall on June 7. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
Setbacks.
Two syllables. A simple word to say for most — but not for Gabby Giffords, who was dealt a catastrophic setback on Jan. 8, 2011, by a troubled young man with a 9mm Glock semiautomatic pistol.
The word lurks in the text of her latest speech like a tripwire.
Her tongue struggles to navigate the hairpin curve between T and B.
Giffords and Tucson speech-language pathologist Fabi Hirsch wrestled a long time with that word. Hirsch at one point proposed ditching it for another, but Giffords refused and dug in.
“We ended up working on it intensively in isolation and then incorporating it back into the speech. Now, she produces it beautifully,” Hirsch says. “I don’t think people have any idea just how painstaking the process is and how determined Gabby is.”
Words used to tumble effortlessly from Giffords. President of her family’s tire business at age 26, she doubled as its fast-talking TV pitchwoman, exhorting customers to “race into El Campo Service Center today, before this offer is gone.” A registered Republican who switched parties as she entered politics in 2000, Giffords was elected to the Arizona House at 30, the state Senate at 32. Three years later, in 2006, she flipped a U.S. House district that had been in GOP hands for more than two decades.
Giffords defied red-blue labels. She was liberal on abortion and health care but tough on border security, and she signed a brief urging the Supreme Court to overturn the District of Columbia’s ban on handguns. She was a motorcycle-riding cowgirl married to an astronaut. But her superpower was her charisma. Her aides liked to say that no one who met her was immune to being “Gabbified.”
The congresswoman was three days into her third term on that Saturday morning in January 2011, meeting constituents over a card table at one of her regular “Congress on Your Corner” sessions. The event had just gotten underway, outside a Safeway grocery store, when a 22-year-old gunman, whose name need not be mentioned here, approached and shot her point-blank in the left side of her forehead. The bullet sliced through the frontal lobe of her brain, where expressive language is centered, and exited the back of her skull. He then turned on the crowd and hit 18 more people, killing six, including Giffords’s community outreach director, Gabriel Zimmerman; U.S. District Court Chief Judge John Roll; and Christina-Taylor Green, a bright third-grader who had tagged along with a neighbor to meet the congresswoman.
During a recent Zoom interview with me, Giffords spoke haltingly, in sentence fragments, as she described that day and its horrors: “A Safeway store. Shooting. Six people died.”
Giffords herself wasn’t expected to survive, much less go on to help lead a movement working to toughen American gun laws. How she did it is the subject of a new documentary, “Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down,” set for release Friday in 300 theaters across the country. On July 7, she was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Biden.
Giffords’s story is worth revisiting not only because of the deadly wave of mass shootings this summer, but also because of our worrisome trend toward political violence, which crested with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters intent on preventing Congress from counting electoral college ballots. The House select committee investigating the coup attempt has produced considerable evidence that some activists who participated in the violent attack had targeted members of Congress before breaching the Capitol building.
Giffords was targeted a decade earlier purely because she, too, was doing a job assigned to her by the Constitution. She was serving and representing her constituents.
At the time, her district was a center of tea party protests over health care, immigration, Wall Street bailouts and pretty much anything associated with President Barack Obama. Her Tucson office had been vandalized, and police had removed a protester from one of her events when a pistol fell out of his holster and bounced on the ground. Giffords had felt the need to let it be known that she owned a handgun.
In the new film about Giffords, her husband, Mark Kelly — a former astronaut and now a Democratic U.S. senator from Arizona facing reelection this fall — notes: “She was there with me for three of my spaceflights. We would talk about the odds. It turned out she had the risky job.”
Before the shooting rampage that changed everything, Giffords and Kelly were at an auspicious point in their lives, when it still seemed possible to make plans and then assume the stars would always align for them. In just months, Kelly was to command the final mission of NASA’s space shuttle Endeavour; Giffords, meanwhile, had scheduled a meeting with her political team to begin plotting a run for the U.S. Senate seat then held by Republican Jon Kyl, who was thinking of retiring. But first things first for the congresswoman, who was nearing her 41st birthday: Giffords had an appointment for an initial in vitro fertilization procedure at Bethesda Naval Medical Center. It was to have taken place on Jan. 10, two days after the shooting.
“Yeah, talk about a couple of doors being slammed on you pretty hard,” Kelly told me.
He was in Houston when a Giffords aide phoned to tell him of the shooting, and he quickly arranged for a friend to fly him to her. In the plane, which had a television, Kelly saw news flashes that said his wife was dead but soon got a call that she was not. When he got to the hospital, she was in a coma, her bandaged head grotesque and nearly unrecognizable.
It would be close to a month before Kelly would see a glimmer of the old Gabby again, when — still barely conscious — her fingers began fiddling with the wedding ring on his hand, something she used to do often when they were idling together in a restaurant.
Giffords was going to live, but it was still far from certain whether she would speak or walk again. She would be partially blind and unable to use her right arm.
Two weeks after the shooting, she was helicoptered to TIRR Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston to begin rehabilitation. It was around then that Kelly enlisted a pal to buy and set up a video camera, a tripod and “a bunch of memory.”
“I knew she wouldn’t remember a lot of it, especially in the beginning. I knew it was going to take a while. I figured at some point, she’d want to go back and take a look and see what the experience was like,” he said. “I instructed the nurses who were there to, whenever she’s doing stuff, just hit record. Leave it. Let it go.”
That footage forms the painful core of the new documentary. Twenty days after the shooting, it shows Giffords at her first speech therapy session unable to summon the breath to move a Kleenex dangled in front of her face. At 36 days, she struggles with what speech pathologists call “perseveration” — the repetitive use of words by a patient when cognition is impaired. Random words — in Giffords’s case, “chicken, chicken, chicken” — keep coming out, instead of what she intends to say. The following day, her frustration brings her to sobs.
But, as is not unheard of in people facing her type of deficits, music became a lifeline for Giffords. She had always loved to sing, played the French horn and performed in musical theater. Music became a central tool in her therapy. She could warble “My name is Gab-by” as a tune before she could say it; at 38 days after the shooting, she was managing a bubbly, off-key version of “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.”
When I asked during our interview whether indomitable optimism had always been part of her character, Giffords lit up and burst out with a robust, “Annie”-esque “The sun will come out tomorrow ...”
Partly as a result, Kelly posted a set of rules outside her hospital room for visitors: Don’t cry; be positive; don’t assume she doesn’t understand what you’re talking about.
In the film, she describes how her inability to express her thoughts — a condition known as aphasia — feels from the inside. “No bueno,” she says. “Aphasia really sucks. The words are there in my brain. I just can’t get them out. I love to talk. I’m Gabby, and I’m so quiet now.”
The congresswoman for the 8th Congressional District of Arizona returned to the House floor on Aug. 1, 2011, to vote in favor of a debt-ceiling increase. The place erupted in cheers, and colleagues descended on her with hugs.
Just under six months later, Giffords stood in the well of the chamber, as her friend Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) tearfully read a resignation letter that Giffords was not up to delivering aloud herself: “I have more work to do on my recovery before I can again serve in elected office. This past year, my colleagues and staff have worked to make sure my constituents were represented in Congress. But if I can’t return, my district deserves to elect a U.S. representative who can give 100 percent to the job now.”
By then, Kelly had retired from NASA and the Navy. He had made his final spaceflight four months after Giffords was shot.
Their next mission did not come into focus until Dec. 14, 2012, the day a 20-year-old gunman shot and killed 26 people, including 20 six- and seven-year-olds, at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.
“I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” Giffords told me over email. “December 2012 was when I knew I couldn’t stand on the sidelines any longer. Even though I wasn’t able to speak more than a few words at a time, still I knew I had to use my voice to fight for change. That day, I said, ‘Enough is enough.’ ”
“After each shooting that made national news, Americans would talk about how we needed change, how this was the moment for it,” she added. “These people were right, every single time, but still nothing changed at the federal level.”
Less than a month later, she and Kelly launched the organization that would become known simply as “Giffords.” Joining with other groups, it has been part of an effort that has helped pass more than 460 gun-safety laws in 48 states and elect upwards of 350 winning candidates at every level of government. Its attorneys have filed more than 75 briefs defending gun-safety laws in the courts. And it put Giffords herself back in the fight.
From the beginning, Kelly explained, the new organization had “an all-of-the-above approach. What I mean by that is that this is not only a federal issue, this is also a state issue, and you can effect meaningful change by engaging with legislatures and advocates and folks in a lot of different states.”
In 2019, Kelly announced that he would run to fill the Arizona Senate seat vacated after Sen. John McCain (R) died. He won that 2020 race and is running again this year to keep the seat. He will face the winner of a closely contested Aug. 2 Republican primary. Kelly is one of the top GOP targets in what is expected to be a bumper year for Republicans.
Giffords and Kelly still own guns. How many? “More than a handful, probably less than a dozen,” he said.
But while they both knew how to responsibly handle these weapons, they had a lot to learn about the specifics of how gun laws work — and don’t work. It was a revelation. “We make it really easy for criminals and domestic abusers and people who are dangerously mentally ill to get access to guns like no other country on the planet,” he said. “In a lot of states, you can walk out of a state prison after serving 20 years for a felony and walk down to the local gun show, and with cash, go buy an AR-15. That doesn’t make sense to most Americans. Actually, I would say that most Americans don’t know that.”
Nor do most outside the gun rights movement make the issue a top priority when they vote, despite the fact that polls show that solid majorities favor stricter firearms laws. “The thing that has always been lacking on the gun issue is intensity,” said Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), a close friend of Giffords from their time together in the House. “She pushes people to do what they should do.”
Giffords believes the May shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Tex., marked a turning point and — finally — made modest progress possible on the federal level. “The bill that President Biden signed on the one-month anniversary of Uvalde is going to save lives," she explained by email. "It shows the impact of our movement — it shows we can enact solutions to gun violence. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act doesn’t do everything, but it’s a critical first step.”
And what is the next step? When I asked Giffords this on Zoom, she had no trouble summoning the words: “Background checks.” Her organization identifies the loopholes and enforcement failures in the current background-check system as one of its most urgent priorities.
Giffords is just one of a number of gun-safety groups — among them, the Brady Campaign; Everytown for Gun Safety; Moms Demand Action; and March for Our Lives. Many have been founded and led by the survivors and the bereaved. In Uvalde, one has formed that calls itself Fierce Madres.
Other groups are bigger than Giffords. Former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg’s Everytown for Gun Safety claims to be the nation’s largest “gun violence prevention organization.” Even combined, however, gun safety groups are still typically outspent by the other side though they have been coming closer to parity in recent political cycles and have, on occasion, poured more into lobbying and campaign contributions, according to the campaign finance website Open Secrets.
On July 6, the Giffords PAC announced it would spend $10 million on local, state and federal elections this year in states such as Texas, Florida, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Colorado.
Giffords herself, meantime, soldiers on, a visible survivor of rising political violence who has credibility as a counterweight to the gun lobby. “Gabby was a gun owner,” says Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who led the fight last month to pass the first federal gun restrictions in decades. “Gabby was a member of Congress who didn’t have an F rating from the National Rifle Association, who would sometimes take the side of Second Amendment groups. And so Gabby is very well positioned to run an organization like this because she had the ability to reach out to non-gun owners and gun owners.”
“And then, obviously, Gabby’s story is heroic,” he added. “There are a lot of people who joined the movement because they were inspired by Gabby Giffords.”
Hard as it is for her, she speaks in public about gun safety often, rides her bike every day and is hoping to complete a 40-mile ride this fall. One of the final scenes of the documentary shows her standing before 40,000 white flowers that her organization placed on the National Mall, marking the annual number of gun deaths in the United States.
“Words once came easily. Today, I struggle to speak. But I’ve not lost my voice,” she said. “America needs all of us to speak out — even when you have to fight to find the words.” | 2022-07-15T13:56:06Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | How Gabby Giffords found her voice again after her 2011 shooting - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/15/gabby-giffords-documentary-shooting-recovery-profile/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/15/gabby-giffords-documentary-shooting-recovery-profile/ |
Want Maryland’s primary results? You’ll have to wait.
By Cheryl C. Kagan
An official ballot drop box outside the Silver Spring Civic Building at Veterans Plaza on July 7. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Cheryl C. Kagan, a Democrat, represents Montgomery County in the Maryland Senate, where she is vice chair of the Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee, which has jurisdiction over election law.
Voters traditionally expect election results on election night. Ballots are counted, pundits make projections, and the candidates deliver victory or concession speeches. Marylanders will be frustrated on July 19, when they learn that this won’t be the case. We could be waiting until mid- to late August for the outcome and certification of the primary elections.
An outdated law, an evolution in voting habits, technology and old-fashioned partisan politics are to blame.
Thirty-eight states specifically allow for mailed ballots to be counted before Election Day. Eleven states and D.C. allow election administrators to start processing these ballots before polls close. Maryland is the only state that specifically forbids opening and scanning mail-in ballots until two days after Election Day.
This hasn’t been a problem until recently. In 2014, just 3 percent of the roughly 734,000 ballots came in the mail. These were generally college students, business travelers, military personnel or those facing health crises. That night, the leading candidate declared victory after his opponents conceded defeat before 10 p.m.
Maryland allows “no-excuse absentee ballots,” offering flexibility to busy people. During the coronavirus pandemic, voters shifted from traditional polling places to casting ballots from home and mailing them (postage-paid) or depositing them in secure and video-monitored drop-off boxes.
More than 500,000 Marylanders chose the mail-in option for this primary election. Depending on the number that are returned, we could be looking at half the ballots (or more) processed after Election Day.
With the exception of landslide or uncontested elections, it would be foolhardy to predict a winner based solely on the ballots cast in person during early voting or on Election Day.
Why didn’t we allow our 24 county boards of elections to start processing ballots earlier? Well, we tried.
In 2020, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) issued an executive order for mail-in ballot counting to begin 33 days before Election Day. Even with that much of a head start, the general election was not officially certified until Nov. 30. Many local candidates were sworn in to office the very next day.
This year, I sponsored a bill to allow for early processing of mail-in ballots a modest eight days before the start of early voting. Despite Hogan’s message of support for this early canvassing, he vetoed the bill. The nonpartisan League of Women Voters sent a letter to the governor condemning his decision. Cynics had two explanations for his perplexing veto. Some muse whether this was pandering to the right wing of the Republican Party as he contemplates a presidential bid. Others suggest a strategic tactic to further compress the general-election timetable to help his preferred gubernatorial candidate, Kelly M. Schulz.
Hogan refused to take executive action again. And the State Board of Elections declined to bring a legal case for emergency relief.
So we will wait. And wait.
This extraordinary delay creates several problems. First, it adds a massive burden to our hard-working, competent and dedicated local elections staff. The uninformed will blame (or even threaten) these workers for the lack of timely results. After all, it’s estimated that scanners can process only 10,000 ballots in a 12-hour shift. Second, the delay shortens the already abbreviated campaign season between the primary and general elections created by the court-ordered postponement to the voting schedule. Third and most troubling, conspiracy theorists are likely to raise unfounded doubts and make false allegations that fraud or corruption are the only explanations for the delay. The tally will definitely change when the mail-in ballots are added to those counted on Election Day. This is neither unexpected nor suspicious.
So what can you do about this?
If you requested a mail-in ballot, complete it. Sign the oath on the envelope and send it (postage-paid) through the post office or slip it into a convenient, secure, video-monitored drop-off box before 8 p.m. Tuesday. If you try voting in person after having requested a mail-in ballot, you’ll only be allowed to cast a provisional ballot, which won’t be counted until a week after Election Day.
Don’t ask for an online-delivered ballot. Though it sounds quick and easy, it’s not. Voters will need a printer, an envelope, a stamp and more. Then, the local elections staffers need to hire bipartisan teams to transfer your selections to scannable ballot stock. This process makes more work for voters and is supremely time-consuming and expensive for election administrators. Your ballot will be counted even later than mail-in ballots.
Share the expectation of delayed results with your friends, family, neighbors and colleagues. Correct their rumors, allay their fears and express your confidence in our election systems.
Truly, you might be shopping for back-to-school clothing before we know the Democratic and Republican gubernatorial nominees. With nine candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for governor, the margin of victory could be very narrow and will require time-consuming, accurate and thorough tabulation before certification. Montgomery County, Maryland’s most populous jurisdiction, has a goal of certifying its election results no later than Aug. 12. The State Board of Elections would likely certify within a week of Montgomery County.
Maryland will always be committed to fair and accurate elections. That’s what our democracy requires. Though this timetable might be much later than we’re used to, that’s what we’ll have to accept for now. Let’s hope this will be changed before November. | 2022-07-15T13:56:18Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Want Maryland’s primary results? You’ll have to wait. - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/15/want-marylands-primary-results-youll-have-wait/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/15/want-marylands-primary-results-youll-have-wait/ |
Everywhere US President Joe Biden has gone in the Middle East this week, he has confronted critical yet near-insoluble challenges, from forging peace between Israel and the Palestinians to thwarting Iran’s nuclear brinkmanship. That’s all the more reason for the US and its partners to hurry up and fix the easiest problem they face
Less than five nautical miles off the coast of war-torn Yemen sits a rusting oil tanker named the Safer (pronounced “saffer”). After plying the seas for six years, the ship was converted in 1987 into a floating storage-and-offloading facility — cheaper than an onshore terminal — linked by pipeline to the Yemeni oilfields in Marib. Since 2015, operations have been disrupted by the country’s civil war. A skeleton crew maintains the ship, which is steadily corroding and could break apart at any moment. A system meant to pump inert gas into the tanks to prevent an explosion hasn’t worked since 2017.
The Safer holds more than a million barrels of crude oil, four times as much as spilled from the Exxon Valdez in 1989. If it sinks, the consequences could be devastating. A spill would wipe out livelihoods for coastal fishing communities and could disrupt crucial desalination plants along the Red Sea coast. Relief agencies would no longer be able to deliver aid to nearby ports, at a time when 17 million Yemenis desperately need food assistance. Environmental damage would be extensive; fishing stocks could take a quarter-century to recover. Cleanup costs alone are estimated at $20 billion. Shipping disruptions could cost the world economy billions more.
After being initially unhelpful, the Houthi rebels who control the area have finally agreed to a United Nations plan to prevent the worst. A Dutch company will first stabilize the ship, then offload the oil and prepare the Safer for salvage. The UN has agreed to replace the ship with an equivalent, more stable facility — most likely a newer tanker. (Where the proceeds from any sales should go remains to be determined.)
Just under $80 million is needed to launch the first phase of the operation. Donors, including the US and Saudi Arabia, have collectively pledged only $60 million. Wealthy Gulf nations such as the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have contributed nothing; neither have big Asian countries such as China and Japan. A month-old UN crowdfunding appeal has brought in a paltry $125,000.
There is little time to waste. The initial salvage operation will require four months, pushing it into the October-December period when seas in the area grow rougher and more dangerous. Delay could also threaten the fragile agreement between the UN and the Houthis. By contrast, a successful operation could bolster the ongoing truce between the rebels and the Saudi-led coalition supporting the Yemeni government.
When he meets with members of the Gulf Cooperation Council in Jeddah this weekend, President Biden should urge them to find the $20 million — approximately as much as Saudi Arabia earns every 30 minutes in oil sales — without delay. Other rich nations should bestir themselves as well, if not for the first phase of the operation then to fund the second, which will require an additional $64 million. Sales of scrap metal from the Safer could offset some of that cost.
In a world awash with looming disasters, it’s hard to think of one simpler to avert. Missing this opportunity would be indefensible.
• The World Must Defuse Yemen’s Ticking Oil Bomb: Bobby Ghosh
• Biden’s Gulf Reversal Is the Wrong Kind of Realism: Emma Ashford | 2022-07-15T14:09:47Z | www.washingtonpost.com | How to Solve the Mideast’s Easiest Problem - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/energy/how-to-solve-the-mideasts-easiest-problem/2022/07/15/d9fa9c30-043e-11ed-8beb-2b4e481b1500_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/energy/how-to-solve-the-mideasts-easiest-problem/2022/07/15/d9fa9c30-043e-11ed-8beb-2b4e481b1500_story.html |
Brown gulf shrimp. (Rey Lopez for The Washington Post/Food styling by Lisa Cherkasky for The Washington Post)
If you’ve ever stepped up to the seafood counter to buy shrimp, you’ve likely felt flooded with options. Farm-raised or wild? Brown, white or pink? Fresh or frozen? Shell-on or peeled and deveined? What do those numbers on the package mean? And that’s just to name a few. It’s enough to make your head spin.
Familiarizing yourself with those various categorizations can simplify the process. Here’s everything you need to know when shopping for shrimp.
Environmental and social concerns
First things first: Let’s address the labor and environmental issues surrounding the crustacean. The Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch page lists various types of shrimp, country or region of origin, the body of water they came from and the fishing gear used with a recommendation — certified, best choice, good alternative, or should be avoided completely — based on its environmental impact. However, any shrimp that’s processed in any way, which is almost all shrimp with the exception of live seafood, is exempt from USDA regulations requiring labeling with information about how it was raised or where it is from.
“Seafood is different than the other proteins. It’s still a fairly fragmented industry. There are so many producing countries, especially with shrimp, and there are so many consuming countries. So you’ve got products coming from everywhere and then going to everywhere,” says Steven Hedlund of the Global Seafood Alliance. “It can be a bit confusing for the consumer, and that’s why we encourage them to look for eco labels like ours,” which provides the Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) certification. Other organizations that provide similar certifications include Marine Stewardship Council, Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) and Naturland. But even if a product is certified, use of labels is voluntary, so Hedlund recommends asking the retailer if you don’t see one.
In addition to sustainability, certain organizations, such as BAP and ASC, also take into account social issues as part of their certification process. For instance, BAP’s standards encompass “not just environmental responsibility, but also social accountability, animal health and welfare, and food safety,” Hedlund says. “So they’re pretty comprehensive.”
There are about 2,000 species of shrimp, but only a few are widely consumed. The most common ones you’ll encounter at a grocery store or seafood market are named after their appearance: brown, white, pink and tiger, which have dark stripes similar to the animal.
Pink are “some of the tastiest shrimp you can find,” Dan Nosowitz writes in Serious Eats. In a comparison of pink, white and tiger shrimp, Cook’s Illustrated “found that white shrimp had the firmest flesh and the sweetest taste.” And for Steve Evans, owner of Jessie Taylor Seafood in Washington, D.C., his favorite are brown shrimp from the Gulf. (They are also his company’s top seller.)
In general, they are all relatively mild and taste pretty similar, especially after you douse them in butter and garlic or season them aggressively, such as in a seafood boil. But you might be able to notice a slight difference in flavor and texture in simpler preparations, such as steaming or poaching for shrimp cocktail.
New Orleans barbecue shrimp is a bowl of big, bold, buttery goodness
Evans accredits the superior flavor to the environment in which the shrimp are grown, saying that the saltwater imparts more flavor than farm-raised shrimp. Cook’s Illustrated agrees: “We’ve found that wild shrimp have a sweeter flavor and firmer texture than farm-raised, making their higher price worth it.”
Another type you might encounter is rock shrimp, so-called for their tough shell. They boast a firmer texture and some people say they have a sweeter taste that reminds them of lobster.
At the end of the day, the types are all pretty interchangeable. “A shrimp is a shrimp, the only thing different is the size,” Evans says.
While recipes may call for “medium,” “large” or “jumbo” shrimp, there’s no industry standard for naming, meaning that one person’s “large” could be someone else’s “jumbo.” Instead, when considering size, you want to look for a “U” followed by a number, or two numbers separated by a slash or hyphen. These digits represent how many shrimp make one pound. You can treat the U like a less-than or equal symbol from math. So if it’s labeled U12, that means 12 or fewer shrimp are in 1 pound. For 26/30 (or 26 – 30), between 26 and 30 shrimp are in 1 pound.
The most-prescriptive recipe writers will include the name and the number so there isn’t any confusion. But if you have a favorite recipe that only says “1 pound large shrimp” in the ingredient lists, here’s a rough guide you can use for what that means:
Colossal: U10, U12 or U15
Jumbo: 16/20 or 21/25
Large: 26/30 or 31/35
Medium: 36/40 or 41/50
Small: 51/60
When cooking shrimp, as with any other ingredient, larger items will take more time than smaller items. So opt for larger shrimp for grilling or when you want to get a nice sear, and use smaller shrimp for things like fried rice.
Heads, shells and veins
Most people prefer their shrimp beheaded, so whole shrimp aren’t quite as common. But the heads pack a lot of flavor. (Leaving the heads on also increases the rate of shrimp spoilage when not frozen.) Shrimp heads are great for soups, seafood boils and any other preparation where you want to infuse the cooking liquid with tons of shrimp flavor. You can even deep-fry the heads for what Kevin Pang in The Takeout describes as “a sweet and creamy seafood kettle-fried potato chip.”
As with heads, shrimp shells can add a boost of flavor. And while the vein doesn’t always look pretty and can sometimes be gritty, it is perfectly safe to eat. But if you want peeled and deveined shrimp for a recipe, I’m an advocate of doing it yourself to both save money and have shrimp shells to make stock. Evans tells me that 90 percent of the shrimp they sell at Jessie Taylor Seafood has the shell on.
Fresh, frozen and cooked
“Fresh” shrimp is often a myth as much of what you encounter on display in seafood cases was previously frozen and thawed. However, even if it was thawed recently, you can still find excellent quality shrimp sold this way. The first thing to check is the smell — there really shouldn’t be one. They should smell clean and like a fresh body of water. If they smell like ammonia or off in anyway, they are best avoided.
Texture is the second key indicator: Fresh crustaceans should have a nice firmness to them. “You don’t want something that you can just take it and squeeze it and it mushes right up — then you know it’s old,” Evans says. I like to use fresh shrimp the day of purchasing, but they are usually good for a couple of days.
A more reliable source for shrimp (where you don’t have to stick your nose in seafood) is the freezer section of the supermarket. All of the bagged shrimp you see in the freezer cases has been individually quick-frozen, which preserves the texture of the seafood during the freezing process. Once frozen, shrimp is good for a couple of months. To thaw, simply place the shrimp in a bowl of cold water, and they should be good to go within a few minutes. (You may want to pat them dry afterward depending on the cooking method.)
5 quick shrimp dinners for every night of the workweek
The one thing to look out for with frozen shrimp is chemicals. “Whether farmed or wild caught, the cheaper the shrimp, the more likely it is to have been treated with chemicals, particularly sodium tripolyphosphate and sodium bisulfite,” Melissa Clark writes in the New York Times. The former causes the shrimp to absorb water, which can affect how it cooks and the texture; the latter could be an issue for people who have sulfite sensitivities. You can steer clear of both simply by checking the ingredient label on packaged shrimp. For shrimp without packaging, stick to those with shells to avoid sodium tripolyphosphate.
Lastly, never buy cooked shrimp if you can avoid it. It’s often overcooked and you’re better off just cooking it yourself. | 2022-07-15T14:10:12Z | www.washingtonpost.com | How to buy shrimp: Understanding sizes, types and sustainability - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2022/07/15/how-to-buy-shrimp-size/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2022/07/15/how-to-buy-shrimp-size/ |
By Mary Vought
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) in Richmond on Jan. 27. (Steve Helber/AP)
Mary Vought is the founder of Vought Strategies and a visiting fellow at the Independent Women’s Forum.
After years of frustration, Virginia parents finally have reason to celebrate. Legislation recently signed into law by Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) will create new, innovative schools throughout the commonwealth. Families frazzled by years of coronavirus-related school shutdowns and outraged by the curriculums taught in their public schools could eventually have more options for their sons and daughters.
The budget package that Youngkin signed into law last month included $100 million for university-administered “lab schools” in Virginia. Of the appropriation, $5 million will go toward planning grants for parties interested in creating lab schools, including public universities, community colleges and select nonprofit colleges, and $20 million of the appropriation would go toward lab schools’ start-up expenses, with the remaining $75 million used to support per-pupil educational costs.
Most other states — 45, to be exact — already have the types of innovative schools Youngkin is envisioning. These charter schools receive public funds but operate outside many of the bureaucratic regulations and restrictions that can stifle creativity among teachers and principals. In these states, parents appreciate the options charter schools provide and value the accountability for results required as part of an institution’s charter.
Unfortunately, Virginia law requires local school boards to approve the creation of each new charter school. And most Virginia school boards will not endorse any model that serves as “competition” for the traditional public schools they run — even if that competition would benefit Virginia families and students. As a result, the entire commonwealth had but seven charter schools in 2021, serving only about 0.1 percent of the student population statewide.
The $100 million appropriation for lab schools will allow Virginia to begin catching up with the rest of the country on educational innovation, giving universities the opportunity to bring their skills to bear on the best ways to educate young people. Already, George Mason University has indicated that it wants to work with Northern Virginia Community College and Fairfax County Public Schools to create a lab school in Northern Virginia. Youngkin has said that other universities also have expressed interest.
More applicants would come to the table to create lab schools if Virginia lawmakers went further by allowing public school funding to follow each student who selects a lab school. This proposal would provide the ultimate form of accountability by allowing dollars to flow to the schools that are best meeting parents’ and students’ needs. Hopefully, Democrats in the state Senate will rethink their opposition to this concept once the lab-school model has proved its worth in Virginia.
As the mother of two school-age children, I recognize the ways in which the past two years have put parents and students through so many traumas — school shutdowns and quarantines, problems with virtual education, mask mandates, lost learning and more. And as the mother of a child with a disability, I know full well the added hardships that special-needs parents face trying to find an educational program that will allow their children to grow and thrive.
But after all that suffering finally comes a ray of hope. Youngkin has delivered on one of his key promises — to empower parents with more and better educational choices. Not only will parents throughout the commonwealth benefit from this promise kept, but the next generation of Virginians will, too. | 2022-07-15T14:10:37Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Glenn Youngkin gives Virginia parents another victory - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/15/glenn-youngkin-gives-virginia-parents-another-victory/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/15/glenn-youngkin-gives-virginia-parents-another-victory/ |
By Seth Yeazel
Cyclists on June 2, 2021, on a stretch of Beach Drive closed to vehicular traffic. (Toni L. Sandys/The Washington Post)
Seth Yeazel is a lawyer and avid researcher of Rock Creek Park and its founding.
Nearly 30 years before President Benjamin Harrison established D.C.’s Rock Creek Park as a “pleasure ground for the benefit and enjoyment of all people of the United States” on Sept. 27, 1890, naturalist John Burroughs wrote that “there is perhaps not another city in the Union that has on its very threshold so much natural beauty and grandeur, such as men seek for in remote forests and mountains.” He said, “A few touches of art would convert this whole region into a park unequaled in the world.”
An 1867 congressional assessment of the land noted its “wild and romantic charm” with “every facility [being] offered for laying out and constructing a grand national park.” Some members of Congress, having just established Yellowstone National Park, asserted that the valley of Rock Creek is “upon a par” with it.
This grandiose park represents arguably our nation’s greatest urban retreat. It boasts more than twice the area of New York’s Central Park and occupies nearly 5 percent of the total area of D.C.
This is why it is crucial that the National Park Service reconsider its proposal to reopen upper Beach Drive to vehicle traffic nine months out of the year, rather than continuing to keep it free for pedestrian use, as it has been since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
In 1890, Congress indeed contemplated that this pleasure ground would be laid out and prepared for “roadways … to be used for driving.” However, Congress mandated that these roadways’ purpose was to “provide for the preservation from injury or spoliation of all timber, animals, or curiosities within said park, and their retention in their natural condition, as nearly as possible.” Driving at the time primarily referred to horse-drawn carriage. Restoring Beach Drive as an urban thoroughfare clearly doesn’t align with this purpose.
Of course, in 1890, Congress did not envision that these new roadways, meant for the preservation of nature and its enjoyment, would someday be used for the pleasure of the automobile driven by 21st-century commuting suburbanites. Congress imagined that at the end of the 20th century and after “future generations … develop [Rock Creek Park] into a thing a beauty … a million souls” would live in D.C. and the park would be a place where a child could “pull a leaf or put its foot upon a turf of grass” rather than fear injury from a vehicle speeding on its way to a matter across town.
The people of D.C., who, in the wake of the pandemic, have made a major push to reshape city streets to serve people rather than vehicles, and whose council members and congressional delegate have declared support for permanently closing upper Beach Drive, have an especially important stake in the matter, not least because it is entirely within their own district.
The 51st Congress, known as the Billion Dollar Congress after it passed the first non-war billion-dollar budget, felt ever so sensitive to further spending in 1890 and therefore lodged one-half of the $1.2 million cost of Rock Creek Park’s establishment onto the residents of D.C. In fact, D.C. residents helped build the roadways with their own hands. D.C. residents living in tenant housing along present-day Beach Drive were required to pay rent to the government or contribute to the establishment of this roadway in the form of physical labor. “Chain gangs,” likely all D.C. residents, constructed entire viaducts and bridges with “no machinery or appliances other than a common block and tackle” to accommodate the park’s roadways.
Considering this, it would be especially inequitable for the vehicles of out-of-state residents to bisect this great pleasure ground with their desire for fast and convenient transportation to destinations beyond the park. Thankfully, Maryland residents have largely been supportive of the efforts to refashion upper Beach Drive for permanent pedestrian use, and the Montgomery County Council favors this approach.
If D.C. succeeds in permanently opening safe pedestrian access throughout Beach Drive, it will join Paris, New York and other cities that have done so for many of their roads. NPS, on the other hand, explains it is instead concerned with the fact that vehicles may be delayed “2.5 to 4.5 minutes during peak periods” and may have to slow down as much as “6 mph between the Maryland state line and Broad Branch Road.” NPS balanced this fact against its finding that permanent closure of upper Beach Drive would “greatly reduce” the number and severity of vehicle crashes into pedestrians and determined that 2.5 to 4.5 minutes saved is worth that risk.
Further stretching the bounds of credulity, NPS explains that closing upper Beach Drive to vehicles would threaten wildlife and wildlife habitat rather than mitigate any potential harm, because closure of the road at the start of the pandemic has correlated with increased recreational visitor use. NPS fails to consider that national park visitation and the negative impacts of this visitation skyrocketed nationwide in the wake of the pandemic. NPS spends a significant portion of its proposal describing the negative impacts of social trails and unleashed dogs since the start of the pandemic but fails to adequately connect these developments to the closure of upper Beach Drive and short-shrifts the reduced pollution and vehicular accident risks to Rock Creek Park’s wildlife.
Ironically, while claiming that the closure of upper Beach Drive has led to heavier park use, NPS decries the reduced park access that would allegedly result from the closure of upper Beach Drive. Visitor-use facilities would still be accessible via motor vehicle.
NPS has failed to adequately consider its own proposal, but thankfully we have an opportunity to weigh in on this issue and make our voices heard. NPS is accepting comments on this proposal until Aug. 11 and is hosting a virtual public meeting on July 18 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. | 2022-07-15T14:10:44Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Leave Rock Creek Park’s upper Beach Drive closed to cars - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/15/leave-rock-creek-parks-upper-beach-drive-closed-cars/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/15/leave-rock-creek-parks-upper-beach-drive-closed-cars/ |
By Alfonso H. Lopez
A street sign rises above floodwaters in 2018 as high tide fills the street behind it in Norfolk. (Timothy C. Wright for The Washington Post.)
Alfonso H. Lopez, a Democrat, represents parts of Arlington and Fairfax counties in the Virginia House of Delegates and is the founder of the Virginia Environment and Renewable Energy Caucus. Michael Town is executive director of the Virginia League of Conservation Voters.
On June 30, the Supreme Court dealt a major blow to our nation’s ability to combat the climate crisis when it sided with coal companies and their political allies in a ruling that significantly limits the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate carbon pollution from power plants.
This ruling is a setback in many ways, but it made several points painfully clear. First, with action at the administrative level now called into question, Congress must act to address climate change in a meaningful way. Second, state action on climate change and clean energy just got even more important. Sadly, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) is letting Virginians down at a time when addressing climate change has never been more urgent.
In the past several years, Virginia has passed some of our nation’s most ambitious laws to cut carbon pollution and accelerate the transition to clean energy — laws that are returning dividends to Virginians by growing our economy, cleaning our air and making Virginia a safer, healthier place to call home.
These policies are supported by two-thirds of Virginians, people who recognize the threat of climate change and want to see their elected leaders take action. If you were wondering whether Youngkin actually wants to be a governor for all Virginians, you don’t have to look much further than his track record on the environment, which has earned him an F in the Virginia League of Conservation Voters’ first-ever gubernatorial rankings.
Youngkin began working to roll back climate safeguards before he was even inaugurated, telling a room of business leaders in Hampton Roads — our state’s most flood-prone region — that he would work to take Virginia out of the multistate Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), which is cutting pollution while returning hundreds of millions of dollars to our state every year to protect communities from flooding, save low-income Virginians money on their energy bills and position the commonwealth to respond to climate change.
Youngkin issued an executive order directing agencies to immediately begin the process of removing Virginia from the RGGI, despite the fact that the General Assembly passed a statute in 2020 mandating participation. He forgot that only the legislative branch can lawfully pull Virginia out of the initiative.
His attacks haven’t stopped there. After the legislature rejected his choice for the post of secretary of natural and historic resources, Youngkin kept on Andrew Wheeler, a former coal lobbyist and a Trump administration EPA administrator who has built a career around attacking environmental protections that safeguard our air and water. Youngkin paid Wheeler $185,000 as a senior adviser before creating for Wheeler, through Executive Order 19, his own office in charge of cutting regulations in Virginia by an arbitrary 25 percent. If Wheeler’s track record of effectively dismantling environmental safeguards is any indication, it’s clear what comes next: a Virginia where polluters benefit and Virginians’ health and environment suffer.
Our economy is also in jeopardy because of the Youngkin administration’s extreme actions. In June, the Biden administration announced a wind power coalition between the federal government and 11 East Coast states from Maine to North Carolina. Noticeably absent: Virginia, a state that has been working to drive offshore wind development in recent years. In 2021, Siemens Gamesa announced its plans to build the United States’ first offshore wind turbine blade facility at the Portsmouth Marine Terminal, a major economic investment in the commonwealth and one that only came because of our commitment to a clean-energy future.
Youngkin’s actions are undermining this future. The fact that this administration is turning a cold shoulder to fellow East Coast states — including three with Republican administrations — in what is already a major economic driver in Virginia shows just how willing Youngkin is to put his extreme ideology over what’s best for Virginians. It might grab news headlines or garner praise in conservative circles as Youngkin works to elevate his national profile, but it hurts the state he was elected to lead. | 2022-07-15T14:10:50Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Virginia’s clean-energy future is in peril - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/15/virginias-clean-energy-future-is-peril/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/15/virginias-clean-energy-future-is-peril/ |
Rohini Kosoglu, one of the highest-ranking Asian Americans in the administration, says she wants to spend more time with family
Rohini Kosoglu, domestic policy adviser to Vice President Harris, in her office at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on July 13. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post)
Vice President Harris is set to lose one of her closest and longest-serving aides in August with the departure of domestic policy adviser Rohini Kosoglu, whose planned exit follows a major shake-up of the office late last year and into the spring.
Kosoglu, 38, previously served as chief of staff in Harris’s Senate office and on her unsuccessful presidential campaign. Her decision to leave comes amid concerns among some Democrats about high turnover on the vice president’s team and Harris’s political viability at a time when President Biden is saddled with low approval ratings.
In an interview, Kosoglu — who has three sons, ages 9, 6 and almost 3 — cited a desire to spend more time with her family and dismissed the notion that her departure should be viewed as part of a pattern of staff instability. Kosoglu has advised Harris on a range of issues, including maternal health, reproductive rights, broadband access and voting rights.
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In a statement, Harris praised Kosoglu as “a brilliant and trusted leader” who has “brought vision, strategic judgment, and a depth of experience as our Administration has addressed some of the most urgent challenges facing our nation. ”
Harris’s chief of staff, Tina Flournoy, deputy chief of staff Michael Fuchs and national security adviser Nancy McEldowney left in the spring. That followed the departure late last year of several top aides, including chief spokesperson Symone Sanders and communications chief Ashley Etienne. In all, at least 13 staffers have left Harris’s office since last summer.
Some former Harris staffers have said the vice president’s demanding style has contributed to burnout. Supporters countered that the nation’s first female, Black and Asian vice president was being held to a double standard.
Josh Hsu, Harris’s chief legal counsel, who also served in her Senate office, called Kosoglu’s departure a “big loss” because of her close relationship with Harris. But he emphasized that veterans of other presidential administrations said staff turnover is to be expected.
“The staff stories, I tend to think, are often a bit exaggerated,” Hsu said.
Kosoglu, a New Jersey native whose parents emigrated from Sri Lanka, has been part of an ethnically diverse team in the vice president’s office, and is one of the highest ranking Asian Americans in the administration. She has helped Harris, whose mother emigrated from India, work with the Asian American and Pacific Islander community to condemn a rise in anti-Asian hate crimes and give voice to a community that has felt minimized in the political conversation.
Kosoglu began her public service career as an intern for Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), then worked in the Senate mail room after graduating from the University of Michigan. She eventually rose to become a policy adviser for Stabenow, spent eight years working for Sen. Michael F. Bennet (D-Colo.), and joined Harris’s office when the California Democrat was sworn into the Senate in 2017.
Bennet said Kosoglu, in the vice president’s office, helped marshal support for his successful effort, with other Democrats, to expand the child tax credit during negotiations over the American Rescue Plan legislation last year.
“I completely take her at her word that she’s doing this because it’s important for her family,” Bennet said of Kosoglu’s decision to step down. “She’s always been able to balance things extremely well and is making a mature decision for her and her family.”
In 2019, Kosoglu helped prepare Harris for a Democratic primary debate by phone because she was nine months pregnant and unable to travel. She gave birth the morning of the debate and watched her boss on television hours later.
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At the White House, Kosoglu has focused on maternal health, helping organize a discussion on the issue last December between Harris and Olympic champion sprinter Allyson Felix.
The Biden administration has struggled to make progress on some of its biggest domestic priorities, including immigration reform and voting rights. In the interview, Kosoglu cited the challenges of dealing with major news events that alter the administration’s daily agenda.
She pointed to the mass shooting in the Atlanta area in March 2021 in which a gunman killed eight people, including six women of Asian descent. In the aftermath, Kosoglu accompanied Harris on a trip to speak with community members.
Kosoglu was traveling with Harris to Plainfield, Ill., last month for an event on maternal health when news broke that the Supreme Court had overturned Roe v. Wade. She helped brief the vice president aboard Air Force Two and assisted in drafting remarks in which Harris called the court’s decision a “healthcare crisis” and warned that “the expansion of freedom clearly is not inevitable.”
“We were going through the text in the motorcade,” Kosoglu recalled.
The vice president’s previously scheduled speech, she added, ended up focusing on “how taken aback she was with the decision and rightfully understanding that the American people are taken aback. That was obviously not the maternal health speech that she had planned.”
