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Man accused of posing as member of Secret Service signals guilty plea
Arian Taherzadeh is facing charges including impersonating a federal law enforcement official
The Crossing is a luxury apartment building in the Navy Yard neighborhood of D.C. where two residents were arrested and charged with impersonating federal law enforcement officers. (Emily Davies/TWP)
A man accused of posing as a member of the U.S. Secret Service and lavishing gifts on federal agents in a luxury high-rise in downtown D.C. signaled Friday that he will plead guilty.
His attorney could not immediately be reached.
In April, a federal grand jury indicted Taherzadeh and a man named Haider Ali after an investigation uncovered what investigators say was a ruse carried out at the Crossing, a luxury apartment complex on the D.C. waterfront. Prosecutors accused the men of falsely claiming affiliation with the Department of Homeland Security and ingratiating themselves with members of the Secret Service assigned to protect the White House and first lady Jill Biden.
Guns, drones, luxury apartments: Motive of accused police posers still unclear
A lawyer for Ali could not immediately be reached.
The men have been on home detention since a federal judge released them in April, saying that prosecutors “proffered zero evidence the defendants intended to infiltrate the Secret Service for a nefarious purpose, or even that they specifically targeted the Secret Service.”
Questions still remain about the motive of the alleged ruse.
Case of duped Secret Service agents called an alarming agency breach
Taherzadeh has a history of residing in D.C. apartments under false pretenses, fronting as a member of the Department of Homeland Security to access parts of buildings that were supposed to be off-limits to residents and avoiding rent, according to interviews with several people who lived in the apartment complexes and court documents in multiple lawsuits filed against him. Taherzadeh also was known to have rooms full of police gear, security equipment and surveillance technology, according to the interviews and court filings.
At the Crossing, prosecutors said, Taherzadeh grew close to Secret Service agents who lived in the building. They said he offered gifts including drones, gun lockers and rent-free apartments to agents assigned to protect the White House complex.
The Secret Service has since said the ruse did not compromise national security but revealed vulnerabilities among its employees.
Crossing management, in emails to residents this spring, said they had enlisted the help of an advisory firm with expertise in national security to recommend improvements to their protocols. | 2022-07-22T18:12:02Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Man accused of posing as member of Secret Service signals guilty plea - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/22/man-accused-posing-member-secret-service-signals-guilty-plea/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/22/man-accused-posing-member-secret-service-signals-guilty-plea/ |
Comptroller Peter Franchot placed third in a crowded race and conceded Friday to best-selling author Wes Moore, who led the early vote count.
Maryland gubernatorial candidate Peter Franchot arrives to speak with supporters during a primary night watch party on July 19 in Bowie, Md. (Michael A. McCoy/Getty Images)
Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot acknowledged that he cannot win the Democratic primary race for governor Friday, as two other candidates tallied more votes in the slow-going count of mail-in ballots.
Franchot conceded to best-selling author Wes Moore, a political newcomer who lead early returns in the race, saying in a Facebook post Moore had won the race.
Moore leads former Democratic National Committee chair Tom Perez in the primary contest, but the race remains unsettled, with tens of thousands of mail-in ballots still uncounted.
Some television networks declared Moore the winner Friday morning, but The Washington Post and the Associated Press viewed the race as too early to call, given the large number of mail-in votes still to be counted statewide. AP estimates that 31 percent of all votes cast have yet to be tabulated, including 46 percent in Montgomery County, where Perez leads Moore by a wide margin.
Perez’s campaign manager Sean Downey said in a statement: “Put simply, it’s too early to call this race.”
Regardless, Franchot’s concession sets up an end to a more than three-decade run in public office when his current term expires in January. Franchot served as the state’s chief tax collector for 16 years, after 20 years spent representing Takoma Park in the House of Delegates. He evolved from a liberal crusader to a fiscally conservative figure who often operated independently from the Democratic Party establishment.
With high name recognition and a big war-chest built up over years without primary challengers, Franchot entered the 2022 contest as the nominal front-runner. He stayed near the top of polls as many voters remained undecided, but he never dramatically built a lead in the 10-candidate field.
By Friday, he was still in third place, trailing Perez by more than 30,000 votes.
“I am incredibly grateful to all of our supporters and volunteers who believed in a our vision for a competent government that gets results every Marylander can see and feel,” Franchot’s statement said, pledging to help elect a fellow Democrat in November.
Franchot had long eyed the state’s top job and ran a campaign designed to appeal across party lines in November. He described himself as socially liberal and fiscally moderate, questioning whether the state could afford to fully implement a costly education program heralded by Democrats in the General Assembly.
Despite his decades in office, Franchot, 74, cast himself as an outsider to the political establishment. He was an ally of Gov. Larry Hogan (R) on the Board of Public Works, a three-member panel that oversees state contracts, and was critical in helping the governor push through transportation projects, such as the Purple Line.
He championed new regulations for the craft beer industry, and campaigned against political enemies. In 2018, he backed a primary challenge to iconic, then-Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, a fellow Democrat. He railed against fellow Democrats in his efforts to fix failing school air-conditioning systems in Baltimore County and City, where some students are sent home on hot days when classrooms become unbearable.
This year, Franchot called for the state to suspend its gas tax and lobbied the legislature to cut bigger tax breaks when federal coronavirus relief flooded state balance sheets. His campaign for governor pitched voters on making the state provide great customer service, and cast him as the right type of Democrat to appeal to voters in a state that’s picked Republican governors in three out of the past five elections. | 2022-07-22T18:12:04Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Peter Franchot concedes Maryland governor's race - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/22/md-franchot-governor-concedes/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/22/md-franchot-governor-concedes/ |
The surge in food prices that followed the outbreak of war in Ukraine underlined the country’s pivotal role in feeding the planet. By disrupting exports of Ukrainian wheat, corn, barley and oilseeds, Russia’s invasion has stoked fears of a hunger crisis in poorer nations and contributed to a surge in inflation in the developed world. An agreement to unblock Ukraine’s Black Sea ports raised hopes that shipments could resume soon, though challenges include coastal waters riddled with mines.
Europe’s second-largest country by area, Ukraine’s level plains of dark, rich soil are ideal for farming. Cheap food from Ukraine has helped to shape the course of European history, feeding the populations of fast-growing industrial cities in the 19th century and sustaining the vast Soviet Union through decades of isolation. Before the war, Ukraine exported more grain than the entire European Union and supplied about half of globally traded sunflower seeds and oil. More than 30 countries that are net importers of wheat rely on Russia and Ukraine for over 30% of their wheat import needs.
Exports collapsed when Russian forces invaded in late February and imposed a blockade on Ukraine’s key export terminals of Odesa and Mykolayiv. By mid-year, at least 25 million tons of grains harvested in 2021 were still stuck in the country, just as a new wheat harvest was starting. Some wheat, corn and barley was transported overland to Romania, Poland and Baltic Sea ports on roads, railroads and Danube river barges. These routes could only handle about a fifth of Ukraine’s prewar exports and efforts to boost volumes were held back by a dearth of fuel for trucks and transport bottlenecks. Ukraine’s ex-Soviet rail tracks use a wider gauge than their western counterparts, causing border delays of up to 30 days. Grain exports in June totaled just 1.4 million tons versus about 5 million tons monthly in a typical year.
The drop in deliveries from the fourth-biggest grain exporter sent prices shooting higher and left import-reliant nations in Asia, Africa and the Middle East scrambling to secure alternative supplies. By mid-July, however, the price of wheat had fallen back to its level before the invasion. Still, the shortages had contributed to sporadic political unrest and in May the United Nations World Food Programme warned that 43 countries were at risk of famine. Ukraine has been one of the largest contributors to the WFP: Eritrea and Somalia were almost entirely dependent on Russia and Ukraine for their wheat supplies last year, while Tanzania, Namibia and Madagascar relied on them for more than 60% of supplies, according to UN data.
4. What’s the new agreement?
There was a breakthrough in the months-long talks to resolve the impasse on July 22, when Russian and Ukrainian officials signed deals mediated by Turkey and the United Nations to allow exports to resume from Odesa, Pivdennyi and Chornomorsk ports. The three locations together accounted for just over half of Ukraine’s seaborne grain exports in the 2020-2021 season.
5. What are the hurdles to resuming exports?
The plan’s success hinges on the Kremlin abiding by the deal and there are concerns about securing ships and insurance to carry the backlogged grain with the war still raging. While the biggest export terminals were largely undamaged and still under Ukrainian control, some infrastructure has been attacked and the ports and coastal waters are riddled with mines. Ukraine has accused Russia of stealing grain and exporting it. Russia has benefited from the blockade as it has deprived the Kyiv government of revenue to sustain the resistance, inflicted economic pain on Moscow’s western adversaries and boosted the value of its own wheat on the international market (Russia is an even bigger wheat exporter than Ukraine).
Ukraine’s government expects this year’s crop to be about 40% smaller than last year’s after farmland was damaged or cut off by the conflict. Farmers who are able to gather their crops could run out of room to store it as silos are still loaded with last year’s grains. That lack of storage capacity, combined with a collapse in incomes that’s left farmers without money to buy seeds, means it could take years for exports to fully recover. | 2022-07-22T18:16:16Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Why Russia’s War in Ukraine Means a Hungrier World - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/why-russias-war-in-ukraine-means-a-hungrier-world/2022/07/22/ce8786be-09df-11ed-80b6-43f2bfcc6662_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/why-russias-war-in-ukraine-means-a-hungrier-world/2022/07/22/ce8786be-09df-11ed-80b6-43f2bfcc6662_story.html |
A man wears a mask as he rides on the open deck of a tourist bus in Paris on July 1. (AFP via Getty Images)
President Biden tested positive for the coronavirus — and so have millions more. A full-on coronavirus wave is sweeping across the United States and much of the world, driven by the BA.5 subvariant, which hardly existed in April. This does not call for panic — the president appears to have mild symptoms — but it is a reminder to be cautious, especially indoors with crowds. Your face mask is your friend, and your booster is your life jacket. It is that kind of summer.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that models show the BA.5 subvariant and its cousin, BA.4, both more transmissible and better at immune escape than the earlier omicron variants, now comprise about 90 percent of the cases in the United States. Their explosive growth in the past 2½ months — from zero to prevalence — is testament to the power of mutations that make them more adept at entering human cells and escaping antibodies. It’s still not clear whether the new subvariants will cause more severe disease, but infections are undeniably on the rise. The seven-day U.S. average of daily new cases reported to the CDC is now 125,827, or five times higher than what it was in March. So many home rapid tests are being done these days the real total is probably seven times more. Using the CDC’s measure of community risk — based largely on hospitalization admissions and intensive care unit beds — 61 percent of the U.S. population lives in counties that are now at high levels, nearly double the level of two weeks earlier. There is a lot of virus circulating.
By now, reaching for that face mask ought to be second nature for indoor locations with a lot of people — where the virus can hang in the air and spread. Good-quality face masks are plentiful and cheap. No one likes them, but now is not the time to abandon their use. Los Angeles is considering bringing back a mask mandate for indoor spaces on July 29 if the community levels remain high, as measured by the CDC. Likewise, a number of national parks, including Denali, Grand Canyon and Yellowstone all recently reinstated indoor masking requirements. Mandates are hard to enforce these days amid public fatigue and weariness, but if the government doesn’t mandate a mask, it still makes good sense to protect yourself — and everyone around you.
Far too few have gotten booster shots that are widely available and free. Less than half the eligible population (over 5 years old) has a dose of the first booster, according to the CDC, and less than a third of those eligible (over 50 years old) has the second. Summer brings one significant break — fresh air. Good ventilation and filtration have proved to be an excellent tool to fight viral transmission. Throw open the windows.
It’s human nature to wish for better times. But the pandemic reality is still with us. The best and safest kind of normal is to be vigilant about the reality of virus levels, and use the available tools to mitigate them. | 2022-07-22T18:16:55Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | As BA.5 spreads, wear mask, get boosted, open windows - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/22/covid-summer-booster-mask-ventilation/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/22/covid-summer-booster-mask-ventilation/ |
Ignore the naysayers, Nancy Pelosi. Go to Taiwan.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) talks with reporters at the Capitol on July 21. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)
Nancy Pelosi is facing a lot of resistance regarding her proposed trip to Taiwan next month, both from the Chinese government and President Biden. The Democratic House speaker should ignore them and go anyway.
Taiwan has emerged as a flash point in the quiet global conflict between Communist China and the United States. The island is a thriving democracy and an important part of the free world’s economy. It dominates the crucial semiconductor market, for example, producing more than half of the world’s chips and an even higher share of the most advanced devices. The free world would be shaken if Taiwan were to fall into China’s grasp.
That’s exactly why Pelosi should go. Our Asian allies look to us to defend them against China’s threat, and a visit by Pelosi would signal that Taiwan’s quest to remain free is supported by top U.S. leaders. She would not need to say anything that contradicts prior U.S. policy, which has historically been ambiguous as to whether it would go to war to defend Taiwan if China invades. Her presence would simply send a message that within that ambiguity, the balance tilts toward Taiwan.
China’s anger is understandable. It has claimed the island since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949. As part of its normalization of relations with the United States in the 1970s, it insisted that the United States adopt a “One China” policy. Since then, it has never been a secret that China intends to reunify Taiwan with the mainland, even if it has to use force. The more the United States moves toward acknowledging Taiwan’s de facto independence, the harder it will be for China to fulfill its aims without risking a war with the world’s leading superpower.
Biden’s objection is less understandable. Technically, he did not disapprove of Pelosi’s possible visit; he only said the U.S. military thinks it is “not a good idea right now.” Presumably that is because our generals don’t want to risk a confrontation with China while we are engaged in supplying weapons to Ukraine. The U.S. military certainly is not prepared to fight two major wars simultaneously; risking a Chinese invasion of Taiwan while also indirectly fighting Russia clearly puts the military on edge.
But that concern should force the United States to think more clearly about the connection between its global commitments and its military capacity. If the United States is to lead a global alliance of democracies, as Biden and most of the foreign policy establishment want, we simply need a bigger and more modern military. If Pelosi’s visit pushes China to make a threatening move short of war, such as moving substantial military assets in position to invade Taiwan, that would force the United States to make good on our word and invest more in our military. It’s better we understand the costs of our aspirations and start to pay for them now rather than kick the can down the road again.
It would also be bad for U.S. policy if Pelosi now failed to visit the island in the face of Chinese bullying. Our allies have increasingly asked us to make clear commitments to defend Taiwan if China attacks. Nations such as Japan would surely view Pelosi canceling her visit as a sign that the United States is unwilling to test China’s resolve. That sends a message of weakness, which Biden will not want to try to counteract. Anything more provocative than a visit to Taiwan from Pelosi would risk antagonizing our allies, or China, at an even greater level. Better she go now than place Biden under pressure he doesn’t want in the future.
U.S. ambiguity with respect to Taiwan served U.S. interests so long as China was weak. Americans could trade with Taiwan and China, enriching all parties, without the risk of an invasion. Now that China is militarily and economically strong, that straddling act no longer suffices. China will not back down: It will push us to choose between relations with it or defending Taiwan. It’s better for the United States to decide which it values more now and build the capacity to accomplish that goal, rather than continue to put our head in the sand and hope the problem goes away.
Defending Taiwan is in our national interest. Pelosi’s quiet presence in Taipei would put us one step closer to finally acknowledging that — and taking that commitment seriously. | 2022-07-22T18:17:01Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Ignore the naysayers, Nancy Pelosi. Go to Taiwan. - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/22/nancy-pelosi-should-ignore-china-biden-go-to-taiwan/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/22/nancy-pelosi-should-ignore-china-biden-go-to-taiwan/ |
When the court shrinks the administrative state, Congress loses power
In an emergency like climate change, it’s the alphabet agencies that can act effectively. Without them, power is left to the president.
Perspective by Thomas Geoghegan
Thomas Geoghegan is a lawyer and the author of "The History of Democracy Has Yet to Be Written."
Because of the opposition of Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) and Republicans, Congress won’t pass a comprehensive bill to address climate change in the near future. Such gridlock is why Congress empowered federal agencies to make certain decisions and rules. (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post)
It’s been a good month for West Virginia in its fight to keep the planet burning. The Supreme Court, in West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency, blocked the EPA from doing more to push the country off coal. The court held that it was up to Congress to decide major policy questions about burning fossil fuels and clarify what vaguely written environmental laws like the Clean Air Act meant. A couple weeks later, West Virginia’s senior senator, Joe Manchin, a Democrat, shut down the Biden administration plan to wean Americans off coal, making clear that on his watch, with the slimmest of Democratic majorities, Congress would do nothing.
The court’s conservative majority is out to shrink the administrative state in favor of decision-making by Congress, but it’s a Congress incapable of deciding much at all. Or at least the Senate is incapable — and the House is ineffective without the Senate. The inaction may have been survivable in the past, when Congress was merely too dysfunctional to deal adequately with health care, labor law or many other issues. In the case of Obamacare, it was astonishing that it came up with a law at all; exhausted from that effort, Congress under President Barack Obama did little else. Under President Biden, the “soft infrastructure” bill collapsed — Congress couldn’t handle its provisions for things like child and elder care, clean drinking water, universal broadband, and community colleges. This is the sort of congressional inaction that the United States may be able to withstand — day-to-day life will go on, even if the country becomes more unequal and perhaps eventually falls apart. Climate change is another matter. Inaction here has graver consequences. And by empowering a dysfunctional Congress to do nothing about climate change, the court is, no doubt unwittingly, endangering Congress as an institution. If there is a paralyzed Congress, unable to delegate to an administrative state, it may lead one day to an emergency where Congress is set aside — Biden is already having to resort to executive order to try to stop fossil fuel burning.
The Supreme Court justices must follow the news. They must know as well as anyone that a gridlocked Congress has never been able to dig into the details of environmental regulation. In the 1970s, the Department of Energy as a matter of policy was pushing plants off oil and onto gas, and no one expected Congress do much more than vaguely bless the doing-of-something to save oil. This is true for any parliamentary body in a republic — it is incapable of turning on a dime to educate itself and take emergency actions on technical or scientific questions. Even the Congress of 1914 knew that much; that’s why it created the Federal Trade Commission, to define and go after specific abuses that this present court might say only Congress can define.
The problem is not the House, however gerrymandered it may be. Consider all the major laws the House has passed under Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), only to see them die in the Senate. But in the real world, not even the House has the time or capacity to do the deep dive into administrative rulemaking that the court seems to think, in its fantasy world, that a legislative body amid a climate emergency can do. It takes a decade for Congress to do that kind of work — and by then far too many will be in despair or dead.
The left, of course, is not giving the court the benefit of the doubt; progressives are certain that its antipathy to the administrative state is not really about empowering Congress but rather about keeping American businesses and the wealthy from being regulated at all.
Regardless, even if in good faith, the court’s hostility to the administrative state is imperiling the existence of Congress.