The latest: Biden backs Palestinian state, calls for accounting of journalist’s death | 2022-07-15T14:11:02Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Rohini Kosoglu, long-serving aide to Vice President Harris, is leaving - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/15/rohini-kosoglu-leaving-kamala-harris/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/15/rohini-kosoglu-leaving-kamala-harris/ |
IOC reinstates Jim Thorpe as sole winner of two golds from 1912 Olympics
The International Olympic Committee on Friday reinstated Jim Thorpe as the sole recipient of two gold medals from the 1912 Summer Games. (AP) (AP)
Exactly 110 years after he completed one of the greatest Olympic performances in history, Jim Thorpe will be rewarded for his efforts.
The International Olympic Committee on Friday named the legendary American athlete as the sole recipient of two gold medals from the 1912 Summer Games in Stockholm. Thorpe, the runaway winner of the pentathlon and decathlon that year, was stripped of his medals in 1913 for violating the event’s amateurism rules.
Whereas the IOC had previously listed Thorpe as a co-winner of the gold, he is now recognized as the sole winner in both events.
The decision comes after years of public pressure and advocacy, most recently by the Bright Path Strong organization and Anita DeFrantz, the longtime IOC member. It also comes with the support of the surviving family members of Hugo K. Wieslander, who was named as the decathlon champion when Thorpe was stripped of his title, and the Swedish Olympic Committee.
“We welcome the fact that, thanks to the great engagement of Bright Path Strong, a solution could be found,” IOC President Thomas Bach said in a statement. “This is a most exceptional and unique situation, which has been addressed by an extraordinary gesture of fair play from the National Olympic Committees concerned.”
The change comes after decades of public pressure to reverse the 1913 decision that stemmed from the fact that Thorpe had played minor league baseball in 1909 and 1910, violating the Olympic rules of amateurism.
Over the years, critics called on the IOC to make Thorpe the sole winner. An online petition to correct the record garnered over 75,000 signatures. In 2021, DeFrantz wrote in an op-ed for The Post that the 1913 decision was not only “one of the most egregious miscarriages of justice in sports history” but also “a stinging episode of early 20th-century bigotry.”
Thorpe, a Native American of the Sac and Fox Nation, was recognized by the IOC in 1982 when the organization delivered two replica medals to his family. But the organization chose not to amend the official record for the Games.
Thorpe first won the pentathlon, a five-event test that is no longer included in the Olympics, on July 7, 1912. Next, he took on an even bigger challenge in the 10-event decathlon. Thorpe recorded a time of 4 minutes 40.1 seconds in the 1,500-meter run — a feat that would stand as an Olympic record for the next 60 years. He won that event July 15, 1912. On Friday, exactly 110 years later, Thorpe was awarded the gold.
Olympic records will now show Thorpe as the sole gold medalist in pentathlon and decathlon, Wieslander as the silver medal-winner in the decathlon and Norway’s Ferdinand Bie as the second-place finisher in the pentathlon. | 2022-07-15T14:12:22Z | www.washingtonpost.com | IOC reinstates Jim Thorpe as sole winner of two golds from 1912 Olympics - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2022/07/15/jim-thorpe-olympic-gold/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2022/07/15/jim-thorpe-olympic-gold/ |
The pandemic, though dark in so many respects, has a green lining. The halt in travel allowed Mother Earth to rest and recover after a busy year in which about 1.5 billion people flitted around the globe. Before borders closed, many destinations were buckling under the weight of overtourism. Several tourist magnets, such as Barcelona and Venice, were considering actions to counter the environmental and cultural assault.
And then everything shut down. Except, of course, nature, which flourished.
“The pandemic provided a wake-up call,” said Gregory Miller, executive director of the Center for Responsible Travel, a D.C.-based nonprofit. “We’re not saying don’t travel, but be a responsible traveler. Take a holistic approach to sustainable travel that includes the natural, cultural and spiritual elements of a place.” (Disclaimer: I contributed a chapter to the organization’s book about overtourism.)
A variety of tools can help travelers plan a sustainable vacation, including several that debuted during this health crisis. For example, last October, Google Flights added carbon emission estimates to its searches, as well as recommendations for less polluted routes. In April, Skyscanner’s Greener Choice, which provides a similar service for air travel, expanded to car rentals: Road-trippers can now search for hybrid and electric cars. In November, Booking.com launched a Travel Sustainable badge and filter that highlights eco-friendly lodgings. The same month, Wilderness Scotland and its sister companies in England and Ireland introduced a carbon labeling program that displays an emissions figure beside each adventure tour, similar to calories posted on a menu.
As the world cautiously reopens, here are more tips to assembling a green holiday that would earn the approval of Mother Earth.
Choosing a destination
When picking a vacation spot, start with the Environmental Performance Index, a Yale and Columbia University research project that ranks 180 countries for their greenness. This year, Denmark took the top spot, followed by the United Kingdom, Finland, Malta and Sweden. The United States came in at No. 43, between Dominica (No. 42) and Namibia (No. 44). The researchers determined that several countries, including the top two placers, are on track to achieve greenhouse gas neutrality by 2050. However, several nations, such as China and India, are moving in the opposite direction, so you might want to wait until they pull a U-turn on the road to sustainability.
Anna Spenceley, a sustainable tourism expert and author, recommends places (and businesses) that organizations accredited by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council have certified. She also directs travelers to destinations that support global environmental agreements, such as the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism, which boasts nearly 540 signatories, and Tourism Declares a Climate Emergency, whose 438 members include the Oregon Coast Visitors Association, Visit Valencia and Tourism Vancouver Island.
Green Destinations, a Tourism Declares supporter, releases the Top 100 Destination Sustainability Stories every year. Recent winners include the return of European bison to Romania’s Vanatori Neamt Nature Park and a marine cleanup on Japan’s Yoron Island. The Dutch organization also runs the Good Travel Guide, a trip-planning resource with such inspiring ideas as Nahuelbuta, the oldest mountain range in Chile, and the Cardamom Tented Camp in Cambodia.
Larry Yu, a professor of hospitality management at George Washington University’s School of Business, mentioned several countries with environmental chops. Among his picks: the Netherlands (“they bike a lot”), Bhutan (“more than 50 percent of land is covered by forest”), Palau (visitors must sign an eco-pledge), Uruguay (most of its electricity comes from renewable sources), Cambodia (“pursuing sustainable development”) and Costa Rica, the valedictorian of eco-tourism.
It is equally important to know when to skip a destination because of cultural sensitivities, vulnerable resources or overtourism. Jared Sternberg, founder of Gondwana Ecotours, scrapped an itinerary to see the polar bears in Kaktovik because of the undue pressure it would place on the tiny Alaskan community, in addition to what he described as the villagers’ “polarized” sentiments toward tourism. “It wasn’t doing any favors to sustainability,” he said by phone from Alaska. Also on his dump-the-bucket list: the Galápagos Islands and Yucatán, Mexico. “It needs a serious break,” he said of the Mexican state that set a record in 2019 with more than 3.2 million visitors.
Finally, remember that vacationing is a state of mind, not a mileage contest. The pandemic taught us that we don’t need to travel far to escape mentally. “Look for options that are a bit closer to home,” said Bradley Cox, communications director at Green Globe, a lodging certification organization based in California. “Domestic businesses might be in need of your patronage and have better availability and choices, particularly midweek. Choosing domestic also helps lower the environmental footprint.”
Choosing accommodations
To dream in green, you don’t need to sever ties with civilization and fall off the grid; hundreds of lodgings are sustainable and swanky, or at least comfy and connected. For a broad sampling, check out the collections on Green Pearls, Kind Traveler, Wayaj and Eco Hotels & Resorts, which specialize in eco-stays around the world.
Whenever possible, choose smaller, independently run accommodations, which will typically generate less waste and cultivate deeper ties with the community. One exemplar: Lapa Rios Lodge in Costa Rica: 17 deluxe bungalows and villas surrounded by more than 1,000 acres of protected rainforest on the Osa Peninsula.
“I would be honored to bring people down here,” Sternberg said of the eco-lodge he discovered during a scouting trip in Costa Rica. “Every building is built by locals. They are solar- and hydro-powered and use a biodigester to produce gas. Pigs eat all the scraps, and what minimal trash is created is recycled or composted. It is luxurious for the right person.”
Of course, sometimes you may need to book a chain hotel. Rest assured: Most of the major hospitality companies have devised sustainable programs, such as Hilton’s Travel with Purpose, IHG Hotels & Resorts’ Green Engage and Marriott International’s Serve360. In addition to recycling and reducing food waste — i.e., the Hotel Kitchen project spearheaded by the American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA) and the World Wildlife Fund — hotels are phasing out single-use plastic. First came straws. Next up: elfin bathroom amenities. In 2019, Marriott, Hyatt and IHG properties announced the switch to refillable pump bottles. States have also entered the conversation. California and New York passed laws that will ban the minis starting in 2023 and 2024, respectively.
“America’s hotel brands, owners, operators, employees and guests are working to reduce carbon emissions, lower energy usage, conserve water, source responsibly and minimize waste through innovative and sustainable experiences and events,” said Chip Rogers, president and CEO of the AHLA, adding: “While America’s hotels have made significant strides in the effort to be more sustainable, we also recognize that there is still more to do.”
Be aware that just because a hotel claims to be eco-friendly doesn’t mean it is. Greenwashing is an unfortunate byproduct of the sustainable movement. For reassurance, seek out properties that have received a stamp of approval from a reputable environmental organization, such as the Global Sustainable Tourism Council, EarthCheck, Green Globe or the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), which runs the LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, certification program.
“Independent, third-party verification is the only way to assure that a business is adhering to the internationally accepted criteria for sustainable tourism,” said Cox of Green Globe, which counts more than 500 members in 80-plus countries.
The USGBC has certified more than 800 hotels around the world, a diverse group that includes the Bucuti & Tara Beach Resort in Aruba, the Caribbean’s first carbon-neutral hotel; Courtyard Brussels EU, a Marriott property in Belgium; and Proximity Hotel in Greensboro, N.C., the first hotel to acquire the highest Platinum level. In 2018, the organization unveiled LEED Zero, which awards buildings that have achieved net-zero carbon emissions in one of four categories over a 12-month period. The group has handed out about 100 certifications to date.
“When choosing a destination or an accommodation, travelers can compare environmental initiatives, conservation efforts and how much investment and commitment it is putting in to truly deliver a sustainable experience,” said Julia Simpson, president and CEO of the London-based World Travel and Tourism Council, which recently launched Hotel Sustainability Basics, a set of criteria geared toward the hospitality industry.
Choosing a mode of transportation
Sobering news for travelers: Transportation releases a lot of greenhouse gases. According to 2020 data from the Environmental Protection Agency, 27 percent of emissions in the United States stems from cars, trucks, ships, trains, planes and more, the highest percentage of any major industry. Of that total, airlines account for 8 percent of emissions stateside, according to the EPA. Worldwide, the D.C.-based Environmental and Energy Study Institute reported that aviation was responsible for 2.4 percent of total carbon dioxide emissions in 2018 — and it could get worse. “By 2050, commercial aircraft emissions could triple given the projected growth of passenger air travel and freight,” the nonprofit surmised in a recent brief.
Airlines are pointing their noses toward greener horizons. Last October, members of the International Air Travel Association, which includes nearly 300 carriers in some 120 countries, backed the Net Zero Carbon Emission Challenge by 2050. Separately, Delta shared in early 2020 its aspiration of becoming the world’s first carbon-neutral airline, funneling $1 billion dollars into its 10-year goal. JetBlue, the first U.S. airline to voluntarily offset carbon dioxide emissions on all domestic flights, is aiming for 2040, as is Alaska Airlines. United, Southwest and American Airlines are shooting for 2050.
“The airlines are working hard to change,” Yu said. “But they need to find a way to increase production of biofuel.”
Passengers can do their part by making conscientious decisions before and during flights. For example, planes guzzle fuel during takeoff and landing, so book a nonstop flight. Bonus points for choosing a sustainable airport, such as Seattle-Tacoma International or Chicago O’Hare. Support airlines that are ditching single-use plastic, such as Air France and Alaska Airlines, which serve Boxed Water. Contribute to the carrier’s carbon offset program. American Airlines, for instance, has partnered with Cool Effect, which uses the proceeds to fund environmental projects in Mexico, Indonesia and Honduras. Also, reduce your airtime by remaining in one location for a longer period.
“We got drunk on these amazingly cheap flights,” said Paul Easto, CEO and founder of Wilderness Scotland. “You can fly less, but you don’t have to necessarily holiday less.”
If you have the vacation days, consider snail rail, the gentler option. According to the Amtrak Connects Us report from May 2021: “Travel on Amtrak trains outside the [Northeast Corridor] emits up to 55% fewer [greenhouse gases] than driving alone, and up to 30% fewer than flying.” As part of its long-term strategy, the railway hopes to add nearly 40 new routes in the coming years. More immediately, trains are crossing the northern border again, more than two years after Amtrak suspended international trips. Last month, service resumed between New York City and Toronto; trains from Seattle to Vancouver are slated to return in September.
On the other side of the Atlantic, the Trans-European Transport Network will shorten travel times between European Union cities, in addition to electrifying the entire rail system by 2030. Overnight train travel is also getting a chic makeover: Midnight, a “hotel on rails” with private cabins and a restaurant, will launch in 2024 from its Paris hub. Its elevator pitch: “A combination of modern sustainability and glorious Roaring [’20s] charm.”
Cruise ships are often cited as environmental disasters. Friends of the Earth doesn’t mince words: “Cruise ships are a catastrophe for the environment. … They dump toxic waste into our waters, fill the planet with carbon dioxide, and kill marine wildlife.” The cruise lines have been trying to turn over a green leaf, communally and individually. The Cruise Lines International Association’s 2021 Environmental Technologies and Practices Report defines its goals and achievements, such as expanding the number of ships powered by liquefied natural gas, a cleaner alternative fuel.
When choosing a cruise, research the company’s sustainability doctrine, such as Norwegian Cruise Line’s Sail & Sustain and Virgin Voyages’ Epic Sea Change for All. The latter cruise line, which was founded by English ocean conservationist Richard Branson, has eliminated the traditional Henry VIII-style buffet, to reduce food waste; banned unnecessary single-use plastic, such as condiment packets and to-go cups; and incorporated such energy-efficient designs as tinted windows, LED lighting and room sensors, among other eco-friendly measures.
In the Galápagos Islands and Antarctica, cruise ships must abide by governmental laws geared toward protecting the fragile landscape and wildlife. To lessen your effects, seek out smaller vessels affiliated with environmental stalwarts, such as the World Wildlife Fund or National Geographic. In addition, avoid itineraries that visit ports overwhelmed by cruisers, such as Venice, which recently passed a law forbidding large vessels from entering its historic center. To control crowds, the Italian city will start requiring visitors to make a reservation and pay an entrance fee in mid-January.
For road trips, rent a car with good gas mileage — 30 miles per gallon or more — or slide behind the wheel of an electric or hybrid vehicle. Last year, Hertz started offering Teslas in North America. Turo, a peer-to-peer site, has a range of EVs; European rental agencies also have large inventories of plug-in models. Cars are more efficient on highways than stop-and-go streets, so once you are settled into your urban destination, consider parking your ride or returning it.
Of course, human-powered transportation — walking, cycling, paddling — is the greenest form of travel. Take advantage of bike-share programs or hotel loaner bikes. To cover greater distances, hop on an electric bike or scooter. Just be sure to learn the phrase, “On your left,” in the host country’s tongue.
Choosing activities
For excursions, the type of tour you choose is as critical as the mode of transportation.
“Sustainability is not only about the environment,” said Heather Kelly, director of research and sustainability for the Adventure Travel Trade Association, whose members strive to adhere to sustainable practices. “We need to maintain economically viable jobs for local people and keep them included in decisions, particularly Indigenous communities and underrepresented groups like women and youth.”
Most cities have tip-based walking tours led by locals, such as Free Tours by Foot, which is offered in cities throughout North America, Europe, Asia, Australia and the Middle East. Free services such as the International Greeter Association pairs residents with visitors in popular tourist destinations (Berlin, Montreal) as well as surprising spots (Iringa, Tanzania; Nis, Serbia). After a short hiatus, Airbnb Experiences is back. Visitors can sign up for such personal excursions as a pasta-making class taught by a Roman family or a graffiti art tour that includes a mango ice cream stop at the Colombian guide’s grandmother’s house in Medellín.
For additional green outing ideas and tour companies, check with the city, state or country’s tourism office, which often has materials dedicated to eco-tourism. Native American and Indigenous tour operators and organizations, such as the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada and Go Native America, provide an intimate look at their art, culture and traditions within the framework of the natural world.
The locavore movement has gone global, with more restaurants basing their menus on the seasons and harvests of nearby farms. For North American dining, Yu, the hospitality professor at George Washington, recommends the Green Restaurant Association, which has certified restaurants in 47 U.S. states and Canada. HappyCow and Thrillist (the veg city editions) cater to plant-centric diners. If you are craving something from Neptune’s kitchen, Surfrider Foundation’s Ocean Friendly Restaurants gives the thumbs-up to 750 dining spots around the country. The nonprofit’s European chapters boast more than 80 restaurants.
In 2020, the venerable Michelin Guide launched Michelin Green Star. About 375 restaurants in the United States and Europe have earned the eco-accolade. The universe of sustainable culinary stars is expanding. | 2022-07-15T14:12:34Z | www.washingtonpost.com | How to plan a sustainable vacation - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2022/07/15/green-trip-travel-planning/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2022/07/15/green-trip-travel-planning/ |
New images from the James Webb Space Telescope have shown the world the expansiveness of the galaxies formed in the early universe. Join Washington Post Live on Wednesday, July 20 at 9:00 a.m. ET when Thomas Zurbuchen, PhD, NASA’s associate administrator for the science mission directorate, answers questions about what these images mean for the future of space exploration, the significance of the technology that enabled this level of astronomical discovery and the element of wonder attached to seeing the depths of distant space.
Thomas Zurbuchen, PhD
Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate, NASA | 2022-07-15T14:12:46Z | www.washingtonpost.com | The head of NASA Science on images from the James Webb Space Telescope - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/washington-post-live/2022/07/20/head-nasa-science-images-james-webb-space-telescope/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/washington-post-live/2022/07/20/head-nasa-science-images-james-webb-space-telescope/ |
The ombudsman in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, Daria Morozova, said Paul Urey died July 10 due to his “diagnoses and stress,” and accused him of being a “British mercenary” who took part in hostilities on the side of Ukrainian forces, according to Russian news agencies.
A British nonprofit, Presidium Network, said in April that Urey was one of two volunteers providing humanitarian assistance when they were detained after passing a checkpoint in southern Ukraine. It said they “were trying to do evacuation themselves” and help a woman with two children escape near the city of Zaporizhzhia.
The Donetsk news agency in the breakaway region said the British men had been “taken prisoner while trying to break through a checkpoint.” Separatists who have controlled territory there since 2014 are fighting alongside Russian forces to control eastern Ukraine.
Americans fighting and doing humanitarian work in Ukraine
Soon after his capture, Urey’s mother said she was “extremely worried” about his health because he had diabetes and needed insulin. His family has said he was acting unlike himself in footage of him that has since appeared on Russian television.
Presidium said Urey was once a civilian contractor in Afghanistan and was living in the United Kingdom before traveling to Ukraine, the BBC reported at the time. Its co-founder told the BBC that Russian forces had accused the two British men of being “spies.”
The British Foreign Office said Friday it had raised the reports of Urey’s death with both Kyiv and Moscow, and was in contact with the family. “We are urgently seeking clarification from the Russian government on media reports that a British aid worker has died in Ukraine,” it told The Washington Post in an email.
Separatist court gives death sentences to Britons, Moroccan who fought for Ukraine
Morozova, the official in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, said British officials had “ignored even the possibility of negotiating his return as part of the prisoner exchange procedure.”
Britain does not recognize the breakaway region, which is only recognized as an independent state by Russia, Syria and North Korea.
While the Donetsk news agency said Urey had received medical care for chronic illnesses, it quoted Morozova as saying Britain “did not provide the necessary medicines through the Red Cross” for him.
Last month, a tribunal in the same breakaway territory sentenced two British citizens and a Moroccan man to death, a conviction Britain described as the result of a sham trial. Some officials have called for their release in a prisoner swap.
The three, who lived in Ukraine, were the first foreign fighters to be sentenced since the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine. The separatists in Donetsk have since decided the death penalty will go into effect in the region in 2025.
Adela Suliman contributed to this report. | 2022-07-15T14:12:52Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Briton Paul Urey reported dead by pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/15/british-paul-urey-donetsk-death/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/15/british-paul-urey-donetsk-death/ |
European Union flags outside its headquarters in Brussels, June 17, 2022. (Yves Herman/Reuters)
BRUSSELS — The European Commission on Friday proposed additional sanctions on Russia for the war in Ukraine, as well as measures to tighten existing sanctions, according to E.U. officials.
The “maintenance and alignment package” takes aim at imports of Russian gold and includes measures aimed at better implementing and enforcing the sanctions.
The package “clarifies a number of provisions to strengthen legal certainty for operators and enforcement by Member States,” according to an E.U. statement. It also “reiterates the Commission’s determined stance to protect food security around the globe.”
The proposal could still change and must be approved by all member states. E.U. diplomats said the hope is that countries will formally approve the measures next week. If that happens, it will be the bloc’s seventh round of sanctions since Russia launched its Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine.
“Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine continues unabated,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement published Friday. “Therefore, we are proposing today to tighten our hard-hitting EU sanctions against the Kremlin, enforce them more effectively and extend them until January 2023. Moscow must continue to pay a high price for its aggression.”
Although E.U. sanctions have hurt Russia’s economy, the country continues to generate revenue by exporting energy, including natural gas and oil. The seventh package is not expected to include measures on gas or any additional measures on oil, ensuring that cash keeps flowing to the Kremlin’s coffers.
The United States is pushing for a new global price cap on Russian oil as a way to diminish Russia’s massive revenue from energy sales. E.U. diplomats said the idea is being discussed but is unlikely to gain traction before autumn, if at all.
Paolo Gentiloni, European commissioner for economy, told reporters Thursday that the commission is reviewing the proposal on price caps but that such measures would only be considered in “extraordinary future scenarios.” | 2022-07-15T14:12:58Z | www.washingtonpost.com | E.U. proposes additional sanctions on Russia - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/15/eu-russia-sanctions-ukraine/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/15/eu-russia-sanctions-ukraine/ |
Parking garage partially collapses at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor
A city councilman said initial reports indicate no one was hurt.
A parking garage partially collapsed Friday at Baltimore's Inner Harbor. (Baltimore Fire Department)
A parking garage at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor partially collapsed Friday morning, according to the city fire department.
No one appeared to be injured, Baltimore City Council member Eric Costello said.
Images shared by the department on social media showed debris blocking an entrance, but the extent of damage to the structure wasn’t immediately clear.
The garage is tucked behind an office building across the street from Baltimore’s waterfront. Sections of a concrete floor appeared to have crashed down across the entrance to the garage.
WJZ-TV reported that a person working nearby heard what sounded like a crash of thunder about 10 a.m. and found that the garage had collapsed. | 2022-07-15T15:40:32Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Baltimore Inner Harbor parking garage partially collapses - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2022/07/15/baltimore-inner-harbor-parking-garage-collapse/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2022/07/15/baltimore-inner-harbor-parking-garage-collapse/ |
Plum, raspberry and cantaloupe sorbets. (Photos by Scott Suchman for The Washington Post; food styling by Lisa Cherkasky for The Washington Post)
Total time:1 hour, plus chilling and freezing time
Servings:8 (makes about 1 quart)
If, like me, you are guilty of buying too much fruit this time of year, it’s time to make sorbet. Not only is it a terrific way to embrace summer’s abundant produce — it’s also a delightful way to cool off when the temperatures are approaching triple digits.
In the past, the sorbet recipes I’ve tried required making a simple syrup, which had to be sufficiently chilled before being added to the sorbet base. To simplify and improve the flavor, I wanted to make one that required no heat and, especially, no water, which can mute fruit’s vibrancy and contribute to that iciness. I also wanted to keep the prep — as well as the dirty dishes — to a minimum. (If anyone is tired of washing extra dishes, it’s this food writer.)
In playing around with different variations, I discovered the key to luscious sorbet with superior scoop-ability: corn syrup. Rather than a cup of sugar, make it 3/4 cup of sugar and 1/4 cup of light corn syrup. Corn syrup — not to be confused with high-fructose corn syrup — is less sweet than granulated sugar and mimics invert sugar, which helps to keep the churned sorbet creamy and scoopable.
What is corn syrup, and how should you use it? Your questions, answered.
It’s so simple: The fruit, sugar, corn syrup, a pinch of salt, and, at times, lemon or lime zest and/or juice to cut through the sweetness all go in a blender and get processed until smooth. If I’m making a base with seedy berries, such as raspberries, I’ll strain it; otherwise, I don’t bother. For the recipe below, I made a version of sorbet with various berries, such as blackberries, raspberries and blueberries; stone fruit, such as apricots and plums; and melons such as honeydew and cantaloupe. (Alas, watermelon, a summer favorite, can be made into sorbet, too, but it contains too much water to be used with this formula.)
They were all dreamy, refreshing and flavorful. The most finicky of them was stone fruit, only because it must be pitted before being chopped. The fastest? The berries. Tasting them at home, we each claimed a favorite. My husband couldn’t get enough of cantaloupe and its delightfully pale orange hue. Our 7-year-old inhaled plum and asked why we can’t buy that flavor at the store — why, indeed.
NOTES: Fruit will vary in weight depending on its moisture content, so measuring by volume or cups will be more reliable.
Per serving (1/2 cup, using raspberries) | 2022-07-15T15:44:53Z | www.washingtonpost.com | How to make sorbet from almost any summer fruit - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2022/07/15/any-fruit-sorbet-recipe/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2022/07/15/any-fruit-sorbet-recipe/ |
Michael Nicot gets a vaccine to prevent monkeypox at the Pride Center on July 12, in Wilton Manors, Fla. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Roy Gulick wants to give his monkeypox patients the best possible care. But he and his doctors simply don’t have enough hours in the day to complete dozens of pages of paperwork every time they need to pry medicine out of the Strategic National Stockpile.
And that’s just what has been required for a single patient. His team has treated more than a dozen.
“It’s been a very daunting task,” said Gulick, chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at New York Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center. “There’s a ton of paperwork, there’s a ton of assessments that are required, there’s a tremendous amount that one has to do to be able to administer this drug to someone.”
Physicians’ struggles to prescribe Tpoxx, an antiviral approved to treat smallpox, which is from the same family of viruses as monkeypox, are among a slew of obstacles related to testing, treatment and vaccination that experts say is contributing to a plodding national response that they fear is not keeping up with the virus’s spread. Some worry the window is closing to prevent the virus from becoming permanently entrenched in this country, with more than 1,400 confirmed infections across 42 states — and hundreds or thousands of additional infections suspected, predominantly in the gay and bisexual community.
“The story that the White House has told us is … frankly, insulting to a community that is right now facing an out-of-control outbreak without being able to access the tools they need to protect their health,” said James Krellenstein, co-founder of Prep4All, a public health advocacy group.
Nearly two months after the first case of monkeypox was identified in the United States, the pace of the nation’s response continues to echo mistakes made in the early days of the coronavirus outbreak. Physicians still encounter lengthy delays for test results, meaning some undiagnosed patients are unwittingly exposing others to the virus, after federal officials initially relied on several dozen public health laboratories and limited who was eligible to be tested. Experts and White House allies are upset with a vaccine-sharing strategy that they say hasn’t steered enough doses to hotspots such as New York City, where about one-quarter of U.S. cases have been detected but that received only one-tenth of the still-scarce doses.
“New York City is bearing the burden of monkeypox,” Mayor Eric Adams (D) wrote to President Biden on Monday, pleading for more vaccines and criticizing the administration’s “piecemeal approach” to sharing updates about its strategy — an unusually public criticism from a fellow moderate Democrat.
As with coronavirus, doctors, patients, public health experts and even some administration officials are frustrated with decisions by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Food and Drug Administration, saying they have taken a too conservative approach to the rapidly widening outbreak and should have further expedited tests, vaccines and treatments. Many warn that if the United States can’t respond quickly and effectively to an established infectious disease with known treatments and vaccines, it is likely unprepared to combat a new pathogen, or another threat on the scale of coronavirus.
Biden officials publicly insist the U.S. monkeypox outbreak is being appropriately managed and that they are moving quickly to provide more tools to fight it.
“We have tests, we have vaccines, we have therapies, we’re building up our capacity on all of them, and they are going to become more and more readily available to the American people,” White House coronavirus coordinator Ashish Jha said on CNN Wednesday. “We’re going to get our arms around this thing.”
Adams’ complaints were elevated to White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain, who has held monkeypox meetings this past month, pushing officials to reassess the administration’s strategy and move more quickly, said two officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to detail internal meetings. The administration also plans to announce an updated formula to distribute vaccines across the country as soon as Friday, said another administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment.
Administration officials also pointed to the expanding availability of tests from major commercial laboratory companies this month, and the growing efforts to warn gay and bisexual men that the virus poses an elevated risk to their community.
And Gulick, the infectious diseases doctor, said Thursday that federal health officials were moving to streamline the requirements for Tpoxx prescriptions in response to physicians’ complaints, although other front-line doctors said they have yet to see changes.
‘People … are really suffering’
Experts say the new outbreak is a less significant threat than the coronavirus — with monkeypox yet to be linked to a confirmed U.S. death. But they warn the virus can still cause severe pain and lead to long-lasting harms, particularly in immunocompromised individuals.
“The reality on the ground is that a lot of people with this infection are really suffering and some actually may be at risk of permanent damage and scarring,” Mary Foote, a New York City health official, said at a Thursday briefing convened by the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
The virus, which can manifest in lesions and fever, is often spread through close contact. Lesions are considered the most significant source of spread, such as skin-to-skin contact with a person with rashes or sharing bedding or clothing exposed to lesions, according to the CDC.
What is monkeypox, the rare virus now confirmed in the U.S. and Europe?
Infectious-disease experts say it is only a matter of time before the virus spills further into the general population, in which pregnant women and children would face higher risks. They also worry it may gain a permanent foothold in the United States and other countries where monkeypox was not traditionally found.
That concern also reflects rapid global spread — more than 11,000 monkeypox cases have been confirmed worldwide, and the World Health Organization is reconvening experts next week to again consider whether to declare monkeypox a public health emergency of international concern, its highest-level warning.
As they race to stop the virus’s spread, doctors say the federal government’s red tape has further drained health providers who are already exhausted by two years of fighting coronavirus.
“A lot of the challenges we have here are not just the federal regulatory issues, but the fact that we don’t have enough people on the ground to be able to do this work, to have the capacity to evaluate and treat all of these patients with the amount of time it takes to get access to testing and get access to treatment,” said Amanda Jezek, senior vice president of public policy and government relations at the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
The initial burden has been heaviest in New York City, with about 400 confirmed cases, and where officials say they are again being forced to lead the way against an outbreak — and they want more help from the federal government.
“We learned this lesson during the earliest days of COVID-19: transparency, honesty, and expectation-setting are critical to building and maintaining trust,” Adams wrote in a letter to Biden shared with The Washington Post.
The mayor followed up on Tuesday with a call to Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, reiterating his demand for more doses of Jynneos, the only vaccine the FDA has approved for monkeypox, said two people who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not publicly authorized to discuss the conversation.
Under the formula devised by the CDC, Jynneos vaccines have been allocated to jurisdictions based on their confirmed monkeypox cases, as well as on how many HIV-positive gay men live there. CDC officials defend the strategy saying that HIV-positive gay men are at elevated risk, given their more vulnerable immune systems and that monkeypox has primarily spread among men having sex with men. But the result has skewed Jyennos distribution away from some areas with the highest concentrations of monkeypox cases such as New York, where the city’s vaccine-scheduling website has repeatedly crashed under demand.
Meanwhile, data reporting delays between local health officials and CDC have also contributed to problems — CDC on Thursday afternoon was reporting 159 cases across New York state, even as state officials counted 414 cases — slowing federal officials’ efforts to plan vaccine allocation.
Advocates at Prep4All and Partners in Health, a public health nonprofit, also argue the FDA has moved too slowly to inspect and ship hundreds of thousands of Jynneos doses that the United States had purchased but which have sat for months in a facility in Denmark. The inspection is finished, and FDA is “aspiring to have [the remaining authorization] process completed by the end of July,” Peter Marks, the FDA official who oversees vaccines, told The Post on Wednesday. About 780,000 doses remain in Denmark, according to HHS officials. But the FDA is allowing doses to be flown to the United States in the meantime.
Advocates note that European officials inspected and certified the facility last year, contending that U.S. officials could have deemed those inspections sufficient, akin to the strategy they used to expedite baby formula shipments. But some Biden officials stressed the importance of the FDA’s own review, pointing to contaminated ad discovered at a Baltimore plant last year as an indicator of the potential risk.
‘Testing is limited’
Doctors fighting the virus on the front lines have their own litany of concerns, including the continued slow turnaround of tests, which has hampered their ability to identify potential virus clusters, especially given the virus’s lengthy incubation period of as many as 21 days.
While the administration touted June 22 that thousands of commercial laboratories would soon begin to offer monkeypox testing, major facilities such as Massachusetts General Hospital are “still doing all of our testing through the state lab,” said Libby Hohmann, an infectious-disease physician at the hospital. “The testing is limited.”
Gulick, at New York Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, estimated on Tuesday that it still took “five to seven days” to receive monkeypox test results. But he added that he was optimistic that companies including LabCorp and Quest Diagnostics — which began offering monkeypox testing in the past week — will soon help expedite results.
Infectious-disease physicians and experts also have continued to call for relaxing the barriers that have limited Tpoxx prescriptions, such as collecting multiple kinds of specimens and photographs from each patient, as well as scheduling four visits. The antiviral designed to treat smallpox was tested on animals, narrowly approved by FDA and stored in the national emergency stockpile. CDC officials partly imposed their restrictions on the treatment to ensure they could study the rare cases — until this year — when Tpoxx might be needed.
“Making every physician for every patient go through hours and hours of paperwork and back and forth with the agencies, that’s just not a sustainable approach,” said Jezek of the Infectious Diseases Society. “We know that there are a lot of patients that are missing out entirely on treatment, or getting serious delays in treatment as a result.” | 2022-07-15T15:44:59Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Doctors treating monkeypox complain of ‘daunting’ paperwork, obstacles - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/07/15/monkeypox-response-vaccine-treatment-obstacles-adams/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/07/15/monkeypox-response-vaccine-treatment-obstacles-adams/ |
His rise to fame was fueled as much by his first wife’s brash charisma as his own heat-seeking swagger
Perspective by Paul Farhi
Ivana Trump in April 1987. (AP)
Without Ivana, “The Donald” wouldn’t exist. The Czech-born first wife of Donald Trump was the one who took to calling him that, mistakenly sticking an article in front of his first name as she struggled with English. Journalists picked up on its delicious pomposity, and it stuck.
But there might not be a Donald Trump, either, had it not been for Ivana Zelnickova Trump, whose death at 73 was announced by her ex-husband on Thursday. Trump’s early rise to fame, as manifested in New York’s tabloid and glossy-magazine culture of the greed-is-good era, was fueled as much by her florid charisma as by his own heat-seeking swagger and ambition.
Typically photographed in either society-gala sparkles or “Dynasty”-caliber shoulder pads, she was a relentlessly glamorous figure, a hot-rollered blonde with a bootstrapping backstory as the scrappy refugee who fled communist Czechoslovakia and climbed to the heights of New York society.
Unlike Trump’s successor wives, Ivana wasn’t reticent or press-shy. Like him, she relished the spotlight and often spoke to reporters. Like him, she sometimes fed them scraps and tidbits to help burnish the Trump mystique.
In an ingratiating way, she seemed to recognize the absurdity of her ZsaZsa-meets-Real Housewife persona while also playing it to the hilt. After the ugly and expensive breakup, she fashioned herself as an avenging angel for discarded first wives. “Don’t get mad — get everything!” she advised her fellow divorcées. After Trump’s election, she said she held off on calling her ex in the White House to avoid upsetting Melania Trump. “Because I’m basically first Trump wife,” she told an interview with a laugh. “I’m first lady, okay?”
It may have been a dig at Melania. Or it may have just been Ivana making a cheeky play on words. In any case, Melania wasn’t amused, “There is clearly no substance to this statement from an ex,” her office stiffly responded. “This is unfortunately only attention-seeking and self-serving noise.”
Which may have been a feature, not a bug, for the preeminent New York power couple of the late 1980s.
As with a number of elements of the Donald Trump story, it was often hard to parse the truth of the Ivana story. Her husband told reporters that Ivana been a member of Czechoslovakia’s Olympic ski team (she hadn’t been). He described her as a former top model in Canada (she wasn’t). Neither he nor she mentioned in their respective memoirs that she was married to someone else when they started dating — a brief relationship that was apparently arranged to facilitate her immigration.
As she proved during and after their marriage, Ivana didn’t actually need the puffery. She actually did lots of interesting things: managed businesses (including some of Trump’s hotel properties and Atlantic City casinos), launched fashion and beauty lines, penned an advice column (“Ask Ivana,” for the Globe tabloid) as well as several fiction and nonfiction books. One of them was her 2017 memoir, “Raising Trump,” about rearing Trump’s first three children, Don Jr., Eric and Ivanka.
From 2015: Why does everyone call Donald Trump ‘The Donald’? It’s an interesting story.
Yet as with so many who came into association with Trump over the decades, Ivana’s relationship with him ended bitterly, amid highly public infidelity and explosive claims of abuse.
Their divorce after 15 years of marriage became a soap-operatic drama chronicled in near-daily headlines in the New York Post and Daily News, already hot on the trail of Trump’s new romance with a younger model, Marla Maples, whom he married and later divorced.
At one point, Ivana gave a deposition in their divorce proceedings in which she accused Trump of sexually assaulting her after an argument. She later softened the allegation, in a statement for a 1993 book that recounted the incident, “The Lost Tycoon: The Many Lives of Donald Trump.”
“During a deposition given by me in connection with my matrimonial case, I stated that my husband had raped me,” the statement said. “[O]n one occasion during 1989, Mr. Trump and I had marital relations in which he behaved very differently toward me than he had during our marriage. As a woman, I felt violated, as the love and tenderness, which he normally exhibited towards me, was absent. I referred to this as a ‘rape,’ but I do not want my words to be interpreted in a literal or criminal sense.”
Trump denied the incident, saying it was a ploy to increase her divorce settlement.
There were also recriminations, from Trump, about Ivana’s management of some of his business operations, including his claims that she had wildly overspent on redecorating the Plaza Hotel in New York. Trump later said he regretted that his wife had been involved in the business.
By many accounts, including her own, the couple repaired their relationship over the years and spoke often. When she married her fourth husband in 2008, the wedding was held at Mar-a-Lago, with Trump in attendance.
She had no visible role, however, during Trump’s campaign and presidency — no campaign trail appearances, White House visits or photo-ops with their shared grandchildren. She maintained that they had a cordial, even close relationship while he was president. They discussed politics, the media and their children, she said.
She also said Trump should face the reality of the 2020 election: “I don’t think he has a choice,” she told People magazine at the time. “He has to go and declare that he lost.”
But after nearly a lifetime of knowing Donald Trump, she knew that wouldn’t be easy. “He hates to be loser,” she said. “That I’m sure of.” | 2022-07-15T15:45:06Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Ivana Trump, the woman who turned Donald Trump into 'The Donald' - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2022/07/15/ivana-trump-created-donald-trump-the-donald/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2022/07/15/ivana-trump-created-donald-trump-the-donald/ |
GOP lawmaker: Womb has ‘no specific purpose’ to a woman’s ‘life or well-being’
Montana GOP lawmaker Brad Tschida told legislators in an email this week that a woman's womb has “no specific purpose to her life or well-being.” (Screenshot via YouTube/KTVQ)
As millions of Americans protest restrictions that preclude abortions, even when the life of a woman is at risk, Montana state Rep. Brad Tschida (R) is arguing that a woman’s womb “serves no specific purpose to her life or well-being.”
Tschida, a former Montana House majority leader who is running for the state Senate, wrote an email this week to more than 100 legislators citing a podcast featuring a woman who is an antiabortion advocate, according to the Daily Montanan.
“The womb is the only organ in a woman’s body that serves no specific purpose to her life or well-being,” Tschida wrote on Monday, according to MTN News, the first to report the news. “It is truly a sanctuary.”
The false claim goes against long-accepted science surrounding the pear-shaped organ and how it helps in women’s reproductive health and function. The uterus plays a critical role not just in the growth and development of a fetus during pregnancy but also menstruation and fertility. Conditions and diseases of the uterus can cause painful symptoms that require medical treatment, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Tschida’s remarks were met by backlash from Democrats who accused the lawmaker of holding “antiquated, and frankly offensive beliefs.” Among those critics was state Rep. Willis Curdy (D), Tschida’s state Senate opponent, who decried the comments as “absolutely ludicrous and flat-out creepy.”
“He is literally telling women what is and isn’t theirs and what they can and cannot do with their bodies,” Curdy tweeted.
But Tschida, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment early Friday, doubled down on his remarks to local media, and pointed to a comment from the antiabortion activist in the podcast episode he had referenced: There is only one organ in a woman’s body “that is not there to serve a purpose for her and that is her womb.”
“I’m not going to apologize for saying that,” Tschida told MTN. “I think that’s exactly what it’s there for. It welcomes in a new life and that’s what it’s there to do, to nurture and sustain that life.”
The Republican’s comments come as the country continues to navigate through the first weeks of a post-Roe landscape — a stretch dominated by protests, lawsuits, court rulings and a man’s arrest in the case of a 10-year-old rape victim in Ohio who traveled to Indiana for an abortion. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) announced Thursday that he was suing the Biden administration over federal rules that require abortions be provided in medical emergencies to save the life of the mother, even in states with near-total bans. The lawsuit follows new guidance from the Department of Health and Human Services that asserted federal law requiring emergency medical treatment supersedes any state restrictions on abortion in cases where the pregnant patient’s life or health is at risk.
While abortion remains legal for now in Montana due to protections in the state constitution, Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) has said previously that he would call a special legislative session on abortion if Roe was overturned. As Gianforte joined other Republicans on June 24 in celebrating what he called “a historic win for life, families, and science,” the governor tweeted that he was “in discussions with legislative leaders on next steps as we work to protect life in Montana.” Any legislative change to end the abortion protections would require a voter-approved amendment.
I'm in discussions with legislative leaders on next steps as we work to protect life in Montana.
— Governor Greg Gianforte (@GovGianforte) June 24, 2022
Tschida, who has represented Missoula in the state House since 2015, is running for a state Senate seat in a district that Democrats narrowly won in the previous two elections. The seat has been held by Democratic state Sen. Diane Sands, an outspoken advocate for women’s reproductive rights who recently spoke at a White House roundtable discussion on abortion access with Vice President Harris. Sands’s term ends next year.
In an email sent Monday to legislators, Tschida referenced an episode of a podcast featuring a professor who supported abortion rights debating with a woman who held antiabortion beliefs. Although Tschida told local media that he did not recall the name of the podcast, the Republican noted how the professor asked his antiabortion guest whether a woman should have to “sacrifice her organs because someone else told her to do so.” After thinking on the question, Tschida wrote, the woman expressed her opinion that “the womb is a place set aside for another person who arrives as a result of a choice of a man and a woman to procreate.”
“That single factor has struck me since I heard that commentary,” Tschida wrote.
The Republican told the Daily Montanan that the message he took away from the uterus exchange was comparable to a time he saw a doe fend off birds of prey from eating her dead fawn.
“We’ve got a mother that’s a wild animal that’s trying to protect her offspring who’s already dead, but we don’t have the same concern generally speaking for unborn in humanity,” he said. “I thought that was a pretty interesting parallel or dynamic.”
The Republican argued that voters cared about other issues more than abortion — such as inflation, the high cost of gas and election security — and that his views on women’s rights and their bodies would not be a factor in the November election.
“I’ve told people what I believe. I’ve told them how I would vote,” he said to the newspaper. “That’s up to the individuals.” | 2022-07-15T15:45:30Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Montana GOP lawmaker Brad Tschida: Woman’s womb has ‘no specific purpose to her life or well-being’ - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/15/abortion-women-womb-gop-montana-tschida/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/15/abortion-women-womb-gop-montana-tschida/ |
Sen. Manchin issues Democrats new ultimatum on climate and taxes
The West Virginia centrist said he could consider new spending to fight climate change, along with tax increases — but not now. Leaders face a tough choice about the fate of their economic agenda.
Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) pay their respects as the flag-draped casket bearing the remains of Hershel W. “Woody” Williams, lies in honor in the U.S. Capitol on July 14, 2022. Manchin told Democratic leaders he would not support legislation to address climate change or raise taxes, but he said July 15 that he might consider those proposals after all, but later this year. (Tom Williams/AP)
A defiant Sen. Joe Manchin III on Friday said it was not “prudent” for Democrats to try to advance a massive economic spending package amid a recent sharp rise in prices nationally, putting his party on a collision course over its agenda months before the critical midterm elections.
The dispute exploded into public view this week after Manchin privately told Democratic leaders he could not support a bill this month that contains new spending to combat climate change or seeks to raise taxes on wealthy Americans and corporations. The senator’s stance, as first reported by The Washington Post, threatened to upend weeks of talks in pursuit of a deal that Democrats hoped to advance before the end of July.
But Manchin, appearing Friday on local West Virginia radio, offered new, finer detail on the exact scope of his demands. He said he might, indeed, support additional spending on Democrats’ top priorities, including climate change — but only after he sees the next round of inflation numbers, which are due in August.
Manchin insisted that he still “want[s] climate” action, although he did not reveal the full extent of what he would support. And he said he generally could accept some additional taxation, but only if he can be sure it “does not effect the economy of the United States of America, or the people of the United States of America.”
Yet, Manchin maintained that he would not consider such a package until perhaps September. Otherwise, he called on Democrats to whittle down their proposal even further to focus largely on reducing health-care costs if they hope to win his must-have vote this month.
His stance leaves Democrats in an impossible political bind. Without Manchin, they cannot proceed with their spending bill as planned, since they require his support to use the process known as budget reconciliation. The tactic allows the party — with the aid of Vice President Harris’s tiebreaking vote — to overcome Republicans’ unanimous opposition and prevent a filibuster.
If Democrats act now, opting for haste, they will lose the opportunity to secure historic spending to fight climate change and make changes to the tax code that they promised in campaigning for the 2020 election. If they hold off in hopes that Manchin will sign on later, though, Democrats risk losing the chance to strike any deal at all after more than a year of ill-fated wrangling with him. In the process, they face a Sept. 30 deadline after which they may not be able to use the reconciliation process at all.
In the meantime, the inaction may mean that 13 million people will face higher health insurance premiums next year. A key portion of the party’s long-stalled economic package extends soon-expiring tax subsidies for low- and middle-income Americans who buy health insurance through national and state exchanges, and inaction this summer raises the odds that insurance companies may send notice to these families about looming price increases — just before voters cast their 2022 election ballots. | 2022-07-15T15:47:53Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Joe Manchin issues Democrats new ultimatum on sweeping spending plan - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2022/07/15/manchin-climate-democrats-spending-inflation/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2022/07/15/manchin-climate-democrats-spending-inflation/ |
The NBA has launched an incubator for tech start-ups aimed at addressing common basketball problems, such as this sprained ankle suffered by Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James. (Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP)
LAS VEGAS — Boston Celtics forward Matt Ryan dashed up the court Monday, dribbling behind his back before awkwardly launching a game-winning three-pointer. As his teammates celebrated and the crowd erupted, Ryan fell to the court, writhing in pain with a left ankle sprain.
The Las Vegas Summer League is an 11-day marathon where prized rookies and journeymen alike compete in a low-stakes environment that can take on a carnival feel. But this year, in a pavilion just steps removed from the action, Commissioner Adam Silver and key members of the NBA’s brain trust met with representatives of companies selected to participate in the league’s new “Launchpad” program, which is intended to be an incubator for technological advancements in basketball.
As it happened, ankle sprain prevention and referee development were two of this year’s key initiatives, with the goals of making life less painful for the next generation of Ryans and Jeffersons. Healthier players and more accurate officiating, the NBA reasons, will lead to a better, more profitable product.
“We’re trying to grow and improve the game, and we think the league playing a stronger role will benefit the global basketball community,” said Tom Ryan, the NBA’s vice president of basketball technology and innovation. “We have learned that if we don’t drive it, it’s not going to happen. When they’re working in health care or the military, getting engineers to work on basketball-specific problems is hard. Launchpad gives you a really clear pathway.”
“There’s a direct financial benefit if we invest in these companies and they appreciate,” Tom Ryan said. “There’s also our core business of keeping our stars on the court and selling tickets. Every game lost for LeBron [James], Stephen [Curry] and these guys that could have been prevented is huge financially.”
Betterguards pitches itself as a seatbelt-like preventive product that can be installed in braces or sneakers to protect the outside of each ankle. When athletes walk, run or cut at a normal speed, the technology allows normal freedom of movement, just like when a passenger slowly unfurls a seat belt to fasten it. But when there is a sharp turn of the ankle, the product’s hydraulic walls close tightly in less than a millisecond to prevent the ankle from rolling over, just as a seat belt restricts a passenger from falling forward during a crash.
The product could be especially useful on plays when a defensive player slides under a jump shooter while he is descending. Detroit Pistons rookie Jaden Ivey, the No. 5 pick in June’s draft, landed on a defender’s foot on such a play, ending his highly-anticipated Summer League after just two games.
“Ankle injuries are inevitable,” said former Cleveland Cavaliers guard Daniel Gibson, who is partnering with Betterguards. “My career ended due to ankle injuries over and over and over again. I went through a lot, depression. All I knew was basketball. If this could really prevent one of my brothers having to go through what I went through, let’s see what it’s all about.”
The product, which Betterguards chairman Martin Vetterlein said has been utilized by soccer, handball and minor league basketball players in Germany, was product-tested at an NBA youth academy in Africa and put through a trial at the University of Michigan to ensure that it wouldn’t inadvertently cause knee or hip injuries. The company’s executives aim to partner with major footwear designers so that the product will become “nonnegotiable equipment” for athletes, and they hope that NBA players will begin wearing their braces as soon as next season. League executives would first like to conduct a test in the G League.
“There’s tens of millions of dollars and millions of disappointed fans at stake with each injury,” Vetterlein said. “It’s not only the money, it’s the people sitting at home.”
While Betterguards tries to keep players on the court, Rezzil’s virtual reality system could help referees improve their positioning.
Monty McCutchen, the NBA’s vice president of referee development, said that officials watch calls from nine different camera angles during their extensive postgame review sessions. According to Rezzil executives, their software provides access to “infinite perspectives,” allowing referees to review plays from their precise vantage point or to reposition the camera to determine where they should have been to get the best angle.
Take Jefferson, who was convinced that he had made the right call, even though his colleague had overturned his decision. Television angles showed a loose ball being tipped by fingers in a crowd, but Rezzil’s software would enable Jefferson — and referee evaluators like McCutchen — to relive the sequence from any viewpoint they wanted on a laptop or a VR-enabled headset.
“You could move yourself into different positions,” McCutchen said. “If I’d been in this position two steps over, I wouldn’t have had the doubt or needed help from another official. I would have seen it clearly, signaled more confidently and we wouldn’t have come together. Whenever referees meet, it breeds doubt and seeds confusion in the game participants.”
While Major League Baseball has said it could use “robot umpires” to automate ball and strike calls as soon as 2024, NBA executives insisted their continued forays into video review are about making life easier for their referees, not replacing them. The league’s brass believes that certain calls — goaltending, out-of-bounds decisions and whether a shooter’s foot was on the three-point line — will soon be automated with video systems that can relay 29 points of skeletal data in real time to ensure accuracy.
“We are committed to humans,” Tom Ryan said. “We think human referees are incredible, but we think there’s an opportunity to take certain things off their plate. Did the ball reach its apex? When you’re looking at 10 different things on the court and now you’re judging a parabola, the computer is better at doing that.”
With Silver bracing for upcoming negotiations with the National Basketball Players Association and media rights partners, it’s no surprise that the league’s focus is on issues like health and the integrity of the officiating, as both directly contribute to the quality of the television product. Indeed, Silver noted that “player availability” is the Launchpad’s top priority for next season, with special focus given to soft-tissue injuries.
Looking ahead to a media landscape that will be dominated by streaming platforms and unbundled services, Silver said that viewers will be more discerning, forcing the NBA to put “more teams in position to compete and more players on the floor in position to compete on a nightly basis.” The commissioner even floated the possibility that players could receive new “additional incentives,” on top of their contracts, based on the number of “games played and the results of those games.”
That philosophy sounds a bit Darwinian and the embrace of virtual reality and tracking wearables can give “Big Brother” vibes. Still, the NBA is convinced that its fortunes rely on maintaining its position on the cutting edge.
“Technological innovation that can be good business and make a difference in our business is precisely the sweet spot,” Silver said. “The [Launchpad’s] funnel will grow and create even more opportunities. There’s nothing more frustrating than having [playoff] series decided by players not being on the floor.” | 2022-07-15T16:41:28Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Inside the NBA’s ‘Launchpad’ incubator for tech start-ups - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/07/15/nba-launchpad/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/07/15/nba-launchpad/ |
What’s Stagflation, and Why Is It Such a Worry Now?
Analysis by Matthew Boesler and Emily Graffeo | Bloomberg
A shopper inside a grocery store in San Francisco, California. (Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg)
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine added to fears that began brewing in 2021 that the world may be revisited by something not seen much in decades: stagflation. Recent steps by the US Federal Reserve and other central banks to fight the highest inflation rates of the century have only added to stagflation worries.
1. What is stagflation?
A combination of the words “stagnation” and “inflation,” it describes an economy with high unemployment and little to no growth even as prices are rising faster than normal. Iain Macleod, a British politician, coined the term in 1965. Plenty of economists once doubted stagflation was possible. That’s because unemployment and inflation typically move in opposite directions, since price levels are usually driven by an economy’s level of demand, and unemployment generally falls when demand booms.
No one knows with any certainty, partly because it is a rare event. Most analysis is based on the most famous episode, in the US during the 1970s. Economists point to a combination of external shocks and policy missteps. In 1971, President Richard Nixon reacted to balance-of-payments pressures by taking the US off the gold standard — that is, letting its value float. The dollar’s subsequent fall added to inflationary pressures at home. Then in 1973, Arab members of OPEC placed an oil embargo on the US and other nations that supported Israel in the Yom Kippur War, leading to a surge in oil prices. As a result of what economists call a supply shock, US businesses not only passed along those costs but cut back on production — a step that added to inflation by making goods scarcer while also increasing unemployment. Some also point to mistakes by the US Federal Reserve, which waited to raise interest rates. By 1975, the so-called Misery Index -- the sum of inflation and the unemployment rate -- reached 19.9%. It peaked in 1980 at 22%.
3. Why was the term revived?
In early 2021, economies suppressed during pandemic lockdowns bounced back, led by strong consumer demand. That rebound was quickly met with shortages, given that supply chains were still in disarray. Prices started to rise, a trend that accelerated when energy shortfalls emerged late in the year, even as unemployment remained elevated in many parts of the world. That was less of a worry in the US, where a strong recovery led to labor shortages that by March 2022 drove inflation rates to levels not seen in decades.
The most immediate impact of the invasion of Ukraine was to drive already high energy prices higher. The possible loss of other Russian commodities because of sanctions imposed by the West led to price surges in food, natural gas and aluminum. Decisions by the Fed and the Bank of England to begin aggressive interest-rate hikes, and by the European Central Bank to prepare to raise rates, have added to stagflation worries. Interest rate increases are a blunt economic tool: they are meant to slow economic activity by making borrowing more expensive. Ideally, the efforts would result in a so-called soft landing, in which an economy slows enough that prices stop rising quickly but not so slowly that a recession ensues. After the Fed raised its main policy making rate by three-quarters of a percentage point in June, an increasing number of forecasters said that a recession would be hard to avoid.
5. Who’s most at risk?
To many analysts, the odds of stagflation were higher in the European Union and the UK than in the US, where the economic recovery from the pandemic had been stronger. Euro zone inflation in May hit 8.1%, while the OECD predicted that the UK would be the slowest-growing member of the G-7 countries in 2023. In June, the World Bank cut its global economic growth forecast, warning that the danger of stagflation was “considerable.” The bank’s president, David Malpass, wrote, “Even if a global recession is averted, the pain of stagflation could persist for several years — unless major supply increases are set in motion.” | 2022-07-15T17:16:21Z | www.washingtonpost.com | What’s Stagflation, and Why Is It Such a Worry Now? - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/energy/whats-stagflation-and-why-is-it-such-a-worry-now/2022/07/15/5c0162c6-0459-11ed-8beb-2b4e481b1500_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/energy/whats-stagflation-and-why-is-it-such-a-worry-now/2022/07/15/5c0162c6-0459-11ed-8beb-2b4e481b1500_story.html |
Cryptocurrency mining requires huge amounts of electricity, prompting concerns over the industry’s environmental impact — and whether the state’s grid can keep up
Power lines carry much needed electricity during a heat wave in Dallas on June 12, 2022. (Shelby Tauber/Reuters)
Complying with requests from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas — the grid operator that asked businesses and residents to voluntarily conserve electricity during the heat wave — nearly all industrial-scale mining in the state reportedly powered down, according to the Texas Blockchain Council, an industry association.
“There are over 1,000 megawatts worth of bitcoin mining load that responded to ERCOT’s conservation request by turning off their machines to conserve energy for the grid,” Lee Bratcher, president of Texas Blockchain Council, told Bloomberg News in an email.
The result? More than 1 percent of the state’s total grid capacity was freed up, Bratcher wrote.
While that ordinarily may not seem like much, it can matter during times of peak demand, said Joshua D. Rhodes, a research associate with the Webber Energy Group at the University of Texas at Austin. When an electricity grid is “within a few thousand megawatts of how much supply we have and how much demand we have, a 1 percent change can make a big difference,” said Rhodes, who has consulted for cryptocurrency mining companies.
Bitcoin miners break new ground in Texas, a state hailed as the new cryptocurrency capital
Around the world, the cryptocurrency industry’s massive carbon footprint has drawn increasing scrutiny. A 2019 study estimated that bitcoin, one of the most popular cryptocurrencies, emitted between 22 and 29 million metric tons of carbon dioxide during the previous year, according to findings published in the peer-reviewed journal Joule.
Meanwhile, extreme weather events, largely driven by climate change, have continued to strain Texas’s power system, which runs independently of the national grid. The recent heat wave has been preceded by other extreme heat events as well as a record wave in February 2021, which left millions of Texans without power at one time as temperatures plummeted to minus-2 degrees Fahrenheit in Dallas and 13 degrees in Houston.
Texas, the go-it-alone state, is rattled by the failure to keep the lights on
Although mining companies are among the businesses that were asked voluntarily save power, “this is no requirement for them to conserve,” ERCOT said in a statement to The Post.
Bratcher told the Verge in an email that bitcoin miners in Texas had shut down for “several reasons but primarily because it is the right thing to do to be a good ‘grid citizen.’” There were also financial motives, according to Bratcher, including the price of electricity, which usually soars when power supply is limited. (Bratcher and the Texas Blockchain Council did not respond to requests for comment from The Post before publication.)
Additionally, some companies have enrolled in programs offered by ERCOT, which pay large electricity consumers for not using power during periods of high demand, Rhodes said.
“It’s good to know that they can and there are times when they’re willing to do so,” he said of miners voluntarily pausing their operations. “But it wasn’t completely altruistic.” | 2022-07-15T17:16:22Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Limiting bitcoin, crypto miners helped Texas during heat wave - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2022/07/15/bitcoin-crypto-texas-heat-wave/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2022/07/15/bitcoin-crypto-texas-heat-wave/ |
Amazon data center dispute led to strange government intervention
Amazon has brought a civil suit in federal court in Alexandria alleging fraud against a real estate company. (Cliff Owen/AP)
Nearly two years after Amazon filed a lawsuit accusing former employees and business partners of corrupting multiple real estate deals, federal criminal prosecutors urged both sides to agree to put the litigation on hold. They told Amazon they were better at investigating fraud than the company could ever be. Then they warned those accused of fraud that if they kept defending themselves in the civil case, they would likely be prosecuted.
It was an unusual threat in an unusual dispute, involving the massive, complex web of data centers in Northern Virginia that Amazon has spent billions of dollars creating and made billions more using to host cloud computing services. The company, which says it accounts for about a fifth of the personal property taxes paid in Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William counties, alleges some of that lucrative business was tainted by collusion between a real estate developer and its own employees.
But such fraud cases are difficult to prove, and this one has been particularly troubled. When prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia initiated the call, on the verge of depositions, the case had already led to the withdrawal of a federal judge and an FBI agent over ethical concerns.
Court records offer a glimpse into an ongoing investigation by the government and a parallel civil lawsuit. Things began the way civil cases often do, with a tip. Actually, two.
The first went straight to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. (Bezos owns The Washington Post.)
“I never considered myself a rat,” Danny Mulcahy wrote in the late-2019 email, now reproduced in court records. “But ... it is disheartening when people are rewarded so grossly for unscrupulous behavior.”
He was a former employee of a Colorado commercial real estate firm called Northstar, which had contracted to build and manage multiple data centers for Amazon in Loudoun and Prince William. Mulcahy claimed that Amazon employees had taken kickbacks as part of those deals.
He later said his suspicions were raised by the amount of money going to a trust benefiting the brother of an Amazon employee. Those same payments were noted by Northstar Chief Operating Officer Tim Lorman, who a month later raised the issue with the investment firm financing the Amazon deal.
Amazon alleges in court filings that its investigation revealed Northstar funneled money to two Amazon employees, Casey Kirschner and Carl Nelson, through Kirschner’s brother Christian, and that both the employees and Northstar had profited from separate real estate deals with Amazon.
“The evidence that has come to light ... is damning and leaves no doubt that Defendants violated the federal RICO statute and engaged in multiple acts of wire fraud, honest services fraud, money laundering, and other unlawful acts over a multiyear period,” attorneys for Amazon alleged in their most recent complaint.
By February 2020, Amazon’s attorneys had contacted the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Virginia, according to court records. Amazon sued in the same court in late April, a few weeks after the FBI raided the homes of the alleged fraudsters. The Justice Department that spring seized funds from the defendants through civil forfeiture. Nelson had to turn over more than $800,000; Northstar chief executive Brian Watson and his company were ordered to put $25 million in escrow. (Because he did not, citing lack of funds, a receiver now controls his assets.)
The defendants have fought back, saying that Amazon was imagining a criminal scheme out of complicated real estate deals that were vetted by an attorney. Amazon has accused that attorney of facilitating the fraud, which he has denied.
Watson has filed his own court case in Delaware, saying that thin allegations are being used to cut him out of a lucrative partnership. His attorney Stan Garnett said the case against him is “based on innuendo and misunderstandings” and that Watson had no knowledge of or involvement in any money going to an Amazon employee.
Casey Kirschner and Nelson say that all the deals were extensively negotiated and scrutinized by people above their level, and that what Amazon considers criminal is at worst a disagreement over the terms of a noncompete agreement.
“I did my level best for the company,” Nelson said. “I continue to believe the truth will prevail.”
Amazon has not specified damages, citing confidentiality.
Lawyers representing Amazon have consulted with the Justice Department more than 75 times about the case, according to court records, but charges have not yet been filed.
Thomas M. DiBiagio, a former U.S. attorney for the state of Maryland, said these kinds of fraud cases “are difficult to prove,” because “they require strong and substantial evidence of a criminal intent.”
It is not uncommon for criminal prosecutors to ask for a pause in civil litigation to allow their own work to take priority. But the Jan. 24 call began with a request from Assistant U.S. Attorney Jamar Walker that nothing be recorded. Then fellow prosecutor Matt Burke spoke directly to the litigants. Two people who heard the call described it to The Washington Post. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing litigation.
Burke told Amazon on the call to “get out of our way,” promising that the government would “run this to the ground” despite “horrible” press about the company. He made the analogy of prosecuting people who rob drug dealers.
Then he said that if the defendants were “truly innocent ... we will figure that out,” but that “if you choose not to agree to a stay, you’ll get what you deserve.”
The defendants would then be “forced to make an impossible choice” between refusing to answer questions in the civil case or lying under oath, Burke said on the call. If they chose the latter, he said he would indict them for perjury or obstruction, “regardless of whether you committed any other crime.”
The defendants’ attorneys viewed that statement as a veiled threat and a not-subtle suggestion that their clients couldn’t testify truthfully. After they raised those concerns with supervisors in the prosecutor’s office, according to the people involved, the government returned the bulk of the seized funds, and Burke stopped working on the case. He followed a federal judge who recused himself after learning that his family owned Amazon stock and an FBI agent who was accused of breaching attorney-client privilege during a search.
Since the call, in depositions, both Mulcahy and Lorman have said they didn’t have hard evidence of fraud.
“I said ... this is how I believe things had happened. I didn’t say with sort of empirical authority that these — all these things did happen,” Mulcahy testified in March.
Attorneys for Amazon who had said in repeated sworn statements that they “could competently testify” to their “personal knowledge” of fraud withdrew the declarations and said they “mistakenly included form language” — the attorneys had no firsthand knowledge, only what they had learned from others. A magistrate judge in April called it “a big mistake” and “sloppy lawyering” but allowed Amazon to submit new filings.
Both the criminal investigation and the civil litigation are ongoing. The defendants are now pushing for a settlement conference or trial date, saying Amazon has probably spent more on attorneys’ fees than it stands to gain. Amazon dismissed those proposals as ploys to “run out the clock” on turning over information and “push a no-fraud narrative that is irreconcilable with the record.”
The U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Virginia declined to comment on the case, as did attorneys for Amazon.
Devlin Barrett and Teo Armus contributed to this report. | 2022-07-15T17:16:36Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Amazon lawsuit in Eastern District of Virginia alleges fraud - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/15/amazon-virginia-lawsuit-forfeiture/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/15/amazon-virginia-lawsuit-forfeiture/ |
The investigation by the Justice Department and U.S. Attorney’s Office in Maryland will investigate whether the hiring and promotional practices of state police have discriminated against Black troopers.
The Justice Department will investigate Maryland State Police's hiring and promotion practices. (Stefani Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images)
Federal authorities are investigating whether the Maryland Department of State Police hiring and promotional practices has been racially discriminatory against Black troopers, the Justice Department and U.S. Attorney’s Office in Maryland announced Friday.
The civil pattern or practice investigation will be conducted under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin.
Gov. Larry Hogan (R) and the superintendent of state police have been “informed” of the investigation and “pledged cooperation,” according to a statement in a news release from Maryland U.S. Attorney Erek Barron and Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
“Discrimination has no place in any workplace, and especially in law enforcement agencies,” Clarke said. “All communities deserve law enforcement agencies that are built upon principles of fairness and equity.”
Attorneys from the Justice Department’s employment litigation section, which is within its Civil Rights Division, will help with the investigation, alongside the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s newly created Civil Rights Unit.
Justice Dept. investigating how NYPD handles sex-assault crimes
“This office strives to protect the civil rights of all Marylanders, including the rights of our sworn law enforcement officers,” said Barron, the first Black top prosecutor for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Maryland.
He said the investigation will further his office’s “mission to restore trust between law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve by ensuring fair employment practices by police departments.”
The news release did not indicate what sparked the investigation from the Justice Department or detail specific allegations.
Maryland State Police and Hogan’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
This story will be updated. David Nakamura contributed to this report. | 2022-07-15T17:16:42Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Justice Department investigating Maryland State Police hiring practices - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/15/maryland-state-police-discrimination-investigation-doj/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/15/maryland-state-police-discrimination-investigation-doj/ |
Maryland’s next governor and public education
Wes Moore, a candidate in Maryland's Democratic gubernatorial primary, speaks to a Bowie State University student in Bowie, Md., on April 29. (Eric Lee for The Washington Post)
Virginia’s gubernatorial campaign last year made national headlines when Republican Glenn Youngkin ran and won with the platform of a conservative culture warrior: giving “power” to parents in education, limiting what teachers can say about race and racism, banning books about sensitive issues. He has stayed in the spotlight with practices such as setting up a controversial “tip line” so parents can report teachers who are supposedly promoting “divisive practices.”
Maryland’s current political campaign for a new governor has failed to garner the same kind of national attention that Virginia’s did — even with one Republican candidate who featured “parents rights” legislation in her first campaign advertisement and another GOP candidate who the state’s current leader, Gov. Larry Hogan (R), called a “QAnon wackjob.”
But the consequences of the election are no less important for the state than they were in Virginia. The results will affect the implementation of historic legislation passed last year to transform public education and child care over a decade, as well as the near future of school “choice” and other issues affecting young people.
Voters are now engaged in early voting before Tuesday’s primary ballot at a time when teacher morale across the country is at its lowest in decades. Some Maryland districts, including Prince George’s County, are struggling with teacher shortages and recruitment for the fall; educators have reported an increase in student mental health issues; mass shootings at schools around the nation have increased security concerns; and new coronavirus variants threaten a new wave of infections this fall.
The central school reform program in Maryland is the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, landmark 2021 legislation passed over Hogan’s veto and designed to overhaul K-12 public education and child care over the next decade. It calls for increasing education funding by $3.8 billion each year over the next 10 years — but whether all of the funding will be approved remains a question. Maryland now has a projected budget surplus of $7.6 billion by the end of 2023 — but the blueprint has funding only through 2026 or 2027.
There are 10 Democratic gubernatorial candidates on the primary ballot: Maryland Comptroller Peter V.R. Franchot; Wes Moore, former nonprofit executive, author and combat veteran; former U.S. education secretary John B. King Jr.; former U.S. labor secretary Tom Perez; former Maryland attorney general Doug Gansler; former Prince George’s county executive Rushern L. Baker III, who suspended his campaign last month; former government worker and nonprofit executive Jon Baron; Ralph W. Jaffe, a retired teacher; Ashwani Jain, a local program director for the National Kidney Foundation; and Jerome M. Segal, a philosopher and activist.
There are four Republican gubernatorial candidates running in the primary: Kelly M. Schulz, a former Hogan administration official who is being supported by the governor; Del. Daniel L. Cox, who was endorsed by former president Donald Trump and whom Hogan called “a QAnon wackjob”; disbarred lawyer and perennial candidate Robin Ficker; and lawyer Joe Werner. Polls show Schulz and Cox leading the Republican field.
On the Democratic side, the latest polls show that Moore, Franchot and Perez are statistically tied for the lead or the leading three. If Moore — who has been leading the Democratic candidates for a few months in fundraising — were to win, he would be the first African American to be governor in Maryland; if Perez won, he would be the state’s first Latino governor.
The Washington Post asked the candidates how they would change the blueprint, and you can see the responses here. While most of the candidates support it, each would change or add to parts of it. Moore was an early booster, testifying before the state legislature urging its passage. Franchot has in the past opposed the blueprint, instead offering changes to curriculum and other measures. Asked where he stands now, his campaign said in an email that he “will fund and implement” the legislation “as passed” — suggesting there is no guarantee he will continue to support funding in later years.
The Republican gubernatorial candidates running in the primary did not respond to The Post.
The Post also asked the candidates whether they support having school resource officers on campuses. Saying yes were Baron, Franchot, Gansler and Ficker. King, Jain and Segal said no. Perez and Moore did not respond. The Republican gubernatorial candidates did not respond to The Post.
Each of the leading candidates has nabbed endorsements from state and federal legislators and others; Perez won the endorsements of The Washington Post and Baltimore Sun editorial departments.
But when it comes to education, the coveted endorsement in the state comes from the Maryland State Education Association, the largest teachers union in the state, with 76,000 members. Although there is a former U.S. education secretary in the mix, Moore, the former chief executive of the poverty-fighting Robin Hood Foundation who is running for political office for the first time, won the endorsement.
Democratic hopefuls answered 20-page questionnaires and then spoke to union members at a spring assembly. The Republican nominees did not accept invitations to appear at the assembly. A union nominating committee voted for Moore, who according to union President Cheryl Bost, won the endorsement because he listened to educators.
“Wes led in listening to our concerns and incorporating those issues into his platform, such as understanding education support professionals’ needs, recruiting educators of color, supporting class size as a subject of bargaining, and providing more resources for students that need the most help,” Bost said in an email on Tuesday.
“All of the candidates talk about these things now, but Wes was early and reacted to the educators’ voices,” she said. “He was hearing and meeting with us, and it made people feel seen, valued, and appreciated at a time when educators have been under right-wing attacks just for doing their jobs.”
Three of the Democratic candidates worked for the Obama administration, but former president Barack Obama has not endorsed anyone in the primary (though Perez has campaign ads that showcase quotes from Obama praising him). Perez served as labor secretary and King as education secretary, while Obama appointed Moore to the Board of Directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service.
At the union’s April assembly, Franchot’s speech generated a lot of conversation among participants, some said, because he promised something highly unusual. Franchot told teachers, among things, that he would reduce standardized testing by 90 percent, and reduce class size to 20 students per teacher — both difficult and costly to enact. But it was a promise that he would ensure that teachers get early boarding on airplanes at the state-run Baltimore-Washington Airport that surprised union members. The campaign said that it was a way to help underappreciated teachers feel empowered in “all areas of their live” and “is a small token of gratitude from the state.”
According to the Baltimore Sun, Maryland voters have indicated in a recent survey that education is a key concern for them — and the fallout from school closures during the pandemic has made the issue even more important. Maryland schools were among the last to reopen after the pandemic closed buildings nationwide in March 2020, and teachers have reported a rise in student mental health issues and discipline problems. Most told Post reporter Donna St. George recently that schools still don’t have enough staffing and student supports.
For its 2022 voting guide, the Baltimore Sun asked the candidates one education question: What should Maryland schools do differently during the next pandemic? The three leading candidates responded this way:
Moore promised a “better health respond” that can “keep students safely in the classroom” and provide “our educators with the resources needed to support students’ social-emotional needs.”
Perez said he would expand access to broadband, and “spearhead policies that bolster our state’s educational resiliency by expanding the opportunity for schools to offer year-round learning and alternative school schedules, integrating after-school and summer programming into the existing educational systems, and allowing optional additional grades to address learning loss.”
Franchot promised to provide “every citizen in Maryland” with “high-speed broadband and 5G wireless technology” and have the state “work with schools to provide wraparound services like school lunches, computers, and child-care assistance.” He also said “we must better communicate plans for testing and thresholds for returning to in person learning, as well as better supply teachers with PPE [personal protective equipment].”
Schulz and Cox haven’t talked much about the blueprint and aren’t expected to be supporters of the expensive changes.
The Washington Blade, which covers gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender news, asked candidates about their views regarding LGBTQ rights. All of the Democratic candidates said they supported them; Schulz, the Blake said, did not respond to the question. Cox has said he would want to legally restrict what he called “classroom indoctrination” about gender identity in grades K-3.
One issue that has had little discussion in the race but that is part of the national debate about the future of public education is charter schools — which are publicly funded but privately operated — and whether Maryland should have more of them.
While some of the more than 40 states that have charter schools have hundreds of them, Maryland has about 50 — most of them in Baltimore — under a state charter school law that bars full-time virtual charters and allows only local boards of education to grant a charter to nonprofit organizations seeking to open such a school. Charter supporters would like to see the law liberalized, while critics worry that an expansion will funding from school districts, which has happened in some other states.
Moore has said he does not want to see an expansion of charters but wants to ensure accountability for current charters, and wants to focus resources on improving public school districts that educate most Maryland children. Franchot’s campaign said the candidate “supports school choice and charter schools” and “will ensure that charter schools have proper accountability measures in place and implement best practices.” Perez’s campaign did not indicate whether he would seek to expand the number of charter schools, saying that “he will stand against any attempt to lower standards and decrease accountability at charter schools.” As secretary, King, who is now the head of a nonpartisan nonprofit education organization, supported Obama’s controversial education agenda, which included the expansion of charter schools and evaluating teachers by student test scores.
Schulz, who has said she wants to expand the number of charter schools, made “parental rights” the focus of her first campaign ad, promising more transparency in schools so parents know what their children are learning. She told WBFF Fox45 Baltimore: “We want to make sure parents know they are empowered, that they have the power to be able to have their children’s instruction and curriculum be based on the belief of the family.” How that would work in a public school is unclear. | 2022-07-15T17:16:48Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Maryland’s next governor and public education - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/07/15/marylands-next-governor-public-education/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/07/15/marylands-next-governor-public-education/ |
FILE - In this photo provided by NASA, backdropped against clouds over Earth, the International Space Station is seen from Space Shuttle Discovery as the two orbital spacecraft accomplish their relative separation on March 7, 2011. It was announced Friday, July 15, 2022, that NASA astronauts will go back to riding Russian rockets under a new agreement. At the same time, Russian cosmonauts will launch aboard U.S. rockets to the International Space Station beginning this fall. (NASA via AP, File) (Uncredited/NASA) | 2022-07-15T17:16:54Z | www.washingtonpost.com | US, Russian astronauts will swap seats on rockets again - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/us-russian-astronauts-will-ride-each-others-rockets-again/2022/07/15/b8df5950-0457-11ed-8beb-2b4e481b1500_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/us-russian-astronauts-will-ride-each-others-rockets-again/2022/07/15/b8df5950-0457-11ed-8beb-2b4e481b1500_story.html |
Perspective by Marian Henley
Marian Henley is an artist and author in Austin, Tex. She is working on a graphic memoir about the wonder and redemption of raising a son after surviving extreme male violence.
When Texas cartoonist Marian Henley was violently raped in 1974, she didn’t have to worry about what would happen if she got pregnant. The Supreme Court had decided Roe v. Wade the previous year. Today, at least five states ban abortion with no exceptions for rape. Texas will join those states in a couple of weeks. | 2022-07-15T17:17:19Z | www.washingtonpost.com | A Texas cartoonist illustrates the aftermath of her 1974 rape, when abortion was legal - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/07/15/abortion-rape-texas-roe/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/07/15/abortion-rape-texas-roe/ |
It’s not just us. Western democracies are fragmenting.
Elections on a single day in France, Colombia and Spain show a pattern of disaffection with governments
Perspective by Richard H. Pildes
Richard H. Pildes is the Sudler Family professor of constitutional law at New York University School of Law and a co-author of "The Law of Democracy."
Supporters of Gustavo Petro celebrate in Medellín, Colombia, on June 19, after he was elected president. (Joaquin Sarmiento/AFP/Getty Images)
Three major elections on the same Sunday in June — in France, Colombia and Spain — tell the fundamental story of democracy in our era: the continuous disaffection with government, the collapse of traditionally dominant parties and figures, and the constant search for alternatives — which is quickly followed by yet more disaffection and the search for yet other alternatives. This is no longer a narrative of dysfunction distinctive to one country, if it ever was. The Conservative Party in Britain is now scrambling to find a new prime minister; the government in Italy is near collapse. The nature of political authority has fundamentally changed. Political power has become fragmented, as voters abandon traditional parties and turn to upstart, insurgent parties or independent, free agent politicians from across the political spectrum.
In multiparty democracies, such as the three that held elections last month, the fragmentation of political power makes it more difficult to form governments, causes those governments to be fragile and prone to collapse, and weakens their capacity to deliver effective policies. Politics in the United States, with our well-entrenched two-party system, are nonetheless being shaped by similar forces — although here fragmentation means the Democratic and Republican parties are torn by internal factional conflicts that party leaders struggle to surmount. Such battles made the House Republican caucus ungovernable when Reps. John Boehner and Paul Ryan took turns as House speaker, leading both to abandon that powerful position. They’re also why the Democratic Party damaged itself, perhaps irreparably for this year’s midterms, with a prolonged internal debate over whether to link major infrastructure legislation with the grander aspirations of the Build Back Better bill, as well as conflicts between the party’s moderate and progressive wings that have hamstrung immigration policy and kept critical bipartisan legislation to boost U.S. chip manufacturing in prolonged limbo. Even with unified control of government, the parties find it difficult to govern.
The recent elections in France, Europe’s second-largest economy, offer a particularly striking example of the dynamics affecting nearly all democracies in the West. When he was initially elected president in 2017, Emmanuel Macron upended the existing political order; indeed, he was dubbed “le disrupteur.” Since the 1950s, France had been governed by the main party of the left (the Socialists) or the right (the Republicans). Yet in 2017, voters abandoned those parties to such a shocking extent that neither was able to get a candidate into the second, final round of the French presidential election. Macron ran and won as a free agent, disconnected from any existing party structure. Virtually overnight, he instead created a new party, essentially a personality-based reflection of his own views, which he described as “neither left nor right.” This pop-up party, composed of many political novices, then quickly managed to capture majority control of the National Assembly. France seemed poised to have a completely new, effective governing majority.
Yet as soon as Macron started to propose policies, it was his turn to be dramatically disrupted. The “yellow vest” street protests spiraled France into a year of constant political turbulence starting in late 2018. Despite this, in April, Macron was reelected, with the collapse of the two traditional parties now confirmed in a second election: In the first round, their candidates received a mere 1.8 percent (Socialist) and 4.8 percent (Republican) of the vote. Once again, Macron won in a contest that pitted him against the right-wing insurgency party of Marine Le Pen. After winning consecutive presidential terms, perhaps now Macron would be able to exert effective authority.
And yet, voters turned sharply against Macron a mere two months later when elections were held for the National Assembly. The success of more radical parties on right and left stripped the president of a legislative majority and fragmented the National Assembly to the point of “turbulence and incoherence,” as one analyst wrote. Indeed, even Macron advisers say they expect “total paralysis” of the legislature; some advisers say the only option is for Macron to dissolve the Assembly in a year and call for new elections.
Colombia’s presidential vote tells a similar tale of churning democratic disaffection, in a perhaps more puzzling context. As in France, both of the traditionally dominant parties, the Liberals and the Conservatives, collapsed. The incumbent president, Iván Duque, a moderate conservative, was term limited. In his four years in office, Duque “oversaw a record of policy success unmatched in recent South American history,” as David Frum put it in an Atlantic essay. The country’s economy expanded at an annual rate of 8.5 percent in the first quarter of this year, and Duque effectively managed a massive influx of 1.7 million refugees from Colombia’s collapsing neighbor, Venezuela. Despite this, Duque left office with an approval rating of around 20 percent. Faced with budget struggles owing partly to the pandemic, he had proposed raising taxes on many common goods and services, triggering months-long street protests, which, even after Duque rescinded the proposal, turned into an expression of general anti-government rage, with at least 58 deaths, many at the hands of police, according to a human rights organization there. As in other democracies recently, voters turned against the political class as a whole. Anti-establishment politicians trounced the Liberals and Conservatives; neither party managed to get a candidate into the second, final round of the presidential elections, as was the case in France.
Instead, one of the two final candidates was an independent populist and real estate mogul who was not widely known before the election and didn’t hold public rallies; his success in making it to the second round was credited in significant part to his substantial social media following, including on TikTok. The other candidate, Gustavo Petro, a former guerrilla fighter who went on to win with 50.4 percent of the vote, promises to change Colombia to a state-centered economy.
On the same day, Spain held a major provincial election. The country had been governed by a dominant center-left and center-right party, which had won alternating elections since the end of the Franco era. But beginning in 2014, Spanish politics fragmented dramatically. That year, a new party, Podemos (“we can”), arose out of the street protests of the spontaneous “Indignados” movement. The country ended up holding four national elections from 2015 to 2019 in an effort to find a stable governing coalition. In five years, Spain’s two-party system shattered into an unwieldy five-party system. In the last of those elections, the Socialist leader, Pedro Sánchez, was forced to form Spain’s first coalitional government in order to put together a thin majority in parliament, which in 2020 made him prime minister.
But the country’s recent major provincial election is revealing discontent with that fragile government. In Andalusia, Spain’s most populous region and long a stronghold of the Socialist Party, the conservative Popular Party won an outright majority in the regional parliament. That suggests voters are turning against the Socialist-led governing coalition, a further sign of the turmoil and disaffection in that nation.
What can stop a diverse democracy from tearing itself apart?
As the June 19 elections across these diverse countries show, citizen dissatisfaction is pervasive and readily mobilized, but more easily in the negative form of rejecting traditional parties and political figures. Yet when insurgent parties or free agent candidates get elected, voters quickly turn on them as well, in a continually turbulent process. On the economic front, voter grievances stem from the effects of globalization on middle- and working-class wages, the 2008 financial crisis and its aftermath, and rising inequality. On the cultural front, conflicts over pandemic policy and, in many countries, immigration policy fuel further anger and disaffection. Social media is a major contributor as well: It makes possible the instant mobilization of opposition, delegitimizes political authority no matter who is exercising it and, in the United States especially, enables the emergence of free agent politicians who can find national audiences and raise vast amounts of money through small donations, even in their first years in office.
The French, Spanish and Colombian examples, and similar ones across Western democracies, shed light on the turbulent politics in the United States. Starting with the Republican capture of the Senate in 1980, not since the Civil War have we had such an extended period in which partisan control of at least one of the three national political institutions — House, Senate, White House — is realistically up for grabs nearly every election. As the congressional scholar Frances Lee puts it, we are now governed by “insecure majorities”; voters continually turn on the party in power. This constant churn in our politics makes for what Lee calls “the perpetual campaign.”
Dissatisfaction with the dominant parties is just as profound in the United States as elsewhere. In 2016, an outsider — independent Bernie Sanders — nearly captured the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, while another outsider to traditional politics — Donald Trump — did win the Republican nomination. The faction-riven conflicts inside the parties are playing out now in the primaries, with House members seeking to knock out their own party’s incumbents by supporting primary challengers — a taboo that began breaking down in 2020. Americans’ belief that the two major parties are doing an adequate job is at one of its lowest points ever. Not surprising, then, half the country now identifies as independents, the highest share in history. Support for third parties has also never been greater in the United States; in a Gallup poll last year, 62 percent said a third party is needed.