Delegation of legislative power is the very thing that saves it — and has saved it, ever since the administrative state as we know it came into existence in the 1930s. In his 2013 book, “Fear Itself: The New Deal and the Origins of Our Time,” the historian Ira Katznelson recounts how leaders on both left and right openly debated the question of whether the Depression, an emergency, required authoritarian rule: Would the president, Franklin Roosevelt, and his administration need to dispense with Congress? In that emergency, there was no time to amend the Constitution; it would just be set aside. “If this country ever needed a Mussolini, it needs one now,” a Republican senator from Pennsylvania, David Reed, declared in 1932, as Katznelson tells it. “Leave it to Congress,” Reed said, “we will fiddle around here all summer trying to satisfy every lobbyist, and we will get nowhere.” Even the business weekly Barron’s, Katznelson writes, called for a “mild species of dictatorship.”
The happy outcome, of course, is that Roosevelt did not dispense with Congress, or the rule of law, or a republican form of government. At first, however, the Roosevelt administration came close to doing so. The National Industrial Recovery Act, also known as the Blue Eagle Act, was the centerpiece of what is known as the First New Deal, which ran from 1933 to 1935. The act gave the president unchecked power to set prices, wages and hours, industry by industry, in any way he thought desirable. The president became, under the act, the chief executive of every firm, association or corporate entity of every significant industry in the country, even if in the first instance these codes were developed by private bodies. In the Blue Eagle Act, a frightened Congress had dispensed with itself and put Roosevelt in charge of the economy, much like the regimes in the new authoritarian countries had done.
In 1935, a unanimous Supreme Court struck down the Blue Eagle Act in Schechter Poultry v. United States. This was in part because it gave the president unlimited power over intrastate and interstate commerce but mostly because it created, potentially, a breathtaking presidential dictatorship. This was no mere delegation case like West Virginia v. EPA. The Blue Eagle Act was an attempt to dispense with a legislature; Italy and Germany were doing that. Even liberals like Louis Brandeis and Benjamin Cardozo joined the court’s conservative majority. After the Schechter Poultry decision, Brandeis, as recounted by Harry Hopkins, Roosevelt’s federal relief administrator and later his commerce secretary, said, “This is the end of this business of centralization, and I want you to go back and tell the president that we’re not going to let this government centralize everything.”
In his concurring opinion, however, Cardozo suggested that delegating power on a large scale was all right if it was confined to specific objects: For instance, the Federal Trade Commission had the power to define unfair trade practices, he said.
What then happened in the Second New Deal was a turn to this narrower delegation of power. The National Labor Relations Board, for example, was directed to take on specific problems. What Katznelson calls “a host of alphabet agencies and programs — AAA, CWA, PWA, REA, TVA, WPA, NRA, SEC, NLRB, FLSA, FHA, FSA and more” — followed. Here was the origin of the administrative state by which the country got around an especially dysfunctional legislative branch.
Justices keen to gut that Second New Deal version of the administrative state should know this: It was not invented to displace Congress but to save it — particularly the Senate.
The line between the proper scope of the administrative state and that of Congress has been vague, messy and in many cases just ignored, but for close to a century it has worked. Edmund Burke would wince at the court’s radical ideological attempt to overthrow it. It is often said that Congress enacts badly drafted laws, but in a dysfunctional legislative branch, part of a dysfunctional Constitution, there is no alternative to unclear and badly drafted laws if laws are to pass at all. The legislative drafting bureaus are full of excellent lawyers who are perfectly capable of writing clear laws, but clarity, for political reasons, is not often Congress’s intent. The Clean Air Act is a vaguely drafted law, but insisting that Congress do a better job ignores why. Strong, clean, precise decisions are beyond the institutional capacity of Congress, so often paralyzed by filibuster and gerrymandering, and usually incapable of acting in an emergency. For the court to chafe at a badly drafted law is to ignore the intent of Congress to have it badly drafted.
As recent days have shown, the administrative state is necessary to save us from Manchin — but it is also a way of saving Manchin himself. If the planet continues to burn, while this virus or a new one continues to ravage it, we will need a far more flexible Constitution with an administrative state that may need to be larger, not smaller, than the one that the court is trying to shrink.
Alarmed by climate change, even a champion of Congress like Biden is beginning to sour on the place. In a speech Wednesday, he called the warming climate a “clear and present danger” and vowed to take action. He has so far stopped short of formally declaring a climate emergency, but thanks to an active court and an inactive Congress, we may have no alternative but “a mild species of dictatorship.” | 2022-07-22T18:17:13Z | www.washingtonpost.com | When the court shrinks the administrative state, Congress loses power - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/07/22/manchin-administrative-state-epa-schechter/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/07/22/manchin-administrative-state-epa-schechter/ |
Wisconsin Assembly elections committee chair calls for invalidating 2020 results
Constitutional scholars and GOP legislative leaders say it’s legally impossible to do so
Scores of people cheer on Wisconsin state Rep. Janel Brandtjen outside the state Capitol in Madison on Aug. 6, 2021 after Brandtjen announced she had issued subpoenas for election materials from Milwaukee and Brown counties. (AP Photo/Todd Richmond)
MADISON, Wis. — The leader of the Wisconsin Assembly’s elections committee called Friday for invalidating President Biden’s victory in the state — an idea that constitutional scholars and Republican legislative leaders have called legally impossible.
“Fair and honest elections are the cornerstone of our democracy and we know that the 2020 presidential election was neither fair, nor transparent,” state Rep. Janel Brandtjen (R) said in a news release. “Tyranny is at Wisconsin’s door.”
Brandtjen said she planned to sign onto a resolution from state Rep. Tim Ramthun (R) to decertify the election, making her the first lawmaker to join his cause. Ramthun is running a long-shot bid for governor on a decertification platform.
Brandtjen’s statement could influence other lawmakers to sign up for the decertification effort, but she and Ramthun face long odds in getting a floor vote.
Brandtjen, like many other Republican lawmakers in Wisconsin, has argued the election was nonetheless fundamentally flawed. She questioned the results Friday because local officials used ballot drop boxes and accepted grants to help run their elections from a group largely funded by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.
Brandtjen also criticized the way the election was run because the Wisconsin Elections Commission told clerks to immediately mail absentee ballots to residents of nursing homes in 2020 instead of following a state law that requires them to first dispatch poll workers to those facilities. The bipartisan commission made that call because nursing homes weren’t allowing visitors during the coronavirus pandemic.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R) has fought off efforts to try to revoke Wisconsin’s 10 electoral votes, noting legislative attorneys and conservative legal scholars have said it can’t be done. The legislature is not scheduled to return until next year, but Brandtjen’s comments could reignite efforts to try to meet in what’s known as an extraordinary session.
Brandtjen did not explain why she believed decertification is possible.
“We have been told for months now that decertification is impossible, meaning there is no downside to cheating in Wisconsin elections,” she said in her news release. “How many more times do we need to endure this election injustice? I will join Rep. Ramthun’s call for decertification, as I see no other means of justice for Wisconsin voters.”
Brandtjen did not immediately return a phone call Friday. Brandtjen, who has long railed against how the election was run, detailed her criticisms this year in “Rigged,” a film about the 2020 election by the conservative group Citizens United.
The film, which premiered in April at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, also included an interview with Michael Gableman, a former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice hired by Vos last year to review the 2020 election.
Gableman in March told Brandtjen’s committee that lawmakers should consider decertifying the election. In a private meeting in May with legislative leaders, Gableman backed away from the idea, according to Vos and another leader who was in the meeting.
State Sen. Kathy Bernier (R) said Brandtjen may be able to get a few more Republicans to sign onto the decertification effort but nowhere near a majority. Bernier, a former county clerk who serves as the chairwoman of the state Senate’s elections committee, accused Brandtjen of engaging in a stunt after getting Trump’s endorsement in her heavily Republican district.
State Rep. Mark Spreitzer (D), a member of Brandtjen’s committee, called the attempts to reverse the election troubling.
“Ultimately, when voting starts, if we can’t come together as a state, as a country, and say, ‘Whether we like the rules or not, we’re all going to try to get our people out to vote under them, we’re going to count the votes, and whoever gets the most votes is going to win.’ If we can’t agree on that, then we don’t have the core foundation of a democratic form of government and that is dangerous,” he said.
Ramthun, Brandtjen and others have renewed their push to overturn the 2020 results after the state Supreme Court ruled this month that state law does not allow the use of ballot drop boxes. The court’s 4-3 ruling affects future elections, but not ones that have already been held.
Vos told WISN in Milwaukee on Tuesday that he received a call from Trump “within the last week” about the decision, seeing it as a new opportunity to overturn the 2020 results.
“He makes his case, which I respect,” Vos said to WISN. “He would like us to do something different in Wisconsin. I explained that it’s not allowed under the constitution. He has a different opinion.”
Trump then attacked Vos in a series of posts on Truth Social, Trump’s social media platform, saying that the speaker’s inaction was “a waste of a brilliant and courageous decision by Wisconsin’s Highest Court.”
“This is not a time for him to hide,” Trump wrote, “but a time to act!” | 2022-07-22T18:17:26Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Wisconsin Assembly elections committee chair calls for invalidating 2020 results - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/22/wisconsin-2020-results/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/22/wisconsin-2020-results/ |
John Carlos and Tommie Smith cheer during Thursday's 200-meter finals. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
EUGENE, Ore. — The first track and field world championships held in the United States paused Thursday night to honor Tommie Smith and John Carlos, the men who protested on the medal podium at the 1968 Olympics. Hayward Field displayed a video tribute to Smith and Carlos, and the crowd showered them with a standing ovation.
The United States’ top track and field executive can envision a grander tribute when the Olympics return to U.S. soil in six years. USA Track & Field CEO Max Siegel told The Post he supports the idea of tabbing Smith and Carlos as the athletes who light the cauldron at the Opening Ceremonies of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
“It would be not only symbolic, but it would be so meaningful to have them involved in that display of what the Olympics are all about,” Siegel said. “That is certainly worthy to advocate for, to have their presence front and center and just really recognized for what they contributed.”
The presence of Smith and Carlos was felt here at Day 7 of the world championships, which Smith and Carlos attended. Just before the men’s 200 meters — the event they starred in half a century ago — a video detailed their actions as the U.S. national anthem played in Mexico City, where each man raised a gloved fist and wore no shoes with black socks to protest social injustice and racial inequality.
Brewer: Smith and Carlos have persisted through the years
Smith and Carlos have become both athletic and cultural icons in the United States, but their actions at the time drew scorn and rebuke. They were suspended from the U.S. team and thrown out of the Olympic Village, and many news reports condemned them.
The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee has sided with Smith and Carlos in recent years, as athletes have waded into social activism with greater frequency. It inducted Smith and Carlos into its Hall of Fame in 2019. It has supported U.S. Olympians who called on the International Olympic Committee to abolish Rule 50, the ordinance in the Olympic charter that forbids athletes from political displays at the Olympics. It has expressly permitted forms of protest at domestic trials. The USOPC has apologized to athletes Gwen Berry and Race Imboden for placing them on probation after podium demonstrations during the anthem.
The IOC has kept Rule 50 in place. Smith and Carlos said Thursday night that the IOC has never offered them apology for the conduct of then-president Avery Brundage, who ordered them kicked out of the Mexico City Games. An apology at this point, Smith said, may not mean much.
“For me, to apologize 50 years later would be beyond the idea of respect,” Smith said. “I wanted you to respect that kid of 24 years old at that time. He is the one that did it. I have moved forward, surpassed the embarrassment of a hand not being held out.”
“I would like to say the International Olympic Committee could be a fine organization,” Carlos said. “But they appear to be that ostrich that sticks his head in the ground to try and hide from everything. I confronted them a while ago and asked them, ‘Don’t you think you owe us an apology? Don’t you think it’s time?’ Their reply was, ‘We didn’t do anything to you. The United States Olympic Committee did it to you.’ I said, ‘Well, I recall you giving directive to the United States Olympic Committee to ban us from the team, take our medals back.’ ”
“The question to them was, when was Rule 50 established?” Carlos added. “Was it established when the Nazis was on the [podium] and gave the ‘heil’ sign? I don’t recall them answering that. That’s a question that needs to be answered. Did this come about merely because it was two young, Black individuals?”
Thursday night, Carlos took the opportunity to advocate for another cause. On the eve of the world championships, World Athletics awarded the 2025 world championships to Tokyo over finalist Nairobi. Neither the Olympics nor the track and field world championships have ever been held in Africa, a slight Carlos called out, noting that the World Cup was recently held in South Africa.
“We had so many great athletes come from the continent of Africa,” Carlos said. “We have not risen to the mind-set that we can put an Olympic Games or a world [championships] in the continent of Africa. People say, ‘They wasn’t ready.’ Soccer is probably the equivalent to the Olympics, and they hosted the soccer. I would think we all should be pushing for trying to have a little more equality amongst the ranks in the Olympic movement, the world movement and society in general.”
Siegel, the only Black CEO among U.S. Olympic sport governing organizations, keeps a poster of Smith and Carlos in his office for motivation. He told them at a news conference Thursday night that he would not be in his position if not for them.
“To make the podium at an Olympic Games could be the single-most important individual achievement in one’s life,” Siegel said. “But to think of others besides yourself at that moment, to be an agent of positive social change at that moment, is a true display of character.” | 2022-07-22T18:18:33Z | www.washingtonpost.com | John Carlos and Tommie Smith should light 2028 cauldron, Max Siegel says - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2022/07/22/john-carlos-tommie-smith-2028-olympics-max-siegel/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2022/07/22/john-carlos-tommie-smith-2028-olympics-max-siegel/ |
An Iowa State Patrolman walks past a Maquoketa Caves State Park sign as police investigate a shooting that left several people dead on July 22, 2022, in Maquoketa, Iowa. The campground was evacuated in the wake of the shooting. (Nikos Frazier/Quad City Times via AP)
Friday’s shooting comes more than a month after a man shot and killed two women before killing himself in a church parking lot in Ames, Iowa. Jonathan Lee Whitlatch, 33, had shot two women from the congregation — 22-year-old Eden Mariah Montang and 21-year-old Vivian Renee Flores — while a program was going on inside the church on June 2, according to the Story County Sheriff’s Office. When police arrived, the gunman appeared to have died of a self-inflicted wound, Story County Sheriff Capt. Nicholas Lennie told reporters. | 2022-07-22T18:24:52Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Maquoketa Caves State Park shooting: 3 killed in Iowa; gunman Anthony Sherwin also dead, police say - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/07/22/shooting-maquoketa-caves-state-park-iowa/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/07/22/shooting-maquoketa-caves-state-park-iowa/ |
That’s a good problem for the video game designers working on F1 racing games.
(Washington Post illustration; Jure Makovec/AFP/Getty; EA Sports)
Formula One Grand Prix are averaging a million viewers per race in America. The FIA, the governing body of the sport, just christened a new course in Miami, and plans on opening another track in Las Vegas next year. My Twitter timeline, a constellation of gamers and doom-scrolling journalists, rumbles into life on darkened Sunday mornings as the drivers take their marks in far-off European hamlets. I’ve become fluent in all the dictums and memes of the culture; Max Verstappen is a pout, Charles Leclerc is an angel, Ferrari can’t get the job done when it matters. The verdict is unanimous: F1 is officially a big deal in the United States.
For Codemasters, the British company that has been making F1 games for more than a decade — and released “F1 22” earlier this year — that means their niche racing series is now reaching more people than they ever could’ve expected.
Like so many other longtime F1 die-hards, Lee Mather, senior creative director of “F1 22,” seems delightfully baffled by the American racing boom.
“When we first started on this series we were always catering to the F1 fan, and F1 fans are a very defined audience,” he said in an interview with The Washington Post. “But in recent years it’s absolutely blown up. [There’s] a new audience coming to the game through a completely different route.” Namely: the internet.
Mather’s diagnosis of the phenomenon is two-pronged: The FIA has worked hard to bring live events for the sport across the Atlantic, and they’ve done a fantastic job of adapting to online culture and marketing their drivers worldwide. There’s no better example of this than the Netflix serial “Formula One: Drive To Survive” — the wildly popular docuseries that glosses over the heady mechanical gumption of open-wheel racing in favor of headstrong, Real Housewives-esque drama. (The first season, where Daniel Ricciardo stabs Red Bull in the back, is one of the most compelling storylines ever told on television.)
But more importantly, the generation of drivers currently competing in F1 are extremely personable and outrageously online when they’re not behind the wheel. Lando Norris, who competes for McLaren, streams his “Fall Guys” matches live on Twitch during his off days. (Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc does the same, but he usually sticks with racing games.) The official F1 YouTube channel now hosts a trivia show with the drivers, which is the sort of silly fan-service that slots in perfectly among the many stan videos that crowd my feed. Here’s one called “Max Verstappen Being Savage For Nine Minutes Straight.”
“There was a time when Formula One didn’t have YouTube, or Instagram, or Twitch,” Mather said, detailing just how much ground the brand has made up in a short amount of time. F1 was always a fascinating universe, but as the sport became more web-literate, young people were given the tools to discover it on their own terms.
“The politics between the teams, the fact that the cars seem to be made of cardboard and stuck together with bubble gum, the rivalries between the drivers — all of that keeps me invested in the actual sport, not just the dramatized version on Netflix,” said Simone de Rochefort, senior video producer at Polygon and a newly minted F1 fan. She fell in love with the sport in part because it resembled some of her favorite sports anime.
“The underlying strategy of it all was also a pleasant surprise to me,” de Rochefort said. “The fact that the drivers are basically getting battle tactics over the radio from their engineers is very cool and exciting. I think from the outside, it’s easy to look at the cars zooming around and think that’s all there is to it. But there’s so much more, both on the drama side and the tactics side.”
All of this means that Mather is now in charge of a franchise that possesses a player base beyond those who obsess over tire pressure and air resistance. Codemasters has not announced any specific data on “F1 22′s” sales figures, but series publisher Electronic Arts said the previous game, “F1 2021,” performed “well above expectations.”
Mather said that his team has prioritized accessibility in the titles for years, long before you could chop it up about the Mercedes-Red Bull rivalry at countless sports bars across the country. Still, it’s been an uphill battle.
“Every time we tried to do something outside of the core of Formula One, it didn’t take for us because the audience wasn’t there. But now that’s broken through,” Mather said. “We brought in a steering assist, to help people actually steer the car. We did an automatic reset to track, so instead of the frustration of getting out of the gravel that the hardcore [players] want, you can jump back on course. The off-track surfaces are simplified, so if you did go into the gravel, you could just drive right out. This year we have adaptive AI that adjusts its pace to keep you in the battle.”
‘F1 22’ roars into a new era with revamped cars and overhauled physics
Those initiatives have finally paid off. At last, the casual fans that Codemasters always hoped to entice are materializing.
“It’s a journey we started in 2019 and 2020 to make the game easier to play,” Mather said. “And now there’s that audience out there who are craving Formula One.”
Perhaps the largest signifier of F1′s broadening appeal is the introduction of Breaking Point to “F1 2021” — a story-based, single-player mode where you take control of a newcomer driver, rubbing shoulders with the open-wheel elite. With it, Codemasters tapped into the glamour and intrigue that sucked me and so many other Americans into the sport — less fretting over fuel loads, more angry blowups with the pit squad. Breaking Point didn’t return in “F1 22,” (the mode is on a biyearly release schedule) so Codemasters will soon again be fleshing out a fantasy for Americans dreaming of Silverstone, rather than Lambeau or Fenway.
“Formula One drivers were known among the community, but people outside of that didn’t know who they were. I’m not a soccer or a basketball guy, but I know who the key people in those sports are, because they transcended the sport, and that wasn’t something F1 had achieved,” Mather said. “But now, these drivers are huge celebrities right at the beginning of their careers. The lifestyle, the excitement of who these people are, has finally gotten outside of the F1 fandom.”
De Rochefort is one of those F1 initiates eager to integrate her latest fascination into her lifelong gaming hobby. That being said, what she likes most about the sport — the characters, the grudges, the meta-narratives surrounding every hairpin turn — is not easily replicated in a racing series. She’s more excited about the forthcoming “F1 Manager 2022” from Frontier Games, a spiritual sequel to 2000′s “F1 Manager” and the first officially licensed F1 management simulation to come out in over 20 years. It’s a game that allows players to fine-tune their rosters of drivers, scientists and engineers between each season — perhaps poaching a pitman from a cross-country automotive adversary. You know, the sort of chicanery that’s ripe for a “Drive To Survive” arc.
“I doubt it’ll have the precise drama of [the show,] but it’s definitely approaching the sport from an angle that I find inherently interesting,” said de Rochefort. Andy Fletcher, game director on “F1 Manager 2022,” told The Post the team has attempted to keep their title airtight for hardcore consumers, while “also giving players [the option] to automate key events … so they can kick back and enjoy the stunning broadcast-experience of the race weekend.” (As someone who knows zilch about automobile physics, I’m intrigued.)
This will likely be the challenge for anyone making F1 games for the foreseeable future. How do you tap into the exploding market, and more importantly, how do you mirror what excited people about this universe in the first place? The first thing you learn when you start following Formula One is that the races are the tip of the iceberg; that philosophy has also taken hold at Codemasters.
“Just because someone wants to do a 100 percent race distance with all the assists off doesn’t mean that they don’t want to kick back with something more casual, or more fun,” Mather said.
He has a legion of freshly enthralled Formula One fans in the palm of his hands. Frankly, that’s a good problem to have.
Luke Winkie is a journalist from San Diego, he has contributed to the New York Times, The Atlantic, Vox, and Rolling Stone. Follow him on Twitter @luke_winkie. | 2022-07-22T18:29:13Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Formula One fandom is revving up. F1 22 is along for the ride. - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2022/07/22/formula-one-new-fans-f1-2022-video-game/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2022/07/22/formula-one-new-fans-f1-2022-video-game/ |
Biden and Democrats should waste no time filling judicial vacancies
President Biden walks past Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House on July 20. (Yuri Gripas/Pool/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
In his first year in office, President Biden saw 41 Article III judges confirmed to federal courts, more than any president since Ronald Reagan. This was a laudable record for Mr. Biden and Senate Democrats, who have navigated a 50-50 committee and Senate to fill vacancies with experienced candidates from a diverse range of backgrounds. Since then, the Senate has confirmed 32 more nominees, as well as new Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. Ahead of a close midterm election, Democrats should not allow momentum to falter.
Last week, the White House announced 15 nominations, more than in any other week in his presidency. Yet there are just 46 pending nominees and nearly 120 current and future vacancies on circuit and district courts.
During the Trump administration, the federal judiciary was transformed at breakneck speed. It is easy to focus on former president Donald Trump’s impact on the Supreme Court, but that is only part of the story. In a single term, Mr. Trump had 231 nominees confirmed to federal judgeships, including 54 on appellate courts; in eight years, Barack Obama had 320 confirmed, with 55 appellate appointments.
Mr. Biden now has the chance to make his own lasting impact on the courts. But, with control of the Senate up for grabs in November, the window is fading fast. Of the list of current nominees, 17 are waiting on floor votes, seven are waiting to be reported out of committee and 22 are waiting on hearings. Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) should move hearings and floor votes along as expeditiously as possible, while the White House must continue to accelerate nominations.
Progressive groups have called for scrapping part of the Senate’s August recess and suspending the “blue slip” process that allows home-state senators to submit favorable or unfavorable opinions of nominees. “Blue slips” have at times been misused to delay or derail nominations. But they offer a check against unpalatable nominees, and Senate Democrats should not allow another institutional norm to be abandoned. Canceling a portion of the August recess, on the other hand, would help clear some of the backlog, and is something Mr. Schumer should consider.
If Republicans take back the Senate in the midterms, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) will once again have authority over the confirmation process. His obstruction in Mr. Obama’s final term was key to the conservative makeover of the courts. Mr. McConnell should remember that — while the Senate has a responsibility to “advise and consent” — the U.S. Constitution gives the president the power to appoint judges. Credible, qualified nominees should not be subject to arbitrary delays or political grandstanding.
Lifetime appointments to the federal judiciary — particularly to appellate courts, which have the final say on many cases — will have far-reaching implications for decades to come. The Biden administration and Senate Democrats should fill as many vacancies as they can with strong nominees in the coming months — or they could rue a wasted opportunity. | 2022-07-22T19:08:23Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Biden and Democrats should waste no time filling judicial vacancies - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/22/biden-democrats-fill-judicial-vacancies/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/22/biden-democrats-fill-judicial-vacancies/ |
Former U.S. men's soccer team coach Jurgen Klinsmann hasn't coached since a brief stint with the Bundesliga's Hertha Berlin from November 2019 to February 2020. (Michael Sohn/AP)
Five-plus years since Jurgen Klinsmann’s tenure as coach of the U.S. men’s national team came to an end, the German legend remains a compelling curiosity in American soccer circles.
As a player, Klinsmann won the 1990 World Cup. As a coach, he steered Germany to third place in 2006. He then guided the United States out of a difficult group at the 2014 World Cup and to the semifinals of the 2016 Copa América. Known for his unconventional tactics, fitness demands and roster choices, he was fired early in a 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign that ended with the Americans missing out on a trip to Russia.
Klinsmann returned to the German Bundesliga — where he coached powerhouse Bayern Munich from 2008 to 2009 — to lead Hertha Berlin in November 2019, but he stepped down the following February, citing a lack of trust from the club. The 57-year-old does see himself returning to the sidelines, though, even if he has spent just 10 weeks coaching since November 2016.
“Definitely I will go back into coaching when the right opportunity comes along, if it’s a national team or if it’s a club team,” Klinsmann said in an interview. “But I have no hurry because I’m fulfilled with other things that I do at the moment. I will be in Qatar [at the World Cup] working for BBC, working for FIFA, so I’ll see a lot of games, and then hopefully by then covid is completely gone, and then it’s maybe a good time to jump back into it.”
Speaking Wednesday in Washington, where he’d traveled for Bayern’s exhibition win over D.C. United, Klinsmann offered his expertise on the upcoming Bundesliga campaign, United’s appointment of Wayne Rooney as coach, the state of the U.S. team and his pick to win this fall’s World Cup.
Q: Let’s start with the upcoming Bundesliga season, with Bayern coming off its 10th straight title. What does that kind of sustained dominance mean for the league?
A: In Germany, we wish Bayern the best. It’s probably the biggest club in the world in terms of financial resources, in terms of independence, because they have no debt. So they deserve all the compliments in the world for how they do business and how they have achieved all these titles. Now, on the other hand, all soccer fans in Germany wish for a more dramatic title race. Even if Bayern at the end wins it, at least [have it] be two or three or four points, not more. Make it dramatic until the very end. So that’s our big hope, because otherwise it’s too boring.
Q: As a fellow forward-turned-coach, what do you think of United’s decision to hire Rooney as coach?
A: I think it’s a fantastic situation, and I admire D.C. United for going back to Wayne. I mean, he had two tremendous, great years as a player [in MLS]. It gives the team a lot of energy having him there. I’m sure that they’re trying to put the pieces together in a way that there’s a good support system for Wayne in areas where he doesn’t have the experience yet. And if they put a good group of people around Wayne, then I think they can do well. I like that move a lot.
Q: You brought the U.S. team to this area a number of times as coach. What was your reaction to the Washington-Baltimore bid being left out of the 2026 World Cup?
A: My first thought is it’s a bit sad for Washington not being one of the host cities. But on the other hand, I mean, you’re still on the East Coast. You can just drive up the road and watch the games in New York. Watching a World Cup game, you as a fan don’t mind driving a couple of hours or taking the train or maybe even flying somewhere.
Q: As U.S. coach, you made a point of encouraging players to test themselves at the highest level. Now, there are myriad Americans playing for top-tier clubs in the UEFA Champions League. What do you make of that progression?
A: Well, I always said that if you get the opportunity, give it a shot. And if it doesn’t work out the way you hoped — you take a case like Ricardo Pepi [a forward struggling to score for Germany’s Augsburg] — there’s nothing wrong with coming back and playing in MLS. But the fact that those players, like Christian [Pulisic] or [Weston] McKennie or Tyler Adams, are playing in Champions League teams, that has never been the case before, and that’s thanks to their courage to give it a try, to try to break through it and work yourself through the ranks there. That gives them so much confidence, at the end of the day, to come back to the national team and showcase all that stuff that they learned.
Q: Heading into the World Cup, which U.S. players are you most closely watching?
A: There are quite a few exciting players in there, but I just wish it will be a very, very good World Cup for Christian Pulisic, because the kid suffered a lot with not getting to play in Russia. That big, big disappointment, it really hurts him on the inside a lot. And he fought his way through the system in Europe. He threw himself in the ice-cold water and started swimming at [Germany’s] Dortmund. Then he made the move to [English power] Chelsea with no guarantees at all, because you go to Chelsea and there are 20 national team players stealing each other’s spots. But he’s done so well overall. I just hope that he uses that World Cup as his stage, that he says, “Okay, it hurt enough watching the World Cup in Russia on TV — this is now my time.”
Q: Another player you brought into the U.S. team was defender John Brooks, who has been phased out under Gregg Berhalter despite still getting regular minutes in the Bundesliga. What are your thoughts on his absence?
A: Obviously it’s Gregg’s decision how he puts the puzzle together and how he builds his roster and how he wants to play. But the one thing that [Brooks] might have that other players maybe don’t have is he knows how to play different opponents, different countries, different mentalities, cultural backgrounds. The international picture is a very important point of the World Cup. It’s not a domestic competition at all, so you need to be really aware of what’s going on in the other countries. I think John has all those kind of cards in his pocket, but obviously the choice is down to Gregg and his preferences. But I hope that still the door is a bit open for John to jump on the train.
Q: To discuss the World Cup more broadly, who is your pick to win it?
A: I think a lot of European big nations, like Spain, are in transition a bit. It’s a disaster that Italy didn’t qualify, because Italy would have been among the favorites right away. Then you obviously have France around [Kylian] Mbappe, but historically whoever won the last World Cup will not win the next one, so I count them out [laughs]. Then Germany, we have so many question marks around this generation of players. They have quality to go far. Do they have the hunger? Do they have the willingness? That’s all to be seen. For me, personally, watching the South American qualifiers closely, I would rank Brazil first and Argentina second.
Q: And why’s that?
A: Argentina is extremely, extremely hungry for that World Cup because it might be Messi’s last one — probably it is. That team will do everything they can to give Messi this trophy. But the quality that over the last couple of years Brazil developed, they matured a lot and they kept the same coach [Tite, in charge since 2016], so there was no turbulence anymore on the managing side. They’re looking very sharp. | 2022-07-22T19:12:44Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Jurgen Klinsmann talks Wayne Rooney, the USMNT, his World Cup pick - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/07/22/jurgen-klinsmann-usmnt-world-cup/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/07/22/jurgen-klinsmann-usmnt-world-cup/ |
Charging Trump would be easier than trying him
Former president Donald Trump departs on Oct. 9, 2021, after speaking to supporters at a rally at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
In challenging Attorney General Merrick Garland to confront “the agonizing choice of whether to prosecute a former president,” Ruth Marcus overlooked a few things that Mr. Garland would have to consider in exercising prosecutorial discretion above and beyond the pesky little details required for assembling “the building blocks of a successful criminal case,” such as criminal intent and guilt beyond a reasonable doubt [“I’m no longer doubtful: If Garland has a case, Trump must be prosecuted,” Sunday Opinion, July 17].
Imagine the appellate foot-dragging former president Donald Trump’s defense counsel would employ from the outset of criminal charges, one or more of which might find sympathy among even non-Trumpers, such as the inability to obtain a fair trial because of immense and worldwide pretrial publicity that would make almost impossible assembling 12 impartial people from anywhere in the country. Imagine, too, the security concerns surrounding the venue of the trial and the potential civil unrest throughout the country, wherever the trial’s location.
And what if all of this should occur after Mr. Trump declares his run for a second term in the White House? The attorney general can’t, unlike Mr. Trump, willfully blind himself to the circus that a prosecution would create. Perhaps the greatest irony in American history is that a demand is being made that a man who was not elected to office should seek the conviction of another man who denied an election’s results.
James F. McKeown, Falls Church | 2022-07-22T19:17:05Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Charging Trump would be easier than trying him - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/22/charging-trump-would-be-easier-than-trying-him/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/22/charging-trump-would-be-easier-than-trying-him/ |
There are two kinds of education, and one is clearly better
In his July 18 Education column, “Avoiding a set curriculum in schools won’t help raise achievement,” Jay Mathews brought up the reality that there is a conflict between two views of K-12 education.
There is the child-centered schooling: progressivism, an individualized curriculum centered on the child’s interests and experience and endorsed by the education establishment.
Then there is the knowledge-centered schooling: a common curriculum rich in knowledge about the world, as authenticated by E.D. Hirsch Jr. and those who comprehend education as he does.
This conflict came about during the approximate 1890-to-1930 reform period in which the reformers innovated a new education, the child-centered curriculum, which they considered marvelous. Of course the education establishment has the power to influence what is to be taught in our public schools. Mr. Hirsch’s power is his common sense approach to education, as well as his professional understanding of what children need from schooling and his skill in communicating just that.
The core cause of our educational problems is not that teachers are badly paid. (Indeed, this should be corrected, but teachers do not decide to teach badly because they are badly paid.) The cause is that they are trained to teach the child-centered curriculum.
I suggest that it is necessary to understand this key situation to be able to discuss the problems of K-12 education in our country.
Susan Toth, Alexandria
Jay Mathews provoked me to look at the fact-filled curriculum he admires. I read E.D. Hirsch Jr.’s new book, “American Ethnicity: A Sense of Commonality,” which he calls a sequel to his 1987 tome “The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know.”
Mr. Hirsch insists that “a school can teach anything to anyone if it has a mind to.” So he puts kindergartners to studying globes and learning the seven continents. First-graders get the “Code of Hammurabi.”
According to Mr. Hirsch, what we need for our schools is “a mandatory commonality in the sequence of school topics.” Who decides this very specific and mandatory topic-by-topic, grade-by-grade list? Mr. Hirsch has the answer: state governors and legislators. He says these politicos would base this mandatory curriculum on “a list of what high-income adult Americans tend to know.”
So if you’d entrust our school curriculum to the state politicos, then step right up and applaud Mr. Hirsch and Mr. Mathews. As a longtime teacher, I know our children deserve much better.
Susan Ohanian, Charlotte, Vt. | 2022-07-22T19:17:06Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | There are two kinds of education, and one is clearly better - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/22/there-are-two-kinds-education-one-is-clearly-better/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/22/there-are-two-kinds-education-one-is-clearly-better/ |
A commuter leaves a Virginia Railway Express train on March 2 at Union Station in D.C. (Amanda Andrade-Rhoades for The Washington Post)
I congratulate The Post for the July 17 Metro article “New bridge over Potomac aims to double train capacity” and others recently about Virginia’s great strides to improve its statewide railroad freight and passenger capacity. Virginia serves as a great example of what should be happening around the country, but particularly next door in Maryland.
Maryland seems to have a million reasons it can’t do it — a microcosm of the whole United States compared with such “old world” countries as France, Germany and Spain.
John Fay, Wheaton | 2022-07-22T19:17:08Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Virginia is rolling along with transit improvements - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/22/virginia-is-rolling-along-with-transit-improvements/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/22/virginia-is-rolling-along-with-transit-improvements/ |
The evidence against Trump came from Republicans and Trump staffers
Matt Pottinger, former deputy national security adviser, and Sarah Matthews, former deputy White House press secretary, listen as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds a hearing at the Capitol in Washington on July 21, 2022. (Patrick Semansky/AP)
There are two arguments against the hearings conducted by the House select committee investigating the U.S. Capitol riot that are as common as they are flawed.
The first is that the hearings should for some reason adhere to the boundaries of a criminal trial, allowing allies of former president Donald Trump to cross-examine witness testimony. There’s no requirement for that, of course, since the hearings are, in fact, not a criminal trial. But moreover, there have been about 1,000 hours since the hearings began in which hearings weren’t being conducted — time in which Trump and his allies could rebut the evidence to their hearts’ content. They have not.
In part, that’s because of the second argument. Team Trump would rather simply wave the whole thing away as a partisan attack on the former president. Why bother trying to piece together a robust defense when you can simply cut the Gordian knot and blame everything on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)?
On Friday morning, hours after Fox News failed to carry the most recent committee hearing, “Fox & Friends” host Ainsley Earhardt offered a common version of this claim.
“Everyone in that room, they’re all against Trump,” Earhardt insisted. “They are anti-Trumpers. Every single person in that room voted to impeach him.”
Well, no, as co-host Brian Kilmeade pointed out. (Surprisingly.) The members of the committee did, including two Republicans. But they did so because they think that Trump is responsible for the day’s violence, as the evidence from their committee has reinforced. But the testimony from witnesses both in the room and in recordings played during the hearing was almost entirely from Republicans, former members of Trump’s administration, former Trump staffers — and Trump himself.
I went through the entire hearing, second-by-second, and tracked who was speaking and what was being said. The result is this chart, showing every moment from gavel-to-gavel in 10-minute increments.
What you want to notice is all that red. A lot of it represents speaking time from Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), who helped run the hearing. But the lighter red is all Trump allies, the two former administration officials in the room and nearly two dozen others who served with Trump in the White House, on the campaign trail or who are members of his family.
Most of the blue is Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.), who ran the hearing with Kinzinger. Notice that much of her speaking time is striped with red, however: The periods in which she spoke often included references to documents or text messages from allies of Trump incriminating the former president. (Some of the testimony that aired is similarly striped with gray, indicating that some of the time in which Trump allies were shown speaking included the questions they were being asked by committee staffers.)
In total, the hearing ran for about 2½, removing the lengthy break in the middle. Out of 150 minutes, 93 were occupied with testimony from Republicans and former Trump officials. Forty-one were from Democrats, nearly all Luria or committee Chairman Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.), chairing the meeting remotely because of a recent covid infection.
It’s not indicated on the graph above, but about 13 minutes of the 41 from Luria and other Democrats included snippets where Luria was walking through text messages sent to Trump staffers or reading internal documents related to the day’s events.