In response to this dissatisfaction, some reformers urge the United States to adopt proportional representation for the purpose of creating a multiparty democracy. Members of Congress have introduced legislation to permit states to implement proportional representation — which they are currently prohibited from doing — for elections to the House. As the recent European elections demonstrate, however, in this era of political fragmentation, proportional representation has problems of its own. If the United States moved in this direction, the left and right would fracture into two or three parties each (at least). Proponents of proportional representation celebrate that. Yet as dysfunctional and ineffective as Congress currently is, can you imagine trying to cobble together majorities in a Congress of five or six parties?
Democracies are facing numerous challenges, including, in some countries, the rise of illiberal forces and the risk of sliding back into semi-authoritarian regimes. But political fragmentation is affecting nearly all Western democracies and reflects a wide range of ideological positions. Concerted, sustained political majorities are necessary to empower governments to deliver major policy reforms, but the splintering of parties and the rise of essentially independent politicians are making effective government harder to deliver across the West. Given the forces driving this dissatisfaction, it would be naive to believe there’s some simple cure-all for restoring stronger governments. Still, there are institutional reforms that might help the United States push back against factionalism and fragmentation: changes to the structure of primary elections; the use of ranked-choice voting; more competitive election districts; traditional forms of publicly financed elections (rather than those based on small donors); greater input from elected party figures in choosing presidential nominees. If democracies are unable to deliver effective government, disaffection, anger and alienation will continue to grow. Even worse, that failure can draw voters to authoritarian leaders, who promise to cut through dysfunction and deliver what democratic governments seem unable to provide. | 2022-07-15T17:17:25Z | www.washingtonpost.com | It’s not just us. Western democracies are fragmenting. - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/07/15/elections-france-spain-colombia-democracies/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/07/15/elections-france-spain-colombia-democracies/ |
Biden fist bumps MBS as he kicks off meeting with Saudi leaders
The president’s approach to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is being closely watched, since U.S. intelligence officials have concluded he directed the killing of a dissident journalist.
President Biden greeted Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with a fist bump on July 15 in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia. (Video: The Washington Post)
JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia — President Biden greeted Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with a fist bump Friday as he arrived here for a controversial meeting with the Saudi leader, capping his first trip to the Middle East with a high-stakes diplomatic engagement where he is expected to address a range of issues from oil production to human rights to the war in Yemen.
Biden descended Air Force One on a light purple carpet and was greeted by a small coterie of Saudi officials. Unlike the elaborate and effusive welcome ceremony that greeted him Wednesday when he arrived in Israel, Biden was only on the tarmac at King Abdulaziz International Airport for one minute before entering the presidential limousine and departing.
Saudi King Salman and his son, the crown prince often referred to as MBS, were not at the airport to meet Biden, but the president headed straight to Al Salam Royal Palace for a bilateral meeting with the Saudi leaders. Saudi television showed Biden fist-bumping the crown prince before that meeting.
The meeting with the crown prince in particular marks a reversal of Biden’s campaign promise to isolate the Kingdom as a “pariah” state for its human rights violations, particularly the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was a contributing columnist for the Washington Post and an outspoken critic of Saudi Arabia.
Biden has made clear his discomfort with sitting face-to-face with the man who U.S. intelligence officials determined ordered Khashoggi’s killing, and the president repeatedly downplayed his trip to the region in the period leading up to it.
For weeks, he said he would not meet with the crown prince — including in June when he said flatly, “I’m not going to meet with MBS" — and described the visit as being not about Saudi Arabia, but rather about the Middle East more broadly.
Biden calls for accounting of Palestinian American journalist's death
The nature of Biden’s greeting with Mohammed was closely watched after Jake Sullivan, the president’s national security adviser, told reporters before the trip that the White House was “seeking to reduce contact and to increase masking" because of surging cases of covid-19.
Biden officials then since tried to discourage a focus on how he interacted with his counter parts with a senior administration official telling reporters, “We’re focused on the meetings, not the greetings."
The administration also views the Saudis as integral to countering the economic and political influence of Russia and China in the Middle East. At a news conference on Tuesday, Biden defended his decision to meet with the crown prince and the Saudis, saying they are central to any effort to stabilize a volatile region.
“The reason I’m going to Saudi Arabia is to promote U.S. interests in a way that I think we have an opportunity to reassert our influence in the Middle East," Biden said, adding that not engaging with the Saudis threatens to create "a vacuum that is filled by both Russia and China.”
Khashoggi’s killing was widely condemned, including by Biden on the campaign trail, where he publicly vowed to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah.” He has expressed deep reservations to aides about meeting with the crown prince and said publicly that the country’s government has “very little social redeeming value.”
Biden’s direct flight to Saudi Arabia from Israel, however, was historic in its own right, as he became the first president to fly that route. Former president Donald Trump had flown from Saudi Arabia to Israel.
Part of Biden’s trip centers on building ties between Israel and the broader region, and Saudi Arabia announced Friday that it will allow direct flights from Israel, which is seen as a key step in normalizing relations between the two countries.
The Saudi officials meeting Biden at the airport, according to the White House, included Prince Khalid bin Faisal bil Al Saud, governor of Makkah region, and Princess Reema bint Bandar, the Saudi ambassador to the U.S. | 2022-07-15T17:17:37Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Biden fist bumps MBS as he kicks off meeting with Saudi leaders - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/15/biden-saudi-mbs/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/15/biden-saudi-mbs/ |
The moves signal that the U.S.-Russia partnership on the International Space Station will continue despite tensions over Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, meets with the then head of Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, last September. (Ilya Filatov/AP)
In a statement, the U.S. space agency said it “strongly rebukes using the International Space Station for political purposes to support [the] war against Ukraine, which is fundamentally inconsistent with the station’s primary function among the 15 international participating countries to advance science and develop technology for peaceful purposes.” | 2022-07-15T17:19:22Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Rogozin out as head of Russia's space program; NASA plans joint flights - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/07/15/nasa-soyuz-spacex-cooperation/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/07/15/nasa-soyuz-spacex-cooperation/ |
(Washington Post illustration; Hasbro Gaming; iStock)
The word of the day is “party,” apparently.
The New York Times and Hasbro are turning Wordle, the popular word deduction game the Times acquired in January, into a party game you can play with up to four friends, the companies wrote in a news release Thursday.
The board game is a testament to Wordle’s meteoric rise, from one software engineer’s personal project to one of the internet’s favorite pastimes. The Times acquired Wordle for an undisclosed figure in the “low-seven figures” to join the company’s suite of games, including the crossword and Soduku, which are available to subscribers for $40 a year. Wordle remains free-to-play.
In a quarterly earnings report in May, the Times said the acquisition has brought the media company “an unprecedented tens of millions of new users, many of whom stayed to play other games.”
When Wordles collide: ‘Wordle!’ developer donates $50,000 after old app goes viral by accident
Fans of the word game will notice that the rules for the in-person party game are a bit different. In the board game, players take turns coming up with five-letter words — like “print” or “paper” — and the other players attempt to guess the word in the fewest number of tries. Like the original game, players will be awarded yellow and green tiles if they use a letter in the correct word. But, unlike the original, players will be competing against each other. Players score points each round for the number of attempts it takes them to correctly guess a word. The player with the fewest points at the end of the game wins. The game comes equipped with dry-erase boards to maximize replayability.
The creator of Wordle, Josh Wardle, originally designed the game as a side-project for his partner, who loves to play word games. Wardle decided to publicly host the game last October. By early January, more than 2 million people played Wordle every day. In a statement posted on Twitter after The Times acquired the game, Wardle wrote that while it has been “incredible to watch a game bring so much joy to many,” it has also “been a little overwhelming. After all, I am just one person.”
Wordle has brought on a mania of word-game alternatives, all inspired by the original. The two-player game Word Fight combines Wordle’s original concept with the back-and-forth of Words With Friends. Then there’s Worldle — notice the extra “l” — which gives players six tries to guess a country or territory based on an outline of its shape. The National Gallery of Art created “Artle,” as a copycat for art fans. And for music lovers, there’s Heardle, which plays the first second of a song and asks users to guess what it is.
On Tuesday, Spotify acquired Heardle for an undisclosed amount of money.
Knotwords is a sudoku-style word puzzle for Wordle and crossword fans
The Times and Hasbro plan to release the board game version of Wordle in October. You can preorder the boxed set at Amazon and Target for $19.99. | 2022-07-15T17:33:40Z | www.washingtonpost.com | The New York Times and Hasbro turn Wordle into a party game - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2022/07/15/wordle-times-board-game/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2022/07/15/wordle-times-board-game/ |
A guide to the Prince George’s sheriff candidates
Jasmine Hilton
The Maryland primary election is on July 19. (Katherine Frey/The Washington Post)
For the first time in more than a decade, the Prince George’s County Office of the Sheriff will have a new leader. Voters will choose from five candidates in next week’s Democratic primary election on July 19. There are no Republican candidates.
Sheriff Melvin High, who held the office for 12 years, announced his plans last fall to not seek reelection and will retire at the end of the year. He has endorsed one of his deputies in the race.
The Sheriff’s Office is one of dozens of law enforcement agencies in Prince George’s, including county and municipal police departments, but is the only agency with an elected leader. All other chiefs are appointed.
In Prince George’s, the sheriff is responsible for managing 300 deputies and civilians who execute warrants, carry out evictions, respond to certain domestic violence calls and handle security at the courthouses in Hyattsville and Upper Marlboro.
The Post interviewed all five candidates for sheriff about their vision for the office, their job qualifications, how they’ll interact with the community and what they think of local and statewide efforts to increase transparency and accountability within law enforcement.
Age: 45 | Current job: Assistant sheriff, Bureau of Field Operations Chief, Prince George’s County Office of the Sheriff
A Prince George’s County native, Lt. Col. Carr has served for 20 years at the Prince George’s County Office of the Sheriff. He has worked in nearly “every unit and division,” including supervisory roles in the warrants and fugitive division, domestic violence intervention division and internal affairs division, he said.
“Being in the agency and being in the community, I know what we need to do to increase and to better serve our citizens,” Carr said. “Experience matters.”
Throughout the pandemic, Carr has worked with the Prince George’s County Family Justice Center to help victims of domestic violence with additional resources outside of the Sheriff’s Office’s initial response, he said, and with the Prince George’s County Department of Housing to provide assistance to those facing eviction with the emergency rental assistance program. He hopes to continue these efforts as sheriff by focusing on preventing domestic violence with expanded services, providing community members with mental health resources through partnerships with local agencies, and participating in community outreach to assist youth and seniors. Carr said he will also focus on pursuing warrants for violent offenders in the county through partnering with the Prince George’s County Police Department and municipal agencies to share information.
Carr also wants to create more community programs and events to engage with citizens, including a mentorship program for youth, while working alongside nonprofits and community organizations.
“Everything that we do is for service so the citizens have a right to know exactly what’s going on and what’s happening in that agency,” Carr said of police reform. He said he will ensure the office is “accountable and transparent.”
“That’s why I’m running,” Carr added. “Wanting to be able to provide a better service and reimagine the mind-set of public safety, so if somebody from public safety comes to your home, you’re able to say, ‘Hey, I feel safe. This person is coming here to help me and make the situation better and not make it worse.’ ”
Elliott W. Gibson
Age: 68 | Current job: Chief, Edmonston Police Department
Gibson has worked in law enforcement and public safety in the Washington region for more than 40 years, rising to captain in the D.C. police department before serving as chief of police in District Heights and then Edmonston, both in Prince George’s County.
Throughout his career, Gibson said he has gained management, training and planning experience — including working on developing active shooter protocols and the presidential inaugural security plan.
Gibson said he decided to run because, in his view, other candidates lacked his experience.
“I have qualified myself time and again managing the activities of law enforcement over a long period of time,” he said.
Gibson became chief of the small Edmonston department in 2020, after his contract as police chief for District Heights was not renewed. He was placed on paid administrative leave in District Heights after the Maryland Police and Correctional Training Commissions found some record-keeping issues during an audit. Gibson told The Post those issues were quickly resolved and that the city’s punitive actions were motivated by a personal grievance from the then-mayor.
Gibson’s campaign for sheriff, with the slogan “We Can Do More,” includes plans to involve the office more aggressively in the day-to-day public safety efforts in the county — working closely with the Prince George’s County Police Department and other municipal and state agencies to get “directly involved in violent crime,” host community events and educate residents, Gibson said.
“[The Sheriff’s Office] is standing in the middle … but they’re not directly involved,” Gibson said. “I want to make sure they get directly involved.”
Gibson said if elected he would expand the office’s eviction duties to include information campaigns for renters and landlords about preventing eviction and accessing rental assistance. Gibson also promised to improve recruiting, including prioritizing the recruitment of Latino deputies to reflect the growing Latino population in Prince George’s. He also wants to start a reserve deputy sheriff program.
Age: 56 | Current job: Private security contractor for Department of Defense
This is Grogan’s second bid for sheriff, having ran and lost to High in the 2018 primary. He served as an active reservist in the U.S. Marine Corps and worked for 25 years as a U.S. Marshal. Grogan retired in 2013 and started a second career in privacy security.
Grogan calls himself a “civil and human rights advocate” and said he has spent his time in law enforcement advocating for police accountability and transparency. That work included joining with other Black employees to sue the U.S. Marshals Service over racial discrimination allegations.
“I’m not afraid to speak the truth and speak the realities,” Grogan said, promising to change the culture of law enforcement within the county by starting “from the top.”
His primary campaign promises include an investment in mental health awareness and psychological screenings for those applying to work as a deputy at the sheriff’s office, as well as additional training.
As a lifelong Prince George’s resident, Grogan said his deep ties in the community could help with recruiting efforts, especially among young people, which is how he got involved in law enforcement while attending Bowie State University as a student.
His leadership approach, he said, is hands-on and active.
“One of the things that we’ve got to do is begin to restore the trust in the community,” he said. “That is going to take being very visible.”
Sylvester E. Jones, Sr.
Age: 62 | Current job: Retired assistant director, U.S. Marshals Service
Jones, a nearly 30-year resident of Prince George’s County and a Chicago native, served in local and federal law enforcement agencies for more than 30 years. He became the first Black law enforcement officer in the U.S. Marshals Service to become internally promoted to a senior executive role, as assistant director of the judicial security division. During his time as a Marshal, he oversaw federal courtroom security, security of judges, witness protection and prisoner programs.
Jones is also a Gulf War combat veteran and served in the U.S. Army Military Police as a lieutenant colonel. After retiring from the Marshals Service, he first ran for Prince George’s County Sheriff in 2014, and then again in 2018, losing twice to incumbent High.
“The county needs innovative, new leadership and a fresh set of well-qualified eyes,” Jones said.
In retirement, Jones has served with community organizations, including as a member of the board of directors for the People for Change Coalition in Largo, helping returning citizens find jobs and hosting forums on anti-bullying and housing issues, he said. If elected, Jones said he will focus on enhancing child safety and school security, developing programs to mitigate domestic violence, prioritizing criminal warrants of violent offenders, holding listening sessions with community members and advocating for quality health care for residents and mental health resources.
Jones said he also wants to fill vacant jobs within the office and believes accountability within law enforcement starts with recruitment, hiring, de-escalation and mental health awareness training, in-service retraining, supervision and discipline.
“I want to be a partner with the citizens, listen to the concerns of the citizens and then work together to resolve issues,” Jones said.
Age: 50 | Current job: President and CEO, American National Protective Services, LLC
Mayo aims to become the first woman to hold the sheriff’s position in the county.
With more than two decades of law enforcement experience, Mayo has served as a deputy sheriff in Alexandria and with the U.S. Marshals Service. She has also served as a background investigator with government and federal agencies, she said.
Mayo is president and CEO of her own security firm, American National Protective Services in Maryland, which provides various security services including armed and unarmed security, event security, surveillance, consulting and personal bodyguards, according to the firm website.
“I understand that a woman, in fact, is equally equipped to provide superb law enforcement leadership, but having the qualifications to become the sheriff of this great county is what I thrive off of,” Mayo said.
Mayo said her vision for the sheriff’s office includes continued protection of the judicial branch of the county, safety for domestic violence victims, partnering with local law enforcement agencies to end gun violence, being visible in the community and seeing an increase in diversity and more women in leadership in the office.
Her focus areas include creating youth programs and building relationships with seniors, trainings on de-escalation and mental health, and combating recidivism and outstanding warrants.
Mayo said it is important to listen to community members’ needs when it comes to law enforcement reform and through training and education.
“I’m going to change the narrative, and I will make history,” she said. | 2022-07-15T17:51:04Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Prince George's County sheriff's election 2022 - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/15/prince-georges-sheriff/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/15/prince-georges-sheriff/ |
Capitals welcome Laura Schuler as guest coach for development camp
Washington Capitals guest coach Laura Schuler stands with assistant coach Kevin McCarthy during development camp on July 13, 2022. (Craig Hudson/For the Washington Post)
Laura Schuler looked out over the ice from the second floor of the Capitals practice facility, elbows resting on the guardrail, pen in one hand and paper in the other.
Clad in a navy Capitals jacket, Schuler was lined up with Washington’s coaching staff, which she is a member of this week.
Schuler, an assistant coach for the University of Minnesota at Duluth’s women’s hockey team, is serving as a guest coach for Washington’s development camp. The opportunity came about through her involvement with the NHL Coaches’ Association’s Female Coaches Development Program. Lindsay Artkin, the president of the NHLCA, recommended Schuler to the Capitals.
Without any previous ties to the organization, Schuler progressed through an interview process that led to an invitation. Now, she has spent the week learning from Coach Peter Laviolette and his staff.
“It’s been unbelievable to be in a room and talking amongst so many amazing hockey minds,” Schuler said. “We’ve just been sharing drills, sharing knowledge, and it’s been so much fun. So I feel right at home.”
Although Schuler is a new face around the Capitals organization, she has a plethora of development-camp experience. She worked with Hockey Canada for a decade, where she was involved with its development program and U18 team. Much of that knowledge has translated to Washington, where she has worked with the 35 athletes attending the Capitals’ development camp.
Asked if she has given the coaching staff suggestions, Schuler laughed. “No, I don’t give them suggestions. I let them know what we do and how it’s very similar,” she said. “To me, hockey’s hockey, and learning the details is what’s so critical as a coach, and those guys are so good at it.”
Capitals General Manager Brian MacLellan said he’s glad Schuler will be able to learn from Laviolette and gain experience working with the Capitals coaching staff.
“It’s great for her to be around our coaching staff to see how they plan the schedule, just to see how they operate,” MacLellan said.
The owner of an extensive coaching resume, Schuler is entering the second year of her second stint as an assistant coach at UMD. Her first time on the Bulldogs staff was a seven-year tenure highlighted by a national championship in 2010. She has also served as the head coach at the University of Massachusetts Boston, Northeastern University and Dartmouth College.
Schuler played college hockey at Northeastern and went on to play for Canada’s national team. She was a member of the 1998 Canadian team that won silver at the Olympics and was on three rosters that won gold medals at the world championships in 1990, 1992 and 1997.
Schuler later coached the Canadian women’s hockey team at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics, when it won silver after falling to the United States in the final.
One member of that team, Rebecca Johnston, is working as a guest coach with the Calgary Flames this week. She said she saw the news that Schuler would be a guest coach with the Capitals on social media, and she looks forward to trading stories from development camp with her former coach.
Johnston is also heartened by the greater positive strides for women in both men’s and women’s hockey, both in coaching roles and front office positions.
“I think it’s really important to open those doors, because I know that there’s a lot of talented female hockey players out there with great hockey minds [who] know the game so well and can teach it so well,” Johnston said.
The Capitals hired another woman, Emily Engel-Natzke, as their video coordinator last month. Engel-Natzke previously was video coach for the Hershey Bears, Washington’s American Hockey League affiliate. When she found out Schuler would be joining Washington as a guest coach for development camp, Engel-Natzke reached out immediately to express her excitement and offer help should Schuler have any questions.
“I think it's long overdue,” Engel-Natzke said of the recent shift toward more female representation in hockey. “If you just even look at Laura's coaching history, she should have had this opportunity years ago.”
As for Schuler, she is grateful to be in Washington this week and hopes her presence at development camp reinforces that there is a place for women coaching hockey.
“I feel like hockey is one of the greatest learning laboratories there are in the world for learning life skills and life lessons, and I think that as long as you put your mind to it, you can do whatever it is that you want to do,” she said. “And hopefully we’ll see women will have the choice, the choice of whether or not they want to coach men or women, and it will become a norm.” | 2022-07-15T18:34:34Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Capitals welcome Laura Schuler as guest coach for development camp - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/07/15/laura-schuler-capitals-development-camp/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/07/15/laura-schuler-capitals-development-camp/ |
These pediatricians made a difference in tracking children’s health
Paint soiled hands being wiped on a white shirt (iStock)
Pediatrician Archibald “Moonlight” Graham led a storied career on and off the field, as noted in the July 10 Metro article “Letters of ‘Field of Dreams’ player found at medical school.” Though his “seminal” 1945 study of high blood pressure in children might have pushed pediatricians to regularly monitor the condition, Helen B. Taussig at the rival hospital across town from his University of Maryland alma mater was first to urge physicians to systematically record it. In the 1930s, as head of the new children’s heart clinic at Johns Hopkins, she observed that high blood pressure in rheumatic fever patients did not always return to normal when they recovered, and she posited that it could be a serious childhood problem unrelated to the disease. She published her small study (45 children) in the Bulletin of the Johns Hopkins Hospital in 1938 and called on doctors to regularly record children’s blood pressure.
Taussig, too, was a dreamer: She believed that if you identify a problem as worthy, someone will eventually solve it. In this she was an exemplar; her idea to fix a defective heart in which the main problem is a lack of oxygen (the “blue baby” syndrome) led to lifesaving heart surgery by Alfred Blalock. When it comes to children and hypertension, we are still waiting.
Patricia Meisol, Reisterstown, Md.
The writer is a biographer of Helen Taussig. | 2022-07-15T18:48:44Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | These pediatricians made a difference in tracking children’s health - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/15/advances-tracking-childrens-health/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/15/advances-tracking-childrens-health/ |
A great blue heron catches a sizable snakehead fish, an invasive species, on June 7, 2016, at the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Cambridge. (Linda Davidson/The Washington Post)
According to the July 9 Metro article “Cash for your catch,” the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is incentivizing anglers “to catch, record and eat northern snakeheads, an invasive fish species whose numbers have swelled in the rivers and Chesapeake Bay in the D.C. region over the last few years.”
Speaking for myself and the nine other Potomac anglers I know, we need no incentive. We treasure every snakehead catch, maybe because we catch so few. A local guide who used to catch several snakeheads every time he fished now calls them the fish of a thousand casts. It’s myth that snakeheads are terrorizing local waters, depleting them of bait fish. The fish that is doing that is the invasive blue catfish. These behemoths, which grow to over 70 pounds, feed almost exclusively on fish, including the occasional snakehead. Each year, we catch fewer and fewer walleye, largemouth bass, striped bass and snakehead and more and more blue catfish. That’s the fish the DNR should target.
John Mathwin, Rockville | 2022-07-15T18:49:02Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | The fish of 1,000 casts is not the problem - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/15/fish-1000-casts/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/15/fish-1000-casts/ |
A demonstrator holds a signs that reads "When I choose to have babies I want to keep them safe" at a July 13 rally held by March Fourth near the U.S. Capitol in Washington. (Mariam Zuhaib/Associated Press)
The July 10 front-page article “Scope of U.S. gun deaths goes far beyond mass shootings” and Outlook essay by John J. Donohue “Justices’ gun decision will lead to more violent crime” highlighted the extent of gun violence, illustrated the clear impact of millions of guns with few constraints on where they can be carried and pointed to the only way to prevent the frequent tragedies, cited as “a uniquely American phenomenon.”
People prefer to focus on mental illness as a cause of gun violence. Though the recent federal legislation included funding for mental health services, the front-page article pointed out that “people with mental illness are responsible for just a small percentage of interpersonal and gun violence.” Gun violence is the result of easy access to guns, of which there are more than 400 million in the United States.
The Supreme Court’s decision that the Second Amendment establishes “an individual’s right to carry a handgun for self-defense outside the home” will increase gun violence. The Outlook essay pointed out that “more than a dozen empirical studies have concluded that right-to-carry laws increase violent crime.” The expansion of right-to-carry laws can be expected to result in more criminals with guns, a rise in overall crime and an even more significant rise in gun-related crime.
It is a subject political leaders do not want to discuss, but the only solution to the near-daily tragedy of gun violence is amending the Constitution.
William R. Burns Jr., Washington
The July 10 collection of articles on gun violence in our country not only provided fact-based analyses but also conveyed the thinking of those who support gun rights and those who favor legal restraints.
Many ascribe gun violence to a conscious decision on the part of the killer. The perpetrator made a “bad decision” and acted. Some think that a person intent on suicide will find a way to do so even if no lethal means are available. The saying “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people” also exemplifies the belief. The talking point from gun advocates that perpetrators of mass shootings are “mentally ill” reflects the same notion. The presumed but ill-defined mental illness compromises the shooter’s capacity to make rational decisions.
The alternative is not that people do not make the choice but rather that intraindividual and external factors, some remote and some proximal, come together to prompt the deadly act. For any episode, it is difficult to specify what those factors are. But across all episodes, one external element is clear: access to firearms. The low gun-violence rates of countries comparable to the United States substantiate that conclusion.
Identifying people with a propensity to engage in violent behavior and blocking them from having guns makes sense. But that aspiration has proved difficult and, therefore, is minimally effective in stemming violence. Likewise, identifying and addressing external factors makes sense. Regulating access to firearms does not negate the culpability of the shooter. Different perceptions of the problem, and therefore varying solutions, are not mutually exclusive. The crisis of gun violence requires empirically validated approaches to the problem.
Lawrence E. Klusman, Washington
The July 10 front-page article “Scope of U.S. gun deaths goes far beyond mass shootings” attempted to discuss the multitude of reasons for the large number of deaths caused by guns. I was pleased that it did not go down the illogical path of quoting people in favor of more “common-sense” gun restriction laws. The article led a careful reader to the conclusion that there may be no such thing as a “common-sense” gun law that will have a provable effect on the number of deaths.
Severely restricting the purchase and ownership of guns will do little except create lawbreakers out of many citizens. Most gun owners never commit a gun crime, even if suicides are included. And those who think carefully about the history of the government trying to significantly restrict or outlaw anything know that such actions are almost universally unsuccessful (e.g., the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, which tried and failed to eliminate alcohol manufacture and consumption in the country, and the ridiculous war on drugs).
This violence problem is unlikely to be solved by simplistic, “common-sense” actions by the federal government; government has seldom proved to be competent in addressing serious social problems.
David R. Griggs, Columbia
Intentionally or not, the July 10 front page captured the paradox of the United States in modern times brilliantly: above the fold, a thoughtful report on the rising number of gun deaths and a piece on how most Americans are at odds with the U.S. Supreme Court over the loss of abortion rights. Below the fold, a story documented that since the beginning of this year people from 109 countries have attempted to immigrate to the United States at a single Arizona border crossing.
Michael Hopps, Silver Spring | 2022-07-15T18:49:09Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | The only solution to gun violence is amending the Constitution - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/15/modern-paradox/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/15/modern-paradox/ |
Answering suffering extends beyond the horizon
Children stand next to a burned car in Gumuruk, South Sudan, on June 10, 2021, as their village was recently attacked by a gang of armed youths. (Simon Wohlfahrt/AFP via Getty Images)
The simplicity of the requests is what got to me. They weren’t seeking money, but prayers. Prayers on behalf of Maridi, a small diocese of the Episcopal Church in war-torn South Sudan.
For what were they petitioning? They sought prayers for the diocese’s:
Two nursery schools and eight primary schools. “Some of these schools still operate under trees and most of the teachers lack training.”
Only secondary school. “Pray for the teachers, that resources may be available to pay them, and for availability of teaching materials.”
16-member “mostly trained” health-clinic staff. “Pray for … a regular supply of drugs to enable the staff to serve the community well” and “give thanks for a regular delivery through” an outside medical link.
Mothers’ Union ministry. “Pray for … the sewing machines projects as most of them are now getting old that they may get new ones.” “The 40 orphans and their schooling as the Mothers’ Union [is] taking care of their future.” “The 20 widows being cared after by the office of Mothers’ Union.”
Maridi is a desolate land, made even more desperate during the rain seasons.
“Pray,” they asked, “for the clergy of the Diocese — and for the provision of some means of transport, such as bicycles and motor bikes.”
I am reading these modest, even humble petitions, which come to me by way of Forward Day by Day daily meditations, while seated in this capital city of Washington, D.C. A city that just celebrated the opening of a huge new up-to-the-latest-everything grocery store to serve neighborhoods that already share several well-stocked grocery stores.
I think back to the Maridi appeal:
“Pray for the farmers for seeds and agricultural tools for cultivation of their land.” “May those struggling with cultivation bear fruit and will benefit many people in the Diocese.”
I applaud D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) for producing a new shelter facility specifically dedicated to providing housing and services to city residents who are experiencing homelessness and identify as LGBTQ. Talk about breaking down barriers to shelter, building community, connecting people with what they need to get up and get going. “Safe, welcoming shelter,” as Laura Green Zeilinger, director of the Department of Human Services put it. Taxpayers paid for the city’s benevolence.
A world away, Maridi’s prayer for the homeless and displaced is far less grand.
“Pray for the primary school project and thank God for [organizations that support] this project [as it recovers] from the situations of insecurity and war.” “Pray for [displaced parishes] now trying to resettle in their homes.” “Pray for the displaced Christians who are living around the Cathedral Area,” they ask.
There’s a lot of chest-thumping going on among D.C. Council members who forced the mayor to report back to them about the percentage of doors in each school building that properly lock, and the working status of every air-conditioning and heating system, ahead of the upcoming academic year.
In Maridi, they give thanks for having a place “to encourage girls to complete their schooling.”
Unfair, unfair, some might say. Comparing conditions in South Sudan with living in D.C. Juxtaposing the hardships of a developing nation with a modernized urban environment like the District’s is a comparison of apples and oranges, and a slur on the motives and aspirations of D.C. leaders. All of which would be true if those were in fact the reasons for this piece. They are not.
Those Maridi prayer appeals convict me. They tell me how little my concerns are directed toward the needs of others who are out of sight — and shamefully out of mind.
The piece is an indictment of self-absorption. My preoccupation, or so I tell myself, with the pain and needs of people ostensibly within my reach — my neighbors — to the extent of missing the heart of why I’m here on this Earth.
Maybe I’m no better able to help those souls in South Sudan than I have been able to tangibly improve the fortunes of my fellow residents of this city. But I owe it to both them and my raison d’être to, in some small way, try.
Schools, for goodness’ sake, “still operating under trees.” | 2022-07-15T18:49:21Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Answering suffering extends beyond the horizon - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/15/south-sudan-maridi-prayer-answering-suffering/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/15/south-sudan-maridi-prayer-answering-suffering/ |
Blue Öyster Cult, ‘Workshop of the Telescopes’: The Week In One Song
The James Webb Space Telescope’s debut.
In this handout photo provided by NASA, a landscape of mountains and valleys speckled with glittering stars is actually the edge of a nearby, young, star-forming region called NGC 3324 in the Carina Nebula. (NASA/Getty Images)
NASA releases the first images from the James Webb Space Telescope. | 2022-07-15T18:49:27Z | www.washingtonpost.com | The Week in One Song - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/15/week-in-one-song/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/15/week-in-one-song/ |
Episcopal Church to study its role in federal Indian boarding schools
The Right Rev. Diane Jardine Bruce, secretary of the House of Bishops, and Presiding Bishop Michael Curry at a legislative session of the House of Bishops on July 7 in Baltimore. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)
The Episcopal Church will create a fact-finding commission to research the denomination’s role in the federal Indian boarding school system that separated generations of Indigenous children from their families and cultures in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Bishops and deputies at the mainline denomination’s scaled-back General Convention approved the Resolution for Telling the Truth about The Episcopal Church’s History with Indigenous Boarding Schools last weekend in Baltimore.
The resolution encourages the Episcopal Church to hire one or more research fellows to work with dioceses where Episcopal-run boarding schools for Indigenous children were located and to share records with the Indigenous Ministries of the Episcopal Church and the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition.
It also directs the denomination’s archivists to create educational resources about the schools and encourages dioceses where boarding schools were located to gather information from survivors and their descendants about their experiences.
In addition, the House of Deputies — which, with the House of Bishops, oversees the church — elected an Indigenous clergywoman, the Rev. Rachel Taber-Hamilton, as its vice president. A member of the Shackan First Nation and a priest in the Diocese of Olympia, Taber-Hamilton is the first ordained woman — and only the third woman — to serve in that role, according to Episcopal News Service.
She was elected alongside President-elect Julia Ayala Harris, a Latina laywoman from the Diocese of Oklahoma. Their election marks the first time two women and two people of color will lead the house.
Those actions come as U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland kicks off a national listening tour in which she will hear from survivors of boarding schools in the United States. Haaland’s department recently released the first volume of an investigative report into the country’s Indian boarding school system.
At the end of July, Pope Francis will travel to Canada to offer an apology to survivors of similar residential schools in that country; the pontiff received representatives of Canadian Indigenous people at the Vatican in early April.
“This is a moment for us to really examine how we as a church might look at the ramifications of our unintentional sometimes and sometimes intentional acts of culturalism, racism and every other sin we could talk about,” Bishop Carol J. Gallagher told the House of Bishops before its vote on the resolution.
The Episcopal Church’s General Convention, normally held every three years, was already delayed a year by the coronavirus pandemic, and the meeting that ended Monday was shortened from eight days to four to minimize risks of spreading the virus.
Presiding Bishop Michael Curry urged committees working ahead of the in-person gathering to focus on resolutions on “matters essential for the governance and good order of the church,” according to Episcopal News Service. The resolution on Indigenous schools rose to that level.
The federal Indian boarding school system was part of an effort by the U.S. government to assimilate Indigenous peoples and seize their land, according to the Interior report. Many children endured physical and emotional abuse in the schools, and some died.
Members of both the House of Bishops and House of Deputies spoke unanimously in favor of the resolution. Some shared their experiences officiating at funerals for children whose remains had been repatriated from the former Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania. Others spoke of pushing the city of Alberquerque to acknowledge that children had been buried beneath a public park constructed on the former site of a Presbyterian-run boarding school.
Still others shared their experiences as boarding school survivors themselves or descendants of survivors.
Deputy Ruth Johnson of the Navajoland Area Mission attended two boarding schools — an experience, she told the House of Deputies, that is still hard for her to talk about.
At the first school, Johnson said, she was traumatized when she became ill and her long hair was cut. At the second, she was beaten. “I could have easily been one of those that didn’t make it home,” she said.
Gallagher, a member of the Cherokee Nation who serves the dioceses of Massachusetts and Albany, said her grandfather was a boarding school survivor. Her family still talks about a visit her parents made to a boarding school when she was a baby where children who hadn’t seen their mothers in years climbed into her mother’s lap, she said.
Some of those children never saw their families again, she said.
“For Indigenous people, listening is always the first step and really hearing the stories and living into the stories and working towards a consensus of what will be come next,” Gallagher told Religion News Service.
“Oftentimes, churches want to do some quick fix, and that is not going to get us anywhere.”
That’s why the resolution approved at General Convention is important, she said.
The Resolution for Telling the Truth about The Episcopal Church’s History with Indigenous Boarding Schools again expresses the denomination’s support for federal legislation creating a Truth and Healing Commission to reckon with the country’s history of boarding schools similar to Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
It also incorporates language from a second resolution acknowledging the intergenerational trauma caused by the schools and directing the denomination to support community-based spiritual healing centers in Indigenous communities.
The denomination has budgeted $225,000 for that work.
“This is important work, and it’s for all of us,” Bishop Mark Lattime of the Diocese of Alaska said.
“You might think your diocese doesn’t have a history of boarding schools with Indigenous people, and — while that might be true — there isn’t a diocese in this church that doesn’t have a history with Indigenous people.”
Despite precautions, 26 people tested positive for the coronavirus at the convention, according to Episcopal News Service. Other denominations also have seen some coronavirus cases as they’ve resumed in-person meetings this summer, including the Southern Baptist Convention, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. | 2022-07-15T18:49:57Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Episcopal Church to study its role in federal Indian boarding schools - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2022/07/15/episcopal-church-study-its-role-federal-indian-boarding-schools/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2022/07/15/episcopal-church-study-its-role-federal-indian-boarding-schools/ |
Heather McGhee’s best-selling book, “The Sum of Us” argues that racism is at the core of society’s most vexing issues and hurts all communities. On Thursday, July 21 at 12:00 p.m. ET, join Washington Post associate editor Jonathan Capehart for a conversation with McGhee about her upcoming podcast series that continues her cross-country examination of the economic and social costs of racism.
Author, “The Sum of Us” | 2022-07-15T18:50:44Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Heather McGhee on economic and social costs of racism - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/washington-post-live/2022/07/21/heather-mcghee-economic-social-costs-racism/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/washington-post-live/2022/07/21/heather-mcghee-economic-social-costs-racism/ |
“We want to make sure people are getting a break so they can recharge their batteries,” said Paul Knopp, chief executive of KPMG U.S. “We’re giving them a lot more agency about how they work — and where they work.”
A history of the invention of the 40-hour workweek, the current burnout crisis, and the alternatives that employers are using today to attract their workforce. (Video: Jackie Lay/The Washington Post)
“Employers recognize that it’s tougher to get people to come back in, so they’re asking, ‘What can we do?' ” said Julie Schweber, an adviser at the Society of Human Resource Management. “The answer is basically: If you feed them, they will come. Food trucks, special catered events, ice cream socials, that’s what’s popular right now.”
“Since they’re not at the office, people come in early to pluck away at their laptops while they sip a cocktail or two,” said General Manager Dave Robinson. “By 4:30 or 5 on Fridays, we’re completely full.”
That’s also the case at LAZ Parking, which operates more than 3,000 garages nationwide. Demand on Mondays and Fridays is much lower — by about 20 percent — than it is midweek, said Leo Villafana, the company’s vice president for the Mid-Atlantic region. Wednesdays are the busiest days, though even when people do come in, they tend to stay for shorter periods.
“What people don’t want is to work remotely, together, in the office,” said Lenny Beaudoin, global head of workplace and design at commercial real estate services firm CBRE. “Why make the trip if I’m just logging onto Zoom, like I do at home? It’s up to organizations to have better conversations and choreograph their schedules. It can’t be haphazard.” | 2022-07-15T18:51:58Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Nobody wants to be in the office on Fridays - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/07/15/its-official-fridays-office-are-over/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWJpZCI6IjM1MTIwNzEiLCJyZWFzb24iOiJnaWZ0IiwibmJmIjoxNjU3OTA3NTA2LCJpc3MiOiJzdWJzY3JpcHRpb25zIiwiZXhwIjoxNjU5MTE3MTA2LCJpYXQiOjE2NTc5MDc1MDYsImp0aSI6IjZhZTMwM2U0LTZjYTYtNDQ5YS05YzZmLTcyZjlhMTJmMDZhZiIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndhc2hpbmd0b25wb3N0LmNvbS9idXNpbmVzcy8yMDIyLzA3LzE1L2l0cy1vZmZpY2lhbC1mcmlkYXlzLW9mZmljZS1hcmUtb3Zlci8ifQ.30PNzGWAdoOxex8GFgaT92-5v3B_I-gpiC3z1Qathck&itid=gfta | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/07/15/its-official-fridays-office-are-over/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWJpZCI6IjM1MTIwNzEiLCJyZWFzb24iOiJnaWZ0IiwibmJmIjoxNjU3OTA3NTA2LCJpc3MiOiJzdWJzY3JpcHRpb25zIiwiZXhwIjoxNjU5MTE3MTA2LCJpYXQiOjE2NTc5MDc1MDYsImp0aSI6IjZhZTMwM2U0LTZjYTYtNDQ5YS05YzZmLTcyZjlhMTJmMDZhZiIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndhc2hpbmd0b25wb3N0LmNvbS9idXNpbmVzcy8yMDIyLzA3LzE1L2l0cy1vZmZpY2lhbC1mcmlkYXlzLW9mZmljZS1hcmUtb3Zlci8ifQ.30PNzGWAdoOxex8GFgaT92-5v3B_I-gpiC3z1Qathck&itid=gfta |
Japanese Breakfast performs during Jack Antonoff's 1984 Superjam at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival on June 18 in Manchester, Tenn. (Amy Harris/Invision/AP)
Alternative pop band Japanese Breakfast says it will not perform at Main Street Armory in Rochester, N.Y., after learning the venue would also be hosting the far-right ReAwaken America Tour next month.
The ReAwaken tour, organized by Tulsa businessman Clay Clark and co-signed by former president Donald Trump’s national security adviser Gen. Michael Flynn, has boasted speakers for its Rochester stop such as political lobbyist Roger Stone, according to Clark’s Thrivetime Show website.
Japanese Breakfast, an indie band led by Korean American singer Michelle Zauner, was slated to perform at the venue on Sept. 27 at 8 p.m. with rock band Yo La Tengo. But the group pulled the plug earlier this week.
“We have cancelled the event because a number of people reached out letting us know they were boycotting the venue because of the Reawaken America tour,” Japanese Breakfast said in a tweet Thursday afternoon. “It’s a picket line we support and are not interested in crossing.”
Japanese Breakfast’s Rochester concert would have been part of the band’s 2022 North American tour, which on different tour dates has featured musical acts such as rock bands The Linda Lindas, and Florence + the Machine.
The band, whose name is meant to highlight the juxtaposition between American pop culture and how Asians are exoticized, was the musical guest for Saturday Night Live’s 47th season finale. The band members performed “Be Sweet” and “Paprika” from its latest album, “Jubilee.”
“We are unfortunately unable to move the event to a different venue [at] this time but we love Rochester and I am sure we will return someday soon,” Japanese Breakfast also said on Twitter.
The ReAwaken America Tour was started in April 2021. In an interview with Charisma News, Clark explained that the tour is a movement to protest regulations in place to reduce covid-19 spread and to further the conspiracy that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump. The tour has made stops in Oklahoma, Texas and Arizona and is scheduled to be held in Rochester on Aug. 12 and 13.
An online petition was created urging Main Street Armory to cancel the ReAwaken America event, citing that it was “likely to draw white supremacists and other members of hate groups from around the northeast to our community.”
The tour, which has been criticized in multiple media outlets as a breeding ground for far-right extremist group QAnon, has featured Flynn, along with radio host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, political activist and radio host Charlie Kirk and Eric Trump in its lineup of speakers.
Flynn’s representatives didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Flynn, 63, most recently made headlines for pleading the Fifth in a deposition before the House committee hearing on the Jan. 6 Capitol attack after he was asked if he believes in the peaceful transition of power in the United States. He was subpoenaed about a post-election meeting he attended with Trump in which the former president allegedly suggested seizing voting boxes.