This is a central point that those who haven’t watched the hearings — like Earhardt, presumably — may miss. Nearly all of the witnesses who’ve presented in-person testimony before the committee are members of Trump’s party or former members of his administration or campaign. Nearly all of the evidence shown that was collected in depositions came from his former allies and staff. It is a sweeping presentation of Trump’s culpability that entirely flows almost from people who at one point were in his inner circle.
A tweet from the House Republican caucus offered in the midst of the hearing inadvertently captured the reality of the committee’s work.
“This is all heresy,” it read, clearly meaning to use the word “hearsay.” It isn’t hearsay — but it is heresy to a party that has organized around Trump and his interests. Providing honest, unchallenged testimony incriminating Trump makes you an “anti-Trumper,” in Earhardt’s verbiage. An apostate. Therefore, the hearing is simply a collection of heretics hoping to tear down the former president.
It’s self-fulfilling. It’s also wrong. | 2022-07-22T19:30:08Z | www.washingtonpost.com | The evidence against Trump in Thursday's hearing came from Republicans and Trump staffers - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/22/evidence-against-trump-came-republicans-trump-staffers/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/22/evidence-against-trump-came-republicans-trump-staffers/ |
About three-fourths of House Republicans voted against all four bills ensuring rights to same-sex marriage and access to contraception and abortion.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) speaks during an event ahead of the vote on the Right to Contraception Act this week. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
Congressional Democrats have spent the past week trying to flip the political script on social issues in the aftermath of Roe v. Wade being overturned. While they historically trod gently around same-sex marriage and abortion rights — and Republicans used such issues to appeal to “values voters” — House Democrats have now forced a series of votes daring Republicans to vote against what have become popular positions.
Whether the votes will affect Democrats’ political prospects, Republicans largely gave them what they wanted. They voted overwhelmingly against legislation that would federally enshrine a right to contraception and abortion access. And while 47 Republicans voted for a federal law codifying same-sex marriage — spurring hope that the measure could also pass in the Senate and become law — more than three-fourths of the GOP voted against it.
In fact, across four votes, more than 72 percent of Republicans — 153 out of 211 of them — voted no on all four. And nearly 78 percent didn’t cast one yes vote. (Some missed votes or voted “present.”)
Just 8 out of 211 House Republicans voted for more than one of the bills. Each of the eight voted for both the same-sex marriage bill and the contraception bill.
And three of them added a third yes vote on allowing people to cross state lines to obtain abortions. The three Republicans were retiring Reps. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), along with moderate Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), who is seeking reelection.
That vote in particular is illustrative.
Abortion is a divisive issue that is difficult to poll. One recent poll showed 60 percent of people support Congress passing a bill enshrining abortion rights into federal law after the fall of Roe. But when asked a different way — about passing a federal law vs. leaving it up to the states — the response is more evenly divided. Predictably, no Republicans voted for the bill to codify Roe.
But crossing state lines is quite a different issue, according to recent polls. One showed 77 percent of Americans and even 64 percent of Republicans oppose laws that would ban residents traveling to another state for an abortion — a measure which some red states are considering. Another showed even more resistance to such laws: 78 percent overall, and 73 percent among Republicans.
That doesn’t mean such overwhelming majorities necessarily support Congress prohibiting states from restricting such travel. Still, it is striking that only three Republicans voted to prevent such laws.
The contraception bill is probably the vote you’re most likely to see in campaign ads this fall, given that access is an overwhelming consensus issue.
Republicans objected to the vote by arguing that the law was unnecessary; just because the court overturned Roe doesn’t mean Griswold v. Connecticut — the 1965 Supreme Court decision guaranteeing access to contraception — is endangered, they said. But many Republicans similarly expressed doubt that Roe was truly in danger before it was overturned.
Others said they opposed the bill because it didn’t carve out emergency contraception like Plan B, which many conservatives object to on the grounds that it’s tantamount to abortion. (Some Republicans suggested the parties could negotiate on a more bipartisan bill that excluded Plan B, which Democrats rejected.) But even accounting for the nuances of the Plan B issue — and even if Republicans can explain them to voters — the votes are dicey. A recent poll showed 70 percent of Americans and 62 percent of Republicans also support emergency contraception being legal.
Much like these latter two issues, polls suggest that same-sex marriage is something close to a 70 percent issue — 71 percent in the most recent Gallup poll. Unlike the others, though, 47 Republicans decided that same-sex marriage was a yes vote worth taking — probably in large part because it doesn’t touch on issues of reproductive rights.
Those 47 Republicans also crossed over despite many in their party casting the vote as yet another unnecessary show vote on a bill that isn’t going to matter because the Supreme Court isn’t going to overturn existing precedent — much like contraception access.
The diverging approaches on same-sex marriage and contraception, though, reinforce that Democrats were able to turn these into wedge issues that forced some tough votes. Republicans overwhelmingly stood by their base and cast votes that will be easy for Democrats to promote as being against the wishes of a strong majority of Americans.
Whether that ultimately matters next to issues such as inflation is another matter. But we’re in a different world on social issues like these than we were 20 years ago — or even just a month ago. | 2022-07-22T19:30:15Z | www.washingtonpost.com | How many Republicans voted against gay marriage and contraception access - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/22/house-republican-votes-marriage-contraception/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/22/house-republican-votes-marriage-contraception/ |
Biden had little choice on Saudi Arabia
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman welcomes President Biden on July 15 to Al-Salam Palace in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia. (Bandar Aljaloud/Saudi Royal Palace/Associated Press)
Karen Attiah’s July 17 op-ed, “Biden’s fist bump with MBS was a crass betrayal,” was understandably indignant about President Biden’s perceived promise being broken to make Saudi Arabia and its de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, international pariahs. Ms. Attiah wrote with passion fueled by the brutal murder of a colleague.
But Ms. Attiah and the Biden critics don’t have the ultimate responsibility for the welfare of more than 330 million American lives. If Mr. Biden erred, it was in making an absolute promise, one that doing his job as president would not allow him to keep. I don’t know what other option(s) he had to attain his objectives of reinserting a meaningful U.S. presence into the Middle East to counter Russian and Chinese influence there. Clearly, his fist bump with Crown Prince Mohammed was distasteful to him, but he ultimately decided to do it because, realistically, he could not do an end run around Saudi Arabia and achieve his objectives. He decided based on his best judgment. It remains to be seen if he was right.
Mr. Biden, like the rest of us, is human and fallible. Unlike the rest of us, he is the commander in chief of the armed forces and chief executive of the U.S. government and required to balance competing interests domestically and internationally for the good of the American people. Unlike his immediate predecessor, he cares and is competent. We should give Mr. Biden a break.
Robert F. Tropp, Silver Spring
I learn from Max Boot’s insights and perspective because he’s a seasoned and sensible observer. However, I have to say I recoiled — yes, recoiled, to use Mr. Boot’s word — when he described in his July 18 op-ed, “Cut Biden some slack on dealing with dictators,” Presidents Harry S. Truman and Richard M. Nixon meeting with dictators who “had far more blood on their hands than MBS.”
This outdated and inaccurate characterization of the United States and its presidents as free from “blood on their hands” casts this country as somehow above moral reproach and always doing what is honorable. Certainly, that is not the case, as history and historians have shown us. The atrocities, subversions, coup attempts, mass killings and other irresponsible and deadly interventions perpetrated by the United States were done with the assent and encouragement of U.S. presidents.
It’s time for all of us — and, in particular, journalists — to stop perpetuating this myth of American moral superiority. Our presidents have as much blood on their hands as any other dictator. Our enlightened historians have demonstrated this time and again.
Allen M. Spivack, Boston | 2022-07-22T19:43:11Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Biden had little choice on Saudi Arabia - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/22/biden-had-little-choice-saudi-arabia/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/22/biden-had-little-choice-saudi-arabia/ |
D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) and D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser in February 2020. (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post)
D.C. voters have good reason to concentrate their minds on November. Not only will they elect a mayor, a D.C. Council chair, two at-large and four ward council members in the Nov. 8 general election, but the congressional midterms are also in the offing. Much is at stake at both levels. To state the obvious, a Republican-led House of Representatives could pose an existential threat to the District’s already limited form of self-government.
For D.C., same as it ever was: Local and national politics are two sides of the same coin.
Although D.C. elections take precedence, voters concerned with the city’s fate on Capitol Hill should find ways to contribute time and treasure to national organizations working to keep a pale-blue Congress from turning blood red.
The prospect of changing fortunes in Congress makes it even more important that D.C. has well-anchored elected leaders in place to deal with what may come.
Anyone around town during the District’s dark days of neo-bankruptcy, a politically compromised City Hall, and rude and overbearing congressional committee chairmen, will recall how helpful it was to have on hand respected, experienced elected officials such as council chair Linda Cropp (D); council members Charlene Drew Jarvis (D-Ward 4), John Ray (D-At Large), Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) and Kathy Patterson (D-Ward 3); and chief financial officer — and later mayor — Anthony Williams (D) to steer the city through the rough patches. The need for steady and mature leadership hasn’t changed.
Regardless of which party is in power on the Hill, the city’s annual budget must be approved by Congress. Other measures critical to D.C. won’t see the light of day without some form of congressional concurrence. Those are inescapable facts.
Of course, it will be helpful if a reelected Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) is present when the House reconvenes in January, as is all but certain. But there’s no substitute to having a strong mayor-council duo carrying the load for the city with the federal establishment.
That’s why it is distressing to hear that Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) and D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) remain at odds. When it comes to dealing with the federal government, be it Congress or the White House, the District must speak with one voice.
The disposition of the dilapidated RFK Stadium is a case in point. Legislation sponsored by Norton could allow D.C. to acquire control of the stadium site from the federal government. But Norton rightly insists that elected D.C. leaders agree on the terms and conditions of any land transfer before introducing the bill that’s necessary to make it happen.
A solid majority of city lawmakers do not support letting Washington Commanders owner Daniel M. Snyder use the land to build a new football stadium. The council instead wants housing, parks, recreation and retail development. Bowser has made it clear that she wants a football stadium somewhere. Mendelson, concerned that Bowser would acquire the site from the National Park Service so she can use it to host Snyder’s dreamed-of facility, wants restrictions added to Norton’s legislation to prevent that.
This isn’t junior high school. Bowser and Mendelson should act their ages and work through their differences. Take the football stadium off the table, period. Get the land and get on with citizen-backed economic development projects.
What’s the point of reelecting Bowser and Mendelson if voters get dysfunctional leadership in return? The city deserves officials who will uphold the public trust and put the needs of residents first.
Thus, the general election comes into focus.
Wards 1, 3, 5 and 6 are likely to hand victories to Democrats Brianne K. Nadeau, Matthew Frumin, Zachary Parker and Charles Allen, respectively. No earthquakes there. But the economy forecasts choppy seas ahead. Will the winners serve as government ballast or will any become rock-the-boat mischief makers?
Republicans David Krucoff and Clarence Lee, Wards 3 and 5 respectively, might make a show of it. That’s about all.
The at-large council race in which two seats are up for grabs might well be the general elections’ most attention-grabbing contest.
Currently, 11 candidates are listed on the Board of Elections roster. Two of them — Anita Bonds (D) and Elissa Silverman (I) — are incumbents with documented track records. They are joined by Ward 5 council member Kenyan R. McDuffie, who opted against seeking reelection for that council seat to campaign for attorney general, only to be ruled ineligible to run. Now he finds himself at the end of public service career, unless voters back his independent bid for at-large council member.
Which, should that happen, would occur at the expense of either Bonds or Silverman because there’s only room at the top for two winning candidates.
Selecting at-large candidates may come down to a matter of taste. Because of their smarmy politics and records, a few, at least for me, are hard to swallow. Fortunately, voters across the city — whose opinions are the ones that matter in the end — have time to make up their own minds before November. Till then, look at their records, match them against each other and decide, keeping the city’s best interests in mind. | 2022-07-22T19:43:24Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | The national and local intersect for D.C. in November - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/22/national-local-intersect-dc-november/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/22/national-local-intersect-dc-november/ |
The most dangerous threat to America? White male entitlement.
ATLANTA, GA - APRIL 29: National Rifle Association members look over guns in the Smith & Wesson display at the 146th NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits on April 29, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia. With more than 800 exhibitors, the convention is the largest annual gathering for the NRA's more than 5 million members. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
As witness after witness testified to the Jan. 6 House select committee about Donald Trump’s deranged and possibly illegal plot to cling to power, it was impossible to ignore his sense of entitlement. What was this system for, if not to give him whatever he wanted? And if it wouldn’t, he would tear it down.
That’s not just his story, it’s also the story of those who stormed the Capitol on his behalf. And it’s increasingly the story of the Republican Party. In our ongoing debate about what the Constitution means and whether or not we should have a genuine democracy, it is the people who have been given the most advantages who are most willing, even eager, to destroy the American system.
This is about much more than Jan. 6. Consider a revealing exchange at a recent hearing of the House Judiciary Committee on gun reform legislation. Rep. Chip Roy (R-Tex.) made what has become a familiar argument, that enabling citizens to rise up against the government when necessary is “the reality of the purpose of the Second Amendment”
In response, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) — a former constitutional law professor — called Roy’s perspective “the insurrectionist view of the Second Amendment,” saying it “flies in the face of the plain text of the Constitution, which in at least five different places clearly forbids armed violent resistance to the government.”
Raskin’s response went viral among liberals. But this is about more than the hypocrisy of conservatives who bray loudly about their love for the Constitution yet have no idea what it says and regularly fantasize about overthrowing the government it created.
It raises a more important question: Why are these people so eager to justify violent attacks against our system — either a hypothetical future attack, or the one on Jan. 6 — when they have the least to complain about?
The most vulgar insurrectionist reading of the 2nd Amendment is the “Come and take it!” proclamation. It essentially says that should a law ever pass requiring its advocates to give up some of their guns, they could kill any law-enforcement officers attempting to enforce it.
So for instance, Texas Republican Congressman Ronny Jackson recently posted video of himself holding two AR-15s — one aimed rather unsafely at his foot — captioned with “If Democrats want to push an insane gun-grab, they can COME AND TAKE IT!”
Alongside that kind of simian grunt of rage is the slightly more thoughtful version. In an ad from Arizona GOP Senate candidate Blake Masters, he proudly displays a rifle and says “The Second Amendment is not about duck hunting.” His gun “is designed to kill people,” he goes on, explaining how the Taliban took away people’s guns. “Without gun rights, before long, you have no rights,” he concludes.
Look at who is making this argument, not just Chip Roy and Ronny Jackson and Blake Masters, but the ordinary citizens who echo them. It’s largely White men, especially from Republican states.
In other words, the people who have throughout America’s history been most advantaged by the Constitution, especially its anti-democratic features, are the most obsessed with the idea that sometime soon they may have to start killing people.
They are the ones who enjoyed the full panoply of rights and privileges from the start. They didn’t labor in chains. They didn’t have to fight to be able to vote, or to own property, or to see themselves represented in the halls of power.
Not only that, to this day they are granted special status within our political system. The Senate and the electoral college give overwhelmingly disproportionate power to small, rural, overwhelmingly White states. And within states they control, Republicans have gerrymandered districts so rural White residents’ votes have even more weight.
Just look at Jan. 6. What was it that enraged those people? In 2016, they had the privilege of seeing their candidate become president despite winning fewer votes than his opponent. In 2020 his margin of defeat was large enough that it didn’t happen again (though it almost did), and they were so aggrieved by the supposed injustice of losing that they attempted to reverse the election with violence.
But you know who you almost never see fantasizing in public about the violent overthrow of the American system of government? Black people whose ancestors were enslaved, whose parents suffered under Jim Crow, and who today are the targets of enduring racism and a relentless campaign of voter suppression.
Women watching their reproductive rights taken away do not protest with AR-15s in their hands. Nor do the gay teachers being run out of their jobs, or the loving families of trans kids being slandered as child abusers.
None of those groups are saying they may need to overthrow the government with violence. The political system has not been kind to them — indeed, at times it has actively brutalized them — but they maintain their belief in it. When confronted with oppression, they redoubled their commitment to democracy.
Not so for the Jan. 6 rioter, the gun enthusiast with a “Don’t Tread On Me” flag in his yard, and even at times the Republican congressman. They have the least claim to being a victim of the American system, yet they are the most eager to react to a momentary political setback — or even a hypothetical one — with the threat of violence.
We don’t have to wonder about whether they have any loyalty to the democratic values we’re all supposed to hold in common. They’re making their position more than clear. | 2022-07-22T19:43:30Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | The most dangerous threat to America? White male entitlement. - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/22/white-male-entitlement-threat-to-america/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/22/white-male-entitlement-threat-to-america/ |
Who really had a bad week?
President Biden on July 20 at the White House. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post)
Dan Balz’s July 17 The Sunday Take column, “How much will Biden’s bad week sway voters?,” implied that the horrible events of the prior week affected President Biden most of all. Mr. Biden’s loss could be his job, at most.
What about the American people? Women have been determined to be property of the state again. Parents and children have renewed fears of the killing of the other. Voters have lost the ability to vote and/or the value of their votes. Non-Christians or Christians of different beliefs are being subjected to other people’s religions. There is a renewed possibility that some people won’t be able to marry or show love as they wish. And more money has been allocated for killing rather than for health care, food, housing, education and on and on and on.
Arlene Halfon, Washington | 2022-07-22T19:43:36Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Who really had a bad week? - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/22/who-really-had-bad-week/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/22/who-really-had-bad-week/ |
Police, family of slain 20-year-old seek clues in park shooting
Prince George’s County police and the family of Jason Faison are seeking help from the community to bring his killer to justice
The parents of Jason Faison, Wardell Craven and Chrystal Faison-Craven, holding granddaughter Skye Brown, seek information about their son's killing at Holloway Estates Park in Upper Marlboro on July 21, 2022. (Jasmine Hilton/The Washington Post)
Chrystal Faison-Craven bounced her 1-year-old granddaughter in her arms Thursday evening in the parking lot of the Upper Marlboro park where her son was killed.
Skye Brown smiled as she was let down to walk around, with a purple stuffed toy in hand, staying close to her grandmother’s hip and away from the area near the basketball courts, where in early May, her father was gunned down.
Faison-Craven, 49, had gathered with family and police before officers began canvassing the surrounding neighborhoods to seek any new information from community members about the fatal shooting of her 20-year-old son, Jason Faison.
It was their third time canvassing the area, police said. An officer knocked on doors, passed out fliers detailing the unsolved homicide and encouraged residents to spread the word. Some residents answered their doors, nodding that they had heard about the killing at nearby Holloway Estates Park. No arrests have been made yet.
On May 3, at about 8:09 p.m., police found Faison with gunshot wounds in the 9900 block of Rosaryville Road, Lt. Shane Goudreau, commander of the Prince George’s County Police Homicide Division said. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Goudreau said according to an initial investigation there was some type of dispute between an armed person and Faison, and the armed person pulled out a gun, shooting Faison “several times.” Police are still investigating a motive.
Detectives have been working diligently and following every lead, said Goudreau. However, he said, working with the community will help solve the case.
“A young daughter is growing up without a father,” Goudreau said. “We know that there were people out there that night when this happened. The park was bustling with people. ... We’re looking for anybody else who may have been out that night that saw something, no matter how small they think it might be.”
As of Thursday, Prince George’s County police have investigated 51 homicides this year compared to 71 the same time last year, police spokeswoman Christina Cotterman said.
Faison was Faison-Craven’s youngest child and the third one who has died, she said. He is her only child killed by gun violence. She has one living child left, a daughter.
Prince George’s council would appoint some members of police review board
“Loss is the worst, period,” Faison-Craven said. “But to lose your child to the negligence of someone else is extremely hard.”
Faison was a graduate of Rock Creek Christian Academy in Upper Marlboro and worked at a flower shop, Faison-Craven said. Since he was 3 years old, he had a passion for riding bikes, and later, four-wheelers. Faison would repair cars and motorcycles for family members and friends and wanted to start his own business, taking after his father, his mother said.
Faison-Craven said she knew her son was going to be a great father because of his “fun-loving, beautiful spirit.” Skye and her son had “an amazing relationship,” she said.
The family now showers Skye with pictures of him to keep his memory alive, she said. The 1-year-old will kiss them and rub on her father’s urn that sits at their house, Faison-Craven said.
“He has a child that he’s not even going to be able to watch grow up, get married, start the first day of school. None of those things,” Faison-Craven said.
“I just hope somebody ... might have saw something, even if — no matter how small or how big they may think it is,” she said. “Just tell someone because that might just be the answer to it all, to give this family closure.” | 2022-07-22T19:43:48Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Family, police canvass for information in killing of Jason Faison - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/22/jason-faison-family-police-canvass/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/22/jason-faison-family-police-canvass/ |
First projected winners in Montgomery County Council Democratic primary
The Montgomery County Council building in Rockville, Md. (James M. Thresher/The Washington Post)
Incumbent Sidney Katz (D-District 3) and newcomer Natali Fani González were the first projected winners in the Montgomery County Council Democratic primaries Friday, with other council races still outstanding as election officials continued to count thousands of mail-in ballots.
Katz, who was first elected to the council in 2014, won his renomination bid in District 3, which is made up almost entirely of Gaithersburg and Rockville. He said he’s looking forward to working with a new slate of members on the council to get things done.
“Montgomery County is very fortunate in many, many ways,” Katz said in an interview Friday. “But we still have a lot of issues to deal with.”
González emerged as the winner in the newly formed District 6, where she competed against seven other Democrats to represent Wheaton, Glenmont, Rock Creek, Aspen Hill and Kemp Mill.
“I came to this country when I was 16 years old. I did not speak English,” González said through tears Friday. “So, winning an election in this country is just really, really special, and I am going to do my best not to let people down.”
Winners in the remaining council races — along with the county executive seat — will be projected over the coming days and weeks as election officials make their way through the mail-in ballots, which under Maryland law couldn’t begin to be counted until two days after the election.
The winners of the Democratic nominations will go on to face the Republican nominees and any third-party candidates in November, although in this deep-blue county, winning the Democratic primary is often indicative of who will win the general election.
Three council members — Nancy Navarro (D-District 4), Hans Riemer (D-At Large) and Craig Rice (D-District 2) — were term-limited this year and could not seek reelection, opening the door to a new slate of lawmakers on the council.
Montgomery County last year redrew its council district lines and added two council seats, for a total of seven district seats and four at-large ones. The two new districts were added with hopes of better representing the changing demographics of the county, which had become more racially diverse over the past four decades.
District 6, where González won, was one of those districts — now representing a population with a Hispanic plurality. González, who served as the vice-chair of the Montgomery County Park and Planning Commission, had faced seven other Democrats who were also vying for the council seat.
“I really want to make sure that the Montgomery County is a vibrant place for everybody,” González said. “That includes the lady who’s cleaning houses like I did when I came to this country with my mom, and the business owner who does not speak English yet but is doing his or her best to provide for their family.”
Incumbents Gabe Albornoz, who is serving as council president, Will Jawando and Evan Glass ran again for the Democratic at-large nominations, along with District 5 council member Tom Hucker. Hucker, who is term-limited from his district seat, opted to run for an at-large seat after withdrawing his bid for county executive in April.
Other council candidates include Scott Goldberg, a former chair of the Montgomery County Democratic Party; Laurie Anne-Sayles, the first Black woman to serve on the Gaithersburg City Council; Brandy Brooks, a liberal activist; and Dana Gassaway, a former biology teacher.
As of Friday, incumbent Marc Elrich and Potomac businessman David Blair still were locked in a battle for the county executive nomination. Riemer, who also ran for the seat, conceded on Wednesday.
Blair and Elrich previously faced off in the 2018 primary, which Elrich won by 77 votes.
Ivey defeats Edwards in bitter, high-profile Md. primary for House | 2022-07-22T19:43:54Z | www.washingtonpost.com | First projected winners in Montgomery County Council Democratic primary - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/22/montgomery-county-council-democratic-primaries-winners/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/22/montgomery-county-council-democratic-primaries-winners/ |
D.C. Bar files ethics charges against ex-DOJ lawyer Jeffrey Clark
The D.C. Bar’s Office of Disciplinary Counsel alleged Clark made false statements and “seriously interfered with the administration of justice.”
An image of Jeffrey Clark is seen on a screen during a Jan. 6 select committee hearing last month. (Mandel Ngan/Pool/Reuters)
Jeffrey Clark, a former Justice Department assistant attorney general who worked with then-President Trump in his attempt to overturn the 2020 election results, was charged Friday with ethics violations by the top licensing organization for attorneys practicing in the nation’s capital.
The D.C. Bar’s Office of Disciplinary Counsel alleged that Clark engaged in dishonest conduct when he drafted a letter he wanted the Justice Department to send to Georgia state officials demanding the state legislature call a special session to examine votes in the presidential election.
The Disciplinary Counsel charged Clark with dishonest conduct and sending a letter that contained false statements, alleging that Clark engaged in conduct that would “seriously interfere with the administration of justice.”
In the letter, Clark wrote to Georgia officials that the Justice Department “identified significant concerns that may have impacted the outcome of the election in multiple States, including the State of Georgia.” The statement was false, according to the Disciplinary Counsel, which noted that Justice Department officials were not aware of any allegations of election fraud in Georgia that would have affected the results of the presidential election.
Clark emailed the so-called “Proof of Concept” letter on Dec. 28, 2020 to Acting Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue and Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen.
Rachel Semmel, a spokeswoman from Center for Renewing America, where Clark is a senior fellow, said in a statement: “This is the latest attack on the legal qualifications of one of the only lawyers at the DOJ who had the interests of the American people at heart. Jeff Clark is an American hero and the media sure seems to enjoy being the press secretary for the J6 committee.”
The D.C. Bar’s Office of Disciplinary Counsel is an arm of the D.C. Court of Appeals that governs and sets rules for lawyers licensed to practice in the nation’s capital. The counsel investigates misconduct allegations against lawyers who have licenses to practice in the District, and can file disciplinary charges against attorneys found to have engaged in unethical conduct. If charges are substantiated, the counsel can recommend an attorney’s license in the District be suspended, or in rare cases, prohibit them from practicing law in the city, which is known as disbarment. Discipline is ultimately decided by judges on the Court of Appeals.
Clark has been licensed to practice in the District since 1997, according to the 10-page filing from the Counsel.
Clark has 20 days to respond to the Counsel’s allegations or request an extension. Clark then will be allowed to defend himself against the allegations at disciplinary hearings. Following the hearings, the Counsel will send recommendations to the D.C. Court of Appeals regarding its findings.
In 2019, the D.C. Court of Appeals disbarred Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign chairman, after Manafort was convicted of obstruction of justice and conspiracy. Manafort, who was admitted to the D.C. bar in 1979, pleaded guilty to the charges in U.S. District Court in Washington. He was also convicted in Alexandria federal court of eight bank- and tax-fraud charges stemming from millions he made in Ukraine and his attempts to get loans when that funding dried up. He was sentenced to 7½ years in prison for both convictions.
Earlier this year, following hearings last year, the Disciplinary Counsel determined former federal prosecutor Amanda Haines withheld evidence from defense attorneys during the 2010 trial of the man charged with the murder of slain Washington intern Chandra Levy. The counsel recommended to the Court of Appeals that Haines be suspended from practicing law in the District. | 2022-07-22T19:47:33Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Ex-DOJ lawyer Jeffrey Clark faces ethics charges from D.C. Bar - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/22/jeffrey-clark-dc-bar-charges/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/22/jeffrey-clark-dc-bar-charges/ |
Ukraine Live Briefing: Grain deal signed in Turkey; Russia running out of g...
More than 100 “high-value” military targets have been hit, including command posts, ammunition depots and radar sites, a senior U.S. defense official said.
An M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) is fired in an undisclosed location in Ukraine in this still image obtained from an undated social media video uploaded on June 24. (Pavlo Narozhnyy via Reuters)
U.S. officials said Friday that they will send additional sophisticated artillery systems and ammunition to Ukraine, bolstering the country’s forces again as they carry out a coordinated campaign of strikes on Russian military targets.
The latest $270 million package includes four M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, boosting the total number the United States has provided Kyiv to 16, said John Kirby, a White House spokesman. The package also includes 36,000 rounds of ammunition for howitzers and funding for up to 580 Phoenix Ghost drones, unmanned aircraft that can be used to target opposing forces directly or to perform reconnaissance for artillery strikes.
“This is an ongoing process,” Kirby said of supplying weapons to Ukraine. “It’s almost in near real time as we continue to follow events on the battlefield and talk to the Ukrainians about what they need.”
Ukraine’s strike campaign has put new strains on a Russian military that already has suffered at least 15,000 military fatalities since invading Ukraine in February, and is suffering hundreds more dead and wounded each day, according to Western estimates. Among those combat losses are thousands of lieutenants and captains, hundreds of colonels, and “many” generals, said a senior U.S. defense official, speaking on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the Pentagon.
Ukraine already has struck more than 100 “high-value” Russian military targets, including command posts, ammunition depots, air-defense sites, radar and communication nodes, and long-range artillery positions, the U.S. defense official said. While Russia continues to launch thousands of artillery rounds per day, the official said, Moscow “can’t keep it up forever” and has now committed 85 percent of its army to the war in Ukraine.
“They have expended a lot of smarter munitions,” the senior defense official said, referring to precision-guided weapons. “Their capabilities are getting dumber.”
Ukraine, meanwhile, is still adding to its own cache of precision weapons, relying heavily on HIMARS, which can launch rockets from the back of a truck and then quickly relocate. The senior U.S. defense official said that as of Thursday, Russia had not destroyed a single HIMARS provided to Ukraine, though it is likely that they will “get lucky” and do so at some point.
Counting the package approved Friday, the United States has set aside 16 HIMARS for Ukraine, while Germany and Britain each have provided a handful of similar weapons. Ukrainian officials have asked for dozens more to aid them in launching a counteroffensive against Russia.
Kirby declined to say the maximum number of HIMARS the United States may provide Ukraine.
“As you’ve heard me say many, many times, we are in a constant dialogue with the Ukrainians, nearly every day at various levels up the chain of command, talking about their capability needs so that we can be as responsive as possible,” he said.
Since Russia invaded, the United States has provided Ukraine with more than $8.2 billion in weapons. Allies have provided additional arms.
Karen DeYoung in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report. | 2022-07-22T19:47:39Z | www.washingtonpost.com | U.S. sends more artillery; Ukraine pounds Russian targets - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/07/22/ukraine-artillery-russia/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/07/22/ukraine-artillery-russia/ |
In one Oval Office meeting, a triple Russian threat
A midnight rendezvous with Trump posed a national security risk, says former FBI counterintelligence deputy Peter Strzok
Perspective by Peter Strzok
Peter Strzok is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and former deputy of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division. He is the author of "Compromised: Counterintelligence and the Threat of Donald J. Trump."
James Firnhaber for the Washington Post
Late on the night of Dec. 18, 2020, a small group of people sat in the Oval Office with Donald Trump, loser of the previous month’s presidential election. White House advisers and campaign staff had repeatedly told him he’d lost — as witness after witness appearing before the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol affirmed — and every lawsuit challenging the outcome had gone against him. Regardless, this meeting’s participants were there to explore a range of extraordinary, and extraordinarily dangerous, options to keep Trump in power, including invoking martial law, seizing voting machines extralegally and deploying the National Guard to rerun the election.
The committee has given Americans a clear window into the grim political aspects of this moment, which was leading the country toward a constitutional crisis. Chillingly, over weeks of public hearings, we’ve also seen evidence pointing to how the violent insurrection that followed on Jan. 6, 2021, was encouraged at the highest levels. And on Thursday night, in the last of the current round of hearings, we saw how reluctant Trump was to either halt or condemn this attack by Americans on their own government.
One aspect the committee hasn’t touched on yet, however, is the staggering national security implications of the Dec. 18 meeting. Former White House staffer Cassidy Hutchinson characterized the West Wing that night as “unhinged,” but it wasn’t simply a domestic political nightmare.
It was a counterintelligence risk of the highest order.
Consider that the tiny group in the Oval Office that night was made up of not one, not two, but three people who’d had direct contact with employees or sanctioned or convicted agents of the Russian government: Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn and former Overstock chief executive Patrick Byrne. At a moment of grave national peril for the United States, this was an astonishing intelligence achievement for Russia. Giuliani, Flynn and Byrne had all been likely targets of Russian information collection. Russia sought to gain access, develop relationships and, in varying ways, gather information from and convey disinformation to men who later had direct access to the Oval Office and the president. Each one, whether he knew it or not, had been bought, suckered or seduced by Russia.
Take Giuliani first. During repeated travel to Ukraine, Giuliani again and again interacted with Russian intelligence agents, including Andriy Derkach, a member of the Ukrainian parliament described by the U.S. government as “an active Russian agent for over a decade.” The Washington Post has reported that the contact reportedly raised such alarm within the U.S. intelligence community that agencies took the extraordinary step of warning the Trump White House that the president’s personal attorney was the target of a Russian disinformation campaign.
Then there’s Flynn. Just two months before he joined Trump’s campaign in February 2016, Russia Today, now a registered agent of the Russian government that dispenses propaganda, paid him to attend its anniversary celebration in Moscow and seated him next to Vladimir Putin. Weeks into his tenure as national security adviser, Flynn resigned and was later convicted of lying to the FBI about his conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak relating to a variety of topics, including Russian interference in the 2016 elections. I was one of two FBI agents he pleaded guilty to lying to.
And then there was Byrne, “the Overstock person — I didn’t even know who this guy was,” as former White House counsel Pat Cipollone, who crashed the meeting, described him. Byrne had engaged in a years-long intimate relationship with now-convicted Russian agent Maria Butina. Butina admitted to conspiring with a Russian government official to clandestinely act in the United States at the direction of Russia. (Byrne has claimed that I and other senior FBI leaders directed him to sleep with Butina. That allegation is false, at least as it applies to me; I had not heard of Byrne until he made those claims.) While secretly working for Russia in this country, Butina’s targets included the National Rifle Association, Republican Party officials and the Trump campaign. After she was deported to Russia at the end of her prison sentence, Byrne “made a gift to Maria out of a desire to let her land on her feet and restart her life in Russia,” he told Business Insider in an email. Butina proceeded to hound Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, visiting him in prison at the behest of RT, Navalny’s team said, while he was on a hunger strike; wore clothing marked with a Z while urging support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine; and successfully ran for a seat in the Duma, Russia’s parliament.
Do I think any of the three men who graced the Dec. 18 meeting are recruited Russian agents? No. But at a certain level, it doesn’t matter. The bulk of Russia’s intelligence collection relies not on directed agents but on indirect contacts and friendships. That’s the way most countries collect most intelligence. Russia is just as happy with contacts who can be nurtured and developed to provide information (as Flynn did when he communicated the incoming administration’s position on U.S. sanctions for Russia’s attacks on the 2016 election) or pass on disinformation (as Giuliani did when he drew attention to edited audiotapes purporting to detail interactions between Vice President Joe Biden and Ukrainian government officials).
Of course, the counterintelligence elephant in the room sat on the other side of the Resolute Desk during that Dec. 18 meeting.
Trump’s numerous counterintelligence vulnerabilities — undisclosed financial entanglements; believing Russian intelligence agencies ahead of his own; odd pro-Russian views of NATO allies — are catalogued in the report of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, a Senate report, and countless books and articles. (I opened the FBI’s investigation into allegations that the Russian government sought to privately offer election assistance to Trump’s presidential campaign and later was on Mueller’s team for the first two months of his two-year investigation.)
As if intelligence gathered through relationships and physical interactions weren’t enough, what might Russia have collected through technical means? What did Giuliani, Flynn and Byrne say on their cellphone calls? What did they text? Email? What electronic devices did they bring onto the White House grounds when they arrived unannounced, and were any brought into the Oval Office or the “Yellow Oval” in the president’s private residence? As anyone who has visited the White House can attest, screening is focused on physical, not data, security. Given Cipollone’s testimony to the House select committee that he “didn’t understand how they had gotten in,” it is reasonable to question the rigor of that screening — particularly in the context of someone as notoriously lackadaisical with communications security as Giuliani. The former New York mayor’s repeated travel to Ukraine presumably gave Russia opportunities for technical targeting that were far richer than those available here at home. The prospect of Russian technical intelligence collection looms large in assessing the risks of letting this crew roam the White House corridors.
Sadly, the potential inroads for Russian intelligence did not end with Biden’s inauguration in January 2021. Giuliani continues to advance the false narrative that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump. Byrne has traveled the country, speaking and funding efforts to delegitimize the election (some of which contributed to his being sued by Dominion Voting Systems). Byrne is occasionally accompanied by Flynn, who when not with Byrne has at other times appeared next to longtime Trump associate Roger Stone and MyPillow founder Mike Lindell on the ReAwaken America tour. Trump political strategist Steve Bannon, who on Friday was found guilty of contempt of Congress after he ignored the select committee’s subpoena, recently commented that Flynn “could very well be on the VP shortlist in ’24. And if the president [Trump] doesn’t run, I strongly believe Mike is running.”
In early 2019, Russian politician Dmitry Rogozin observed, “I think that America is actually engulfed by its second civil war now.” The Jan. 6 committee’s revelations about the depth and complexity of the attack on our democracy cause one to wonder whether this thought is more than Russian bluster. Thanks to their intelligence-gathering activities, by the end of 2020, the Russians may have had a far clearer window than most Americans into one of the greatest internal threats to our democracy thus far. As a result of the ongoing efforts of Giuliani, Flynn and Byrne, they may already have ringside seats to the next. | 2022-07-22T19:48:28Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Trump Oval Office meeting posed a counterintelligence risk, says former FBI agent Peter Strzok - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/07/22/peter-strzok-giuliani-flynn-oval-office/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/07/22/peter-strzok-giuliani-flynn-oval-office/ |
By Caitlin Bernard
Abortion rights activists rally at the Indiana Statehouse on June 25, following the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. (AJ Mast/AP)
But for the past few weeks, life has been hard — for me and for my family. I’ve been called a liar. I’ve had my medical and ethical integrity questioned on national television by people who have never met me. I’ve been threatened. And I haven’t been able to talk and explain what I stand for.