Flynn was the U.S. national security adviser during the Trump administration, but he resigned after three weeks for his potentially illegal communication with the Russian ambassador at the time.
Michael Flynn pleads guilty to lying to FBI on contacts with Russian ambassador
Japanese Breakfast concert promoter After Dark Presents told Main Street Armory on Thursday to stop ticket sales for the concert. Main Street Armory owner Scott Donaldson said he wasn’t given a reason why the band members canceled and never spoke to them about the ReAwaken America event.
Donaldson said the venue has been “hit right between the eyes,” caught in the middle of a clash between ReAwaken America’s supporters and critics. The venue is apolitical, he said, and the space has been rented out for hundreds of events, from volleyball tournaments to hip-hop concerts, regardless of any criticism they draw.
“You can’t please everyone,” Donaldson said. “This is a business, not a political arena.” | 2022-07-15T18:52:04Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Japanese Breakfast cancels show at venue hosting Michael Flynn’s tour - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2022/07/15/japanese-breakfast-cancels-show-venue-hosting-michael-flynns-tour/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2022/07/15/japanese-breakfast-cancels-show-venue-hosting-michael-flynns-tour/ |
A traffic camera captures people driving through an intersection along the 2500 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. SE on July 21, 2021. (Michael Blackshire/The Washington Post)
Six months into 2022, there have been 1,528 traffic crashes involving injuries in D.C. Nineteen people have been killed. The deaths follow a year in which the city saw the most traffic fatalities since 2007, including the death of a four-year-old boy crossing a street and a five-year-old girl riding her bike. City officials say improving safety for the motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians who use D.C. streets is a top priority and they have set a goal of zero fatalities and serious injuries by 2024. Now, that goal is going to be much harder to reach, thanks to the D.C. Council’s rash decision to let drivers with unpaid traffic tickets remain on the road.
The D.C. Council on Tuesday gave final approval to a bill that would end the practice of preventing residents from renewing their driver’s licenses if they owe more than $100 in unpaid fines, including those for speeding and running red lights. The measure now goes to Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D). Despite the unanimous vote, she should veto it, if only to drive home the irresponsibility of the council’s action.
Supporters of the bill, introduced by council member Kenyan R. McDuffie (D-Ward 5) argued that the practice of not allowing residents with outstanding traffic fines to renew their licenses adversely impacts low-income, mainly Black, residents. But it is these very communities that have borne the brunt of traffic deaths. Analysis by The Post showed that lower-income neighborhoods recorded eight times more traffic fatalities in the past eight years than the city’s wealthiest areas. Wards 7 and 8, which contain less than one-quarter of Washington’s population, accounted for nearly half of its road deaths.
Drivers speeding through city streets and running red lights are an issue, and council members say there needs to be more enforcement. But how? D.C. police are discouraged from enforcing traffic regulations. Instead, the city relies on traffic cameras. Yet the council’s latest action — it earlier barred the practice of suspending the licenses of those with traffic fines — removes one of the last remaining tools. The threat of being booted remains. “Make no mistake, we are sending a message that will go and tell people they can run red lights, they can go significantly over the speed limit, and nothing will happen to them. They won’t have to pay their tickets,” said council member Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3), “We’re inviting dangerous drivers. We’re making our streets less safe.”
Ms. Cheh, along with council members Charles Allen (D-Ward 6) and Christina Henderson (I-At-Large), tried to narrow the bill to allow the city to withhold license renewals from those who have at least three unpaid tickets for certain violations, including speeding or running a red light. Pressure from self-proclaimed progressive groups that championed the bill as one of racial equity doomed that common-sense move.
There is no question that losing one’s license imposes economic hardships. There is an easy way to avoid the fines that can lead to that: Don’t speed and don’t run red lights. That’s the message the council should have sent.
D.C. voters sent mixed messages in the Democratic primary | 2022-07-15T19:22:27Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Drivers with unpaid traffic tickets keeping their license is unsafe - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/15/dc-council-unpaid-traffic-tickets-drivers-license/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/15/dc-council-unpaid-traffic-tickets-drivers-license/ |
Regarding the July 2 Sports article “Most Americans aren’t bothered by NIL, poll finds”:
I am a more-than-casual sports fan. I am also a normal reader. I don’t know the jargon “NIL.” That I shouldn’t be expected to was evidenced by your editor’s belated recognition of this likelihood by the decision to parenthetically define “NIL” 132 words into the article. It took until the 207th word before the (in-house) identity of the poll was revealed.
Might I suggest this lede: “A Washington Post poll suggests most fans are not against recent rules expanding college players’ ability to monetize their own names, images or likenesses (NIL).” It saves more than 200 words and gets to the point.
Jeffrey Russell, Silver Spring
On Sept. 29, the National Labor Relations Board released a statement that said, “Today, National Labor Relations Board General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo issued a memorandum to all Field offices providing updated guidance regarding her position that certain Players at Academic Institutions (sometimes referred to as student athletes), are employees under the National Labor Relations Act, and, as such, are afforded all statutory protections. ”
Though a survey of who might or might not be bothered by NIL is interesting, the article might have mentioned the NLRB general counsel’s memo. It’s kind of a big thing.
David M. Siegler, Oakton
Sobriety and sincerity
Michael Gerson’s June 28 op-ed, “Abortion calls for a sober debate, not a flame war,” was the most fair and balanced essay on Roe v. Wade I have read in The Post. Gerson was quite right in stating that when it comes to the culture war, “intemperance is the order of the day.” He restated what many legal scholars have been saying for decades, i.e., that Roe was poorly argued and fundamentally arbitrary, with uncompelling legal reasoning.
I especially appreciate Gerson’s recognition of both pro-choice and pro-life sides of the argument and his acceptance of the advocates’ sincerity. Well done.
Stephen R. Shook, Springfield
A one-way street to double standards
I was surprised to read the ringing defense of freedom of expression offered by Ron Charles in his June 29 Style column, “Wise words from Milton on the futility of book bans.” This is because I clearly remembered that in his April 29, 2021, Style column, “Bailey book’s cancellation is a sea change,” Charles praised a group of Simon & Schuster employees who had written a petition demanding that the publisher cancel a planned book by former vice president Mike Pence. Could this be the same Ron Charles who reacted to the plea of the chief executive of Simon & Schuster to those trying to block publication that “we come to work each day to publish, not cancel” with scorn for its “appeal to classical liberal values”?
Either Charles has undergone a sudden change of heart, or else his version of freedom of expression is pretty much a one-way street.
Conrad Berger, Hyattsville
A model of gentle gentility
I thank Robin Givhan for her stellar portrait of the chair of the House Jan. 6 committee in her June 29 news column, “Sorting through chaos, Thompson maintains an optimistic stillness.” She expressed my feelings about Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.) beautifully. Amid so much chaos and turpitude, Thompson is a beacon for order and protocol and good manners. He demonstrates that considerate behavior is not a sign of weakness. The former president is wrong about weakness and strength, taking a cartoonish attitude toward human behavior.
I always feel so much better every time I see Thompson and, even more, hear him speak, no matter whom he is talking to or what the subject is. He exemplifies the very best of old-fashioned Southern gentility. That is, he exemplifies the very best of Southern culture. He makes me beam. He gives me hope, more than any other public figure in this time.
Robynne A. Williams, Silver Spring
A secondhand quote
In her June 29 op-ed, “The perfect witness to the Trump team’s dereliction of duty,” Ruth Marcus listed several things in describing the situation on Jan. 6, 2021, including “an alarmed White House counsel who warned of the president’s inaction, ‘Something needs to be done or people are going to die and the blood’s going to be on [his] f---ing hands.’ ”
Written this way, it implied that blood would be on former president Donald Trump’s hands. However, according to what The Post (and other sources) reported, that is not what then-White House Counsel Pat Cipollone said. Cassidy Hutchinson said that to get then-Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to take some action, Cipollone said to Meadows, “Mark, something needs to be done or people are going to die and blood is going to be on your f---ing hands.” There was never an allegation that blood would be on Trump’s hands; according to the testimony, Cipollone’s goal was to get Meadows to act by telling him the blood would be on Meadows’s own hands.
Jay Cherlow, Arlington
A top junior aide
The July 3 front-page article “Betting big on a surprise witness” identified Cassidy Hutchinson as a “junior White House aide.” The July 3 editorial “Investigate Mr. Trump” identified Hutchinson as a “top Trump White House aide.”
Who got it right?
C.F. Heid, Amissville, Va.
Follow that bird
The July 3 “Mark Trail” comic strip referred to Benjamin Franklin’s criticisms of the bald eagle as a symbol of our new union. It is rumored but not proved that Franklin wanted the wild turkey to be the national bird. With the recent attacks by a wild turkey along some walking paths in the Washington area, we know that bird isn’t afraid to fight.
However, there is a much deeper symbolism in the bird on the weather vane flying over George Washington’s home, Mount Vernon. It’s not large or that easy to see, but it has a real impact when people do see it and especially in the context of Washington’s words: “Peace with all the world is my sincere wish.” And what is the bird that Washington chose to send a message from his home to the rest of humanity? A flying dove of peace with an olive branch in its beak. It is an ancient symbol. I make sure visitors see it when I take them to Mount Vernon.
Perhaps by fate or not, we had no wars during Washington’s time as president.
Peter I. Hartsock, Laytonsville
A question-spangled banger
Selective simmering summers
Though I am not an expert in data analytics, I had to question the selection of data sets in the July 3 front-page article on extreme summer, “With globe on low boil, summer is not the same.”
First off, it compared a five-year period (2017 to 2021) with a 30-year period (1971 to 2000). I would think that the shorter period could result in a bias in the average toward extremes (higher or lower) compared with the much longer period. Secondly, it seemed to have missed the years 2001 to 2016. Did we not have summer during that time?
I believe we are experiencing global warming and our activities are the likely source, but what seems to be “cherry-picking” of data only feeds the ongoing debate and raises questions about the credibility of the reporting.
Rick Lober, Annapolis
An inveterate bad habit
I love political cartoons but not when they are mean-spirited. The July 2 Drawing Board cartoon by Michael Ramirez, with the theme “Classification of Animals” and depicting the “GOP Leadership” in the lower order of invertebrates, parallel with worms, was mean. The cartoon was a sophisticated form of name-calling and bullying.
I count on thought-provoking cartoons and commentary that inform but stop short of being hateful. Please recognize rancor and restore civility to the pages of The Post.
Barbara Hayden, Chestertown, Md.
’Wich hunt!
My husband and I laughed over the July 6 Food article “The art of every eater for themselves.” This is what we call the Virginia hunt supper. You head to the kitchen and hunt for your supper. Anything is fair game. It’s our way of using up all of the leftovers. When the kids were home, they would race to the kitchen on “Virginia hunt” night to see who could grab a favorite before anyone else got to it.
Diane Rothman, Alexandria
The power of the dog photo
After reading the July 3 front page, I needed an uplifting picture. I found it in the Book World section. It accompanied “If only humans could sense the world the way animals do,” Sadie Dingfelder’s review of “An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us” by Ed Yong.
The dogs on a path in the woods epitomize being carefree. Please print more pictures like this one.
Christine Brooks, Reston
An occasion for a blowup
I like the Travel feature “Sign language” and follow it religiously every Sunday. But the July 3 installment was incomprehensible because it was impossible to make out. It was difficult to even find the sign amid the footwear next to it on that tree, but the sign was flatly unreadable. The fault is The Post’s. The photograph was too small for such details to be apparent. I tried using a magnifying glass on it, but that didn’t help. The lettering on the sign remained only a faint suggestion.
Please publish such photos in a clearer form — blown up, perhaps, for the detail — or The Post will lose me as a fan of this feature.
Ted White, Falls Church
Dishonoring a hero
The Post’s poor news judgment in placing the obituary for Sonny Barger, “Hells Angels founder was face of a counterculture tribe,” prominently at the top of the July 1 Obituaries page and relegating the obituary for Hershel W. “Woody” Williams, “Last surviving WWII Medal of Honor recipient, hero at Battle of Iwo Jima,” a true hero, to below the fold and the bottom of the same page was an insult not only to Williams’s memory but also to all those who honorably served in the U.S. military and their families. The Post owes them an apology.
To add insult to injury, the front of the Metro section included a photo of Barger, not Williams.
Richard Benedetto, Springfield
I read the news today, oh boy
What a brilliant tribute to Paul McCartney by using lyrics from Beatles songs as the headlines for all the letters in the July 2 Free for All. It somewhat makes up for not covering his concert in Baltimore a month ago, and it was a creative and heartwarming idea. Thanks for making my day.
Laura Siegelbaum, Rockville | 2022-07-15T19:22:28Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Readers critique The Post: No explanation on name, image, likeness - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/15/readers-critique-the-post-explaining-nil/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/15/readers-critique-the-post-explaining-nil/ |
Capitals sign a pair of draft picks to entry-level contracts
The Washington Capitals signed two draft picks on Friday, general manager Brian MacLellan announced. (John McDonnell/The Washington Post)
The Washington Capitals’ busy week continued with the signing of draftees Alexander Suzdalev and Ludwig Persson to three-year entry-level contracts, the team announced Friday.
Suzdalev, the 70th overall selection in this year’s NHL draft, is set to earn $775,000 in each of the first two years of his contract and $800,000 in the third as well as $82,500 in the AHL. The Swedish left wing, 18, was 10th in scoring last season in the top Swedish junior league with 51 points (15 goals, 36 assists) in 45 games.
The terms of Persson’s contract are identical to Suzdalev. Also a left wing, Persson, 18, recorded 61 points in 41 games in Sweden’s top junior league, ranking second overall.
At Caps development camp, guest coach Laura Schuler feels ‘right at home'
The moves come on the final day of developmental camp, which concludes Friday night with a scrimmage at Capital One Arena.
The Capitals have been active since free agency opened Wednesday, most recently signing center Dylan Strome to a one-year contract worth $3.5 million. Strome is in line to replace ailing Nicklas Backstrom as the second-line center. Backstrom is out indefinitely following a hip procedure.
The club began free agency by signing goalie Darcy Kuemper, addressing the most glaring area of need after allowing Ilya Samsonov, who signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs, to leave via free agency and trading Vitek Vanecek to the New Jersey Devils for two draft picks.
Kuemper, 32, signed a five-year deal worth $26.25 million after helping the Colorado Avalanche win the Stanley Cup. Washington also inked goalie Charlie Lindgren, slated to back up Kuemper, to a three-year contract for $3.3 million on Wednesday. | 2022-07-15T19:48:32Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Capitals sign draftees Alexander Suzdalev, Ludwig Persson - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/07/15/capitals-sign-alexander-suzdalev-ludwig-persson/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/07/15/capitals-sign-alexander-suzdalev-ludwig-persson/ |
Accusers of Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson reached settlements with the Texans, Watson's former team. (Ron Schwane/AP)
Thirty women accusing Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson of sexual misconduct have reached settlements with Watson’s former team, the Houston Texans, of their claims and potential claims against that NFL franchise, the lawyer for the women announced Friday.
“Today all of the women who have made, or intended to make, claims against the Houston Texans organization have resolved their claims,” attorney Anthony Buzbee wrote in a statement.
Buzbee said the terms of the settlements, including the amounts paid to each woman, would remain confidential.
The Texans acknowledged the “resolution” in a statement attributed to members of the McNair family, which owns the team.
“We were shocked and deeply saddened when we first learned of the allegations against our then franchise quarterback in March 2021,” the team’s statement said. “Although our organization did not have any knowledge of Deshaun Watson’s alleged misconduct, we have intentionally chosen to resolve this matter amicably. This is not an admission of any wrongdoing, but instead a clear stand against any form of sexual assault and misconduct.
The NFL declined to comment.
The settlements between the women and the Texans come with the league, the NFL Players Association and Watson awaiting a decision by a disciplinary officer about a potential suspension of Watson.
He has denied the accusations against him and has not been charged with a crime. Buzbee previously announced settlements between Watson and 20 of the 24 women with then-active civil lawsuits pending.
Buzbee said Friday that the other four lawsuits against Watson “will continue” and added: “We hope to try them all in the spring of next year. In the mean-time we will continue to do the important work to prepare for such.”
One of Watson’s accusers filed a lawsuit last month against the Texans, alleging they had “turned a blind eye” and “enabled” Watson’s behavior. Buzbee said then he expected “many” other lawsuits to be filed against the Texans. | 2022-07-15T19:48:33Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Texans reach settlements with Deshaun Watson accusers - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/07/15/deshaun-watson-texans-settlements/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/07/15/deshaun-watson-texans-settlements/ |
FedEx bot apologizes for ‘pending delivery’ of missing human remains
A delivery truck parked near a cargo jet during the morning package sort at the FedEx Express Hub in Memphis on March 8, 2022. (Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg)
When Jeffrey Merriweather’s body was discovered weeks after a suspected shooting in 2019, the Georgia man’s family hoped the medical examiner’s office could give them some clarity on the 32-year-old’s cause of death. More than three years later, however, Merriweather’s remains are still nowhere to be found after the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office decided to ship them via FedEx to a specialized lab in St. Louis.
So when the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweeted about its investigation of the case on Thursday night, FedEx was swift to respond. But instead of getting answers, the newspaper and those following the case got an impersonal response from what appeared to be a Twitter bot, an automated account that publishes lots of content.
“Hello there. My name is Gaby,” FedEx Help, the company’s customer service account, replied in a tweet that has since been deleted. “This is not the experience we want to provide. I am very sorry for the pending delivery. Please send a direct message, I would be happy to assist.”
While the generic response from customer service was met with ridicule and laughter on Friday — “Good God @FedEx” — very serious questions remain about why the medical examiner sent Merriweather’s remains via FedEx. The practice of sending remains through FedEx is prohibited, according to the company’s user manual. Transporting deceased bodies across state lines are usually done via airline, but the U.S. Postal Service says it is legally qualified to carry human remains across the country under strict guidelines.
“It’s a nightmare you can’t wake up from,” Kathleen Merriweather, Jeffrey’s mother, told the Journal-Constitution of the situation.
Ashes in the mail: Dealing with the loss of a loved one has changed in the covid era
A FedEx spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment early Friday. Though the company has long noted that almost all FedEx packages arrive on time, a spokesperson maintained to People magazine in April that customers should never use the service to ship human remains.
“Our thoughts and concerns remain with the family of Mr. Merriweather, however, we request that further questions be directed to the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office,” the statement read. “Shipments of this nature are prohibited within the FedEx network.”
It’s unclear why the medical examiner used FedEx to ship Merriweather’s remains. A spokesperson with the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
On June 22, 2019, Jeffrey Merriweather’s partially decomposed body was discovered behind a house in southwest Atlanta, according to authorities. Police believe Merriweather was killed in a shooting related to a drug deal gone wrong, but the circumstances surrounding how his body had decomposed were a mystery, according to WSB-TV.
“Since he was partially skeletonized, we couldn’t determine a cause of death,” Jan Gorniack, then the chief medical examiner for Fulton County, told the TV station at the time.
When it came time for the medical examiner’s office to send Merriweather’s remains to an expert in St. Louis for a trauma analysis, what was left of the 32-year-old were shipped for $32.61 on July 5, 2019 in a FedEx box that was expected to arrive within two days, reported the Journal-Constitution.
Then, somewhere along the 555-mile route from Atlanta to St. Louis, the man’s remains got lost. Merriweather’s family wasn’t notified that his remains were missing until Aug. 19, 2019, nearly six weeks after the remains were scheduled to arrive, according to WAGA.
“I don’t know how this could have happened when you got to sign for stuff,” Merriweather’s father, Jeffrey Merriweather Sr., told WSB-TV. “You got tracking numbers.”
Gorniack told the station that the remains were last tracked to a FedEx facility in Austell, Ga., but that the remains have not been located since then.
The facility in Austell, only about 17 miles west of Atlanta, has been criticized by residents in recent years for the high number of packages that have been lost there. More than 4,200 people signed a Change.org petition in 2020 asking FedEx’s Austell facility, “Where are the packages?” TrustDALE, a consumer website, went one step further last April in describing the Austell location, which has a 1.4 rating on Google, as “a black hole.”
“We know that FedEx’s Austell facility is known for being a black hole when it comes to packages,” the website wrote. “We’ve received lots of complaints in the past year from people whose packages went into Austell but never came out.”
On Twitter, observers acknowledged the seriousness of the case, but also took time to lampoon FedEx’s customer service account for the cringeworthy response.
“This entire thread is a tour de force in the absolute uselessness of using AI instead of employing people to deal with customers,” one critic wrote. Jennifer Brett, a senior editor at the Journal-Constitution, agreed: “AI is not always the answer.”
Another observer responded, “Oh FedEx, no. Not like this.”
Merriweather’s family has repeatedly called for accountability from the medical examiner’s office and FedEx in the years since their son’s remains went missing. Kathleen Merriweather told the Journal-Constitution that since they’ve been unable to bury her son’s remains, the family, including his three children, has not had the chance to move on more than three years later.
“Now we can’t even have that closure,” she said. | 2022-07-15T19:57:40Z | www.washingtonpost.com | FedEx Twitter bot apologizes for 'pending delivery' of Georgia man's remains missing since 2019 - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/07/15/fedex-twitter-bot-missing-remains-georgia/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/07/15/fedex-twitter-bot-missing-remains-georgia/ |
By Brady Dennis
President Biden departs after delivering remarks regarding gas prices in the South Court Auditorium of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on June 22. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post)
As President Biden’s climate ambitions appeared to collapse in Congress on Friday, advocates around the world expressed alarm about how an absence of U.S. leadership could undermine the push to avoid catastrophic warming of Earth’s atmosphere.
Mohamed Adow woke up in Nairobi to the news that Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) remains unwilling to support new climate spending, a stance that would all but torpedo Biden’s push to rapidly cut the nation’s greenhouse gas pollution.
The frustration and disappointment Adow felt at the congressional gridlock had little to do with the president, and everything to do with the implications for the planet if the world’s second-largest emitter does not change course.
“People say this is a blow for Biden’s climate plan,” Adow, head of Power Shift Africa, a think tank that lobbies for clean energy, said in a text message. “But it’s actually a blow for the whole world, for people on the front line of the climate crisis, and it’s a blow for the American people who will not escape the impacts of extreme heat, floods, sea level rise and storms.”
Several experts warn that without new legislation, Biden will be unable to achieve one of the core promises of his presidency: cutting U.S. greenhouse gas emissions at least in half by the end of the decade, compared with 2005 levels.
A report released Thursday by the independent research firm Rhodium Group found that the United States is on track to reduce emissions 24 percent to 35 percent below 2005 levels by 2030 — significantly short of Biden’s goal of 50 to 52 percent.
“Those reductions are not sufficient under current policy to meet the U.S. stated climate target,” Ben King, an associate director at Rhodium and co-author of the analysis, said in an interview. “So there’s still a big gap to make up.”
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to comment on the legislative negotiations but said Biden “has always been very clear that he is going to use every tool in his toolbox” to combat climate change.
Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) said in an interview that the administration must now take “executive actions that it has been holding pending” the end of the legislative process. “That’s ended,” Markey he said, adding that Biden officials can adopt policies ranging from limiting federal oil and gas leasing to imposing stricter tailpipe emissions on cars and trucks.
On Friday afternoon, Biden promised to exercise whatever authority he has to push on.
“Let me be clear: if the Senate will not move to tackle the climate crisis and strengthen our domestic clean energy industry, I will take strong executive action to meet this moment,” he said in a statement. "I will not back down: the opportunity to create jobs and build a clean energy future is too important to relent."
Even so, the president’s failure so far to secure more concrete action and funding from Capitol Hill has wounded U.S. credibility abroad.
“U.S. climate envoy John F. Kerry speaks well about what needs to be done by all countries, but loses credibility whenever the U.S. is unable to deliver even the most modest actions that the U.S. government has promised,” Saleemul Huq, director of the International Center for Climate Change and Development in Bangladesh, said in a text message.
Huq said the nation’s inability to take action will “definitely hamper” any trust other countries might have in U.S. promises when the world gathers for another climate summit this fall in Egypt.
“The United States of America is the single country that is most responsible for accumulated global emissions that are now causing loss and damage around the world,” he added. “The fact that Sen. Manchin can block the U.S. from even taking the bare minimum of actions speaks very poorly for America.”
As leaders gather for crucial climate summit, high expectations collide with uncertain reality
Biden, who rejoined the Paris climate accord after President Donald Trump became the only leader to withdraw from the global pact, took office touting the historic investments he would seek in clean energy, and the jobs to be gained from shifting away from fossil fuels. The 2015 agreement aims to limit Earth’s warming to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) over preindustrial levels.
Already, the planet has warmed roughly 1.1 Celsius, and scientists say each additional fraction of warming will bring only more climate-fueled catastrophes in the years to come. The world currently is on a trajectory to blow past its climate targets without rapid and far-reaching changes.
At a key U.N. summit in Glasgow, Scotland, last fall, Biden stood before other world leaders and vowed that the United States — still the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter behind China — would lead “by the power of our example.”
In the months since, Biden has seen blow after blow to that vision.
The war in Ukraine has helped to fuel a global spike in oil and gas prices. The U.S. Supreme Court last month curtailed the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to limit carbon emissions of existing power plants.
Unless Manchin ultimately embraces a budget-reconciliation package that includes new spending on climate initiatives, his opposition would almost certainly put Biden’s commitments only further out of reach. No Republican is willing to vote for a major climate package, which has left Democrats reliant on the West Virginian’s vote.
National climate pledges are too weak to avoid catastrophic warming. Most countries are on track to miss them anyway.
Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) bemoaned her party’s predicament in an interview Friday.
“We are at a moment when we need strong action to cut emissions, and one senator should not have the power to stop us from doing that,” Smith said. “We had the opportunity in this moment to meet the challenge of the climate crisis, to reduce carbon emissions, and to do so in a way that lowers energy prices, contributes to energy independence, cleans up our air and allows us to save the planet.”
On Friday, Manchin claimed that his comments to Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) had been misinterpreted. The centrist senator told a West Virginia radio show that he hadn’t ruled out new climate spending — he just wanted to wait to see whether the proposals would add to inflationary pressures.
“I said, 'Chuck, until we see the July inflation figures … then let’s wait until that comes out, so we know that we’re going down a path that won’t be inflammatory and add more to inflation,” Manchin said, adding, “I want climate; I want energy policy.”
Inflation soared in June, continuing to climb at the fastest pace in 40 years across many sectors of the economy. But supporters of the climate package argue it would actually lower costs for American consumers, such as by making it cheaper to purchase an electric vehicle or make energy-efficient home improvements.
From Africa to Europe to Asia, the latest indication that the United States could fail to live up to its climate promises spurred reactions ranging from sadness to outright disdain. Several analysts pointed out that if the United States fails to make the substantial investments in clean energy Biden supports, it risks losing the economic benefits that will come as other nations shift away from fossil fuels.
“This will dismay American allies and diminish further U.S. influence over what happens in the energy economy across the rest of the world,” Joss Garman, a director of the European Climate Foundation, said in an email, adding that with oil and gas prices rising compared with clean energy, “the transition is sure to continue apace, albeit now with China and Europe more likely to seize the jobs and industrial benefits of this across key markets.”
Luca Bergamaschi, executive director of the Italian climate think tank ECCO, said European nations are facing many of the same short-term economic challenges as the United States, but have continued to pursue long-term climate policies that will pay off over time.
“Countries like Italy and Germany face similar inflation rates and high costs of living but are increasing their climate spending to lower the dependency on fossil fuels, which is a root cause of all these crises,” he said in an email.
For all the attention on Manchin and what he ultimately will or won’t support, Adow said the Biden administration should also be doing more to pull every lever it can to reduce greenhouse gas emissions — and from locking in new oil and gas operations.
Biden’s administration opened the door Friday to more offshore oil and gas drilling in federal waters
“The truth is Biden can, and should, be doing a lot more. He’s been handing out drilling rights for fossil fuels in New Mexico and has laid the groundwork for drilling in Alaska,” he said. “The world needs the U.S. to show leadership on this issue. … We have other countries around the world working to reduce their emissions, and we need America to join the fight, not work against us.”
This week’s apparent setback, which comes despite seemingly promising negotiations recently between Schumer and Manchin over a broad economic package that would incentivize renewable energy and put more electric vehicles on the road, underscores the crossroads that the nation faces on climate policy.
That still unresolved choice could have huge implications, both for the nation’s financial future and for the world’s ability to slow the warming that fuels climate disasters.
“While Europe and China vie to lead the global clean-energy economy, the U.S. Congress is threatening to abandon the race,” said Nat Keohane, president of the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions.
“These climate and clean-energy investments are not just crucial to meeting our nation’s climate goals. They are vital to America’s economic future,” he said. “Voters understand that, and express overwhelming support for clean energy. Businesses understand that as well, and are calling on Congress to invest. The Senate should heed those calls. Our nation’s future prosperity is in the balance.”
Biden also seemed to recognize what lay in the balance last fall, when he spoke of the “profound questions” that face every world leader when it comes to climate change.
“It’s simple: Will we act? Will we do what is necessary? Will we seize the enormous opportunity before us? Or will we condemn future generations to suffer?” he said then. “This is the decade that will determine the answer.”
Tony Romm contributed to this report. | 2022-07-15T20:19:24Z | www.washingtonpost.com | How Manchin's opposition to climate bill could harm the planet - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/07/15/manchin-climate-biden-paris-agreement/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/07/15/manchin-climate-biden-paris-agreement/ |
California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks to the media at the U.S. Capitol on July 15. (Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)
President Biden’s political woes have sparked interest among Democrats to seek a potential successor. One top candidate of interest, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, possesses some considerable strengths should he take the plunge. He also has many glaring weaknesses.
Newsom’s position as leader of the nation’s largest and richest state is his most important advantage. California sent 494 delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention, more than 20 percent of the total needed to win the party’s nomination. Given the Democrats’ use of proportional representation in selecting delegates, Newsom likely would not win them all, but it could offer him a considerable advantage.
California’s cornucopia of wealthy Democratic donors is another big plus. The campaign funding tracking website Open Secrets reports that Californians gave nearly $1.7 billion to political campaigns in the 2020 cycle. That was almost $700 million more than second-place New York, and about 70 percent of the Golden State’s contributions went to Democrats. Newsom raised almost $60 million in his 2018 gubernatorial campaign and is sitting on more than $23 million in cash going into the general election. He would easily be able to raise enough to launch a solid effort just from home-state friends alone.
He has also positioned himself well to appeal to the broad range of Democratic voters. Newsom is in line with party views on gun control and climate change and is staunchly pro-abortion rights. He has also long been a supporter of LGBTQ issues and will surely remind national audiences that he issued marriage licenses in violation of California law for same-sex couples as mayor of San Francisco in 2004, giving him his first national exposure. He blends this with an image of being pro-business, letting him curry favor with the party’s establishment set. This combination positions him as ideologically similar to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, but with much more significant governing experience.
Newsom would nonetheless have to overcome significant challenges if he were to run nationally. The first is the same thing that tripped up Buttigieg: support among the party’s influential Black voters. Black Democrats are notably more moderate than the party’s affluent, White wing, and their support is crucial to anyone seeking the party’s nod, as evidenced by President Biden’s stunning comeback in 2020. Their dominance in Democratic primaries in the South gives their candidate enough delegates to be a serious national contender. They have backed the winner in every contest since 1988, when they backed Jesse Jackson’s historic, but hopeless, presidential campaign.
Progressive White candidates have historically failed to attract Black voters. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) lost his 2016 challenge to Hillary Clinton largely because she clobbered him with the demographic. He didn’t do much better in 2020, losing to Biden by 61 to 17 percent among Black voters in the pivotal South Carolina primary. Newsom and his inner circle have views that largely mirror those of affluent, White, Bay Area Democrats. It’s hard to think of a group further removed from the lives and concerns of Black voters.
Newsom would also likely have to contend with Vice President Harris, a Black and Asian American woman who shares Newsom’s San Francisco and California political base. Harris has not impressed in either her 2020 presidential bid or as vice president, but any sitting V.P. has national stature that is difficult to undermine. She could use her race, gender and office to campaign as a more moderate progressive, forcing Newsom to the party’s left for support. That wing is growing fast, but it remains a minority among the national Democratic electorate.
Newsom’s personal wealth and obvious taste for the fine life could also play badly outside of California. His trip to the internationally famous French Laundry restaurant, in violation of his own covid-19 rules, suggests a haughty sense of entitlement. He and his second wife, filmmaker Jennifer Siebel Newsom, are worth more than $20 million. In fact, the family bought a $3.7 million house in suburban Sacramento rather than live in the state-financed governor’s mansion. One wonders how his custom-tailored suits and Hollywood-perfect hair will play when he’s sitting in an Iowa family’s living room or shaking hands in New Hampshire’s diners.
His challenges become even greater if he becomes the nominee. Newsom is the face of a state whose social progressivism is a minority view nationwide. He has also never had to deal with serious Republican opposition. Does he take GOP viewpoints seriously enough to engage them effectively, or does he share the condescending and antagonistic views common on the left? So far, it seems it’s the latter, and that could be decisive if the GOP nominates someone other than Donald Trump.
Any sitting governor of California must be taken seriously as presidential timber, and Newsom’s talents and ambition suggest he’s a serious contender. But California is a very distinct state. It’s far from clear he understands that well enough to make the leap to Washington. | 2022-07-15T20:19:54Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Gavin Newsom likely isn’t the answer Democrats are looking for - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/15/gavin-newsom-presidential-candidate-likely-not-democrats-best-option/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/15/gavin-newsom-presidential-candidate-likely-not-democrats-best-option/ |
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) speaks during a news conference on March 10 in Weslaco. (Joel Martinez/The Monitor/AP)
As polls in Texas show Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in a tough reelection fight for what would be his third term, his rhetoric, actions and stunts involving illegal immigration have become increasingly extreme. Egged on by conservative allies — including his lieutenant governor, who likened the current flow of immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border to the attack on Pearl Harbor — Mr. Abbott is now challenging constitutional norms that have generally put immigration policy under the federal government’s purview. He is also defying U.S. law and treaty commitments.
About three years ago, after a mass shooting by a white supremacist at a Walmart in El Paso that left 23 people dead, most of them Latino, Mr. Abbott acknowledged the role of incendiary hyperbole leading up to the massacre. That presumably included his own rhetoric, which included warnings of a plot to “transform Texas — and our entire country — through illegal immigration.” But Mr. Abbott’s memory is apparently short. Now, he speaks openly of declaring that an immigrant “invasion” is underway at the border, a move that supposedly would enable Texas to claim war powers, forbidden to states under the U.S. Constitution unless they are “actually invaded.” Such a declaration might, in turn, empower the governor to deport immigrants, usurping the federal government’s authority.
Or so the argument goes by the anti-immigrant extremists who are pushing the move. It’s far-fetched. Mr. Abbott himself says deporting immigrants might expose state law enforcement authorities to federal prosecution, though he has not ruled it out.
Nonetheless, last week he edged right up to the line, issuing an executive order authorizing the Texas National Guard and Public Safety Department to return undocumented immigrants to the border. Under that scheme, immigrants would have no opportunity to apply for asylum in this country, which is their right under U.S. and international law.
The governor’s move came one day after a poll was published showing him leading Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke by just six percentage points in this fall’s gubernatorial race. While Mr. Abbott remains the favorite in GOP-leaning Texas, his favorable ratings plummeted after the mass shooting in May in Uvalde, which left 19 students and two teachers dead. His lead in the current race is less than half his victory margin of victory in 2018.
As the race has tightened, the governor’s immigration stunts have become showier — and more expensive. Under his policies, Texas has spent some $4 billion on border security — by detaining thousands of immigrants in state facilities on misdemeanor trespassing charges, deploying thousands of National Guard troops to the border, building more than 20 miles of new border wall and paying to bus some immigrants to D.C. He has also spent heavily to reinforce security in Texas border towns, although little serious crime is attributed to border crossers. In April, he played havoc with cross-border commerce by ordering safety inspections on trucks entering Texas from Mexico — an undertaking that produced no significant seizures of narcotics, guns or other contraband.
Mr. Abbott’s ostentatious policies are wasteful and ineffective; they have produced no detectable reduction in cross-border immigration. Whether they help him win reelection remains an open question. | 2022-07-15T20:20:00Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Texas Gov. Greg Abbott goes extreme on immigration during reelection race - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/15/greg-abbott-texas-reelection-immigration/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/15/greg-abbott-texas-reelection-immigration/ |
I’m no longer doubtful: If Garland has a case, Trump must be prosecuted
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks at the Justice Department in D.C. on June 13. (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)
Anyone who professes absolute certainty that Donald Trump should be indicted on a charge of his efforts to prevent the peaceful transition of power hasn’t thought seriously enough about the potential consequences of such an unprecedented prosecution.
Anyone who thinks it should be an easy call for the Justice Department to turn a blind eye to Trump’s conduct hasn’t been paying attention.
Not so long ago, I was squeamish — nervous about the consequences, immediate and long-term, of having any administration prosecute its predecessor and chief political rival.
I was also doubtful that Attorney General Merrick Garland would ultimately determine that the building blocks of a successful criminal case had been assembled — or, if they were, that bringing the case was in the interest of justice.
We don’t know yet what he will do; there are too many critical witnesses left to be heard from, and the evidence we have heard has not been tested by experienced prosecutors — no less subjected to cross-examination.
But my squeamishness and doubts have yielded — if not to the absolute conviction that Trump should be prosecuted, then to the increasing belief that charges are warranted, and that failing to bring them would be more damaging to the nation than turning a blind eye to his effort to subvert democracy and prevent the peaceful transfer of power.
We know now how extensively Trump pressured state officials to support his scheme to overturn the election. It wasn’t just the infamous call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” the necessary number of phantom votes but also his pressure on Arizona House Speaker Russell “Rusty” Bowers to support a slate of phony electors.
We know now that Trump’s exhortation to come to Washington on Jan. 6, 2021 — “Be there, will be wild” — was merely the desperate culmination of his frustrated attempts to forestall the vote-counting by other means.
We know now that Trump was secretly plotting all along to urge his supporters to march on the Capitol that day — that this was no off-the-cuff, ad-libbed exhortation but a premeditated, closely held plan.
We know now that officials across the administration, including White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, feared violence erupting on Jan. 6. “Things might get real, real bad on Jan. 6,” White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson said Meadows warned.
We know now that Trump wanted to join the mob in marching on the Capitol — that this was his plan all along; that his lawyers believed this would be “legally a terrible idea for us,” according to Hutchinson; and that he was enraged when he was prevented from following through.
We know now that Trump was fully aware that some of the supporters he urged to go to the Capitol and “fight like hell” were heavily armed.
We know now that when the rioters breached the Capitol, Trump was unperturbed. “He doesn’t want to do anything, Pat,” Meadows told White House counsel Pat Cipollone, according to Hutchinson. We know now that the claims of Trump’s impeachment lawyers that he, “like the rest of the country, was horrified at the violence,” were false.
We know now that Trump was similarly unfazed by the chants to “hang Mike Pence” — in fact, that he thought Pence deserved that fate for resisting his pressure not to certify the electoral college vote. We know now that the assertion by Trump impeachment lawyer Michael van der Veen that “at no point was the president informed the vice president was in any danger” was also untrue.
What criminal statutes does all this conduct violate? Try 18 U.S.C. Section 1512(c), which applies to anyone who “corruptly … obstructs, influences, or impedes any official proceeding, or attempts to do so.” Try 18 U.S.C. Section 371 which prohibits conspiracy “to defraud the United States”; such defrauding includes efforts to obstruct “the lawful functions of any department of Government.”
Is it in the interests of justice — and is it in the broader interests of the nation — to charge Trump with a crime? The Justice Department’s “Principles of Federal Prosecution” offer some guidance here. Two sentences in particular stand out:
“If a person … is reasonably believed to have engaged in criminal activity at an earlier time, this should be considered in determining whether to commence or recommend federal prosecution.” Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III identified 10 instances in which Trump might have obstructed justice in connection with the Russia probe; Mueller didn’t proceed because Trump, as a sitting president, was shielded from indictment under Justice Department practice.
“The fact that the accused occupied a position of trust or responsibility which he/she violated in committing the offense, might weigh in favor of prosecution.” There is no greater position of trust or responsibility than the presidency, and no one who so flagrantly and repeatedly abused that trust more than Trump.
If and when Garland confronts the agonizing choice of whether to prosecute a former president, that position — and that history — should be top of mind. | 2022-07-15T20:20:13Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Trump should be prosecuted if Garland has a case. I’m no longer doubtful. - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/15/prosecute-trump-garland-case/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/15/prosecute-trump-garland-case/ |
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, left, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. (Photos by Getty Images and AFP/Getty Images)
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) calls Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) an authoritarian bully who is “banning books, making it harder to vote, restricting speech in classrooms, even criminalizing women and doctors.”
DeSantis says Newsom is a hypocritical statist who turned San Francisco into “a dumpster fire,” treats Californians “like peasants” and allowed the “coercive biomedical apparatus” to destroy countless livelihoods during the pandemic.
What is going on here? More than you might guess. The two mega-state governors, brawling for days, are on oddly parallel missions: both want to run for president in 2024 and wrest control of their parties from an old guard along the way. DeSantis, 43, and Newsom, 54 have found excellent foils in one another as they work to nudge Donald Trump and Joe Biden, both septuagenarians, to the sidelines. While Trump and Biden decide whether to run again, DeSantis and Newsom are seizing their opportunities.
Newsom spent $105,000 to air an artful attack ad against DeSantis on Fox News in Florida. “Freedom, it’s under attack in your state,” the Californian said in a message timed to coincide with July Fourth. “Don’t let them take your freedom.”
DeSantis responded by noting that California’s population declined the past two years. “It’s almost hard to drive people out of a place like California, given all their natural advantages, and yet they’re finding a way to do it,” he said at a news conference.
The buddy movie is chiefly important for raising the profiles of both men at a time when the two parties are having some second thoughts about their most likely nominees. But the Newsom and DeSantis back-and-forth has the potential to become a real debate about ideology as the two parties search for direction in the post-Trump era.
Florida’s governor says his state is a magnet because he’s “created a citadel of freedom.” DeSantis promised “freedom from indoctrination” as he signed a bill in April to ban the teaching of critical race theory. The governor used this f-word 35 times last month in a news release announcing he signed the state’s budget.
Newsom, meanwhile, is on the leading edge of progressive efforts to revive Democratic appreciation of freedom. In the Independence Day commercial, he says California still believes in “freedom of speech, freedom to choose, freedom from hate and the freedom to love.” Newsom’s version of freedom is that Americans should “live free from fear of gun violence” and government control of women’s bodies.
The two men aren’t without their drawbacks. Newsom, with fine suits and slicked-back hair, got in trouble for attending a lobbyist’s birthday party in 2020 at a tony Napa Valley restaurant in violation of covid-era rules he had issued. As mayor of San Francisco, he had an affair with the wife of a top staffer as he was exiting a five-year marriage to Kimberly Guilfoyle (who is now engaged, as it happens, to Donald Trump Jr.).
DeSantis has his own demerits, of course, but they fall in different categories. A working-class kid who sailed through Yale and Harvard Law, he emerged with a chip on his shoulder about his roots (which helps him as a pol) and a tendency to remind people that he’s the smartest guy in the room (which does not).
Both governors relish house-to-house fighting in the culture war and delight in trolling the opposition. Newsom became a national figure in 2004 for defying state law as mayor and issuing the first same-sex marriage licenses. DeSantis, who barely won his 2018 governor’s race, became a household name for opening his state up in 2020 when most governors kept theirs closed.
Neither is afraid of big business. Newsom announced last week that California’s state government will begin producing its own insulin to undercut the market price charged by pharmaceutical companies, which conduct vital but expensive research and development. DeSantis dismantled a special tax district created 55 years ago that enabled Disney to build the world’s most popular theme park because its chief executive criticized a bill that bans educators from discussing sexual orientation and gender identity with students before the fourth grade.
Both men are clearly risk takers who sense an opportunity to turn the page on Trump and Biden and still run as Washington outsiders in an era of deep frustration with the status quo.
Of course, it’s far from clear that either Biden or Trump will stand aside. And even if they do, there is no guarantee that DeSantis or Newsom will emerge as a nominee in 2024. But the two governors are already altering the landscape on which those questions will be answered. And their interests are, for the moment, in a strange alignment of convenience. | 2022-07-15T20:20:19Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | How two warring governors are making the most of this moment - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/15/summers-hottest-flick-desantis-newsom-buddy-movie/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/15/summers-hottest-flick-desantis-newsom-buddy-movie/ |
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope captures the “Cosmic Cliffs” of the Carina Nebula; chaos ensues in Sri Lanka over the country’s economic and political collapse; an adult elephant and her calf are rescued from a manhole in Thailand. See 10 of the week’s most interesting images from around the world, as selected by Washington Post photo editors.
The “Cosmic Cliffs” of the Carina Nebula are seen in an image captured by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, a revolutionary apparatus designed to peer through the cosmos to the dawn of the universe.
July 13 | Colombo, Sri Lanka
A protester sits on a chair, surrounded by others, after storming Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s office, demanding he resign after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country amid an economic crisis. Rajapaksa fled on a military jet after angry protesters seized his home and office, and he appointed Wickremesinghe acting president, who declared a nationwide state of emergency to counter swelling protests.
July 9 | Colombo, Sri Lanka
Demonstrators protest at President Rajapaksa’s house after he fled the country amid an economic crisis.
July 10 | Chasiv Yar, Ukraine
Residents watch rescuers as they wait for news about their relatives trapped under the rubble of a residential building damaged by a Russian military strike.
July 12 | Washington, D.C.
Stephen Ayres, a rioter in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, speaks to Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn after his testimony before the House select committee’s public hearing on Capitol Hill.
July 13 | Nakhon Nayok, Thailand
A mother elephant is lifted away from a manhole during a rescue operation to recover its baby calf that had fallen into the hole. The mother was sedated in order to allow the rescue to proceed.
Thailand’s Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation/AFP/Getty Images
Visitors peer through a security fence along Pennsylvania Avenue outside the White House.
President Biden takes a selfie with a guest and her screaming toddler as he hosts the White House congressional picnic on the South Lawn.
Bill O’Leary
July 12 | Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
Young seals are seen before feeding in a pool at the Friedrichskoog seal station.
July 13 | Putilovo, Russia
A full moon rises over a house east of St. Petersburg. July’s full moon is special. Not only is it a supermoon — which appears larger than a “regular” full moon — but it is the biggest and brightest full moon of 2022. The supermoon is known as the buck moon, since the moon occurs when male deer, called bucks, sport their newly grown antlers. | 2022-07-15T20:20:25Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Pictures of what happened this week: NASA's Webb Space Telescope captures the ‘Cosmic Cliffs’ of the Carina Nebula; chaos ensues in Sri Lanka over the country’s economic and political collapse - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/photography/interactive/2022/best-photos-of-the-week-6/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/photography/interactive/2022/best-photos-of-the-week-6/ |
Rael Ombuor
Kenyan sprinter Ferdinand Omanyala trains in Nairobi on June 3. He was supposed to fly to the United States on June 11 for a competition starting June 15, but his visa was delayed by several days. (Tony Karumba/AFP/Getty Images)
Ferdinand Omanyala, 26, known as Africa’s fastest man, feared he would not be able to compete in this week’s World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Ore. — the most significant event in his sport after the Olympics.
The African record holder from Kenya, one of the fastest sprinters of all time, was supposed to fly to the United States on Monday, giving him five days to settle in before his first 100-meter race. But with barely a day left to make the Friday evening start, he had yet to receive a U.S. visa, without which he would be barred from a competition that could cement his legacy.
The document arrived a day before the race, and he got in with only a few hours to spare, set to compete with runners who had not just stepped off a plane. He was one of the lucky ones.
Athletes from Kenya and across Africa have long faced trouble getting U.S. visas in a timely fashion, and Omanyala’s problems drew widespread attention in Kenya, where thousands often face far slower timelines for visas than athletes do.
African athletes were given the option to fast-track their visa applications, but delays have been significant — some roughly six to eight months, Omanyala’s manager, Marcel Viljoen, told The Washington Post on Friday. World Athletics and the organizing committee for the event in Oregon worked with participants around the world to help resolve visa issues, but 20 athletes or officials had their applications refused, according to a statement sent to The Post.
A Nigerian sports official, speaking to the Guardian, said that some Nigerian athletes have had to pull out of competitions at the last minute because of visa problems. He said that despite paying visa fees in April, some athletes were given consular appointments for dates in March 2024.
“Before the American government accepted to host this World Athletics Championships, I expected their embassies around the world to treat the athletes, coaches and accredited journalists with respect,” the unidentified official told the Guardian. “I am sure this kind of treatment won’t be meted to athletes, officials and journalists from Great Britain, Germany and Australia.”
The U.S. Embassy in Nairobi did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
South African media outlet MSN reported that several runners traveling from Cape Town to Oregon were stranded in Italy because of visa problems.
Omanyala’s delay sparked a reaction on social media, as Kenyans posted about the setbacks for athletes or their own waits — some taking the conspiratorial line that the United States was “deliberately” withholding the athletes’ visas, fearing that they would defeat their American competitors. Others, including students, complained about the uphill battle they face to enter the United States, without the fame of star athletes to help them advocate for faster processing.
In 2020, in light of the coronavirus pandemic, the State Department announced suspensions for all routine visa services in most countries around the world — a move that has affected hundreds of thousands of people seeking refugee status and nonimmigrant visas.
While the website of the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi says that visa applications have resumed, officials note that they “are faced with a significant backlog of cases resulting from closures due to COVID-19” and that “all applicants should expect delays.”
According to the State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs, the average wait time for a U.S. visitor visa to be processed from Nairobi is 687 days — more than 3.5 times the average wait time for a U.S. traveler visa in London. The website also notes that student visas in Nairobi take roughly 665 days to process. In a statement sent to The Post, State Department spokesman Ned Price said visas are handled on a case-by-case basis.
Dennis Kiogora, founder of the Kenya Airlift Program, an initiative connecting postgraduate students from Kenya to universities across the United States, said most students in his program could not secure visas ahead of a September start date.
“It is a huge crisis for us because we have so many bright students who have already been admitted to universities in the U.S.,” he said. “Most students who are supposed to report in September have [visa] appointment dates in 2023.” Kiogora added that since May, only 20 out of 140 students have received visas to the United States.
Allan Ngaruiya, 32, a participant in the Airlift Program, said that even with delays, he won’t be able to start his studies in the spring. He said his sponsor withdrew funding for his studies because of visa issues.
Elizabeth Wathuti, an environmental activist in Kenya, said she has tried to go to the U.S. Embassy with all her essential documents “to push” officials to process her visa application.
“I have found myself going to the embassy on my travel date, telling them, ‘Here is my flight ticket, I do not have a visa, and everything is paid for,’” she said.
Tsui reported from Washington and Ombuor from Nairobi. | 2022-07-15T20:49:26Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Ferdinand Omanyala visa delay: Outcry after top Kenyan sprinter nearly misses championships - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/15/omanyala-kenya-sprinter-us-visa-race/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/15/omanyala-kenya-sprinter-us-visa-race/ |
Protesters rally in support of abortion rights near the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus on June 24. (Barbara J. Perenic/AP)
A child is not a child when believing in her existence would force you to notice your own cruelty. When the story of a 10-year-old who had to cross state lines to end a pregnancy that was the product of rape, because the post-Roe laws in the state of Ohio are cruel enough to force birth on a child in her circumstances, is sufficiently monstrous that you want it to be unimaginable.
Erik Wemple: New York Times won’t correct its errant essay on ectopic pregnancy | 2022-07-15T21:07:10Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | When is a child not a child? - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/15/ohio-abortion-law-harms-10-year-old-rape-victim/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/15/ohio-abortion-law-harms-10-year-old-rape-victim/ |
Post-Roe, some Democrats fear state legislative races still overlooked
These Democrats argue that some longstanding challenges to compete for attention have persisted in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling
An abortion rights demonstrator in Detroit bows their head as people protest the Supreme Court's decision to remove a federal right to an abortion on June 24. (Emily Elconin/Getty Images)
As Democrat Veronica Klinefelt goes door to door in the suburban Michigan community she’s hoping to represent in the state Senate, she says she repeatedly has to make the case that the outcome of her race matters in a larger fight for abortion rights.
“It’s almost as if people think there’s nothing that can be done and the Supreme Court has made its decision and that’s it,” said Klinefelt, who is vying for a seat in the Detroit area. “They just don’t seem to be able to understand that these decisions translate into more power at the state level.”
Three weeks after the court’s decision to erase a constitutional right to abortion, Democratic candidates and strategists in legislative contests across the country are trying to tap into outrage over the decision and their newfound power to influence abortion laws to generate more enthusiasm for their campaigns. But some are finding that long-standing challenges to compete for attention have persisted in the wake of the ruling.
For years, Republicans have cemented an advantage in state legislative races, strategists in both parties acknowledge, enabling them to push through conservative legislation on abortion and other matters even at moments like the present one, when Democrats control Congress and the White House. Democrats hoping to inject new urgency into these contests are demanding more money and attention from party leadership — with no clear indication they will get what they want.
Instead, Democratic messaging has largely focused on federal races and a debate over the Senate filibuster, some frustrated Democrats noted, even as individual states now have sole discretion over abortion laws. Some of these Democrats are voicing dissatisfaction with party leaders for not elevating local races more aggressively and not directing more financial resources to the contests.
“You’re not going to ultimately succeed if all you do is say, ‘Go elect another U.S. Senator,’ ” said David Pepper, the former Ohio Democratic Party chair and author of “Laboratories of Autocracy,” a book on GOP power in state legislatures. “The front lines of the attacks on democracy and core rights are state houses. We need to act accordingly or we’re permanently on defense. And when you’re permanently on defense, you ultimately lose.”
In Michigan, Klinefelt says she detects an inclination toward giving money to congressional candidates as she dials for dollars, saying she frequently talks to donors who are used to giving in federal races and don’t see a benefit to spending in local ones. “It hasn’t occurred to them that the investment in the state level will have a bigger impact on their lives,” she said.
Her state is one that activists on both sides of the abortion debate are targeting closely in the wake of the court decision. Abortion rights activists are also eying legislative chamber takeovers in Minnesota and New Hampshire this November. And they’re trying to protect Democratic majorities in Colorado and Maine and prevent an antiabortion supermajority in North Carolina.
Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is running for reelection as a staunch opponent of reinstating a 1931 abortion ban in her state. The GOP-led legislature is pushing for the ban, which has been blocked by the courts, to be enforced. Some activists are also pushing for a ballot initiative to establish abortion rights in state law.
While the GOP controls the state House and Senate in Michigan, Democrats have made gains in recent years and a nonpartisan redistricting commission offered the party what leaders see as a favorable map. Democrats need a net gain of just three state Senate seats to create a tie in the upper chamber.
“We’re an afterthought and we shouldn’t be,” said Michigan Senate Minority Leader Jim Ananich, a Democrat. “We should be in front of the table. If it’s a buffet, I want to be at the front. I don’t want to be at the end when there are only scraps.”
Democrats pushing for more representation in state legislatures say that Republicans have long outorganized them. Of the country’s 99 state legislative chambers, Republicans control 62 while Democrats dominate 37. The GOP holds full control of 30 state legislatures while Democrats hold full majorities in just 17.
Nonpartisan observers hold a dim view for Democratic chances of narrowing the gap significantly this fall. Just four chambers are rated as “toss-ups,” by the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics. And three of those are held by Democrats. Now, Democrats eying these races are pointing to their capacity for concrete actions on abortion, relative to Congress.
“As soon as we take a state legislature, we will do something to protect abortion in the state,” said Jessica Post, the president of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, or DLCC, the main organization trying to elect Democrats in state legislatures. “In fact, the only Democratic trifecta of government that hasn’t protected abortion is the federal government.”
While Democratic leaders in Washington including President Biden are now pushing to codify abortion rights in Congress, the party does not have the votes to do so, due to resistance from some centrists in their ranks to changing Senate rules to overcome GOP opposition.
Some Democrats familiar with state races said they fear state legislative campaign efforts are not getting enough money from the Democratic National Committee, which transferred $15 million to the party’s main federal Senate and House committees earlier this year and hasn’t made a similar payment to the DLCC.
One person familiar with the funding decision noted that the DLCC is permitted to raise an unlimited amount of money while the federal House and Senate committees are not. DNC aides say that they’ve significantly bumped up their direct financial commitments in states, albeit via different avenues, including giving money to state parties.
These individuals spoke on the condition of anonymity to more openly discuss strategy.
In some respects, Democrats eying state legislative races have experienced recent success. From April to June, the DLCC raised $6.75 million — a second quarter record for the organization.
In the same period, the Republican State Leadership Committee, the GOP counterpart to the Democratic group, raised $9.8 million.
Democratic Senate candidates, even in states where they are seen as underdogs, raised far more than the DLCC. Rep. Val Demings, a Democrat taking on Sen. Marco Rubio (R) in Florida, reported raising more than $12 million in the second quarter. Rep. Tim Ryan, a Democrat running for an open Senate seat in Ohio, brought in more than $9 million.
Multiple strategists see a longer-term pattern, pointing to Democrat Amy McGrath’s failed bid in Kentucky last cycle to unseat Sen. Mitch McConnell, the chamber’s top Republican — a race in which she raised massive sums of money but ultimately did not come close to winning.
In the weeks following the Supreme Court decision, the DLCC has had conversations with the White House about how to elevate key races, according to a person familiar with the talks. A White House adviser said that Biden plans to ramp up his domestic travel, which aides anticipate to include more focus on midterm campaigns across the ballot. Both spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations and deliberations.
The DLCC has also been persistently outraised by its GOP counterpart, though in recent years that gap has closed. The DLCC raised about $32 million in the 2018 campaign cycle, according to the most recent data available via the Center for Responsive Politics, or CRP. The RSLC raised nearly $50 million in 2018, according to CRP.
Republicans say that relatively new Democratic organizations, along with a constellation of various gun control groups and pro-abortion rights groups, more than make up the gap in funding between the two parties. And they note that the RSLC has a broader portfolio than the DLCC, including backing other statewide candidates like GOP secretary of state contenders.
Republican State Leadership Committee spokesman Andrew Romeo accused Democrats of “sending out a smoke signal to their liberal billionaire donors to bail them out of political peril in state races.”
Some Democrats said they are plagued by a problem of their own making: Prominent figures in the party who go on cable news shows and other platforms to urge voters to direct their outrage on abortion to the battle for Congress.
“There are folks who have a big megaphone who, I think, haven’t really gotten the message yet,” said Lala Wu, the co-founder and executive director of Sister District, which works to elect Democrats in state races. “Democrats are very tardy to the party.” | 2022-07-15T21:15:52Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Abortion decision highlights Democratic disconnect on state races - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/15/democrats-abortion-states-elections/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/15/democrats-abortion-states-elections/ |
Why you’re hearing so much about fentanyl these days
Some of the approximately 1 million fake pills containing fentanyl that were seized on July 5 from a home in Inglewood, Calif. (U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration/AP)
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) faced some criticism for comments he made during an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity on Tuesday evening.
The drug fentanyl, he said, was “the number one killer of Americans between the ages of 18 and 45.” He lifted an example from the news to make the point: “I don’t know if you just saw that story of a young woman who picked up a dollar bill sitting on the floor of McDonald’s and fell down because fentanyl was on that dollar bill,” McCarthy said. “This is how deadly this is.”
Well, no, that’s not how deadly fentanyl is. First and foremost, the woman didn’t die. But more importantly the story, promulgated in tabloid media coverage, is almost certainly not true. There’s no evidence that the bill the woman claims to have touched had any fentanyl on it. Medical experts have noted repeatedly that simply touching fentanyl is not enough to trigger an overdose or perhaps even any reaction. A researcher who spilled a large amount of liquid fentanyl on his hand discovered that he was not affected. So it’s not clear what happened to the woman or if she was having any sort of physical response that triggered her medical incident.
But McCarthy wasn’t simply warning Fox News viewers that fentanyl was deadly — which it certainly can be when ingested deliberately in an effort to get high. He was exaggerating the risk of fentanyl to make a political point.
The Republican Party was going to produce a “commitment to America,” McCarthy told Hannity, including a pledge to “secure the border and stop this movement of fentanyl.” Because fentanyl was deadly, as evidenced by the woman in McDonald’s. “We’re going to hold this administration accountable,” he added.
That, often, is the point. Fentanyl was developed as a pain management drug for use in the treatment of cancer. Abuse of the drug is dangerous and a real problem. But it’s also a useful political wedge.
The drug is a synthetic opioid, a type of intoxicant made in chemical labs. In 2020, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) released a report detailing how the drug flows into the United States, often originating in China.
The DEA had already warned about the negative effects of fentanyl, reporting in 2018 that the drug and similar synthetic opioids had become “the most lethal category of opioids used in the United States.” Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows both the increase in drug overdoses in the United States and the increasing portion of those overdoses that are a function of fentanyl-like drugs.
(Not all states report specific causes of overdoses. Those that don’t are in gray above. Others didn’t break out synthetic opioids in every month during the period included above.)
One of the first moments at which Americans became familiar with fentanyl was in June 2016, when cocaine laced with fentanyl led to a number of overdoses in New Haven, Conn. Three people died. Search interest for “fentanyl” on Google, a good indicator of public interest, continued to climb from that point, spiking in November 2018 as the government reported that overdose deaths had surged, thanks in large part to fentanyl.
But notice the increase that begins at about 2021 on the chart above. Interest in fentanyl had declined from the 2018 peak but began to increase again in early 2021.
One reason for that is the particular type of media attention offered by McCarthy. Both CNN and MSNBC covered fentanyl a lot in April 2021, when the drug was mentioned as part of the trial of Minneapolis police office Derek Chauvin in the murder of George Floyd. That was unusual, though; the networks don’t usually devote much coverage to the drug.
Fox News, however, has — at least since February 2021.
One doesn’t need to be a political scientist to understand why. Fox News talks about fentanyl far more often than does its competitors, and it usually does so in precisely the context that McCarthy does: the U.S.-Mexico border. Since President Biden was inaugurated, the network has been more likely to talk about fentanyl while discussing immigration than it has been to discuss it in other contexts.
I looked at this subject in May. It’s now common for Republican legislators and conservative media to point to fentanyl smuggling at the border as a critique of the administration’s border policies — even though seizing the drug is what one would prefer happen following smuggling attempts and even though similar seizures during the Trump administration were hailed as examples of Trump’s robust approach to border security.
Seizures of fentanyl jumped in June 2020 and by now make up a greater volume of seizures than heroin. But such seizures are still a relatively small part of what’s stopped at the border. As the DEA explained in 2020, there’s also a fentanyl smuggling system that crosses the Canada-U. S. border; that gets far less attention.
Again: Fentanyl is a dangerous drug that’s killing tens of thousands of people a year. But it is also a useful political cudgel, often after its dangers have been exaggerated.
There’s another reason you’ve probably heard about fentanyl in recent months that bears mentioning. There have been a number of incidents reported over the past year in which police officers purportedly come into contact with the drug and suffer overdoses. These stories have generally been debunked on a case-by-case basis, from an article in Defector last August to one in the New York Times this week. As with the unfortunate woman in the McDonald’s, there’s no evidence that incidental contact between exposed skin and trafficked fentanyl can trigger a significant adverse reaction. As far back as 2017, a statement from the American Academy of Clinical Toxicology and the American College of Medical Toxicology noted that “the risk of clinically significant exposure to emergency responders is extremely low.”
The CDC had nonetheless hosted a video on its occupational health and safety website suggesting that there was a danger of overdose for law enforcement. The video centered on a purported incident in Virginia that even a CDC analysis indicated no presence of intoxicants in the urine of officers involved in the incident. The video has been removed from the agency’s website.
What triggered physical reactions in the police? One guess is that they are experiencing something akin to panic attacks, a physical manifestation of a psychological stressor. That the fear of fentanyl is in a weird way self-reinforcing: People — even police officers! — are so afraid of it that they have an alarming reaction to it.
It’s a fear that Kevin McCarthy and Fox News like to amplify to make a political point. | 2022-07-15T21:15:58Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Why you’re hearing so much about fentanyl these days - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/15/why-youre-hearing-so-much-about-fentanyl-these-days/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/15/why-youre-hearing-so-much-about-fentanyl-these-days/ |
John Froines, chemist charged in ‘Chicago Seven’ trial, dies at 83
The trial in 1969 became a touchstone for the era’s disquiet and divisions. Dr. Froines went on to a distinguished career in research on environmental contaminants and worker safety.
John Froines, left, and Tom Hayden head to court in Chicago during the “Chicago Seven” trial in 1969. (David Fenton/Getty Images)
A few months before the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, a call came for John Froines, an antiwar activist and Ph.D. chemist from Yale. On the line was Tom Hayden, a fellow member of the anti-establishment Students for a Democratic Society and a rising star of the left.
Come to Chicago, Hayden urged. Dr. Froines’s experience in anti-violent organizing — sit-ins, community marches, vigils — was needed. Tens of thousands of demonstrators were expected to stream into Chicago in late August with various views and agendas, including some bent on challenging police.
Dr. Froines (pronounced FRO-ins), who died July 13 at 83, would leave Chicago embedded in the public consciousness, alongside some of the 1960s’ counterculture leaders, as part of the “Chicago Seven.” The group was charged by the U.S. government for allegedly fomenting riots and promoting violence during street clashes between demonstrators and police and National Guard. “The world is watching,” some protesters chanted.
The trial in 1969 became a touchstone for the era’s disquiet and divisions — with Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Hayden and two others charged with crossing state lines with intent to start a riot, and Dr. Froines and antiwar activist Lee Weiner facing allegations of instructing demonstrators on how to construct devices such as stink bombs and nail-studded Styrofoam balls.
The proceedings riveted the nation. It was part showdown over the power vs. protest struggles in the 1960s and part performance art by Hoffman and Rubin — well-known leaders of the Youth International Party, or Yippies — with tirades against the judge and acts of courtroom disobedience. Hoffman threw a kiss to the jurors during the prosecution’s opening statement. He and Rubin came to court dressed in judicial robes. (An eighth defendant, Black Panther Party co-founder Bobby Seale, was removed from the overall case.)
Dr. Froines would sometimes walk side by side to court with his friend Hayden, who was seen as the most politically experienced of the group. Hayden helped shape the seminal Port Huron Statement, a 1962 manifesto on social change that became a reference point for the antiwar movement and other 1960s student activism. (Hayden was married to actress Jane Fonda from 1973 to 1990 and became a California state senator.)
Dr. Froines went on to have a distinguished career as an environmental scientist, often engaging in research with social justice implications such as examining pollutants that directly affect lower-income areas or migrant workers. But his Chicago Seven moment never left him. It was often revisited in interviews, documentaries and films, including a 2020 Netflix drama, “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” directed by Aaron Sorkin, with Danny Flaherty playing Dr. Froines.
A 1969 image of the seven defendants, standing as if in a police lineup, became one of the signature works by renowned photographer Richard Avedon. Dr. Froines is second from the left with a deadpan expression and a hand in his pants pocket.
As recently as 2021, Dr. Froines recounted the tumult of that summer during an interview with @thebar, a Chicago-based legal affairs podcast. He noted that he may have been targeted for arrest by undercover police after some protesters used cloth soaked in pungent butyric acid to empty out the Hilton Hotel.
“So I think it was in part due to the chemical warfare, if you will,” Dr. Froines said.
Opinion: 'Chicago 7' tries to make history convenient
Academia and activism
John Radford Froines was born in Oakland, Calif., on June 13, 1939. His parents were shipyard workers during World War II. Dr. Froines was 3 when his father was killed while returning home from the docks, the family statement said.
Dr. Froines was a standout athlete at Berkeley High School, named to its football Hall of Fame. After graduating in 1957, he served in the Air National Guard and, in 1962, received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley.
Dr. Froines completed a doctorate in physical chemistry at Yale in 1967. He also became involved with community-organizing efforts with the Students for a Democratic Society in New Haven, Conn., where he met his first wife, antiwar activist and women’s studies lecturer Ann Rubio. They married in 1965.
In 1968, after two years at a postdoctoral fellowship in Britain under Nobel laureate George Porter, Dr. Froines and his wife were asked by Hayden to help coordinate events in Chicago during the Democratic convention. Many demonstrators believed the presidential nominee, vice president Hubert H. Humphrey, would follow President Lyndon B. Johnson’s policies to continue the Vietnam War.
After the Chicago Seven acquittals, Dr. Froines traveled the country as a speaker at antiwar events, including helping organize a May Day march in Washington in 1971 that led to more than 12,000 people being taken into custody by police, which has been widely described as the largest mass arrest in U.S. history.
In New Haven, Dr. Froines and his wife worked with a defense fund for Seale and Ericka Huggins during a trial for conspiracy to murder in the killing of a Black Panther member suspected of being an informant. That trial resulted in a hung jury, and Seale and Huggins were freed.
Dr. Froines taught chemistry at Goddard College in Vermont before becoming head of head of toxic chemical standards for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in Washington in the mid-1970s. Among his priorities was developing standards to reduce lead poisoning in industries.
At a San Francisco conference in 1979, Dr. Froines, then divorced, met Andrea Hricko, a worker safety advocate. They were married later that year.
Dr. Froines went on to serve as the deputy director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. In 1981, Dr. Froines took a position at the University of California at Los Angeles as a professor of toxicology. He remained at the university for more than 30 years, directing the Center for Occupational and Environmental Health and leading research into areas such pesticide contamination, diesel pollution and air quality at landfills.
The group Physicians for Social Responsibility in Los Angeles recognized Dr. Froines in 2012 for his “courageous commitment to scientific integrity and for increasing our understanding of the health impacts of toxic chemicals on the health of workers and communities.”
“John embodied the spirit of ‘science for the people’ by using his scientific knowledge and research to save the public and working Americans from the toxic impacts of pollution and unsafe materials,” said Bill Zimmerman, a political consultant who had joined Dr. Froines in 1970s antiwar activism.
Dr. Froines died at a hospital in Santa Monica, Calif., of complications from Parkinson’s disease, his family said in a statement.
In addition to his wife, a professor emerita in environmental health at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine, survivors include a daughter from his first marriage, Rebecca Froines Stanley of Hamden, Conn.; a son from his second marriage, Jonathan Froines of Los Angeles; and two granddaughters.
“No one is the same now as then [in the ‘60s],” Dr. Froines told the Los Angeles Times in 1990. “I think it’s more valuable to look at a person’s history — to see if they have been consistent within the context of their values. We still need student protesters because many of the problems of the ‘60s continue and new issues have emerged. But nobody’s a student activist at 50. You’d have to have your head examined.” | 2022-07-15T21:51:04Z | www.washingtonpost.com | John Froines, chemist charged in 'Chicago Seven' trial, dies at 83 - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/07/15/froines-chicago-seven-dies/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/07/15/froines-chicago-seven-dies/ |
‘Apex Legends’ esports’ stadium debut is a rebirth, not a victory lap
(Washington Post illustration; EA)
More than three years after the game’s release, the “Apex Legends” pro circuit finally made its stadium debut.
Forty teams from around the world traveled to Raleigh, North Carolina, over the weekend to compete for their share of a $2,000,000 prize pool at the ALGS Championship. The tournament filled the home of the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes, with thousands of screaming fans, providing the first real opportunity for the competitive “Apex” community to gather in person. It was also a big moment for the rapidly growing scene’s online viewership, which peaked at well over 600,000 on the final day of play.
“Apex Legends” — the game — is wildly popular. It boasts more than 100 million players, and in the first half of 2022 it was one of the most-tweeted about titles in the world, beating out “Elden Ring” and “Valorant.” So it may be hard to imagine that the game’s pro circuit was nearly over before it began. In fact, this weekend’s spectacle in Raleigh was more of a rebirth than a victory lap.
The talented Australian team DarkZero won the tournament, taking home $500,000 for their efforts. But “Apex” has not always been so lucrative. Limited to regional tournaments during the pandemic, a victory at an ALGS event a little over a year ago netted DarkZero just $4,500. The viability of a career in “Apex” was an open question, and many pros openly expressed doubts about the game’s future.
Ultimately, players left the arena Sunday with a general sense of optimism — about the future of “Apex” esports and their place in it. But that optimism came with some caveats.
More than two years after the coronavirus pandemic upended a robust calendar of in-person tournaments planned to begin in March 2020, the scene continues to feel the impact. But John Nelson, the ALGS commissioner, was never worried about the game’s pro scene — or else he won’t admit it.
Nelson is no stranger to the ups and downs of popular interest in esports, having spent 12 years running Major League Gaming events before joining Electronic Arts (EA), which publishes “Apex.” In a conversation with The Post in a box suite overlooking the arena, Nelson argued that his title has gone from strength to strength.
“From the moment that we played ‘Apex Legends’ prelaunch, my team knew that this game was made for esports,” he said.
Three years into ‘Apex Legends,’ the team at Respawn still trusts their ‘gut instincts’
For Nelson, the pandemic merely delayed the inevitable rise of the “Apex” scene.
“Obviously covid impacted our plans, as it did plans across the industry,” Nelson said. “We went online-only for the better part of two years. But the constant for us throughout the ALGS and ‘Apex Legends’ esports has been growth.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, though, the return to in-person events was fraught with real-world problems, including covid.
At the Raleigh event, the ALGS was unable to provide on-site alternatives for players who tested positive for the virus — a problem the logistics team got a preview of at an event in Stockholm, where several players tested positive and were barred from play. Despite a concerted effort by the pro community to lobby for separate on-site facilities that would enable competitors who tested positive but otherwise felt well enough to play, quarantine booths were not set up at Raleigh.
After more than 10 players tested positive for the virus, the ALGS released a statement Friday reiterating their covid policy. It was met with derision from some of the most prominent players in the circuit, who argued that the lack of quarantine facilities was unacceptable given the fact that popular peer esports in the space, such as “Valorant” and “Counter Strike: Global Offensive,” had set up similar facilities in the past.
“One of the only large esports that actively have this rule,” wrote Mac “Albralelie” Beckwith, a content creator signed to the esports org TSM, on Twitter. “If you want this game to be a proper esport it’s time to begin really treating it like one in ways other than just playing on a fancy stage.”
The relationship between EA and “Apex” pro players — already strained — didn’t appear to improve over the course of the event, as players criticized EA’s covid policies. Two more players who had qualified with their teams to compete in the finals failed their coronavirus tests on Sunday. The British team Invictus was left with two substitutes, one of whom was the team’s manager.
On Sunday, the hashtag #LetThemPlay began circulating on Twitter as prominent players in the finals demanded that EA change their covid policy mid-tournament.
Travel issues also dogged the Raleigh LAN. More than a dozen players failed to secure visas that would allow them to attend the championship, sending teams scrambling for substitutes.
Nelson views this as unfortunate but unavoidable. “Despite all of our efforts, those things can, you know, just come down to the decision of governments at the end of the day,” he said.
Many recently demanded that the ALGS administration cover travel expenses for teams who had qualified for a $1 million playoff series in Stockholm, when unsigned rosters began crowdfunding efforts for the financial resources to make attendance at the tournament a possibility. After intense social media scrutiny, EA announced they would cover the expenses.
Despite the kerfuffle, the game’s tentative first step toward live audiences yet again broke viewership records, reaching 539,00 Average Minute Audience (AMA), or how many people are watching the event during any given minute.
Video game developers want fair online games. Some players really don’t.
In an interview between matches, Jack “NiceWigg” Martin, a popular caster who’s played in the ALGS, highlighted the predicament of pros who continue to have their livelihoods affected by recurring logistical issues.
“Not every one of these pros is popping off and is a streamer that makes thousands of dollars a month,” said Martin. “Their salary is coming from their org and from their tournament places. So when they fly out here for 36 hours, they better be respected, they better be cared for. And they have to be the main concern moving forward in this esport. They need to be treated like athletes. That’s what it comes down to.”
Nelson stressed that the health and safety of players was the first priority of the ALGS and that the protocols were in place exactly for those reasons.
Beer, nachos and screaming
The virus has impacted the livelihood of pros since the very beginning of the ALGS. After a successful preseason event in Krakow, Poland, with no spectators, the first in-person tournament of the circuit was scheduled for March 2020, in Arlington, Texas. That event was canceled mere days before it was slated to begin, however, and the scene languished. A highly-polished rival arrived with the release of “Valorant,” and a crisis of confidence roiled the burgeoning esport. Big organizations left and pros jumped ship for greener pastures. The online ecosystem that replaced the schedule of in-person events got off to a rough start as the ALGS production team was forced to pivot overnight, upending carefully-laid strategies.
The game’s core base of dedicated fans never left, though. And over two years, the ALGS not only survived but thrived, surpassing its own viewership records with every event. That base showed up in large numbers to Raleigh, where passion for the game was thick in the air. Spectators chugged beer, ate nachos and screamed for their favorite teams.
Even the event’s issues became cause for celebration. There were cheers and claps for an audio glitch that filled the arena with repetitive percussive shots. The Japanese team PULVEREX, forced to play as a two-man team due to covid restricting their teammates’ participation, became a crowd darling. Fans chanted their name every time they appeared on-screen and then again outside the stadium after the duo was eliminated from contention.
The two-year online stint also proved to be a fruitful testing ground to improve the viewing experience for fans at home. Battle royale esports have always faced unique challenges for spectators. While games like “Overwatch” and “Valorant” take place on smaller maps and feature only 10 players, each game of “Apex Legends” is set on a much larger piece of terrain and begins with 60 different players active. They can be eliminated at any time, and each game lasts about 20 minutes, with a fair amount of downtime. Nelson rightly touts the development of Multiview to make “Apex” easier to watch, a Twitch feature that allows fans of particular teams or players to see the action from individual perspectives, with up to four different viewpoints at once.
As the ALGS team adjusted to the new normal, EA funded handsome prize pools, increasing the stakes of matches. More than $2.5 million was divided between five regional tournaments for the first year of the ALGS Championship. Through the pandemic, the game improved as well, while the consistency of top-performing teams like TSM and NRG brought clarity and stability to the intrinsic chaos of the often unpredictable genre.
Those larger prize pools and the increasing dominance of “Apex” on the battle royale scene led top-tier esports organizations like 100 Thieves and OpTic to join the game, and tournaments began to break viewership records. “Apex” is still gaining momentum, Nelson said.
“It seems almost on a weekly basis that there’s another announcement of a roster that’s being picked up, be it from South America or APAC south, or North America, represented by a top-flight esports organization,” he said, reflecting on the esports teams competing in the game.
This weekend, the ALGS team finally got to test that growth in the crucible of an arena filled with fans. Though EA and the pro community have their differences, both agree: “Apex” is at its best in the stadium.
“ ‘Apex Legends’ esports is driven by the emotion of players and fans,” Nelson said. “We’ve been building toward this as a pinnacle in terms of being able to have a live audience, and to feel that atmosphere in the building. And in some ways, it’s also a beginning.”
Ethan Davison is a freelance writer covering games, books, and culture. He’s on Twitter @eadavison_, and also writes a weekly newsletter about Apex Legends. | 2022-07-15T21:52:12Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Apex Legends championship in Raliegh is a rebirth, not a victory lap - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/esports/2022/07/15/apex-legends-esports-raleigh-darkzero/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/esports/2022/07/15/apex-legends-esports-raleigh-darkzero/ |
Malcolm Nance on threat of domestic extremism and political violence
The Jan 6. attack on the U.S. Capitol underlined the rising threat of political violence and domestic extremism in the United States. On Tuesday, July 19 at 3:30 p.m. ET, join Washington Post Live for a conversation with counterterrorism expert and best-selling author Malcolm Nance about his new book “They Want to Kill Americans.”
Malcolm Nance
Counterterrorism Expert
Author, “They Want to Kill Americans” | 2022-07-15T21:52:18Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Malcolm Nance on threat of domestic extremism and political violence - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/washington-post-live/2022/07/19/malcolm-nance-threat-domestic-extremism-political-violence/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/washington-post-live/2022/07/19/malcolm-nance-threat-domestic-extremism-political-violence/ |
A Mexican Federal Police unit patrols around the Puente Grande state prison in Zapotlanejo, where drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero was jailed until his release in 2013. (Hector Guerrero/AFP/Getty Images)
MEXICO CITY — Mexican authorities on Friday captured fugitive drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero, a top target of U.S. law enforcement who was convicted in the 1985 killing of a DEA agent, an event that transformed the American government’s war on drug traffickers, according to a former U.S. official and Mexican media.
Caro Quintero is considered one of the architects of the 1985 kidnapping, torture and murder of DEA agent Enrique Camarena in Mexico. The co-founder of the Guadalajara Cartel had served 28 years of a 40-year prison sentence for the agent’s murder and other crimes when he was suddenly released late one night in August 2013 by a judge citing administrative reasons.
Since then, Caro Quintero’s capture has been a top objective for successive U.S. administrations. In 2020, then-attorney general William P. Barr urged Mexico’s government to track down the drug chief in a reciprocal gesture after the Trump administration dropped drug charges against Mexican former defense minister Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda.
Caro Quintero is on the FBI and DEA lists of most wanted fugitives. His arrest Friday came days after President Andrés Manuel López Obrador met President Biden at the White House. Mexico has recently sharply stepped up its anti-drug efforts, particularly against producers of deadly fentanyl. | 2022-07-15T21:52:24Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Caro Quintero arrested in Mexico; wanted by U.S. in 1985 murder of DEA agent Kiki Camarena - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/15/mexico-caro-quintero-arrest/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/15/mexico-caro-quintero-arrest/ |
Supreme Court ruling sets off rush for concealed gun permits in Maryland
Gov. Larry Hogan eased firearm restrictions in the deep-blue state after the decision
Alex Rozental, owner of AM Shooting in Damascus, MD, on July 13. (Craig Hudson for The Washington Post)
Firearms enthusiasts had already been flocking to Maryland gun shops and shooting ranges since the June 23 Supreme Court decision-making it easier to obtain and carry a concealed weapon. But demand surged last week after Gov. Larry Hogan (R) issued an order bringing the state in line with the ruling.
Customers — ranging from the curious to seasoned gun owners long frustrated by Maryland’s strict stance on carrying firearms — have been calling and visiting gun shops in search of small, easily hidden handguns, firearms dealers said. State-mandated training classes have been booked well in advance, and instructors are sometimes in short supply. The Maryland State Police has received eleven times the usual number of new permit applications since the court struck down state provisions requiring gun owners to demonstrate a special need for carrying a firearm for self-defense.
“It’s something that in Maryland, I know you had to have a pretty damn good reason to have concealed carry,” said Tom O’Malley, 27, who dropped by the Gun Shack/Crosswind store in Mount Airy this week with his wife.
O’Malley, who lives in the town, said he wanted a handgun for extra security while doing his auto repair business through Facebook Marketplace. His wife, Kelsey, 26, has been thinking about carrying, too, since a bunch of creepy guys followed her around one night while she was shopping. Packing only pepper spray for self-defense didn’t seem to cut it, she said.
“It’s scary when you’re by yourself and you’re a young female,” she said.
Alex Rozental, who owns AM Shooting in Damascus, said the two-week buying spree cleaned him out of 9mm semiautomatic handguns that are popular for concealed carry, such as the Sig-Sauer P365 XL, the Springfield Armory Hellcat and the Glock 19. All go for upward of $600. He said he also hasn’t seen a run on sales like this since the early days of the pandemic and the civil unrest during social justice protests two years ago.
“I see all sorts of customers — construction workers, business owners — through all the backgrounds,” Rozental said. His training courses — which run about $400 a pop — are booked through September.
Many customers come with questions about the licensing requirements to purchase a handgun or obtain a carry permit. The requirements — which Maryland and several other states tightened after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Connecticut — include fingerprinting, background check, and at least four hours of in-class and shooting range instruction in a state-approved class just to purchase a handgun. Sixteen hours of instruction are required for concealed carry, along with a refresher course for license renewal.
Before the Supreme Court’s ruling, Maryland also required gun owners to provide a “good and substantial reason” for carrying a concealed weapon. In practice, the bar was set so high that only certain types of business owners, such as those transporting large amounts of cash or valuables, could obtain a permit.
“For the individual citizen, you really needed to prove your life is in danger,” Rozental said.
Many Maryland gun owners, like Katie Novotny, didn’t even try.
“That wasn’t really on my radar because I knew I wasn’t going to get a carry permit at that time,” said Novotny, a contractor at the Army’s Aberdeen Proving Ground. Novotny grew up around firearms in rural Harford County. She hunted raccoons, entered shooting competitions and assembled a gun collection, including World War I and World War II rifles. She also became an advocate for gun rights after Maryland tightened gun laws in 2013.
“That just kind of lighted a fire in me to fight,” Novotny, 39, said.
Aware that previous Supreme Court firearms decisions set the stage for repealing Maryland’s primary barrier to concealed carry, Novotny applied this year and obtained a permit. But it was also tightly restricted, allowing her to carry only when transporting money as treasurer of Maryland Shall Issue, Inc., a gun-rights organization. Since the ruling, however, her restrictions have been lifted.
“People just didn’t apply — people like me, that didn’t have a special reason. So it wasn’t an indication of how many people wanted it,” she said. “We overwhelmed the system.”
The Supreme Court, ruling 6-3 in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, struck down the New York provision requiring a special need for concealed carry. The court’s conservative majority, holding that Americans should not be required to prove a need for exercising a constitutional right, said states could nonetheless impose other reasonable regulations, including background checks and firearms training, to ensure a person is capable of properly handling a concealed weapon.