Doctor in 10-year-old’s abortion case takes legal step against Indiana AG | 2022-07-22T21:01:31Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | I provide abortions in Indiana. I don’t want to turn patients away. - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/22/caitlin-bernard-abortion-doctor-indiana-restrictions/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/22/caitlin-bernard-abortion-doctor-indiana-restrictions/ |
Sarah Matthews, former deputy White House press secretary, and Matthew Pottinger, former National Security Council official, take their seats on July 21 before questioning by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. (Tom Brenner for the Washington Post)
For people who have faced cancer or some other dread disease, there is often a gap of a few hours — or even a few days — between the diagnostic tests and the meeting with the doctor to receive the official news. In my experience, patients read or pray or go on long walks until a feeling sets in that they are fully braced. Then, the reality becomes official, and it knocks them out.
The latest presentation by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol reminded me of that sequence. We thought we were braced for the reality of a rampaging mob baying for blood as the president urged them on. After all, we knew in real time that Donald Trump spun up the angry crowd with his unfounded claims of a stolen election, then went silent for hours apart from a tweet inciting hatred of his vice president, Mike Pence.
But I, for one, wasn’t prepared to learn that Secret Service officers assigned to protect Pence were urgently contacting loved ones to say goodbye forever as the rioters closed in. I’ve seen a lot of Secret Service agents, and they don’t seem like the panicky type. These communications were monitored and noted by White House staff. Informed that an armed mob was chanting, “Hang Mike Pence,” the president did not express concern.
We think “straight” news will most likely have a silver lining. Yes, it’s cancer — but there’s a promising treatment. It’s multiple sclerosis — but researchers are making strides. The Jan. 6 committee told us straight that the president sat mesmerized in front of his television set as the Capitol was being defaced, the Secret Service terrorized, the vice president menaced, the Capitol police battered — and all because Trump’s insatiable narcissism would not allow him to spit out the words “the election is over.”
At the lowest moment in the history of the presidency, there was no silver lining.
There was, however, a clue to the pathology of this disease. A witness at the Thursday hearing, Sarah Matthews, described the hours in which she realized that her decency and self-respect would no longer permit her to work in Trump’s press office. She had the foresight to see that someone would be called to account for the president’s outrageous conduct — and it wouldn’t be him, because it never is. She would not defend the indefensible.
Excesses and recklessness on the part of many media outlets — I am thinking foremost of the credulous and prurient coverage of unsubstantiated rumors in the Steele dossier — would have been more widely condemned had they not targeted the egregious Trump. And Trump’s convenient recourse to his “fake news” fortress would have rung more hollow had the news been more scrupulous.
President vs. press became a sick symbiosis, providing both sides with a business model and a plot line. Power and purpose. Millions of Americans were drawn into the melodrama, feeling compelled to choose sides. Many media outlets reached unprecedented audiences, while Trump achieved a degree of devotion rarely seen (thank god) in U.S. politics.
That unnamed press aide accurately diagnosed America’s cancer. We can’t be rid of Trump no matter how bluntly and overwhelmingly the corruption of Jan. 6 is revealed. Too many of his followers will never give the other side that “win.” I recently noticed a new sticker on a pickup truck: “Trump 2024 / [F---] Your Feelings.” There’s the battle boiled down to its nihilistic essence, nothing positive, only contempt for The Other.
Yet the end of Trump will surely come, because what happened Jan. 6 was desperately sick. We must choose whether the end is death, or healing. | 2022-07-22T21:01:37Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | A Trump aide’s ‘media’ remark diagnoses our political cancer - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/22/jan-6-trump-aide-media-win-comment/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/22/jan-6-trump-aide-media-win-comment/ |
The TikTok app on a smartphone in July 2021. (Dado Ruvic/Reuters)
TikTok, one of Generation Z’s favorite social media apps, is once again in hot water. The most recent controversy started in mid-June, when BuzzFeed News reported that China-based employees of ByteDance, the video platform’s parent company, “have repeatedly accessed nonpublic data about US TikTok users” as recently as January. BuzzFeed’s story shows TikTok deserves continued scrutiny. But singular focus on TikTok’s data practices should not obscure concerns about the Chinese government influencing TikTok’s content or overshadow the urgent need for comprehensive national policies on data privacy and foreign software.
TikTok has been working to strengthen its data security, particularly after the Trump administration tried to bar it from U.S. app stores and with continued review by the Biden administration. Most notably, TikTok has undertaken an effort called Project Texas that aims to route all U.S. user traffic through data centers owned by Oracle, an American cloud services provider. BuzzFeed’s reporting, based on leaked internal meetings concerning Project Texas, underscores the challenges TikTok faces as it tries to fulfill its promises to the U.S. government. In response to calls from mostly Republican politicians for an investigation into its operations, TikTok seems to be asking skeptics to cut it some slack. In a June 30 letter to lawmakers, TikTok argued BuzzFeed’s story shows the company is making progress on Project Texas, while not denying that U.S. user data is still accessible in China. TikTok frequently pleads for public trust, something that can come only after it fully cuts off Chinese access to U.S. user data.
There are other concerns beyond data security. For one, it’s unclear to what extent TikTok’s powerful algorithm is or could be influenced by Chinese government interests. When asked at the beginning of July about the algorithm and its potential to influence U.S. politics, TikTok executive Michael Beckerman downplayed the app as “not the go-to place for politics.” The abundance of political TikTok content, including from American abortion activists and Chinese propagandists, makes Mr. Beckerman’s nonchalance deeply troubling.
Josh Rogin: TikTok’s leaders ask Americans to trust them. Don’t.
Though TikTok has work to do, U.S. legislators and regulators also need to act. Part of TikTok’s difficulty in protecting U.S. user data centers on the fact that there’s no standard of what defines U.S. user data, never mind substantive data privacy legislation. President Biden directed the Commerce Department over a year ago to develop new regulations on apps that could be exploited by “foreign adversaries,” but it still hasn’t set a timeline for when those rules will be finalized. The country needs policies that address a broad range of foreign software concerns, including data privacy, censorship and disinformation. Without clear directives, TikTok and apps like it will continue to operate by their own rules, making changes only when fearing scrutiny. | 2022-07-22T21:01:49Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | TikTok proves why we need privacy and foreign software policies - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/22/tiktok-privacy-foreign-software-policy/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/22/tiktok-privacy-foreign-software-policy/ |
A Ukraine grain deal is cause for cautious optimism — very cautious
Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Pavel Byrkin/Sputnik via Reuters)
To a world hungry both for optimism and, in a literal sense, for food, the news that Russia has agreed to allow large-scale grain shipments from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports comes as a welcome development. Fully a tenth of the world’s wheat exports originated in Ukraine during 2021 — with populous countries such as Egypt, Bangladesh, Turkey, Indonesia and Pakistan, as well as small and economically struggling Lebanon, among the biggest customers. The United Nations World Food Program, which distributes aid to the world’s poor, got 40 percent of its wheat from Ukraine before the war. With even wealthy nations hammered by rising food prices, millions of people around the world could benefit from a flow of 20 million metric tons of Ukrainian grain and other foodstuffs to the world market over the next 120 days. And that is what the deal, which would end Russia’s blockade of Ukrainian ports and guarantee the safe passage of cargo ships, could achieve.
The best reason to think Russia will keep its part of the bargain is that it was struck with visible high-level support of President Vladimir Putin’s government. He sent Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to a televised signing ceremony in Istanbul, as the agreement’s brokers, Secretary General António Guterres of the United Nations and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, looked on. Yet the best reason to doubt Russia will adhere to the deal is — it’s a deal with Mr. Putin.
He is notorious for violating past humanitarian agreements, including the supposedly safe “corridors” through which Russian forces and their allies herded Syrian civilians escaping war zones in that country. Often, the fleeing people came under fire or faced violent harassment and arrests. What’s more, full compliance with the new accord would require Russia to abandon what had heretofore been a strategy of cutting off Ukraine’s agricultural export earnings, not only by blockading its ports but also by stealing, and reselling, Ukraine’s stockpiled grain — even, in some areas, burning crops in the field. Mr. Putin could easily find a pretext to renege on the new agreement if it suits his purposes.
All of the above helps explain why Ukraine refused to deal directly with Moscow, and why the new deal, technically, takes the form of parallel commitments Ukraine and Russia are each making to Turkey and the United Nations. Ukraine was prudent to offer only escorts through its maritime minefields, not actual demining of its waters, which is still needed to defend against Russia’s navy.
Nevertheless, incentives influence behavior, and Mr. Putin does have incentives to keep his word this time. One is that the agreement probably makes Russia’s grain and fertilizer easier to sell on world markets; the United States and the European Union had both facilitated the deal by reassuring shippers and insurers that carrying Russian agricultural goods does not violate sanctions. Both the United States and the E.U. issued statements welcoming the agreements, while putting Russia on notice that it will be held accountable for any violations. Mr. Guterres called the grain deal a “beacon of hope,” to which we would add: “trust, but verify.” | 2022-07-22T21:10:13Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | The Ukraine-Russia grain deal is a cause for cautious optimism - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/24/ukraine-russia-grain-shipment-deal-optimism/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/24/ukraine-russia-grain-shipment-deal-optimism/ |
What Are Contempt of Congress and Executive Privilege?
Analysis by Andrew Harris and Billy House | Bloomberg
Steve Bannon, former U.S. President Donald Trump political strategist, departs from federal court in New York, U.S., on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2020. Bannon was arrested over his involvement in an online fundraising group that raised more than $25 million to help fund a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. (Bloomberg)
The US Congress has the power to demand testimony and documents and to hold accountable those who refuse to comply. Presidents can wield the power known as executive privilege to declare swaths of information off-limits to the legislative branch. This clash between two co-equal branches of government played out as Congress sought to get information on the Jan. 6 assault on the US Capitol from Stephen Bannon, the former adviser to then-President Donald Trump. On Friday, Bannon was found guilty of contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena by the special congressional committee investigating the assault.
1. Whose testimony can Congress demand?
Almost anyone’s it wants to hear. America’s founders didn’t include a power of investigation in the US Constitution. But the British Parliament had long conducted inquiries as part of the process of developing legislation, and Congress quickly decided that it needed to do the same. The courts have set some limits, most importantly the requirement that investigations relate to true legislative purposes. When the House or Senate believes it’s being wrongly rebuffed, it can vote to hold a person in contempt of Congress.
2. What did Bannon do?
At Trump’s direction, he refused to testify or provide documents to the select committee. The House of Representatives voted 229 to 202 on Oct. 21 to hold Bannon in contempt, setting the stage for the Justice Department’s indictment, and then Bannon’s trial. Earlier in July, on the eve of his trial, Bannon did offer to testify to the committee. That offer came with a letter from Trump, who said that he was waiving executive privilege to free Bannon up to testify. But it was nine months after the committee initially sought his testimony. The verdict -- in the first trial over a refusal to cooperate with the Jan. 6 committee -- was reached by a jury in Washington after three hours of deliberation. The weeklong trial included only two witnesses for the government; Bannon’s attorneys decided not to call any witnesses in his defense.
3. What is contempt of Congress?
It’s a misdemeanor defined in the US federal legal code as when a witness summoned by Congress “to give testimony or to produce papers” refuses “to answer any question pertinent to the question under inquiry.” Each of the two counts on which Bannon was found guilty carry a maximum of 1 year in prison and fines of as much as $100,000. It’s unlikely he will face the maximum penalty. (The House has interpreted the law differently and says the fine could be as high as $100,000.) One purpose of pursuing contempt of Congress charges is deterrence, according to the Congressional Research Service: “A criminal prosecution of a witness may not result in a committee obtaining the testimony sought, but it could significantly deter other parties from refusing to cooperate with an ongoing or future investigation.”
4. What is executive privilege?
It’s the limited right of the president to decline requests from Congress and the courts for information about internal White House talks and deliberations. The privilege is supposed to provide a safe space for presidents to get candid advice from aides without the concern that they’ll later be called to testify. Though US presidents have claimed a right to confidentiality in the face of congressional demands virtually since the founding of the republic, the US Supreme Court first recognized executive privilege in 1974 in the endgame to the Watergate scandal, when President Richard Nixon, claiming absolute protection of all presidential communications, tried to withhold audio tapes of Oval Office meetings and other evidence demanded by a special prosecutor. Even as it rejected Nixon’s specific argument, the court agreed that a president generally does have an interest in maintaining White House secrecy.
5. Have other witnesses refused to cooperate with the Jan. 6 inquiry?
Yes. Trump’s attempts to use executive privilege claims have been cited by other witnesses to keep information from the committee, as well. President Joe Biden has supported the release of documents requested by the committee. A former president’s claims of executive privilege over the objections of the current president is an issue courts haven’t resolved before. | 2022-07-22T21:19:13Z | www.washingtonpost.com | What Are Contempt of Congress and Executive Privilege? - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/what-are-contempt-of-congress-and-executive-privilege/2022/07/22/b9bb51ac-0a02-11ed-80b6-43f2bfcc6662_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/what-are-contempt-of-congress-and-executive-privilege/2022/07/22/b9bb51ac-0a02-11ed-80b6-43f2bfcc6662_story.html |
Current booster shots of the coronavirus vaccine are based on the original version of the virus. (Allison Shelley/For The Washington Post)
Officials are hoping vaccine makers — Moderna and Pfizer and its German partner, BioNTech — are able to make the updated shots available as soon as early to mid-September instead of later in the fall, said three officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk about the issue.
Moderna spokesman Chris Ridley said the company is committed to accelerating the supply of its reformulated vaccines “to meet the needs of regulators and public health demands around the world.” Pfizer declined to comment on administration vaccine decisions.
Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Friday on Washington Post Live that her agency is talking to the FDA about a second booster for all adults but that it is ultimately the FDA’s decision.
“There would have to be action from the FDA to authorize a fourth dose for people under 50,” Walensky said. “In the meantime, another thing that we are doing is planning for the fall and understanding what the implications are, and where we are going for the fall, which is just about six weeks away.”
Some outside experts endorsed the idea of allowing all adults to get a second dose of the current booster — especially because the protection provided by the first boosters is waning. That would also allow the Biden administration to use vaccine doses that are reaching their expiration dates and would otherwise be discarded.
But other experts warned that a second dose of the current booster would not provide a big benefit and might do some harm. Paul A. Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and an outside adviser to the FDA, said recently that repeatedly administering the same vaccine could lead to a phenomenon known as “imprinting,” in which an individual’s immune system develops a highly targeted response to earlier versions of a virus and fails to adapt as that virus evolves.
The federal government has agreed to purchase 105 million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech’s rebooted vaccine for $3.2 billion. At $30.50 a dose, that is a premium over the initial contracts the government made for the original vaccine in 2020, when the vaccines were $19.50 per dose. | 2022-07-22T21:19:19Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Covid boosters for people under 50 on hold amid drive to speed up new vaccine - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/07/22/booster-shots-coronavirus-under-50/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/07/22/booster-shots-coronavirus-under-50/ |
‘Hollywood Ten’ were the last people jailed for contempt of Congress
Former White House chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon speaks to the news media after being found guilty in his contempt of Congress trial on July 22. (Michael Reynolds/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)
Stephen K. Bannon could become the first person sent to jail for contempt of Congress since the “Hollywood Ten” in 1948.
A federal jury in D.C. on Friday convicted the former White House chief strategist on two charges of refusing to comply with a subpoena to testify before the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by supporters of former president Donald Trump. Each of the two charges is punishable by 30 days-to-one-year in jail, as well as a $100,000 fine. Sentencing was scheduled for Oct. 21.
Contempt of Congress is rarely prosecuted and even more rarely leads to jail time. The last time anyone was sentenced to be locked up for it was during the “Red Scare” of the early Cold War.
The 10 men known as the “Hollywood Ten” were movie writers, directors and producers who refused to tell the controversial House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) whether they were Communists.
In October 1947, the panel’s House caucus room became Hollywood on the Potomac as film industry leaders testified at hearings led by Chairman J. Parnell Thomas (R-N.J.) into alleged Communist infiltration in the industry.
The first week featured what the committee called “friendly” witnesses — those seen as reliable anticommunists. First up was Jack Warner, vice president of Warner Bros., who said he had fired six writers for trying to inject “un-American leanings” into scripts for his studio. But Warner said “he had never seen a Communist and wouldn’t know one if he did see him,” United Press reported.
The next day, the star witness was 57-year-old character actor Adolph Menjou. “Nattily garbed in a double-breasted brown suit with white chalk stripes,” the mustachioed Menjou told the committee that “Hollywood is honeycombed with Communists who ‘rigidly’ follow the Moscow Party line,” the Associated Press reported.
Rep. Richard M. Nixon (R-Calif.), a committee member, asked the actor what tests he used to spot a Communist. Menjou responded, “Well, I would consider attendance at a meeting where Paul Robeson is appearing, applauding him and listening to his Communist songs would be a good one.” (Robeson was a Black singer and civil rights activist who had been accused of being a Communist.)
The committee room’s 397 seats were filled, mainly by women, for the third session with 36-year-old actor Robert Taylor. “The famous leading man settled into the witness chair, lit a cigarette and told the Congress members, ‘There is always a certain group of actors and actresses whose every action would indicate to me that if they’re not Communists, they’re working awful hard to be one,’ ” the AP reported. Before the next hearing, the AP wrote, Thomas secured an extra detail of Capitol police after several “were bruised and shoved about by a stampede of sighing women to see Robert Taylor.”
The fourth day of hearings featured an all-star cast, including Gary Cooper and 36-year-old Ronald Reagan, then the president of the Screen Actors Guild. Communists, Reagan said, had tried to “muscle in” on the movie industry but hadn’t succeeded. He added, “I abhor the Communist philosophy. … However, as a citizen I hope that we never are prompted by fear or resentment of Communists into compromising any of our democratic principles in order to fight it.”
After the hearing, actor John Garfield passed out a statement by a new Hollywood Committee for the First Amendment condemning the inquiry as “a smear.” Members of the group included movie stars Lauren Bacall, Humphrey Bogart, Henry Fonda, Danny Kaye, Katherine Hepburn, Ava Gardner and Eddie Cantor.
The hearings concluded with Walt Disney testifying that Communists once “took over my studio,” United Press reported. “The 46-year-old creator of ‘Mickey Mouse’ and ‘Donald Duck’ ” said a union leader who Disney believed “was a commie” had tried to gain control. But according to Disney, “at the present his studio is 100 percent American.”
The next week, the committee heard from “unfriendly” witnesses, including Hollywood writers and others who had been identified in testimony or in the panel’s own investigations as Communists or Communist sympathizers.
When screenwriter John Howard Lawson asked permission to read a statement, Chairman Thomas refused after seeing the first sentence, which according to the New York Times said, “Rational people don’t argue with dirt.” Lawson got into a shouting match with lawmakers and charged the committee with using “Hitler techniques of creating a scare.” When he refused to say whether he was a Communist or to name others, the committee cited him with contempt.