Maryland resident's legal challenge helped set state for Supreme Court's decision on carrying concealed firearms in public
The Bruen decision overnight changed New York, Maryland and other states with restrictive gun laws from a “may issue” stance on licensing concealed firearms to a presumptive “shall issue,” so long as other criteria are met. (Some states, known as constitutional carry states, require no permit but sometimes issue them to satisfy states with reciprocal permitting laws.)
Elena Russo, a Maryland State Police spokeswoman, said state police received 5,314 first-time concealed carry applications since the Supreme Court’s decision, compared to 609 applications in the same approximately two-week period last year. So many applicants flooded the agency’s electronic portal that the software s used to send out automated acknowledgments temporarily stopped working.
By law, the state police are supposed to make a determination on applications within 90 days. Until now, the process took about a month or two, Russo said. With the exponential surge in interest, she said, the process could now take longer.
Gun control advocates mourned the Bruen decision as yet another faulty interpretation of the Second Amendment that will cause more mayhem in a society already awash in firearms and violence.
“I think the bottom line is more guns in public spaces does not lead to more safety,” said Melissa Ladd, head of Maryland’s chapter of Moms Demand Action. Ladd, a substitute teacher in Montgomery County, criticized Hogan for rushing to loosen the state’s concealed carry law. She also urged political leaders to follow New York’s lead by creating more gun-free public spaces. Montgomery County Council President Gabe Albornoz introduced such a measure Tuesday.
Gun rights advocates, however, hailed the Supreme Court decision as an acknowledgment of one’s right to self-defense and an overdue recognition of reality: criminals don’t go through legal niceties to carry firearms. They note that Maryland’s murder rate, despite a small dip, has climbed steadily since the state passed the landmark Firearms Safety Act of 2013. Homicides increased to 573 in 2020, up 5.5 percent from the previous year and up 48 percent from 387 in 2013, according to the state police uniform crime report. The murder rate has also jumped to 9.5 per 100,000 people from 6.5 per 100,000 in 2013.
Firearms owners say more guns means less crime — arguing, say, that criminals will think twice about carjacking someone who might be lawfully armed — while gun control advocates say more concealed weapons lead to more bloodshed. Each side cites studies to back them. RAND, in a comprehensive review of the research literature, found evidence for either argument to be limited or inconclusive.
Meanwhile, some Maryland gun owners say the time to buy is now because — given the nation’s deep partisan divisions — the law could abruptly change again.
“Now that it’s a little bit looser, we figured we’d take advantage of it,” said O’Malley, who was shopping for firearms with his wife. “Who knows how long it’s going to be around?” | 2022-07-15T22:07:44Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Supreme Court gun ruling, Hogan open up concealed carry in Maryland - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/15/concealed-carry-maryland-guns-hogan/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/15/concealed-carry-maryland-guns-hogan/ |
Youngkin appoints Confederate statue defender to historic resources board
Crews transfer sections of Richmond's Robert E. Lee statue to a flatbed trailer on Monument Avenue on Sept. 8, 2021. (John McDonnell/The Washington Post)
RICHMOND — Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) has appointed a historian to the state Board of Historic Resources who has defended the state’s Confederate monuments and condemned their destruction as a “dangerous” rewriting of history.
Ann Hunter McLean of Richmond, the former head of a Christian school, told an online publication that she believes Virginia’s heritage is “under attack” as she begins serving on the board, which oversees state historic-site designations.
Last year, as the last vestiges of Richmond’s Confederate monuments were being taken down in the wake of social justice protests, McLean lamented the loss.
Robert E. Lee statue is removed in Richmond after months of protest and legal resistance
“This whole tragedy is that these statues were built to tell the true story of the American South to people 500 years from now,” McLean said to a Richmond radio host on Dec. 23, 2021, after state archivists opened a time capsule found under the site where the statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee once stood on Monument Avenue. “People want to destroy the evidence of that story,” she continued, saying the Civil War was fought for the “sovereignty of each state and constitutional law.”
Then-Gov. Ralph Northam (D) had taken down the Lee statue as a racist symbol erected to honor a war that was fought to preserve slavery. McLean said Northam’s actions amounted to “lawlessness.”
Last year, Youngkin acknowledged Northam’s authority to take down the statue under a decision by the Supreme Court of Virginia.
Virginia's Supreme Court clears the way for Lee statue to come down
Macaulay Porter, a spokeswoman for Youngkin, said Friday via text that “the governor supports preserving the history of Virginia and believes that the referenced statues should be preserved in a museum or other facility.”
McLean did not respond Friday to an email and a phone message requesting comment. She was quoted in the online publication Virginia Star as saying in an interview that she was uncertain whether her role on the board would involve decisions regarding monuments.
“But I am not into destroying people’s fine art. I think there’s something cosmically wrong with doing that under any circumstances,” she said, adding that she is particularly interested in overseeing the language on state historical markers.
Approving and revising those markers is one of the primary functions of the historic resources board, which consists of seven people appointed by the governor. The board meets jointly with the State Review Board four times a year to consider nominations to the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places. It also holds easements at historic sites around the state.
Del. Lamont Bagby (D-Henrico), the head of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus, said McLean’s appointment showed Youngkin’s “callous attitude toward Black history in Virginia and the lingering effects of institutional racism.” Via text message, Bagby said Youngkin seems intent on “erasing our voices, images, and pain without flinching. He must believe that no one is paying attention to his appointments or he’s just that brazen to repeatedly thumb his nose at us.”
Virginia has taken dramatic steps in the past few years to wrestle with its troubled racial legacy. The former capital of the Confederacy boasted more Confederate memorials than any other state, but began dismantling many of them after the racial justice movement sparked in 2020 by the killing of George Floyd by Minnesota police.
The city of Richmond has taken down all of its Confederate statues save one — a monument to Gen. A.P. Hill that stands in a traffic intersection atop the soldier’s grave. City officials are negotiating to relocate the remains and get the statue down later this year.
Many longtime defenders of the monuments, including Confederate heritage groups such as the Virginia Flaggers, conceded that public sentiment called for removal but argued that the statues should be relocated to places such as museums and battlefields.
Protesters transformed Richmond’s Robert E. Lee memorial. Now they mourn the loss of their most powerful icon of resistance.
The enormous statue of Lee, festooned with protest graffiti, became an international protest symbol until Northam had it taken down last year. In December, when the first of two Lee time capsules was unearthed and opened, McLean spoke with host John Reid on WRVA radio in Richmond to lament the whole process.
After Reid complained that the movement to take down statues was being driven by “vehement hatred” toward people who lived 50 to 100 years ago, McLean said she agreed “completely — spot on.”
McLean then seemed to suggest that state officials had a nefarious plan for using a possible photograph of President Abraham Lincoln in his casket that was rumored to have been placed in the Lee time capsule but was not actually found.
Confederate pride and the Chamber of Commerce: Richmond’s Lee statue finally gives up its time capsule secrets
“The dead Lincoln photograph seems to be the thing they are blisteringly interested in achieving and getting,” she said, “and I am very concerned when they get that, what are they going to do with that? You know, central planning is so a part of this, and it’s almost like there’s a folder and a plan they pull out every two or three days or two or three weeks … And we see it with the mandates for the [coronavirus] vaccines but we also see this with history and what they’re doing to our culture.”
In the introduction to her 1998 doctoral dissertation, McLean wrote that the Confederate statues erected from the late 1800s through the 1920 “were created primarily as vehicles of moral uplift at a time of rapid urbanization and social change, when idealism typified the American portrayal of martial art.”
She goes on to acknowledge that the African American perspective on the statues “is one of several complexities inherent in the subject.” She wrote that the Lee statue was “erected to inspire virtue in the public, and as a tribute to Lee around whom grew a heroic myth embraced by both North and South, [but] today reminds some in society of the open wound of racism.”
McLean also writes for Bacon’s Rebellion, a conservative commentary site, and serves on the board of The Jefferson Council, a group aimed at preserving Thomas Jefferson’s heritage at the University of Virginia. In a recent article for The Jefferson Independent, a student-run conservative website, McLean blasted “cultural Marxists” for tearing down the legacies of Lee — a “Christian soldier” — and Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, “a Sunday School teacher for a class of young black children.”
Youngkin made one other appointment to the historic resources board: Aimee Jorjani, who served under President Trump as chair of the federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.
Meanwhile, another Youngkin appointee who has drawn criticism — Casey Flores on the state’s LGBTQ+ Advisory Board — has stepped down, the governor’s office said Friday. Flores attracted criticism for crude and vulgar postings on social media, but now has “resigned from the Board as he is accepting a professional opportunity outside of the Commonwealth,” Porter said via text message. | 2022-07-15T22:07:50Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Youngkin appoints Confederate statues defender to Virginia historic resources board - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/15/youngkin-mclean-confederate-statues-historic-board/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/15/youngkin-mclean-confederate-statues-historic-board/ |
Live updates:Russia-Ukraine war live updates: Two universities in Mykolaiv hit by missil...
The latest U.S. assessment of the Ukraine war came a day after at least 20 people were killed in missile strikes in Vinnytsia
A woman walks on June 15 over damage caused by a rocket in Vinnytsia, Ukraine. (Alexey Furman/Getty Images)
An estimated 100 to 150 civilians have been killed in Russian military strikes inside Ukraine during the last two weeks, the Pentagon said Friday, a day after missiles launched from a submarine in the Black Sea killed at least 20 in the city of Vinnytsia.
Russian officials claimed that the attack, about 150 miles southwest of Kyiv, struck military targets. The Ukrainian government said Thursday’s barrage hit a business complex and other civilian infrastructure far from the front lines of the war.
The strikes appear to fit a broader pattern in which Russia has launched attacks into seemingly quiet parts of Ukraine, upending lives and infuriating Ukrainians. Videos of the strikes appear to back Ukrainian claims, said a senior U.S. defense official, speaking on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the Pentagon.
“I saw the same videos that you all saw,” the official told reporters. “I didn’t see anything there that looked anything close to military. That looked like an apartment building.”
Russian strikes in Vinnytsia leave gruesome civilian toll
The spike in civilian deaths has occurred as Russian and Ukrainian forces remain locked in pitched combat in eastern Ukraine, with territory typically changing hands only a bit at a time and at high cost to both sides.
Asked whether the war, which is closing in on its five-month mark, had entered a stalemate, the senior U.S. defense official said it was too soon to say.
The official noted that Ukrainian troops continue to hold off Russia’s attempts to gain ground around the northeastern city of Kharkiv, and that while Russian commanders want to move on the eastern city of Slovyansk, they have “not been able to do so.”
Ukraine is using sophisticated multiple-launch rocket systems, including the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System provided by the United States, to attack Russian equipment behind the front lines.
“They’re … striking targets like ammunition supplies, other logistical supplies, command-and-control,” the senior U.S. defense official said. “All those things have a direct impact on the ability to affect operations on the front lines.”
Ukrainian forces also have begun some efforts to retake areas in the southern part of the country that had been seized by Russia. In the Kherson region, 44 settlements have been reclaimed in the counteroffensive, Ukraine’s acting head of the region’s military administration said Thursday.
Most of the region, which Russian forces captured at the start of the war, remains occupied, the official, Dmytro Burtiy, said in an interview with the Ukraine Media Center. But Russia has pivoted the focus of its invasion to the northeast in recent months, giving Ukraine an opening to retake some territory. The counteroffensive has brought a fresh round of fighting to villages in the area.
“They’re having a very hard time because the Russian occupier is constantly shelling these localities, there’s widespread destruction, ruination, infrastructure is being destroyed, kindergarten schools, residential buildings,” Burtiy said.
The senior U.S. defense official said that it was unclear from Washington’s latest intelligence what those settlements look like.
“I do know,” he said, “that Ukrainians have made small gains in pockets in the south.”
Claire Parker contributed to this report. | 2022-07-15T22:20:47Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Pentagon: 150 Ukrainian civilians killed in recent Russian strikes - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/07/15/ukraine-civilian-casualties-russia/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/07/15/ukraine-civilian-casualties-russia/ |
Historic heat spurs alerts, warnings
Records are crashing in Europe as a bout of exceptional heat and humidity brings dangerous conditions, prompting weather alerts far and wide across Britain, France, Spain and Portugal. Temperatures have surged to as high as 117 degrees over the Iberian Peninsula, and the United Kingdom is forecast to see its hottest temperature ever recorded early next week.
Red “extreme” heat warnings have been hoisted in parts of the U.K. for the first time on record. Britain’s Met Office is describing the situation as a “national emergency,” warning that the heat will have “widespread impacts on people and infrastructure.”
The red warning covers much of central, northern, eastern and southeastern England, including London, both Monday and Tuesday.
The heat about to swell over the U.K. has been building over Portugal, Spain and France. Five of Portugal’s 18 districts were under red warnings Friday, with projected highs over 110 degrees in some areas. The majority of Spain and southern France are blanketed by warnings as well.
— Matthew Cappucci
Leader's resignation officially announced
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s resignation was officially announced Friday by Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, days after Rajapaksa fled the country for Maldives and then Singapore. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who is acting president, will continue in the position, the speaker said, with Parliament planning to select a new president within a week.
Also Friday, Sri Lanka’s top court barred two of the former president’s brothers, former prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and former finance minister Basil Rajapaksa, from leaving the country until July 28. Activists had sought the action as they try to hold both accountable for their “illegal” and “arbitrary” acts resulting in the island nation’s severe economic crisis. Basil Rajapaksa had attempted to leave the country Tuesday but was blocked by airport officials.
— Niha Masih
Libyan groups agree to end oil blockade: Libyan tribal groups involved in a blockade of oil facilities have agreed with the new government-installed head of the National Oil Corp. to allow production and exports to resume, one of their leaders said Friday. The blockade by groups aligned with eastern commander Khalifa Hifter has reduced Libyan oil output by 850,000 barrels per day, NOC has said.
Colombian military kills FARC dissident leader: Nestor Gregorio Vera, who commanded a group of former Colombian rebels who rejected a peace deal and was best known by his alias Ivan Mordisco, died in an armed forces bombing this week, Defense Minister Diego Molano said Friday. Mordisco was killed, along with nine other fighters, last weekend in a jungle area of southwestern Caqueta province, Molano told journalists. Mordisco's death is the latest in a series of killings of ex-FARC leaders who rejected a 2016 peace deal with the government and instead formed two dissident factions which officials say are involved in drug trafficking and illegal mining.
Egypt pulling peacekeepers from Mali: The United Nations mission in Mali said Friday that Egypt will withdraw its troops from the West African county of Mali by mid-August, citing deadly attacks against its peacekeepers. Seven Egyptian peacekeepers have been killed in Mali so far this year, according to officials. Olivier Salgado, the spokesman of the U.N. mission in Mali, confirmed that Egypt will suspend its activities in Mali.
New wildfire erupts near destroyed Canadian town: Wildfire crews battled an out-of-control blaze Friday near the village of Lytton, British Columbia, which last year burned to the ground during a record-breaking heat wave, as western Canada's wildfire season starts to gather pace. The Nohomin Creek wildfire was discovered Thursday on the west side of the Fraser River, approximately 1 mile from Lytton, in the province's southern interior. It is the most significant wildfire in the province so far this year, according to BC Wildfire Service. By Friday morning the fire had grown to 1,235 acres, and 60 firefighters, supported by helicopters, were tackling the flames. Local authorities ordered the owners of 24 properties near the fire to evacuate. | 2022-07-15T22:42:32Z | www.washingtonpost.com | World Digest: July 15, 2022 - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/world-digest-july-15-2022/2022/07/15/c13ae5ce-03b7-11ed-b005-46df9be530f3_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/world-digest-july-15-2022/2022/07/15/c13ae5ce-03b7-11ed-b005-46df9be530f3_story.html |
Holly Damron stands above her sister's flood-devastated home in Buchanan County, Va. on July 15. (Jason Lappa for The Washington Post)
BUCHANAN COUNTY, Va. — All Timothy Stiltner worried about was the doghouse flooding when the rain came over the mountains.
By the time he’d hustled Lulu, his border collie, into the utility room, water was gushing into his own home, tucked in a low-lying patch between the Appalachian Mountains and Dismal River in rural Southwest Virginia.
“It sounded like a train,” he said. “It was coming out of the doors and the walls.”
The coal-truck mechanic scooped up his 16-year-old son, Nathaniel — unable to walk or talk due to an illness as a newborn — and carried him to a Chevy sedan, parked a few feet higher on a steep driveway. His 27-year-old stepson, Jake, waited there while Stiltner and his wife, Lisa, rounded up all six of the family dogs. The water was chest deep by the time Lisa came out with the last of them.
“She had to swim and the pit bull was paddling,” he said.
Stiltner described their harrowing escape as he returned to the home Friday afternoon, surveying the white structure where floodwaters licked the tin roof before receding into a foot of mud. The rose bush out front was about all that was left in place.
“You worked all your life to get what you got and in 30 minutes it’s all underwater,” said Stiltner, who rented the house and had no insurance for the contents.
Among the items lost was a stroller for Nathaniel, who sat nearby strapped in his car seat. Lisa Stiltner, feeding him from a baby’s bottle, was grateful that they’d been able to get a few days’ supply of his seizure medication through a flood-relief center set up in a school nearby.
No fatalities have been reported despite devastating floods this week that damaged or destroyed about 400 homes or other structures in Buchanan County. But some residents feel the flood could nudge the tightknit but dwindling coal-mining community, population 20,000, a little closer to extinction.
Buchanan County’s population shrank by a third over the past 30 years, posting Virginia’s most precipitous decline over that period, according to an analysis by the Virginia Public Access Project. Over the past decade alone, the population fell by 15.5 percent as Virginia as a whole grew by nearly 8 percent.
State emergency management officials were still assessing the damage from the storm Friday. Travis Staton, president of the United Way of Southwest Virginia, said some of the groups that would normally pitch in to help rebuild are already tied up — with the aftermath of a devastating flood that struck another part of the county, Hurley, less than a year ago.
“We’ve easily got two, three years ahead of us,” he said, referring to recovery efforts.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) took a military helicopter to the scene Friday, landing in an athletic field at Twin Valley Elementary/Middle School. Youngkin said he had spent the days since the flooding “praying, on pins and needles” until emergency personnel confirmed that there had been no loss of life.
“That is a hallelujah, amen moment for everybody,” Youngkin said.
Now the state will assess the damage and “aggressively pursue” a federal disaster declaration, he said. “The damage is extensive, it’s extensive, and you can’t help but have your heart sink when you see someone’s home lifted up and moved off its foundation, moved down the road,” he said. “Damage to the rail lines, damage to churches. And so, there’s going to be a ton of cleanup.”
But he was upbeat about the community’s ability to recover.
“We’re going to do everything in our power to make sure that everybody gets their lives fully back,” he said.
Youngkin greeted first responders and flood victims before unloading a case of Spam off a Food City truck and carrying it into the school.
On the way in, he put his hand on the shoulder of an elderly man in a camouflage John Deere cap.
“Bless you,” Youngkin said to the man, Carl Owens, 69, who was filling out paperwork so he could refill prescriptions he’d been missing for the past three days. Owens needed separate drugs for diabetes, blood pressure, vertigo, diabetes and a heart condition.
He and his grandson had walked through chest-deep water to escape their brick home in a village known as Pilgrim’s Knob, trekking through woods to get to higher ground before reaching the safety of the post office, where they sat outside all night.
“We just sat up and watched the water,” he said.
Donna and John Keen survived the flood by dint of good luck and the whims of rushing water. While their steep driveway turned into a river — “There were waves,” she said — their house hung tight to the side of the mountain. They sat on their sunny front porch Friday morning, feeding treats to their 22-year-old spotted horse, Rocket, who wandered free in the yard. Also unscathed: their flock of 15 chickens.
“Thank God it didn’t hit none of my chickens. It missed them by — what? — two or three foot,” said Donna Keen, 48, a housewife and self-described “chicken mama.”
“God had his hand on us,” she said. “He really did.”
She pointed down to the remains of neighboring homes that did not fare as well. “That family down there, they lost everything,” she said.
Donna Keen grew up in the community and has so many friends and family nearby that she constantly sounds car-horn greetings whenever she drives down the twisting Dismal River Road. She expects the flood will drive some away. A close friend from church who lost her home will likely leave rather than rebuild, she said.
“I don’t look for anything to be back here the way it was,” she said. “It’s going to be lonely.”
Billy and Patricia Sturgill weathered the storm without a problem in a two-story house that dates at least to the 1930s. When they bought and renovated it 14 years ago, one of the old newspapers that had been in the walls as insulation had some really old news: Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s first inauguration. After the flood, there was nothing amiss. Marigolds bloomed out front alongside a pink flamingo.
“You kind of feel bad about it because everybody’s house is gone,” said Billy Sturgill, 75, a retired coal miner.
Patricia Sturgill, also 75 and a former substitute teacher, would never want to leave the county where they both grew up, not far from where her ancestors, the Hatfields, tussled with the McCoys across the way in West Virginia.
But she expects some elderly residents to move away rather than rebuild, moving in with adult children who left the area long ago to find jobs.
“Most of us is so old, it’s hard to start over,” she said.
Holly Damron, 28, was working the overnight shift as a coal mine security guard when the flood started swallowing houses in the gully below her own. At home, her husband and 4-year-old were safe. So were her parents, who live next door.
But just down the hill, water swelled around the double-wide trailer where her sister had just tucked her children, Aiden, 5, and Gaige, 3, into bed. The family fled up the hill to their relatives, then watched as their trailer and some assorted cars floated by.
“That concrete slab down yonder, that was their porch,” Damron said Friday, pointing to a spot about a football field away. Damron’s home was unharmed, but she had no electricity or water, and was told it might take a month for those services to be restored.
Her sister’s trailer was in shambles — one outer wall ripped away, offering a doll’s-house view of two mud-splattered bedrooms.
Damron’s sister had left the area Friday in search of cell service — spotty in this mountainous region even in the best of times — so she could apply for assistance. Damron, offering a tour, said her sister had been able to save the boys’ baby books and a few pieces of their clothing.
Another find: the Army dress uniform that belongs to Damron’s brother-in-law. Safe above the mud, it hung from a doorway leading to outside. The door itself was long gone. Nearby, a silver truck that had been at the body shop up the road dangled over the river.
Damron was confident that her sister will stay in the area, but she said they will have to move to higher ground.
“We grew up on this hill, she said, “but I doubt they’ll put anything back on the bottom.” | 2022-07-15T23:08:38Z | www.washingtonpost.com | As floodwater recedes, tiny Virginia community wonders what’s next - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/15/virginia-flood-buchanan-county-recovery/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/15/virginia-flood-buchanan-county-recovery/ |
The men led the first wave through police barricades, then body-surfed to a Capitol entrance to cause more mayhem
Cody Mattice of Greece, N.Y., stands at the Lower West Terrace entrance to the Capitol and fires pepper spray at police on Jan. 6, 2021. He was sentenced to 44 months in prison for assaulting police. (USAO/DC/U.S. Attorney's Office for District of Columbia)
Two New York state men who led a mob that overwhelmed police at the perimeter of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 — then bodysurfed over the top of the crowd at a building entrance and pepper-sprayed officers — were both sentenced Friday to 44 months in prison.
Cody Mattice, 29, of Greece, N.Y., and James Mault, 30, of Brockport, N.Y., both wept as they stood before Chief U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell and asked for leniency, apologizing for their actions and saying they hoped to return soon to their families and young children. But Howell noted that prosecutors had already cut them a reasonable deal by dropping charges that could have led to far more prison time, and she imposed the sentences requested by the government. Only four other Jan. 6 defendants have been sentenced to longer prison terms.
Howell read from many of the messages, using the same profanity the men had. She noted that even after Mattice and Mault were aware of the impact of the riot, “they maintained some form of delusional belief that they were the patriots.”
“They were not patriots on January 6, and no one who broke the police lines and stopped the democratic process was a patriot that day,” the judge said.
Mattice was a stay-at-home dad and Mault was an iron worker when they began texting on Jan. 2 about driving to President Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6, discussing taking pepper spray, helmets, a baton and a high-powered fire extinguisher with them. Once in D.C., court records show, Mattice recorded video of Mault on the National Mall saying they were “getting ready to go march on Capitol Hill. … It’s about to be nuts.”
At the West Plaza near the Capitol, Mattice recorded Mault shouting at officers to join the mob, prosecutors said in a sentencing memorandum. “What we’re doing is right,” Mault yelled, “or there wouldn’t be this many … people here.” Soon, the two men began snatching bike racks the police were using as barricades, pulling them away from police officers and helping push the mob through the police line up to the Capitol, photos and videos obtained by the government show.
Mattice was pepper-sprayed during this encounter, and the two men briefly retreated to clean up, prosecutors said. During this time, Mattice texted his fiancee to say, “me and james literally just got everyone to push, I fought off like 4 or 5 cops and we stand … victorious,” according to court records. His fiancee, Ashley Choate, replied, “omg babe glad you’re having fun and are okay.”
During the sentencing, Choate stood to address the judge. But Howell immediately challenged her on the texts, reading her the one in which Mattice claimed he stood victorious. “Were you cheering him on, with all these events on Jan. 6?” the judge asked.
“That was not my intention,” Choate said. “I know it sounds like that.”
“It certainly does,” Howell said.
The two men decided to return to the fray, with the mob now pounding away at police on the Lower West Terrace of the Capitol. Mault and Mattice both climbed over the shoulders of protesters to reach the front, photos and videos show. Howell said she had to look up the term “crowd surfing,” and said she was amazed that they had made it through the mob to the heart of the melee.
Once there, both men were handed small canisters of pepper spray by other rioters and aimed them at police officers defending the Capitol, photos show. When questioned later by the FBI, Mattice denied using pepper spray, and Mault said officers were “letting people into the Capitol building.” They also denied taking any violent action against the police at the West Plaza, and claimed they had been swept up to the Capitol by the massive mob, court records state.
A soldier charged in the Capitol riot enlisted months after FBI interviews
“I was very stupid and ignorant, and I lost myself that day,” Mattice said through tears. “And I’m extremely embarrassed.”
“My friends and I went to the Capitol on Jan. 6 with the best intentions,” Mault said. “What happened was our protest got terribly out of hand, I fell into the mob mentality, and I didn’t think about what I was doing.”
Howell said the sentence had to serve as a deterrent to “future malcontents disappointed with the outcome of an election, and planning for and obstructing the peaceful transition of power after an election, especially by directly participating in violence as these two defendants did.” | 2022-07-15T23:21:41Z | www.washingtonpost.com | New York men who assaulted police on Jan. 6 sentenced to 44 months - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/15/mattice-mault-capitol-riot-sentenced/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/15/mattice-mault-capitol-riot-sentenced/ |
NEW YORK — Consumers picked up their spending from May to June, underscoring their resilience despite painfully higher prices at the gas pump and in grocery aisles and allaying fears that the economy might be on the verge of a recession. U.S. retail sales rose 1% in June, from a decline of 0.1 % in May. The figures aren’t adjusted for inflation and so largely reflect higher prices, particularly for gas. But they also show that consumers are still providing crucial support for the economy. At the same time, the spending gain is modest enough that it likely won’t encourage the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates even more aggressively. Stocks rose after the report’s release.
DALLAS — A former Southwest Airlines flight attendant has won a $5.1 million verdict against the airline and the union for its flight attendants. Charlene Carter alleged that Southwest unlawfully fired her in 2017 at the union’s urging over anti-abortion messages she sent to the union president. A jury in federal district court in Dallas issued the verdict Thursday. Carter was unhappy over what she considered the union’s support for flight attendants who attended a protest march against President Donald Trump in Washington. Southwest believed her posts, in which she could be identified as a company employee, were offensive, and the private messages to the union president amounted to harassment.
OMAHA, Neb. — President Joe Biden has blocked a freight railroad strike that would disrupt shipments of all kinds of goods for at least 60 days by naming a board of arbitrators to intervene in the contract dispute. The move announced Friday will keep 115,000 rail workers on the job while the arbitrators develop a set of contract recommendations for both sides to consider. A new round of negotiations is expected after those recommendations are issued. If the railroads and their 12 unions can’t agree on a contract within the next 60 days, Congress would likely step in to prevent a strike by voting to impose terms or taking other action.
DALY CITY, Calif. — A San Francisco Bay Area school district built subsidized housing for teachers and staff who could not afford market rent. More districts in California and the U.S. are exploring the idea as rent and home prices grow out of reach. In West Virginia, the American Federation of Teachers helped build a housing complex with apartments for teachers and retail shops. But such projects face obstacles, including pushback from residents. The Jefferson Union High School District in California’s San Mateo County wants to develop more apartments, but a community garden stands in the way. Skeptics question whether schools should even get into housing development.
VINNYTSIA, Ukraine — Rescue teams with sniffer dogs are combing through the debris in a central Ukrainian city looking for people still missing after Russia’s devastating missile strike that killed at least 23 and wounded over 100 others. Russian forces pounded other sites in Ukraine in a relentless push to wrest territory from Ukraine and try to soften the unbending morale of its leaders, troops and civilians. The cruise missile strikes on the city of Vinnytsia launched by a Russian submarine on Thursday marked the latest carnage to fan international outrage since Russia President Vladimir Putin launched the military invasion of Ukraine in February. Meanwhile, Russia said some progress was being made on a plan to get blocked Ukrainian grain to the world.
ROME — Italy is entering five days of political and financial uncertainty after the 5-Star Movement sparked a government crisis by withholding support on a government-sponsored bill. On the immediate horizon are behind-the-scenes consultations to see if Italian Premier Mario Draghi could be persuaded to try to find a new majority or should make preparations for an early election as soon as September. Analysts said Italy’s president was wise to try to keep Draghi in power, since the former European Central Bank chief is seen as a pillar of fiscal stability. One lawmaker blasted the 5-Star Movement, saying they are making the Kremlin happy to see Draghi weakened. Draghi has backed European military help for Ukraine.
BERLIN — Dock workers at Germany’s North Sea ports are on strike in the latest of several walkouts that have added to pressures on shipping as their union demands a hefty pay rise to counter high inflation. The 48-hour strike, ends on Saturday morning, has largely paralyzed cargo handling at major German ports including Hamburg, Bremerhaven and Wilhelmshaven. It follows a 24-hour walkout in June and a previous one-shift warning strike. However, there will be no further strikes before late August under a deal reached at the labor court in Hamburg on Thursday night. The shipping industry already has been disrupted by a variety of issues, including the coronavirus restrictions in China. | 2022-07-15T23:21:47Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Business Highlights: Inflation drives retail spending bump - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/business-highlights-inflation-drives-retail-spending-bump/2022/07/15/373f8156-048c-11ed-8beb-2b4e481b1500_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/business-highlights-inflation-drives-retail-spending-bump/2022/07/15/373f8156-048c-11ed-8beb-2b4e481b1500_story.html |
Biden greets MBS, and we once again obsess about a fist bump
The president’s gesture with the Saudi crown prince was ripe for interpretation.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and President Joe Biden greet each other with a fist bump at Al-Salam palace in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Bandar Aljaloud/AP)
Since the pandemic started, we’ve had trouble with greetings. Shaking hands went from habit to risk. Forget the kiss hello. Elbow bumps became a thing, as did the awkward dance as one figures out the other’s tolerance for hugs.
Thrust the mechanics of hygiene onto the theatrics of international relations, and you might send mixed signals. In diplomacy, does a fist bump somehow convey less respect than a handshake? Or is it casual and colloquial, and therefore friendlier? How do you greet a leader whose state you vowed, during your presidential campaign, to make a “pariah”?
On Friday at 6:33 p.m. Saudi Arabia time, President Biden emerged from his armored limousine at Al Salam Royal Palace in Jiddah, buttoned his suit jacket, stepped onto a lilac-colored carpet and extended his right fist toward Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince — who, according to U.S. intelligence officials, approved the operation that led to the dismemberment and murder of journalist and Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi, a fierce critic of the oil-rich kingdom, in 2018 (bin Salman has denied this).
The prince met Biden’s knuckles with his own, thereby causing a snit online.
Ben Hubbard of the New York Times described it as a “chilly fist bump.”
Republican congressman Michael Cloud (Tex.) called the fist bump “a slap in the face for Texas oil and gas workers.”
“If we ever needed a visual reminder of the continuing grip oil-rich autocrats have on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, we got it today,” tweeted Democratic congressman Adam Schiff (Calif.). "One fist bump is worth a thousand words.
Hatice Cengiz, Khashoggi’s fiancee, shared what she thinks he would’ve tweeted in reaction to the fist bump: “Hey @POTUS, Is this the accountability you promised for my murder? The blood of MBS’s next victim is on your hands.” (“I’m sorry she feels that way,” Biden said in response, adding: “I didn’t come here to meet with the crown prince. I came here to … deal with security and the needs of the free world, in particular the United States.”)
Within half an hour of the fist bump, the Saudi Press Agency tweeted a photo of it — an indication that the kingdom saw it as a useful image.
“We’re focused on the meetings, not the greetings," a senior Biden administration official told reporters earlier. But neither the public nor the press has full access to those meetings. What we’re left with, in many cases, are the optics of the greetings.
On Wednesday in Jerusalem, Biden hugged Holocaust survivors. Earlier Friday in Bethlehem, Biden shook hands twice with the president of the Palestinian Authority. On the tarmac at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, Biden shook hands with Israel’s prime minister and president. Then, after the two-hour flight to Jiddah, Biden gave one fist bump and several handshakes to Saudi officials who greeted him.
Then he met the crown prince. Their fist bump was not followed by a stationary pose for the cameras; the pair transitioned immediately into a brisk walk indoors. This might have been coordinated in advance, says Jon B. Alterman, director of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
“In some ways the fist bump avoids the potential complications of a first meeting where there’s some other kind of greeting,” Alterman says. “From a White House perspective, if you’re very concerned with the imagery that comes out of the first meeting, this one seems to be pretty well-controlled.”
In 2018, for example, Donald Trump was photographed shaking the hand of dictator Kim Jong Un multiple times, sometimes with a backdrop of U.S. and North Korean flags — a tableau of friendliness toward an autocratic regime that the current administration might not want to convey.
“The fist bump is yet another sign that this is not the president’s comfort zone, and this is not a warm bilateral relationship,” Alterman adds. “And it may not become a warm bilateral relationship under the president. But it will be a relationship.”
As a politician, Biden has a history of enthusiastic human contact — kisses, shoulder rubs, face cuppings — that has been curbed somewhat by covid. The fist bump, meanwhile, did not spring into politics from the realms of hip-hop and sports (Tiger Woods was a practitioner) until June 2008, when Michelle and Barack Obama shared one as he claimed the Democratic nomination for president in St. Paul, Minn.
“It thrilled a lot of Black folks,” the writer Ta-Nehisi Coates said then, because the Obamas were not stifling their “cultural Blackness.” Some commentators were struck by the intimacy of the gesture; a Fox News anchor infamously invented the nonsensical term “terrorist fist jab.” Obama went on, as president, to dole out fist bumps to legislators as he walked into his State of the Union addresses.
Rustin Dodd, a writer at the Athletic, has theorized that the origin of the fist bump might rest in boxers’ ritual of bumping gloves, or with baseball player Stan Musial, or in pro basketball in the 1970s, or as an outgrowth of the dap in the Black Power movement.
But context matters, as do the individuals engaging in the fist bump.
A husband and wife engaging in a close-range horizontal fist bump during a celebration means something wholly different from a president and crown prince engaging in a distanced vertical fist bump on an official visit during a pandemic.
Aboard Air Force One this week, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said that the U.S. delegation was “seeking to reduce contact and to increase masking” and that Biden’s trip was “a strategic decision” to avoid “an American vacuum” in the Middle East that benefits China and Russia, and to align with “a policy of recalibrating, not rupturing, the relationship with Saudi Arabia.”
But the fist bump was still a focus during a brief news conference after Biden’s meeting at the palace.
“You’re coming under a lot of fire for your fist bump with the crown prince,” a reporter said to Biden, who immediately deployed gestures that could not be misinterpreted: an exasperated smile and dismissive chuckle. | 2022-07-15T23:21:53Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Biden fist bump Saudi crown prince MBS causes a snit online - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2022/07/15/biden-fist-bump-mbs/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2022/07/15/biden-fist-bump-mbs/ |
3 men cleared in 1995 killing of subway clerk
Kaufman was attacked Nov. 26, 1995, while working an overnight shift on overtime to put away money for his son’s future college tuition. The attackers first tried to rob him, then squirted gasoline through the tollbooth coin slot and ignited the fuel with matches, authorities said at the time. The booth exploded, and the 50-year-old Kaufman ran from it in flames. He died two weeks later.
Grandma sought after child left in car 2 days
The search for Mary Dawn Wilson, 69, is being concentrated around the community of Healy, Alaska State Troopers said. The car was found abandoned Thursday on Stampede Road, just outside Healy.
The child appeared to be in good health and was handed over to the state Office of Children’s Services, the troopers said.
Healy is located about 10 miles north of Denali National Park and Preserve.
Stampede Road is famous for being the main thoroughfare that adventurers used to retrace the steps of Christopher McCandless, a young idealist whose journey on the Stampede Trail ended with his death in 1992, alone in an abandoned city bus.
His life and death were made famous by the book “Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer, later made into a movie.
Over the years, people trying to reach the bus that was located about 25 miles from Healy to pay pilgrimage to McCandless had to be rescued themselves or died. That prompted state officials to remove the bus from the backcountry in 2020. | 2022-07-15T23:21:59Z | www.washingtonpost.com | 3 men cleared in 1995 killing of subway clerk - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/2022/07/15/80836632-ff34-11ec-87e4-55be07124164_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/2022/07/15/80836632-ff34-11ec-87e4-55be07124164_story.html |
FILE - In this Saturday, March 26, 2017 file photo, Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins performs at The Theatre at Ace Hotel in Los Angeles. Corgan will perform a charity livestream show Wednesday, July 27, 2022 to benefit the victims of the Highland Park, Ill., fourth of July mass shooting, the Smashing Pumpkins frontman announced. (Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File) | 2022-07-15T23:22:05Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Billy Corgan to play charity show for July 4 parade victims - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/billy-corgan-to-play-charity-show-for-july-4-parade-victims/2022/07/15/2187c932-0490-11ed-8beb-2b4e481b1500_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/billy-corgan-to-play-charity-show-for-july-4-parade-victims/2022/07/15/2187c932-0490-11ed-8beb-2b4e481b1500_story.html |
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, the biggest and most powerful space telescope ever built, is now roughly a million miles from Earth, pivoting from one patch of the heavens to the other as it studies the target-rich environment that is our universe. The first handful of images were made public this week.
They’re stunning. They’re also loaded with information about the universe, the interplay of galaxies and the birth and death of stars.
Still, these images can be enigmatic to the average observer lacking a degree in astrophysics. What exactly are we looking at?
The Deep Field
There are a lot of galaxies out there. This was the first image made public, demonstrating the power of the telescope to pick up extraordinarily faint, infrared light emitted within the first billion years of the universe. The image is centered on a galaxy cluster more than 4 billion light-years away, meaning its light was emitted roughly when the sun and Earth were formed. The galaxies in the cluster appear as creamy white blobs.
These galaxies collectively create a powerful gravitational warp in space that acts as a lens, magnifying and distorting more distant objects. That results in funhouse-mirror galaxies like the one on the upper right of the image that NASA astronomer Jane Rigby refers to as the Laffy Taffy.
In another part of the image, the lensing has turned a single galaxy into two mirror-image galaxies.
Light comes in many wavelengths along what is called the electromagnetic spectrum. Humans see in a narrow band known as the “optical” portion of the spectrum. The Webb telescope gathers light emitted in the infrared — long wavelengths that are largely inaccessible to the Hubble telescope and completely invisible to us.
The Webb team scanned dozens of the reddest — most distant — galaxies in this image, and determined that one of them — a tiny, pixelated blob — emitted its light about 13.1 billion years ago, just 700 million years after the big bang. (Distances to such objects are inferred by their “redshift” — the extent to which the light has been streeeeeeeeeeetched by the expansion of space itself.)
The telescope obtained a spectrum of the galaxy, showing signs of oxygen, hydrogen and neon. Rigby said this kind of observation will clarify what was happening during the first billion years of the universe: “We really don’t know at all how big were those galaxies, how many of them there were.”
Stars like our sun are nuclear fusion reactors that are remarkably stable over billions of years. But even they get old. This image shows what happens when a star dies. It’s shedding matter in its pulsing death throes.
These clouds of gas and dust, including complex molecules, are the raw material for stars and planets not yet formed.
NASA released two images, one in near-infrared (relatively close to the “visible” portion of the spectrum), and one in mid-infrared (farther along the spectrum).
In the near-infrared, the material forms a ring of foamy gas and dust, with hot, ionized gas dominating the central region. Rays of light shoot through holes in the outer ring.
Only one star is clearly visible at center. But this is a binary system — two stars, bound together by gravity.
In the mid-infrared, we see both. The dying one is fainter. The telescope reveals that it is enveloped in dust.
Our sun will look similar to this star in 5 billion years, explained Klaus Pontoppidan, Webb project scientist at the Space Telescope Science Institute.
“It’s a life cycle of stars,” Pontoppidan said. “This is the end for this star, but it’s a beginning for other stars and other planetary systems.”
The image includes an intriguing slash on one shoulder that astronomers came to realize is a distant galaxy. Although it’s a vast three-dimensional structure with billions of stars, we are looking at the edge of it, as if watching a Frisbee spinning away from us.
The image has a whole lot of cosmos in it.
There are stars from our own galaxy — meaning they’re in the foreground, cosmically speaking.
Foreground stars in all the Webb images can be identified by their “diffraction spikes,” which are an artifact of the telescope’s design. The diffraction spikes on these images serve as something of a Webb telescope watermark.
The one on the left is not part of the group but rather in the foreground, about 40 million light-years distant.
The telescope can discern individual stars in the foreground galaxy.
Many are aging “red giants” near the end of their lives, with well-documented properties that help astronomers estimate their true luminosity and distance to them. Such observations could improve the model scientists use to estimate the distance to objects across immense stretches of space.
The other four galaxies are about 290 million light-years distant. Two are merging. The gravitational interactions of the galaxies have sent streams of star-forming gas and dust toward intergalactic space
Strikingly, this image, like the “Deep Field,” contains countless galaxies scattered across the background. Look closely and you will see lovely, very distant spiral galaxies not unlike our own Milky Way.
The large galaxy at the top has a supermassive and highly active black hole at the core, feeding on its surroundings. The black hole itself does not emit light, by definition, but its gravitational field energizes the nearby gas, causing atoms to slam into one another and generate tremendous heat.
The accretion disk of this black hole shines with the energy of 40 billion suns, Rigby said: “Black holes emit no light, but their accretion disks sure do!”
Looks like a good place for a hike! Complete with brilliant star-filled sky. This nebula is a stellar nursery within our own galaxy.
“What looks like a starry night sky is part of an immense bubble has been carved from the cloud by the ultraviolet radiation and stellar winds from extremely massive, hot, young stars that have already formed,” said astronomer Amaya Moro-Martin of the Space Telescope Science Institute.
Streams of ionized material are flowing toward the top of the frame.
The Webb can see shock waves caused by newly ignited stars forming inside the cloud. Theirs is a hostile environment, for the same process that erodes away the cloud can halt star formation.
The Hubble telescope previously examined this section of the sprawling Carina Nebula, and the Webb team knew the sharply defined boundaries between the dusty cloud and the “open sky” would create a wowzer of an image.
But this is more than just pretty space art, said Joseph DePasquale, who is part of the team that processed the images at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore.
“We knew that, based on the Hubble image, that the landscape of this was going to look very much like a mountain range and the sky behind it. We knew it was going to be impactful from an aesthetic point of there,” DePasquale said. “But there was also a lot happening in terms of the physics. Webb could peer deeper into the clouds and uncover the mysteries of what’s happening.”
This annotation was compiled with the assistance of many scientists and researchers, including: Jane Rigby of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; Joseph DePasquale and Amaya Moro-Martin of the Space Telescope Science Institute, and Garth Illingworth of the University of California at Santa Cruz.
Design and development by Garland Potts. Graphics by Aaron Steckelberg and William Neff. Photo editing by Tristen Rouse. Copy editing by Jeremy Hester. Project editing by Julie Vitkovskaya.
Joel Achenbach covers science and politics for the National desk. He has been a staff writer for The Post since 1990. Twitter Twitter
By Aaron Steckelberg
Aaron Steckelberg is a senior graphics reporter who creates maps, charts and diagrams that provide greater depth and context to stories over a wide range of topics. He has worked at the Post since 2016. Twitter Twitter | 2022-07-15T23:22:36Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Explore the Webb Space Telescope images with our annotated tour - Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/interactive/2022/nasa-webb-space-telescope-images-explained/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/interactive/2022/nasa-webb-space-telescope-images-explained/ |
Fairfax chief defends officers who pointed gun at youth filming them
The department released body camera footage of the encounter, a video of which already had circulated on Reddit
Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis at a news conference last year. (Amanda Andrade-Rhoades for The Washington Post)
Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis on Friday defended his officers who pointed a gun at a youth who was filming them last Saturday, saying they had acted lawfully under the circumstances.
At a news conference, the Fairfax County Police Department released officer body-camera footage of the incident, a video of which had circulated on Reddit, as Davis sought to explain the officers’ actions. Davis said the officers drew and pointed their weapons because they were responding to a 911 call about someone with a gun at a restaurant and a possible shooting.
“Our police officers did the right thing. They acted and detained two of the three right off the bat,” Davis said. “We’re fortunate that this didn’t end with anyone hurt or worse.”
The Fairfax County NAACP earlier called on the department to release the body-camera footage, as well as footage from two other recent incidents: one in which officers fatally shot an armed suspect in a shopping center parking lot, and another in which officers fatally shot a man who they said ran at them while swinging a bottle at a McLean home.
“We are troubled and deeply concerned by what appears to be a shift to a more aggressive style of policing in Fairfax County — a style that time and time again, leads to needless deaths,” the organization said.
Police said previously that around 7 p.m. last Saturday, a group of three to four juveniles entered the IHOP on Arlington Boulevard in the Falls Church area; one of them threatened a hostess, police said, and another lifted his shirt and revealed what appeared to be a handgun in his waistband. The juveniles left, police said, but returned around 11 p.m., trying to get the hostess to come out to the parking lot. At that point, someone called police, authorities said. Davis said that at least one employee at the IHOP seemed to be familiar with some of the juveniles.
At the news conference, Davis read excerpts from the 911 caller, who said three people came into the IHOP and showed a gun. The caller also said that the three people told her to come outside, that she thought someone was shooting and that she heard someone screaming, according to the police account.
When officers arrived, according to the police, the group ran into a nearby parking lot, where officers detained two of them, and another person approached with something in his hands.
Police have said that person matched the description officers had of one of the juveniles involved in the earlier incident, and officers “ordered the subject to the ground at gunpoint.” They said the officers “determined the juvenile was holding a cell phone and filming.” In the video on Reddit, the person filming asks why an officer pointed a gun at him, and the officer responds, “Because you have a weapon.” According to police, officers did not recover a firearm from the scene. The person who posted the video on Reddit did not respond to a message Friday.
“This was a priority response to a 911 call, and adrenaline runs high when you’re dispatched to a 911 gun call,” Davis said. He added, “A viral video that lacks context can make its way around the world twice while the truth is putting its shoes on.”
Davis said the department’s internal affairs bureau is conducting an administrative investigation.
On the body-camera footage, three people, including the one who later recorded officers, can be seen walking around the IHOP. Later, two people can be seen running toward a closed car dealership not far away. Davis said that when officers arrived, they saw three people who matched the description the 911 caller gave of the group.
In the footage, officers stop one person in a parking lot, while several other officers in police cars surround a second person behind the car dealership.
The third person, who officials said separated from the other two and circled back, then walks up with a phone in his hand.
The footage shows the two officers approaching the person recording and ordering him to the ground at gunpoint. After the individual is handcuffed, officers search him but do not find a weapon. One of the officers asks the individual if he has a tattoo. | 2022-07-15T23:47:47Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Fairfax chief defends officers who pointed gun at youth in viral video - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/15/fairfax-body-camera-gun-youth/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/15/fairfax-body-camera-gun-youth/ |
Md. churches’ youth group stuck at Panama compound amid political unrest
Vehicles block the Pan-American highway Friday in Capira, Panama, as protests continue against rising inflation and corruption. (Rogelio Figueroa/AFP/Getty Images)
A leader of a youth group from two Maryland churches said Friday that about two dozen people have been stuck at an oceanside compound in Panama for a week amid political turbulence and protests that have shut down major roads in the country.
Lisa Shepard, of Jessup, said 17 preteens and teens as well as several young and older adult chaperones had come to Las Lajas, on the southwest coast near the Costa Rican border, on July 7 to volunteer building a school in the mountains nearby.
When the group from New Hope Seventh-day Adventist Church in Fulton and Frederick Seventh-day Adventist Church first arrived, they hit a couple of roadblocks that delayed their drive a few hours, Shepard texted a friend, but “at the time we were unaware of the gravity of the situation.”
For the past week, thousands of Panamanians have been marching in the capital and in cities across the country to show anger over skyrocketing fuel prices, the Associated Press reported. Indigenous groups from the area where the church groups are stuck are among the country’s most impoverished, and they joined protesting teachers and workers from Panama’s powerful construction industry as the unrest grew thereafter. Protesters blocked the Pan-American Highway, the AP said, and some buses that tried to cross roadblocks were damaged by protesters.
There were no reports of injuries, according to the AP, but Shepard said that the driver who was supposed to take the youth to and from volunteering each day has been stuck on the roadside by the blockade for a week and that others said some on the road were being held up at gunpoint.
“We’re perfect targets. It’s not safe. We have all these children,” Shepard said. Her 17-year-old daughter was with her.
The mission groups have been going to the area to work with Indigenous groups for nearly a decade, Shepard said, though the coronavirus pandemic had interrupted the trips the past couple of years.
A notice dated Thursday on the U.S. State Department’s website warns of protests in Panama and recommends visitors “exercise caution near any large gatherings or protests and maintain situational awareness.”
“Unfortunately, protests and road blockages are a part of life in Panama,” the warning states. “There may be demonstrations to protest internal Panamanian issues or, more rarely, manifestations of anti-U.S. sentiment. While most demonstrations are nonviolent, the Panamanian National Police have used tear gas and/or riot control munitions in response to demonstrations, particularly when roadways are blocked or aggression is used against the police.”
Shepard said there were no such warnings before the group headed to Panama last week. She said they had contacted the State Department and several Maryland officials.
The regional Maryland office of the Seventh-day Adventist Church did not immediately respond to a message on Friday.
Shepard said one of the group’s leaders had just left when the group arrived to the provincial capital of David to get phone cards and was blocked by protesters from leaving that city. That leader has two teens with him, she said.
The power went off for a while Friday, Shepard said, but the compound’s owners “have been using their underground network” to secure the youth group food. She said they are trying to keep the teens’ spirits up and not worry them.
“We are doing all sorts of things, like trying to get them to play cards, go in the water. We keep telling them it’s going to be fine,” she said. “They are anxious and leery.” | 2022-07-15T23:47:53Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Maryland churches' youth group is stuck amid Panama protests - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/15/maryland-church-panama-protests/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/15/maryland-church-panama-protests/ |
Despite opposition from most Americans, many conservatives are pushing abortion bans that do not include exceptions in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade.
Antiabortion activists protest at the Supreme Court on June 21, three days before the ruling that overturned the right to abortion established under Roe v. Wade. (Shawn Thew/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
Republicans hoped the public backlash to the Supreme Court’s June decision overturning the constitutional right to abortion would be a temporary blip in a campaign season otherwise focused on the nation’s gas and grocery prices.
Instead, the abortion debate has morphed and grown over the past three weeks onto terrain least favorable to the GOP — the question of whether abortion should legal for victims of rape and incest or mothers whose life is threatened by pregnancy.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R), who is facing reelection, has so far declined to comment on the law he signed that prompted a 10-year-old rape victim this month to travel to neighboring Indiana for the procedure. In Texas, attorney general Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit Thursday to block Biden administration guidance that requires doctors to perform abortions when they believe the procedure is needed to stabilize a mother in an “emergency medical condition.”
And in Washington, Democrats forced Republicans to oppose bills in the House and Senate that would ensure women could travel across state lines for the procedure, after a June poll found that 77 percent of Americans opposed laws that would prevent such travel.
The controversies over maternal health and the consequences of rape and incest have so far validated the expectations of Democratic midterm strategists that a court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which guaranteed a national right to abortion for 49 years, would launch months of public debates, often state-by-state, over the least popular Republican efforts to limit abortion in all cases. They hope concern over the legal changes will drive more Democratic voters to the polls and give swing voters pause before voting for Republicans.
Record shows doctor fulfilled duty to report 10-year-old rape victim's abortion
“It feels like they are very fine risking peoples lives to make their political points. That is something that voters see through,” said Christina Reynolds, a vice president of Emily’s List, a group that supports candidates in favor of abortion rights. “We think that it can have a real impact in pretty much every race we are in.”
Though the nation remains divided on abortion policy — with most voters agreeing to some limitations while also opposing outright bans — there is overwhelming support for allowing abortions in cases of rape or threats to the life of the mother. A March Pew Research Center poll found that 73 percent of Americans, including 62 percent of likely Republican voters, supported legal abortion when the mother’s life was threatened. Sixty-nine percent of Americans, including 56 percent of likely Republican voters, said abortion should be legal when the pregnancy resulted from rape.
Among many leading antiabortion groups, by contrast, there’s general agreement around banning abortion in the cases of rape and incest, but including exceptions for threats to the life of the mother. Some major groups, however, say they have supported legislation in states that choose to allow abortions in the case of rape and incest to garner enough political favor to pass new restrictions.
Abortion restrictions have gone into effect in roughly a dozen states since the court ruling, all of which include an exception for life of the mother. Most do not include an exception for rape or incest, with the exception of South Carolina — which includes exemptions for both — and Mississippi’s trigger law that has an exception for rape, according to The Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights.
“We understand that issues like rape and incest are difficult topics to tackle; nevertheless, it is our view that the value of human life is not determined by the circumstances of one’s conception or birth,” nearly 20 antiabortion groups — such as Students for Life of America and Family Research Council — wrote in a 2019 letter to Ronna Romney McDaniel, chair of the Republican National Committee.
Rape and incest exceptions are often debated on the floor of state legislatures before lawmakers vote on a bill. But they often don’t make it into the laws, according to Elizabeth Nash, a principal policy associate at Guttmacher.
Shortly before the Supreme Court’s ruling, the National Right to Life Committee released a model law restricting abortions for Republican state lawmakers to consider.
“We recommend prohibiting abortion except to prevent the death of the pregnant woman, which has been the accepted policy choice by the pro-life movement since 1973 and for many years before,” states an introduction about the model law written by James Bopp Jr., NRLC’s general counsel, and his associates. The text of the model law notes that “it may be necessary in certain states to have additional exceptions,” and proposes suggestions for language around exceptions for rape and incest.
On Thursday, Politico published a story that quoted Bopp as saying that the 10-year-old rape victim in Ohio should have carried her pregnancy to term and would be required to do so under the group’s model law. In an interview with The Washington Post, however, he repeatedly insisted that he did not oppose states including rape and incest provisions.
“If the legislature decides that they need or should have something in addition, such as rape or incest, that is a pro-life position, and we’ve proposed language that we think they should consider,” Bopp said.
Asked whether the 10-year-old should have carried the pregnancy to term, he said, “I think that abortion should be legal if it jeopardizes a life, and in cases with appropriate safeguards, rape and incest, and then it’s her decision in those circumstances.”
The 10-year-old girl in question traveled in June to Indiana for an abortion after her pregnancy had lasted more than six weeks, which is about the time when fetal cardiac activity can usually be detected. The Ohio law bans the procedure after that moment, including in cases of rape and incest. A 27-year-old man was arrested Tuesday in Ohio after he allegedly confessed to authorities that he raped the girl.
Many Republicans and conservatives, after initially raising questions about whether the case was real, have since attacked the Indiana doctor in the case, with Ohio Attorney General Todd Rokita (R) saying he was looking at prosecuting the doctor for failing to report the case. However, records show the OB/GYN, Caitlin Bernard, had reported the case as required under Indiana law.
“There will be more egregious stories,” said David Axelrod, a former strategist for former president Barack Obama. “It’s inevitable that the worst manifestations of these extreme laws are going to start surfacing in many states and each time they do it’s another reminder of how far the Republicans have gone.”
Yet, there’s been tension among Democrats on the path forward to shoring up abortion access. For weeks, some in the party have urged the Biden administration to declare a public health emergency and to push the boundaries of what’s allowed to fight for abortion rights.
In response to the outpouring of criticism, White House communications director Kate Bedingfield told The Post that “Joe Biden’s goal in responding to Dobbs is not to satisfy some activists who have been consistently out of step with the mainstream of the Democratic Party.”
On Friday, the Congressional Progressive Caucus released a list of new executive actions, which includes allowing undocumented people and those assisting them to travel without risk of detention and require hospitals to perform abortions or risk losing their Medicare funding — policies that could be divisive.
J.D. Vance, the Republican nominee for Senate in Ohio, has been facing $1.4 million in television ads from a Democratic-leaning group, FF Pac. They include a spot that calls Vance “one of the most extreme antiabortion voices in America” because he said “two wrongs don’t make a right” when asked to explain his opposition to abortion in cases of rape and incest.
“It’s not whether a woman should be forced to bring a child to term, it’s whether a child should be allowed to live, even though the circumstances of that child’s birth are somehow inconvenient or a problem to the society,” Vance told Spectrum News in Columbus on Wednesday.
A spokesperson for the Vance campaign said Friday that the candidate supports an exception only in instances where the mother’s life is in danger.
Republicans remain confident that abortion will not upend their hopes for a takeover in the House and Senate this fall. They have pointed in recent weeks to multiple polls that show concerns about the economy and inflation at levels several times greater than abortion.
Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) on Thursday accused Democrats of attempting to scare voters and arguing there was more to the debate than the rights of expectant mothers.
“The conversation today is not just about women. There are two people in this conversation — a child with ten fingers and ten toes and a beating heart and DNA that is uniquely different than mom’s DNA or the dad’s DNA,” he said in a statement on the Senate floor objecting to a Democratic bill to allow interstate travel for abortion. “They have a nervous system. They feel pain. This is a child in this conversation as well.”
The debate in Texas has shifted to the difference between state law and federal rule. State statutes have an exception to abortion bans when a mother is “at risk of death or poses a serious risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily function unless the abortion is performed.”
But Paxton filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration over newly released guidance stating that a federal emergency medical treatment law imposes a slightly different standard of allowing abortion when the “health” of the mother is “in serious jeopardy,” or faces “serious impairment or dysfunction of bodily functions or any bodily organ.”
“By requiring Medicare-participating hospitals, including hospitals operated by the State of Texas, to provide abortions when the life of the mother is not in danger, the Abortion Mandate directly infringes on Texas’s sovereign and quasi-sovereign authority,” Paxton wrote in his legal filing.
The Republican Party has a long history of resisting abortion bans without exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother. Every Republican candidate for president since Roe was decided in 1973, including former president Donald Trump, has supported the exceptions. Democrats have nonetheless attacked Republicans on the issue consistently, with Obama’s campaign in 2012 falsely accusing Republican nominee Mitt Romney in ads of opposing rape and incest exceptions.
But Republicans have grown more willing to talk about rape in the context of abortion since the high court’s June 24 ruling overturning Roe. At a House Judiciary Committee hearing this week, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) went so far as to suggest that LGBT rights groups should focus less on protecting abortion access because lesbians are more likely to adopt children than to be victims of rape.
“It is astonishing to me that people who purport to advocate for gay Americans would say what we need is abortion on demand, because it is these very people who are engaging in adoption,” Gaetz said at the hearing.
Colby Itkowitz and David Weigel contributed to this report. | 2022-07-15T23:47:59Z | www.washingtonpost.com | More Republicans pushing abortion bans without rape, incest exceptions - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/15/abortion-exceptions-republicans/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/15/abortion-exceptions-republicans/ |
The outdoor world championships started Friday in Eugene, Ore., with the U.S.'s Wadeline Jonathas part of the mixed 4x400 meters relay heat at Hayward Field. (Lucy Nicholson/Reuters)
EUGENE, Ore. — Early Friday morning, as he stepped to the throwing circle at the center of Hayward Field for his final warm-up throws, Rudy Winkler heard a noise that struck him. Over the years at the stadium, Winkler had won an NCAA championship in the hammer throw, earned a national title and become an Olympian. He had never experienced that faint chant that serenaded him as the track and field world championships began: “U-S-A! U-S-A!”
The fans at Hayward Field, the frequent home of America’s most significant domestic track and field events, typically cheer for great performances and roots along college or club affiliation. For the first time, an American track and field crowd will root for American athletes in the sport’s largest non-Olympic stage.
The track and field world championships arrived on U.S. soil for the first time, bringing the planet’s fastest runners, strongest throwers and highest fliers together in a quaint college town in the Pacific Northwest that has become the spiritual home of the sport in America. At the evening session’s opening ceremonies, Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff welcomed the athletes and crowd on behalf of President Biden before a booming two-jet flyover. Billboards around town blare the phrase, “Hello, World. Meet Oregon.” Vernon Norwood, a member of the U.S. 4X400 mixed relay team, said it felt a little weird dashing around the Hayward track wearing a Team USA jersey — usually, he only comes here to earn one.
With an eye on the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, World Athletics, the sport’s governing body, sought America as a host to boost the sport’s appeal in a country where the athletes’ excellence far outstrips popularity among sports fans. Time will reveal the success of that “mission,” as World Athletics President Sebastian Coe called it. For the next 10 days, U.S. athletes will revel in a new opportunity.
The presence of the world championships here amplifies the gulf between America’s accomplishments in the sport and the attention it receives domestically. Americans have topped the track and field medal table at every Olympics since 1984. At the world championships, the United States has won more than twice the number of medals as any other nation. It has more golds (170) than Kenya, second-place on the all-time medal table, has total medals (151).
Outcry as Kenyan sprinter nearly misses race over visa issue
In some ways, Eugene is a no-brainer. No other city would provide a more passionate, enlightened fan base. Hayward Field — fresh off a Nike-backed, $270 renovation in 2020 — is by the biggest and most opulent track-only stadium in the country. Track and field paraphernalia fills the walls of bars and restaurants. Eugene lives up to the Track Town nickname.
“This is a jumping-off point,” Winkler said. “Beyond this, it has a long way to go. Eugene is unfortunately not the easiest to travel to, so it’s not the most conducive for other people around [the country]. It is a really special place. Having this is incredible. I wish it was a little bit more accessible for everybody to come. That’s the only sticking point.”
A surprisingly low turnout for last month’s U.S. championships created concern that crowds may not fill Hayward. Those worries were assuaged during Friday’s morning session, when fans roared for preliminary heats in less-than-marquee events. What effect the world championships have on track and field in America remains to be seen. It promises, for the next 10 days, to provide a whole lot of thrills. | 2022-07-16T00:22:35Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Can the world championships make Americans track and field fans? - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2022/07/15/oregon-gets-its-world-track-field-closeup-will-rest-america-notice/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2022/07/15/oregon-gets-its-world-track-field-closeup-will-rest-america-notice/ |
Attorney Bobby DiCello holds up a photograph of Jayland Walker, the man who was shot dead by police in Akron, Ohio, on June 25, as he speaks on behalf of the Walker family during a news conference at St. Ashworth Temple in Akron on June 30. (Jeff Lange/USA Today/Reuters)
Jayland Walker, 25, was killed in late June by Akron police, who said he had fired a gun during a car chase. Eight police officers, seven of whom were White, fired a hail of bullets after the chase when Walker was unarmed.
In a news conference Friday, Summit County Medical Examiner Lisa Kohler said Walker had 46 gunshot wound entrances or graze injuries, which included 15 exit wounds and five graze wounds.
Police said they chased Walker’s Buick after he didn’t pull over for an equipment and unspecified traffic violation. An officer said he heard a gunshot come from the Buick before Walker jumped out of the car and ran into a parking lot, with officers following — and eventually firing.
When the shooting footage was released, Akron Police Chief Stephen Mylett said officers provided first aid after the shooting ended. That same day, Bobby DiCello, an attorney representing the Walker family, said lifesaving measures after dozens of rounds were fired were a “hopeless cause.”
Demonstrators have been protesting for weeks in Akron, alongside the Walker family, demanding change. City officials have canceled Fourth of July celebrations, implemented curfews and called for demonstrations to be peaceful.
On Wednesday, hundreds attended Walker’s funeral, during a citywide day of mourning for him.
During the service, the Rev. Robert DeJournett, a cousin of Walker, said the names of more than 10 Black people who were killed by police. The list ended with Walker.
“We can be conscious of [God’s] will and still demand justice for Jayland Walker and all the others,” DeJournett said. | 2022-07-16T00:26:56Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Akron police shot or grazed Jayland Walk 46 times, autopsy shows - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/07/15/jayland-walker-autopsy-akron-shooting/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/07/15/jayland-walker-autopsy-akron-shooting/ |
FILE - This artist sketch depicts Guy Wesley Reffitt, joined by his lawyer William Welch, right, in Federal Court, in Washington, on Feb. 28, 2022. Federal prosecutors are seeking a 15-year prison sentence for the Texas man who was convicted of storming the U.S. Capitol with a holstered handgun. If a judge accepts the recommendation, Reffitt’s prison sentence would be nearly three times longer than any of the more than 200 other defendants who have been sentenced for crimes related to the Jan. 6, (Dana Verkouteren via AP, File) (Dana Verkourteren/FR31454 AP) | 2022-07-16T00:53:27Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Prosecutors seek 15-year sentence for armed Capitol rioter - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/prosecutors-seek-15-year-sentence-for-armed-capitol-rioter/2022/07/15/f30ad44a-049a-11ed-8beb-2b4e481b1500_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/prosecutors-seek-15-year-sentence-for-armed-capitol-rioter/2022/07/15/f30ad44a-049a-11ed-8beb-2b4e481b1500_story.html |
Trump’s fundraising dips, trailing DeSantis
The former president’s PAC raised about $36 million in the first half of the year, down 29% from the prior six months
Former president Donald Trump’s fundraising slowed in the first half of 2022, falling below $50 million in a six-month period for the first time since he left the White House 18 months ago.
A fundraising committee that directs money to his various political groups raised $17 million in the second quarter of this year, according to a new federal filing. That brings the committee’s haul to at least $36 million so far this year.
The tally does not include new direct contributions to Trump’s Save America PAC, which won’t be disclosed until late this month and have in recent months totaled up to $20,000. The PAC received $23,409 this quarter through WinRed, which processes online transactions for Republican candidates and committees.
The former president’s yields are falling as his time in the White House recedes further into the past. In the same six-month period last year, Trump collected more than $56 million in online donations, and then raised about $51 million from July through December of 2021.
Small-dollar online donations have dipped across the GOP, said people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal party data, blaming the trend on donors having less disposable income because of inflation and on their fatigue with the relentless fundraising appeals. Numerous Democratic incumbents in close Senate races reported record hauls in the second quarter, including Georgia Sen. Raphael G. Warnock, who brought in $17 million compared to GOP challenger Herschel Walker’s $3.6 million, and Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, who raised $7.5 million compared to GOP challenger Adam Laxalt’s $2.8 million.
The new figures offer fresh evidence of the financial muscle Trump could put behind a third run for the presidency, as he sounds out allies about a possible announcement. That dynamic could influence the timing of any possible campaign announcement, as Republicans weigh whether he would clear the field and how his designs on 2024 might reshape this year’s midterms.
The latest filing puts Trump’s haul behind that of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a possible contender for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. DeSantis, who delighted conservatives nationally with his hands-off approach to the coronavirus pandemic, raised about $45 million in the first six months of the year, according to state filings.
The two men are the dominant fundraisers in their party, with Trump maintaining a reservoir of support from small-dollar donors and DeSantis having won the backing of some of the GOP’s most generous megadonors, foremost among them hedge fund manager Ken Griffin, who recently said he would move his company, Citadel, from Chicago to Miami. Next week, DeSantis is holding a trio of fundraisers in Utah. He is asking for $25,000 from couples attending a reception in Salt Lake City hosted by, among others, Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes and property developer Scott C. Keller, according to invitations obtained by The Washington Post.
The comparison is imperfect. DeSantis is raising money for a committee that can accept unlimited contributions, while donors can only give $10,000 per year to Trump’s joint fundraising vehicle. DeSantis also has an ongoing race for which he’s raising funds — he’s up for reelection this fall. So, too, is Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R), another possible contender for his party’s 2024 presidential nomination. He raised $29 million in the first six months of the year, his campaign said.
But Trump is hardly choosing to “hang up his hat and sail into the sunset,” as the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, this week advised him to do. Instead, he’s traveling the country stumping for endorsed candidates, repeating his debunked claims of election fraud and hinting at a third bid for president. He recently told supporters in Las Vegas that he “ran twice and won twice, and may have to do it a third time.” The latest fundraising numbers show that his online solicitations continue to resonate with his base, even as House investigators probing the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol accuse him of deceiving his supporters with promises of a nonexistent fund devoted to contesting election fraud.
“Having campaigned and fundraised for President Trump since 2015, there has been no stronger support and interest for him than there is today,” said Ed McMullen, Trump’s ambassador to Switzerland who also served as his South Carolina state director during the 2016 presidential campaign. “President Trump’s popularity and fundraising continues to grow and thrive at every level.”
Trump’s name and image dominate fundraising appeals for other GOP candidates and party committees, a sign of his enduring pull with the party’s base. Trump has recently moved to rein in other entities’ attempts to fundraise off his coattails, and the tension would only intensify if and when Trump officially announces his candidacy.
“The entire fundraising apparatus in the Republican Party revolves around President Trump,” said Caroline Wren, a Trump-aligned GOP fundraiser who helped organize the rally on Jan. 6, 2021. “Candidates and party committees rely on President Trump’s name for their low-dollar fundraising efforts, and when it comes to high-dollar fundraising, President Trump has selflessly spent the past two years raising millions of dollars for America First candidates and organizations, including headlining fundraising events for every major Republican Committee.”
Trump had been largely stockpiling his PAC contributions, but a person familiar with the group who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe its financial details said its spending jumped in June. The increase stemmed from legal bills arising from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, more transfers to support other candidates and committees, and higher costs to raise money online, the person said. The Save America PAC finished June with $112 million on hand, the person said, which would be a net gain of about $11 million from the prior month.
The Save America PAC’s June report to the FEC is due on July 20. Earlier filings show the group dispersed about $6 million in recent months to boost Trump’s preferred candidates in Pennsylvania’s Senate primary and Georgia’s gubernatorial primary. He prevailed in Pennsylvania, successfully elevating celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz above a crowded field, but failed to topple incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp in Georgia.
The committee directed $75,000 in May to the law firm of an attorney representing Cleta Mitchell, a pro-Trump lawyer who advised him on efforts to overturn the results of the election. The attorney, John P. Rowley, did not respond to a request for comment.
Trump’s PAC also continued to spend money at his properties, directing about $30,000 in recent months to the Trump Hotel Collection.
There are no explicit restrictions on the personal use of funds raised by leadership PACs. Such committees, in addition to boosting like-minded candidates, can be used to pay advisers, cover travel expenses and defray legal bills, among other costs.
One limitation, said experts in campaign finance law, is that people behind such PACs can’t use the money to further their own future campaigns. Travel and other expenses advancing a candidate’s political activities are subject to contribution limits once the candidate has declared for a certain office, these experts said.
Even transferring those funds to a super PAC making independent expenditures boosting the candidate would likely provoke complaints if the money “established the super PAC or is the majority of the money financing the super PAC,” said Charles Spies, a Republican election lawyer.
Trump’s committee reported its dividends as its fundraising practices are under scrutiny by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Amanda Wick, a committee investigator, highlighted in a hearing last month how Trump and his allies raised $250 million in the weeks after the election by barraging his supporters with fundraising emails promoting an “Official Election Defense Fund,” even though no such fund existed.
“Not only was there the big lie,” said Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.). “There was the big rip-off.”
A Trump spokesman did not respond to a request for comment about those allegations.
Renato Mariotti, a former federal prosecutor focused on securities and commodities fraud, said the Justice Department is unlikely to bring charges related to the fundraising practices highlighted by the committee. Prosecutors would face a host of challenges, he said, including proving that authors of the solicitations had an intent to defraud and countering a possible defense that donors would have chipped in regardless of the substance of the appeal.
Such appeals continue. Four emails sent in May from Trump’s PAC, for example, asked donors to contribute to a “Protect our Elections Fund.”
One subject line: “Future Election Fraud Alert.”
It implored supporters: Please contribute at least $45 or more IMMEDIATELY to the Protect our Elections Fund.”
Josh Dawsey, Dylan Freedman, Anu Narayanswamy and Chris Zubak-Skees contributed to this report. | 2022-07-16T01:01:44Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Trump fundraising dips in first six months of 2022, trails DeSantis - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/15/trump-fundraising-2022/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/15/trump-fundraising-2022/ |
Nationals get some relief, but can’t halt a slide that hits eight
The Nationals look on during the ninth inning of their eighth straight loss, an 8-4 decision to the Braves that left Washington 1-13 in July. (Patrick Semansky/AP)
After five rocky innings from Patrick Corbin — another short outing for a Washington Nationals starter this homestand — Manager Dave Martinez turned to his bullpen once again to cover the final four innings. It might bear little resemblance to the relief corps that started the season, but it’s turning into one of the team’s few bright spots in a desultory summer.
Martinez’s selections in the Nationals’ 8-4 loss to the Atlanta Braves were Eramso Ramirez, Carl Edwards Jr. and Kyle Finnegan. The trio allowed two runs over the final four innings. There were no saves to be had — the Nationals (30-62) lost their eighth straight and dropped to 1-13 in July, but as silver linings go, this was one.
Edwards and Ramirez weren’t a part of the Nationals’ Opening Day roster. The bullpen has been reshaped this season because of injuries. Excluding position players, 21 pitchers have entered in relief.
The bullpen took another hit when Martinez announced Friday that Sean Doolittle, who suffered an elbow sprain in the first month of the season, is scheduled to have an internal brace procedure to repair his UCL ligament after consulting with doctors. He’ll have the surgery after the all-star break and will miss the remainder of the season.
Doolittle joins the list of relievers from Washington’s Opening Day roster who are no longer in Martinez’s mix: closer Tanner Rainey was placed on the 60-day IL with a UCL sprain Wednesday. Victor Arano has been on the injured list with left knee inflammation for over a month; he began his rehab earlier this month.
Another three aren’t on the current roster: Mason Thompson — who just returned after an early season biceps injury — and Patrick Murphy are in Class AAA Rochester. Austin Voth was designated for assignment and now plays for the Baltimore Orioles. Only four of the 10 relievers from Opening Day remain: Andrés Machado, Finnegan, Steve Cishek and Paolo Espino, who is a part of the starting rotation.
But the bullpen has held its own during this winless homestand, allowing four earned runs in 15⅔ innings. The Nationals’ starters, by comparison, have yielded 16 runs in 20⅓ innings. Corbin allowed five runs himself — four earned — on nine hits. He struck out eight and saw his ERA go to 5.87. The Nationals are 4-15 in games he has started.
Corbin didn’t get any help in the top of the first inning from Luis García, who spiked a throw to first base on a routine groundball, allowing Dansby Swanson to reach. Matt Olson singled to score Swanson, then Austin Riley crushed a two-run home run to give the Braves a 3-0 lead.
Olson added RBI singles in the second and fourth innings, extending Atlanta’s cushion. Orlando Arcia added a solo shot in the fifth on Corbin’s 103rd pitch of the game; he finished with 106.
Then the bullpen quieted the hot bats of the Braves (55-37) — at least until Finnegan gave up Adam Duvall’s blast in the ninth that landed well beyond the bullpen in left.
Why did Doolittle wait until now to have the surgery? He hoped that he could return this season without it, so he opted to receive a PRP and stem cell injection after his elbow sprain and attempted to rehab. Still, he knew that this outcome was a possibility. After pitching last week, he continued to feel pain, leading to another MRI.
Instead, this timeline will still line up for him to be ready for spring training. The recovery time for the surgery is expected to be five to seven months.
Tommy John surgery is a complete reconstruction of the ligament that can take anywhere from 12-18 months. The internal brace procedure is a repair of the ligament and less invasive.
Doolittle, 35, was traded to the Nationals in 2017 and pitched for the team until 2020. He returned to the Nationals this season on a one-year deal after spending last season between the Cincinnati Reds and Seattle Mariners; he allowed one hit in six appearances this year. He’ll be a free agent this year, but plans to pitch again.
“I feel really good about it,” Doolittle said about his decision. “I don’t feel good about getting surgery. I feel really good that this is the right course of action for me right now, at this point in my career, at this point in this process with my elbow. As far as I’m looking at it, 2023 starts right now.”
How did the offense fare against Ian Anderson for the second time in five games? Not much better. Anderson was charged with one run in six innings — reliever Collin McHugh hit César Hernández in the sixth inning with the bases loaded. Anderson’s outing Friday came after he allowed two runs against the Nationals on Sunday.
Josh Bell had three of Washington’s eight hits. Nelson Cruz added another, but was replaced by Ehire Adrianza in the sixth inning as the designated hitter. The reason was unclear. Washington added three runs in the ninth on Victor Robles’s bloop single, a walk to Juan Soto and a wild pitch that scored Robles. Keibert Ruiz, representing the tying run, struck out to end it. | 2022-07-16T03:25:15Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Nationals get some relief, but can’t halt a slide that hits eight - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/07/15/nationals-braves-bullpen/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/07/15/nationals-braves-bullpen/ |
Bicyclist killed in District crash, police say
Man on bike, 65, killed at Shaw intersection, according to police
A bicyclist was killed early Friday in Northwest Washington in a collision with a truck, the D.C. police said.
Michael Gordon, 65, of Northwest, was killed when his bicycle struck a dump truck in the Shaw area of Northwest about 2:30 a.m., the police said.
Gordon was riding his bike north on the sidewalk in the 1500 block of Seventh Street NW and the truck was also going north on Seventh, the police said. The truck, with a green light, began a right turn onto Rhode Island, and as the bicyclist entered a crosswalk at the intersection, he struck the passenger side of the truck, police said.
He was thrown beneath the truck, and died at the scene, police said.
It was not clear from a police statement whether the crosswalk involved was on Seventh or Rhode Island. | 2022-07-16T03:51:21Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Bicyclist killed in collision with truck, D.C. police say - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/15/bicyclist-killed-collision-washington-nw/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/15/bicyclist-killed-collision-washington-nw/ |
Jan. 6 committee subpoenas Secret Service for missing records
The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol during a hearing at the Capitol in Washington on July 12. From left, Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.), Chairman Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.), Vice Chair Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), and staff counsel Candyce Phoenix. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)
The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol issued a subpoena to the U.S. Secret Service on Friday requesting records after a government watchdog accused the agency of erasing texts from Jan. 5 and 6 after his office requested them.
“The Select Committee has been informed that the USSS erased text messages from Jan. 5 and 6, 2021 as part of a ‘device-replacement program.’ In a statement issued July 14, 2022, the USSS stated that it ‘began to reset its mobile phones to factory settings as part of a pre-planned, three-month system migration. In that process, data resident on some phones was lost.’ However, according to that USSS statement, ‘none of the texts [the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General] was seeking had been lost in the migration,” Thompson wrote.
The subpoena is the first the committee has issued to an executive branch agency.
The text messages could provide insight into the actions of the agency and potentially those of President Donald Trump on the day of the insurrection. Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson testified during a hearing last month that Trump wanted to lead the mob from the Ellipse to the Capitol, despite knowing they were armed, and said that she was told by an agent that Trump physically assailed the Secret Service agent who informed him he could not go to the Capitol.
Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said Thursday that the agency did not maliciously delete text messages following the request from DHS’s Office of Inspector General. The Washington Post previously reported that the Secret Service began a preplanned, agency wide replacement of staff telephones a month before the Office of Inspector General’s request, according to two people briefed on the document request.
Joseph Cuffari, the DHS’s inspector general, briefed members of the committee on Friday after sending a letter to lawmakers this week notifying them that the text messages were erased following the inspector general’s request. The Intercept and CNN led media reports of the matter.
In his letter, Cuffari also alleged that the failure to provide copies of the text messages were part of a pattern of DHS resistance to his inquiries.
DHS spokeswoman Marsha Espinosa said in a statement responding to Cuffari’s letter that “DHS has ensured and will continue to ensure that both the DHS Office of the Inspector General (OIG) and the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol have the information they have requested.”
Espinosa said DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas previously directed the Secret Service and the DHS Office of the General Counsel “to ensure that OIG had appropriate access to the full set of information it requested regarding” Jan. 6, 2021.
“The Secretary also directed the Department’s General Counsel to instruct all DHS Component Agency leaders to respond to any requests from the Select Committee expeditiously and thoroughly. The General Counsel sent a memorandum accordingly.” | 2022-07-16T04:17:27Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Jan. 6 committee subpoenas Secret Service for missing records - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/15/secret-service-subpoena-erased-texts/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/15/secret-service-subpoena-erased-texts/ |
Our fathers were both veterans who were buried with full military honors, but they were almost denied that right because of bureaucratic issues.
In both cases, the funeral homes contacted Veterans Affairs for our fathers’ discharge papers, only to be told that VA had no record of their service. (Some years ago, a fire destroyed a VA building, which may explain why some records were lost.)
Proud Daughter: I’m very sorry for your loss, and I appreciate being able to publish this as a helpful public service to readers.
The honor guard ceremony Uncle Bud received was so beautiful, dignified and moving. Every service member who has served honorably also deserves an honorable final send-off, and I thank you for reminding family members to keep these important papers on hand.
Greg: Unless there is a human or animal in the car waiting while the car’s owner dashes into the pharmacy for some lifesaving medication, there is no justification for an empty car to sit idling.
According to the Department of Energy, “Researchers estimate that idling from heavy-duty and light-duty vehicles combined wastes about 6 billion gallons of fuel annually. About half of that is attributable to personal vehicles, which generate around 30 million tons of CO2 every year just by idling. While the impact of idling may be small on a per-car basis, the impact of the 250 million personal vehicles in the U.S. adds up. For saving fuel and reducing emissions, eliminating the unnecessary idling of personal vehicles would be the same as taking 5 million vehicles off the roads.”
Upset: The context of this “debt of gratitude” was that “Past Completed” might feel grateful that these bids for forgiveness were summarily shredded, and the circle is now closed. | 2022-07-16T05:23:01Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Ask Amy: My father was almost denied a burial with military honors - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/advice/2022/07/16/ask-amy-military-burial-father/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/advice/2022/07/16/ask-amy-military-burial-father/ |
Dear Carolyn: My mother-in-law and I have always had a warm relationship, but since I’ve become pregnant, I’ve noticed her talking about me more as the vessel of her grandchild than the person she always treated me as before. It’s just little things, but those things nonetheless get under my skin.
For example, my husband still gets asked about work; I only get asked about doctors’ appointments. Or last night, she asked what we were doing for dinner, and when I said, “Thai food,” her response was, “As long as it’s what Baby wants.” In that instance, I laughed and said, “I’m pretty sure I’m the one who wanted red curry,” but is that the best way to deal with the comments if they keep coming? Lighthearted and on the spot?
— The Vessel
The Vessel: On the spot, yes, and lighthearted, mostly — but I think it’s time to say outright, comically: “Aaaaaaah! I am not a vessel! I am [Name]!”
The urgency here is to say it while you can still laugh — as a precursor, if needed, to a more serious statement of how she has changed toward you. Her reasons are understandable, you can say, because you know and appreciate how excited she is! But you’re getting sensitive to your general erasure, not just by her, presumably (because this is definitely a thing), but by others, too.
If you wait till you’ve got nothing left but anger, then your mother-in-law could not only take this as a slap, but also have a legitimate gripe that you held this in all along without giving her a chance to fix it. True of most aggravations.
Re: The Vessel: I’ve also had some success with the “answer the question you wish was asked” strategy. For instance:
MIL: How are you feeling? (Sympathetic look at belly.)
Me: I had this big work project/I’ve started a new book/read an article on X that I found interesting/met up with a friend with a really interesting perspective. Here are my thoughts. What do you think?
Anonymous: Sounds perfect, thanks.
Dear Carolyn: When is it too much to add to one’s plate? I have a lot of kids in many activities (which include travel around the D.C. area every weekend), a dog, I work full time pretty hard, took on an extra unpaid position at work, am exercising decently often, managing one kid’s team, organizing Girl Scout activities for another kid, keeping up with friends and spending quality time with my spouse and kids.
I am considering running for the board at my kids’ sports club, which would probably entail five to 10 hours per week. I don’t need much downtime, but I’m worried this would be stretching myself too thin. I feel as if I can do it and would help make some positive changes, although I won’t know how much work is involved until I join (if elected).
How do you decide when to take on more? When do you know you would be spread too thin?
— Full Plate
Full Plate: I’ll take a nap for both of us. Yikes.
So, okay. List everything you’re willing to drop to make room for this (if you win the spot on the board). Up top, put the things you will drop automatically — because, wow. After those, list things you can drop if you need to when you realize there’s more work than you expected. Prioritize the list carefully. Just thinking it through will help.
Engaging in kids’ lives and your community sets an excellent example, but so does engaging in stillness. In peace with your thoughts. For your kids’ sakes, if not yours, please make room for some. | 2022-07-16T05:23:07Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Carolyn Hax: Mother-in-law treats her like grandchild’s ‘vessel’ - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/advice/2022/07/16/carolyn-hax-mother-in-law-grandchild-vessel-pregnancy/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/advice/2022/07/16/carolyn-hax-mother-in-law-grandchild-vessel-pregnancy/ |
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