The next day, the panel cited three more writers with contempt: Albert Maltz, Alvah Bessie and Dalton Trumbo, writer of the 1944 film “Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo.” At the week’s third hearings, four more men were cited: screenwriters Herbert Biberman and Samuel Ornitz, along with Edward Dmytryk, director of the movie “Crossfire” (about antisemitism), and the film’s producer, Adrian Scott.
On the final day of the hearings, writers Lester Cole and Ring Lardner Jr. also refused to cooperate. When Lardner, the Academy Award-winning writer of the 1942 film “Woman of the Year,” was ordered to answer the question about being a Communist, he replied, “I could answer it, but I’d hate myself in the morning if I did.”
On Nov. 5, the House overwhelmingly approved the contempt orders, and in December, a federal grand jury indicted all 10 men. In early 1948, Trumbo and Lawson were convicted. They appealed all the way to the Supreme Court, which in April 1950 declined to hear the case.
By mid-1950, all 10 men had been sentenced to prison. Eight of them received one-year sentences and a $1,000 fine, equal to about $12,000 today. Dmytryk and Biberman got six months in prison.
In early 1951, Dmytryk obtained his freedom by going before the HUAC again and naming 26 alleged Communists. He returned to work, directing such films as “The Caine Mutiny.”
The others were blacklisted in Hollywood but continued to work under assumed names after being released from prison. Trumbo won two screenwriting Oscars under fictitious names for “Roman Holiday” in 1954 and “The Brave One” in 1957. After the blacklist was lifted, Lardner won a second Academy Award in 1971 for co-writing the movie “M*A*S*H.”
In 1957, the Supreme Court in a 6-1 decision scaled back the HUAC’s powers by overturning the conviction of labor organizer John Watkins for refusing to name Communists in the labor movement. Since then, only two people have pleaded guilty to contempt of Congress charges: Nixon aide G. Gordon Liddy and former Nixon attorney general Richard Kleindienst. Neither went to jail on those charges.
Whether Bannon will get jail time remains to be seen. In 1950, two of the Hollywood Ten — Cole and Lardner — got some consolation when they served time at the federal petitionary in Danbury, Conn. An inmate there was former HUAC chairman Thomas, who had been convicted of congressional payroll padding. Before his conviction, Thomas had refused to testify before a grand jury on the grounds that he might incriminate himself. | 2022-07-22T21:19:31Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Before Bannon, 'Hollywood Ten' were jailed for contempt of Congress - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2022/07/22/hollywood-ten-contempt-congress-bannon/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2022/07/22/hollywood-ten-contempt-congress-bannon/ |
Seattle man accused of threatening to kill Black people at a Buffalo Tops
The store he targeted was not the same grocery where a gunman killed 10 and injured three in May
LeCandice Durham and her daughter, Treasure, 4, walk through the parking lot on July 15 during the reopening of a Tops Friendly Markets in Buffalo where 10 people were killed in a May gun attack. (Lauren Petracca/Reuters)
A man from the Seattle area has been charged with threatening to kill Black people at a Tops Friendly Markets store in Buffalo, days after another Tops location — which was the site of a racially motivated massacre in mid-May — reopened to the public.
Joey David George, 37, is accused of making made a pair of threatening calls to a grocery store on Elmwood Avenue on July 19 and 20 with, allegedly identifying himself as “Peter” and inquiring about the number of Black people in the store, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court in Seattle.
George allegedly remarked in the first call that he would be featured on the news if he “shot and killed all of the Black people, including all of the women, children and babies” in the grocery store. He told an employee he was nearby or inside the location, the court papers say.
Attorney General weighs racial equity as he considers death penalty for Buffalo shooter
Asking whether the store had been evacuated, George allegedly said he would opt to attack the store where the May 14 mass shooting occurred, which is located on Jefferson Avenue, if there were no Black people to shoot at the Elmwood store when he got there.
Tops spokeswoman Kathleen Sautter said the Elmwood store was closed and evacuated as a result of the threat and that the Buffalo Police Department responded. “We take every threat seriously, and our team works with local police agencies to assess threats and react accordingly,” she said.
A public defender assigned to represent George, who was expected to appear before a judge in Seattle on Friday afternoon, could not immediately be reached for comment.
The Tops on Jefferson Avenue, in a primarily Black neighborhood that was long considered a food desert, reopened to the public after a renovation on July 15. A 19-year-old Binghamton, N.Y.- area man, Payton Gendron, is accused of killing 10 Black people and wounding three other individuals at the store on May 14. He faces multiple murder, hate-crimes and other charges in state and federal court.
According to court documents, George allegedly made a second call to the Tops store on Elmwood Avenue, the day after making the threat. He allegedly “ranted about a race war” and said, “This is what happens in a blue state.”
Nick Brown, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Washington, said in a statement that Buffalo “is trying to heal from the horrific shooting” on May 14 and that he “cannot imagine the type of fear such hate fueled threats engendered in those just trying to go about their daily lives.”
George is also facing charges for making race-related threats to a restaurant in San Bruno, Calif. on May 12. He allegedly said in a phone call to Shari’s Restaurant and Pies that he would shoot all Black and Hispanic patrons if the store didn’t close within 20 minutes.
When a police officer in San Bruno spoke to George, who was using the alias “Tony Sumorrah,” he told the officer he wanted to put Black people in the Bay Area in fear and that Black people are “subhuman.”
Justice Department officials also alleged that George made threats to a marijuana dispensary in Rockville, Md. and a Denny’s in Connecticut in September. He also allegedly made a telephone threat to a dispensary in Seattle in January.
Using a derogatory term for Black people, George, using the pseudonym “David Lester” allegedly told the Verilife Dispensary in Rockville on Sept. 11 that he would “shoot and kill” Black customers there. When the store manager tried to de-escalate the threats on a call with George, the suspect allegedly responded by threatening a specific employee, “accurately describing the employee’s appearance, including their skin tone.” | 2022-07-22T21:19:37Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Joey David George charged with racist threats at Tops in Buffalo, other stores - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/07/22/joey-george-buffalo-race-threats-tops/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/07/22/joey-george-buffalo-race-threats-tops/ |
At least 13 killed in renewed clashes
Clashes between competing militias in Libya’s capital killed at least 13 people, a spokesman for Tripoli’s emergency services said Friday, despite calls for calm after violence first broke out the previous night.
Earlier in the day, one of Libya’s rival governments had called on militias to stop the fighting, which forced hundreds to flee the area.
Islamist rebels attack key military base
Islamist rebels have attacked Mali’s Kati military base on the outskirts of the capital city Bamako, the ruling junta confirmed Friday.
Two vehicles loaded with explosives detonated at the camp at about 5 a.m., according to a statement issued by the military. The statement said seven attackers were killed and eight arrested.
Bloc says 50 million face food insecurity
The assessment by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) is one of the most dire yet as United Nations agencies, humanitarian groups and others continue to raise alarms over the region’s food crisis that many say has been largely neglected as the international community focuses on the war in Ukraine.
Gunmen wound Hamas official in West Bank: Palestinian police said unknown assailants shot and wounded an official affiliated with Gaza's militant Hamas rulers Friday in the occupied West Bank. Nasser al-Shaer, who served as deputy Hamas prime minister for a year-and-a-half after the group won the last Palestinian elections in 2006, was admitted to a hospital with gunshot wounds to his legs. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the shooting and ordered an investigation. Hamas, which in 2007 routed pro-Abbas forces in the Gaza Strip, denounced the shooting as an "assassination attempt," calling on its rival Fatah movement to stop inciting violence against Hamas.
Cuba approves law change that opens door to gay marriage: Cuba's National Assembly on Friday approved a sweeping update of its family law, which opens the door to allowing gay marriage, greater women's rights, and increased protections for children, the elderly and other family members. The new Families Code will be put to a referendum vote Sept. 25 after being debated in community meetings earlier this year, where organizers said 62 percent of participants expressed their support. The new code would legalize same-sex marriage and civil unions, allow same-sex couples to adopt children, and promote equal sharing of domestic responsibilities.
Protest held at Uffizi's 'Spring' but painting not damaged: Italian environmental activists glued their hands Friday to the glass protecting Sandro Botticelli's painting "Spring" in the Uffizi Galleries in Florence, police said. The museum said thanks to the glass, the masterpiece was unharmed. Police said two women and a man, all Italians who had bought entrance tickets, staged the protest in the Uffizi's room dedicated to the painter. The activists sat on the floor and displayed a banner reading, "Last Generation No Gas No Coal," police said. | 2022-07-22T21:20:08Z | www.washingtonpost.com | World Digest: July 22, 2022 - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/world-digest-july-22-2022/2022/07/22/f5e2aebc-09cd-11ed-911b-f04803b1891b_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/world-digest-july-22-2022/2022/07/22/f5e2aebc-09cd-11ed-911b-f04803b1891b_story.html |
For his club Hamburg, where the striker spent his entire career of almost 20 years, he found the net 490 times in 580 appearances, a remarkable average
German soccer star Uwe Seeler shoots a penalty during his farewell match on May 1, 1972, in Hamburg. (Helmuth Lohmann/AP)
Uwe Seeler, one of Germany’s greatest soccer players and arguably the world’s best striker of his era, who captained West Germany in their dramatic and controversial 1966 World Cup final defeat to England, died July 21 at his home in Norderstedt, near Hamburg. He was 85.
His career-long club Hamburger SV (SportVerein, or Sporting Club) announced his death, citing his family, without specifying a cause. But he had suffered ill health in recent years, after a car accident in 2010 and a broken hip in 2020. He had also been fitted with a pacemaker.
He played in four World Cups — held every four years — for what was then West Germany, and he scored in all four tournaments, in 1958, 1962, 1966 and 1970.
In all, “Uns Uwe” (Our Uwe) as Germans fondly called him, scored 43 goals in 72 games for West Germany, 40 of them as team captain. For his club Hamburg, where he spent his entire career of almost 20 years, he found the net 490 times in 580 appearances, a remarkable average. In those days, he was known as a center forward, now called a striker, the goal-scoring front man.
The legendary Brazilian Pele once said Uwe Seeler (pronounced OO-vay ZAY-lir) was one of the greatest players he had ever faced. “His handling of the ball was perfect, his shot precise, and what really amazed me was his ability to head the ball,” Pele told the Brazilian news network O Globo in 2004.
And that despite the fact that Mr. Seeler stood only 5 feet 7 inches and was often referred to by fans, again fondly, as “Dicker” (Fatty). Even his wife, Ilka, jokingly called him that. Squat and stocky he certainly was, but he made up for his build by his balance and remarkable ability at heading, making the ball go precisely where he wanted.
He also became a master of the overhead, or scissors kick, often scoring when he had his back to goal. He was named West German Footballer of the Year three times, in 1960 (when he scored 36 goals for Hamburg), ’64 and ’70 and remains Hamburg’s top goal scorer of all time.
Uwe Seeler was born in Hamburg on Nov. 5, 1936, just as Hitler was consolidating his power and already planning to annex or invade neighboring countries. Uwe’s father was a barge worker in the port of Hamburg who had previously played for the Hamburg soccer team, and his mother was a homemaker.
Mr. Seeler signed for Hamburg in 1953, at age 16, and got his first international cap for West Germany against France the following year. His first appearance in the World Cup finals came in Sweden in 1958, the year the 17-year-old Pele burst upon the world stage as a star of Brazil’s winning team. Mr. Seeler scored in that first game, a 3-1 win over Argentina.
He became known, among fellow players and opponents such as Pele, for his humility, sense of fair play and loyalty to his hometown club. In those days — the 1950s and ‘60s — it was relatively rare for soccer players to join clubs outside their homeland.
Mr. Seeler received offers to leave Hamburg for Spain or Italy, always turning them down out of loyalty and his desire not to disrupt his family. One offer from Inter Milan in 1961 would have made him a millionaire overnight. The West German TV Channel ZDF at the time quoted Inter Milan’s manager, Helenio Herrera, as saying: “I’ve never seen anyone turn down so much money.”
With Hamburg, Mr. Seeler won the German league championship (now known as the Bundesliga) in 1960 and the national German Cup in 1963, although failing to win a European trophy.
He married Ilka Buck, who played handball for Hamburg, in 1959. In addition to his wife, survivors include three daughters, Frauke, Kerstin and Helle; and seven grandchildren, one of whom, Levin Öztunali, plays for the club Union Berlin in the Bundesliga.
“Uwe Seeler stands for everything that characterizes a good person: down-to-earth, loyalty, joie de vivre, plus he was always approachable” to fans, said Jonas Boldt, a board member of Hamburg soccer team, on their website.
What might have become the highlight of his career came when West Germany faced England in the World Cup final at Wembley Stadium, London, on July 30, 1966, watched by almost 97,000 in the stadium and more than 32 million TV viewers in the U.K. alone and 400 million worldwide.
After the full 90 minutes, the score was 2-2 and so went into 30 minutes’ extra time, during which England scored one of the most controversial goals of all time. A shot by English striker Geoff Hurst hit the crossbar and, with some backspin, appeared to hit the goal-line. A Soviet linesman ruled that all of the ball had crossed the line, and it was therefore a goal.
Modern technology suggests it had not, and until his dying day, Mr. Seeler, the team captain that day, insisted the whole ball had not crossed the line. West Germany were demoralized, and Hurst himself whacked in a further goal in the dying seconds to make it 4-2. Mr. Seeler had played in the tournament despite rupturing an Achilles’ tendon the previous year and having it replaced with an artificial one.
He went on to play in the World Cup in Mexico in 1970 when West Germany finished in third place and Pele’s Brazil beat Italy to take the title in Mexico City’s Azteca stadium. He would soon be replaced for West Germany by another stocky striker, Gerd Müller, for whom he became something of a mentor.
After retirement, Mr. Seeler became a representative of the German sportswear company Adidas, founded by his friend Adolf “Adi” Dassler, before setting up his own sportswear company among other small businesses. He also served as chairman of Hamburg soccer club during the 1990s and rarely missed a home game.
In 2005, he was honored with a giant bronze sculpture of his right foot outside the Hamburg club’s ground, the Volksparkstadion.
In an interview with the German ZDF channel last year, he said: “The best thing in the world is just to be normal. I’m boringly normal, and I like that.” | 2022-07-22T21:20:14Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Uwe Seeler, German soccer champ, dies at 72 - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/07/22/uwe-seeler-germany-hamburg-soccer-dies/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/07/22/uwe-seeler-germany-hamburg-soccer-dies/ |
FILE - Rioters break into the Capitol in Washington, on Jan. 6, 2021. A far-right internet personality has pleaded guilty to joining the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol, where he streamed live video that incriminated him and other rioters. Court records show that Anthime Gionet, known as “Baked Alaska” to his social media followers, faces a maximum sentence of six months imprisonment after pleading guilty on Friday, July 22, 2022. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File) | 2022-07-22T21:20:21Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Internet troll ‘Baked Alaska’ pleads guilty in Capitol riot - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/internet-troll-baked-alaska-pleads-guilty-in-capitol-riot/2022/07/22/04ee3302-09fd-11ed-80b6-43f2bfcc6662_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/internet-troll-baked-alaska-pleads-guilty-in-capitol-riot/2022/07/22/04ee3302-09fd-11ed-80b6-43f2bfcc6662_story.html |
A swab that tested positive for monkeypox at the UW Medicine Virology Laboratory in Seattle on July 12. Photographer: Karen Ducey/Getty Images (Karen Ducey/Photographer: Karen Ducey/Getty)
The pediatric cases, in an infant and a toddler, are likely the result of household transmission, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, disclosed the cases in a Washington Post Live interview Friday.
CDC and public health authorities are still investigating how the children became infected. The two cases are unrelated and in different jurisdictions, the agency said in a statement. The toddler is in California, it said; the infant’s home was not identified.
Since the outbreak began in May, most monkeypox cases have occurred within gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men. Officials emphasize that monkeypox can affect anyone who has close contact with people who have monkeypox, including children. However, they say they have not yet seen evidence of sustained transmission outside of networks of men who have sex with men.
Monkeypox spreads through close skin-to-skin contact, which — in the case of children — could include holding, cuddling, feeding, as well as through shared items such as towels, bedding, cups, and utensils. Health officials say respiratory spread is also possible, but usually over prolonged periods of time, such as when a person lives in the same home as an infected person.
Public health balances warning and stigma in warning gay men about monkeypox
The average age among the documented cases is 36 years old. Patients range in age from 18 years to 76, officials said last week.
In most cases, monkeypox symptoms disappear on their own within a few weeks. But for children, those who are pregnant and people with weak immune systems, the disease can lead to medical complications, including death, according to WHO.
In the United Kingdom, only one child has tested positive for monkeypox of nearly 2,200 confirmed cases as of July 20. Health authorities said there is “no robust evidence of sustained transmission” outside of same-sex male sexual networks, while cautioning the 13 female cases require close surveillance.
The antiviral medication is also available to treat people with severe cases, although patients and doctors complain it has been difficult to access because of an onerous process required by the federal government. | 2022-07-22T21:27:37Z | www.washingtonpost.com | First cases of monkeypox in children in U.S. confirmed - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/07/22/first-monkeypox-cases-children-united-states/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/07/22/first-monkeypox-cases-children-united-states/ |
Polling and interviews suggest the committee’s work is distrusted by Republicans but could nonetheless accelerate the party’s search for a Trump alternative
President Donald Trump is seen on a screen giving a taped statement on Jan. 6, 2021, as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds a prime-time hearing on July 21. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
Over eight televised hearings revealing the fullest account yet of President Donald Trump’s role in provoking the carnage at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, the House panel examining the attack has made clear its primary target audience: Republicans.
The star witnesses have been Republicans. The Democratic committee members have gone out of their way to praise Republicans who stood up to Trump, chiefly his vice president, Mike Pence. And the committee’s vice chair, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), has openly appealed to Republican voters. On Thursday night she beseeched them to drop the man they have long revered — a man who “preyed on their patriotism,” she said, by lying to them about a stolen election.
“Can a president who is willing to make the choices Donald Trump made during the violence of January 6 ever be trusted with any position of authority in our great nation?” she asked in her closing statement.
But it’s not yet apparent whether Republicans are listening.
Polls show GOP views of Jan. 6 have barely budged. And at the summer meeting of the Republican Governors Association — held in Aspen, Colo., this week — the hearings hardly came up.
Even Larry Hogan, the anti-Trump Republican governor of Maryland who is considering a White House bid in 2024, offered a measured assessment of the committee’s influence. Among the subset of Republicans following the proceedings, Hogan said in an interview on the sidelines of the summit, “it is having an impact because they’re hearing from people in the White House and members of the administration and supporters who are giving facts that are eye-opening.”
But most Republicans, he noted, “are not watching and not paying attention, and it’s not going to impact them.”
Committee members have made no secret that they consider Trump a threat to American democracy, and that their aim is no less than eliminating the possibility that he will again hold power.
Through witness testimony and other evidence, the committee has shown that Trump summoned his supporters to D.C. on Jan. 6 with claims of voter fraud he was told repeatedly were false; knew protesters were armed and yet directed them to the Capitol anyway; resisted entreaties to quell the violence and instead persisted in efforts to delay the certification of Joe Biden’s victory; and refused, a day after the siege, to affirm that the election was over.
Amid those revelations, Trump has forged ahead with preparations for another presidential campaign, eyeing a fall announcement.
Yet even as he does so, there are indications of possible shifts underway, with support for his prospective candidacy softening and Trump himself stewing over the lack of backing he has received on television and online from his fellow Republicans as the committee makes its case.
Trump has called the hearings — which are expected to resume in September and probe the Pentagon’s response, Capitol security and fundraising by Trump and his allies, among other topics — a “scam.” He has mostly not watched the hearings live — he golfs almost every day — but has monitored the coverage, watched some of the proceedings on tape and polled friends about the revelations, according to advisers who, like others quoted for this story, spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly.
He has grown most animated about the testimony of Cassidy Hutchinson, a former top aide to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, and urged allies to contest her account. He has been especially angered seeing some of his close associates on camera criticizing his actions or disputing his claim that the election was stolen, four advisers said. A Trump spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
Trump has also urged House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and others to push back more aggressively against the committee, and has complained there are no Republicans on television defending him. He has asked aides and advisers to attack the committee online, with his posts on Truth Social, the online platform set up by him and his allies, not getting as much traction as he once got on Twitter.
Many of his advisers watch to see whether any of the revelations are “referable,” in the words of one, or whether the Justice Department will be taking action to prosecute him. Hogan said he believes much of the ultimate impact from the hearings will depend on “what happens with potential actions by the Justice Department.”
An NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist survey released this week found barely any change since December 2021 in the share of people who view the events of Jan. 6, 2021, as an insurrection and a threat to democracy. About half identified it that way, while a quarter, including 2 of 5 Republicans, described it as an unfortunate event, but in the past and not one to worry about.
The same share of Republicans said it was a political protest protected under the First Amendment. Independents appear to have evolved in their thinking, with 52 percent of them now saying it was an insurrection — a nine-point increase from December.
The clearest sign of the committee’s impact, said some pollsters, is not Trump’s favorability within the GOP, which remains sterling, but rather attitudes about his possible future candidacy.
“You can see the effect of the hearings in the percentage of Republicans who want him to run again,” said Whit Ayres, a longtime Republican pollster. “A great many Republicans are protective of him and defensive of their support for him but increasingly of the view that he carries way too much baggage to be the nominee in 2024.”
A New York Times-Siena College poll released last week was the latest to show a diminishing share who want him to run for president again. Just 49 percent said they would support him for another nomination.
That data is in line with findings from focus groups conducted since the hearings began last month by Sarah Longwell, a Republican strategist and founder of the anti-Trump Republican Accountability Project. In several sessions with Republicans who voted for Trump in 2020, she said, not a single participant wanted him to run again in 2024, compared with overwhelming majorities who favored a third campaign in dozens of focus groups before June.
“They think the hearings are stupid and they like Donald Trump.” Longwell said. “But they’re making a political calculation about who can win.”
Staff, strategists and donors across the GOP spectrum — from Trump critics to devotees — said any fallout for the former president would not be based on a substantive reevaluation of him but a tactical one.
“Republicans want to forget about January 6,” said a top aide to a gubernatorial nominee who beat a Trump-backed candidate in a recent GOP primary.
That sentiment may cause some voters to tire of Trump, in part because of his focus on debating the results of an election he lost. Republican primary voters “by a margin of 2 to 1 in Midwestern states want candidates and elected officials to focus on the future, not the past,” said Joe Lakin, a Republican media consultant in Missouri.
Republicans who have chosen to stick with the former president could also see their standing harmed by that preference. To the extent that the Jan. 6 hearings did come up at the Republican gathering in Aspen, according to people in the meetings, it was in the form of warnings about the general-election viability of Trump-backed candidates and “election deniers,” as a top aide to one governor labeled such contenders.
Frank Luntz, a veteran GOP pollster who attended the meeting in Aspen, said he detected “frustration” among Republican voters “that Trump’s putting them through this.”
But fallout from the hearings would affect “only Trump,” Luntz argued. That’s in notable contrast with Cheney’s prediction last month, directed at her Republican colleagues who have continued to support the former president: “Your dishonor will remain.”
Many Republicans may never hear that message because they have already dismissed the hearings as a partisan exercise, said donors and strategists. Republicans blocked the creation of an independent commission last year, and McCarthy pulled his five picks for the committee after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) rejected two of them. That left a committee composed mostly of Democrats, along with two anti-Trump Republicans.
“The people tuning into it are people who have taken a position one way or another,” said Stephen B. King, Trump’s ambassador to the Czech Republic and a Republican donor and former party official.
Trump has rarely faced political costs when backed against a wall, said Brian Ballard, a lobbyist and top Trump fundraiser who also chaired Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s inauguration in 2019.
“I kind of agree with President Trump’s pronouncement when he was running for president the first time, when he said he could stand on Fifth Avenue and shoot someone and not lose support,” Ballard said. “I don’t see anything in the coverage that would significantly alter his support in the party.”
Advisers to other leading Republicans believe the hearings are solidifying concerns about Trump’s weakness. In their estimation, it’s less that the hearings on their own will disqualify Trump as a potential nominee, but rather that they will remind people of the things they dislike most about him.
Two Florida lobbyists who have fundraised for DeSantis, a potential contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, said the hearings could intensify “Trump fatigue,” as one put it. “I think a lot of people want normalcy. Policies without the craziness.” The other said the committee lacks credibility among Republicans but could still create discomfort about “Trump’s drama.”
Alyssa Farah Griffin, a former Pence aide and White House communications director who has spoken out against Trump, said attitudes are more malleable “for those who are on the margins and are not ultra MAGA.”
“I think it’s weakened him in a massive way,” she said. “It reminds people of the drama and the four years of having to explain why they supported him.”
A looming GOP primary, Griffin said, means “it’s not a binary moment. It’s not him versus Biden. Do they really want to go back through that whole fiasco? They’re also reminded of the noise and the drama and the division. We can support someone else. There are other good candidates.”
The hearings are breaking through to conservative media, said Longwell, the anti-Trump strategist conducting the focus groups with Trump voters, “even if it’s just complaints about them.”
She relayed examples from recent sessions.
“I feel like there’s too many people against him right now,” a Wyoming voter who backed Trump in 2020 said in a focus group, according to Longwell. “I feel like somebody else needs to step in that has similar views but not as big of an ego.”
A voter in Washington state who also favored Trump in 2020 put it bluntly: “Been there, done that, got the T-shirt.”
“He did some good things when he was in office,” the voter said, “but I think he just needs to accept the fact that he lost.” | 2022-07-22T21:45:01Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Jan. 6 hearings test Trump's political fortunes and GOP’s desire to ‘forget' - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/07/22/jan-6-hearings-trump-2024-gop/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/07/22/jan-6-hearings-trump-2024-gop/ |
Hyundai subsidiary in Alabama focus of child labor investigation
State labor regulators opened an inquiry after a Reuters report found that children as young as 12 were put to work at the SMART metal stamping factory in Luverne
A sign advertising jobs stands near the SMART Alabama auto parts plant and Hyundai Motor Co. subsidiary in Luverne, Ala., on July 14. (Joshua Schneyer/Reuters)
State regulators opened an investigation Friday following news reports that a Hyundai subsidiary in Alabama used child labor at its metal stamping plant.
In some cases, Reuters reported Friday, children as young as 12 were put to work at the SMART Alabama factory in Luverne, which supplies parts for the South Korean automaker’s flagship U.S. assembly plant in nearby Montgomery.
The news outlet said it learned of underage workers following the brief disappearance of a young girl in Alabama. Police in the town of Enterprise, who helped locate the girl, told Reuters that she and her two siblings had worked at SMART. The girl and her brothers were not attending school, Reuters reported, and had worked at the plant earlier this year. SMART denies knowingly employing minors.
The Alabama Department of Labor is now coordinating with other agencies, including the U.S. Labor Department, to begin investigating the matter, a spokesperson for the state agency told The Washington Post in an email Friday.
Alabama law bars minors younger than 16 from working in a manufacturing environment, she said, adding that regardless of what entity was paying the minor, the presence of the underage person alone is all that is needed to establish employment. “They were at the SMART factory, they are a SMART employee as far as Alabama Child Labor Law is concerned,” said Tara Hutchison, the state spokesperson.
The girl turns 14 this month, and her brothers are 12 and 15.
Federal labor officials told The Post that the agency is aware of the Reuters report but could not comment on any open investigation or pending action.
Gary Sport, general manager of business administration at SMART, said the company “denies any allegation that it knowingly employed anyone who is ineligible for employment” under local state and federal laws. In a statement to The Post, Sport said the company relies on temporary employment agencies to fill open positions and if it learns that workers are not eligible for employment, they are immediately removed from the premises.
In a Friday statement, Hyundai told The Post that it does not tolerate illegal employment practices. “We have policies and procedures in place that require compliance with all local, state, and federal laws.”
Police in the town Enterprise, where the girl’s family lives, do not have jurisdiction in labor law cases and forwarded the matter to the state attorney general’s office, Reuters reported. Neither entity responded to requests for comment.
Reuters said the children’s father, Pedro Tzi, confirmed the account and that all three are now enrolled for the coming school term.
The children were among a larger cohort of underage workers who found jobs at the Hyundai-owned supplier over the past few years, Reuters reported, citing interviews with a dozen former and current plant employees and labor recruiters. Several of these minors, they said, have forgone schooling to work long shifts at the plant, a sprawling facility with a documented history of health and safety violations, including amputation hazards.
Hyundai is one of the most profitable automakers in the world, recording nearly $90 billion in revenue last year. | 2022-07-22T22:19:50Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Hyundai subsidiary under investigation for allegedly using child labor - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/07/22/hyundai-child-labor-alabama/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/07/22/hyundai-child-labor-alabama/ |
WWE CEO Vince McMahon. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Vince McMahon, the chairman and CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment is retiring from his roles, he announced Friday.
His retirement comes after the company’s board began investigating McMahon and John Laurinaitis, WWE’s former head of talent relations, in April for alleged sexual misconduct.
In June, McMahon stepped down from his responsibilities as CEO and chairman pending the conclusion of the investigation. That same month, Laurinaitis, a former wrestler whose ring name was Johnny Ace, was placed on administrative leave as a result of the allegations. | 2022-07-22T22:19:56Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Vince McMahon retires from WWE following sexual misconduct probe - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/07/22/wwe-ceo-retires-after-investigation/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/07/22/wwe-ceo-retires-after-investigation/ |
NCAA charges Tennessee, Jeremy Pruitt with widespread recruiting violations
Tennessee went 16-19 in three seasons under Jeremy Pruitt. (John Bazemore/AP)
In a notice of allegations detailing blatant recruiting violations, the NCAA outlined charges that include the distribution of about $60,000 of impermissible benefits to players and their families by former Tennessee football coach Jeremy Pruitt, his wife, his staff and at least one booster, according to multiple reports.
Of the 18 alleged Level I violations — the most serious in the NCAA’s classification system — in the report, sent to the school Friday, many outline thousands of dollars in inducements provided to recruits and their families in the form of cash, hotel stays and transportation during or after impermissible recruiting visits. Others are related to unethical behavior in which Pruitt, his coaches and staff members are accused of knowingly providing inducements, then giving false information to investigators and persuading others to do the same.
Pruitt was fired in January 2021, two months after Tennessee launched an investigation. He was 16-19 in three seasons.
One violation in the NCAA’s notice accuses Pruitt, two recruiting staffers and a booster of providing $12,707 in hotel stays, meals, airfare, game-day parking, furniture and household items to a player from 2018 to 2020. Another alleges that Pruitt’s wife, Casey, provided $12,500 in car payments and $3,000 in rent payments to a player and his mother.
In a third allegation, the NCAA reported that at least seven players were given $1,338 in cash from April to November 2020 for costs accrued while hosting recruits during impermissible visits amid the pandemic-induced recruiting dead period.
Jeremy Pruitt is alleged to have doled out cash himself directly to recruits and their families. pic.twitter.com/Z5wCp8RaHv
The NCAA did not find that Tennessee lacked institutional control, which may safeguard the program from the most crippling penalties. The NCAA also credited Tennessee’s transparency, cooperation and efforts in promptly addressing the alleged violations.
“Receipt of our Notice of Allegations was an expected, requisite step in this process — a process our university initiated proactively through decisive and transparent actions,” Athletic Director Danny White said in a statement Friday. “This moves us one step closer to a final resolution. Until we get to that point, I am unable to discuss the case in any detail.”
Across the 18 violations, some players who received inducements never played for the Volunteers, and others never enrolled. All of the accused individuals were fired or left the school after it began its investigation in November 2020.
Two months later, Tennessee fired Pruitt for cause alongside two assistant coaches and seven staff members. Phillip Fulmer, previously the school’s longtime football coach and at that time its athletic director, stepped down in a concurrent move.
At the time, Fulmer and Chancellor Donde Plowman signed a letter sent to Pruitt that said his “failure to promote and maintain an atmosphere of compliance and to monitor the activities of the coaches and staff members that report, directly or indirectly, to you has led to the current NCAA investigation and is bringing and will likely continue to bring the University into considerable public disrepute, embarrassment, contempt, scandal, and/or ridicule.”
Josh Heupel replaced Pruitt and went 7-6 in 2021, including 4-4 in SEC play. | 2022-07-22T22:28:32Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Jeremy Pruitt, Tennessee accused by NCAA of 18 recruiting violations - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/07/22/tennessee-recruiting-jeremy-pruitt-ncaa-violations/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/07/22/tennessee-recruiting-jeremy-pruitt-ncaa-violations/ |
Emilie Brzezinski, artist wife of national security adviser, dies at 90
She made large sculptures carved from tree trunks and preferred the whine of power tools over the patter of the cocktail party circuit
Wood sculptor Emilie Brzezinski in 2014 at her home studio in McLean, Va. (Mike Morgan for The Washington Post)
Her marriage to Jimmy Carter’s national security adviser, Zbigniew Brzezinski, gave her entree to Washington’s political and diplomatic elites. But artist Emilie Brzezinski said she was often happiest in her McLean, Va., studio, creating looming sculptures from tree trunks with chisels, axes and several prized Stihl chain saws, which she wielded well into her 80s. She preferred the whine of power tools over the patter of the cocktail party circuit.
Mrs. Brzezinski died July 22 at her home in Jupiter, Fla., at 90. She had Parkinson’s disease, said her daughter, Mika Brzezinski, co-host of the MSNBC program “Morning Joe.”
Mrs. Brzezinski exhibited in the 2003 Florence Biennale and in the 2005 Vancouver International Sculpture Biennale. Her only public sculpture, a bronze casting of a piece carved in wood called “Arch in Flight,” was put on display in D.C. on New York Avenue, close to the Corcoran Gallery of Art.
Mrs. Brzezinski said she liked to carve trees that had “a story to tell” — that were stunted or struck by lightning — and then to work with nature rather than against it.
“No matter how many chain-saw and chisel marks she leaves on her rough-hewed sculptures, they never lose their connection to the living forest,” Washington Post art critic Philip Kennicott wrote in a review of Mrs. Brzezinski’s 2014 exhibit at the Kreeger Museum. “Brzezinski’s wooden forms are refreshingly disconnected from the business and distraction of contemporary life.”
Emilie Ann Benes was born in Geneva on Jan. 21, 1932. Her father, Bohus, was a Czech diplomat, and her great-uncle Edvard Benes was twice the country’s president. She moved with her parents to London at the outbreak of World War II. In 1943, the family moved again, this time to California, after crossing the Atlantic in a U.S. convoy that was targeted by German U-boats and hit by a torpedo.
Mrs. Brzezinski graduated in 1953 from Wellesley College with a degree in fine arts, then worked at one of Harvard’s libraries, where she met her future husband — the offspring, like her, of an exiled diplomat of Central European extraction.
They married in 1955 and moved to McLean in 1977, where Mrs. Brzezinski ran their six-acre suburban property like a small farm, with dogs and ducks and her daughter’s horse, which she welcomed into the house for the annual Christmas party.
“It added a little humor,” she told The Post.
In her later years, Mrs. Brzezinski used her art to reconnect with her roots. It was “an effort at finding who I really am,” she told The Post. In working on a series of Brobdingnagian sculptures called “Family Trees” that featured photos of her relatives, she said she came to understand her identity was half Czech and half American.
In a 2014 piece, titled “Ukraine Trunk,” she combined her personal history with the geopolitics that had always preoccupied her family, pasting inside a hollowed trunk a photograph of unsmiling upturned faces in the square in Kyiv, questioning a future made uncertain by Russian aggression toward Ukraine.
Her husband died in 2017, and she later moved to Florida. In addition to her daughter, survivors include two other children, Ian Brzezinski, a Republican consultant in Washington and former deputy assistant secretary of defense under President George W. Bush, and Mark Brzezinski, a lawyer and the U.S. ambassador to Poland; and five grandchildren.
In her art, Mrs. Brzezinski celebrated the connections between her fellow human beings and the natural world.
As she told the Wellesley alumni magazine: “To the casual observer, a tree is vertical and straight. But on careful study, most trunks have a basic movement, what I call the essential gesture. I am always amazed at the parallels between human gesture and the gesture of a tree.” | 2022-07-22T22:28:38Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Emilie Brzezinski, artist wife of national security adviser, dies at 90 - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/07/22/brzezinski-dies/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/07/22/brzezinski-dies/ |
Matthew Pottinger, left, and Sarah Matthews appear at the latest select committee hearing. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
Nearly 17.7 million television viewers tuned in Thursday to the second prime-time hearing in the House select committee’s investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, the Nielsen rating service announced Friday. The number, which encompasses 10 broadcast and cable networks, represents a slight drop from the more than 20 million people who watched the first prime-time hearing in June.
According to ratings data Friday provided by some of the individual networks, MSNBC led the pack with an average of 4.7 million viewers for the high-profile programming block from 8 to 11 p.m. Similar to their plans for the June 9 hearing, major broadcast networks ABC, CBS and NBC booted other programming to make space for the congressional proceedings; ABC led the three with roughly 3.98 million viewers, while NBC attracted 2.69 million and CBS 2.68 million. July tends to be the lowest-rated month in television.
Fox News did not show the hearing and instead aired its usual programming featuring Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity. The network reported 2.66 million viewers during Thursday’s prime-time block. Fox News Media opted to instead air the hearing on the lesser-watched channel Fox Business.
During the hearing, Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) and Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.) led the questioning of former deputy national security adviser Matthew Pottinger and Sarah Matthews, Trump’s deputy White House press secretary. The witnesses conveyed that President Donald Trump refused to deter the mob from attacking the Capitol in his name, ignoring alleged pleas from senior aides and advisers such as his daughter, Ivanka. Outtakes from Trump’s address to the nation the day after the attack showed that he refused to say “the election’s over.”
CNN reported earlier this week that the cable network’s ratings for the Jan. 6 hearings that took place during the day increased with each subsequent hearing, as did those for MSNBC. CNN averaged 1.5 million viewers for the hearing held June 16, and for the next three attracted 2.1 million, 2.4 million and 2.6 million. According to Nielsen, the June 28 hearing with former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson’s damning testimony ranked the highest among the daytime hearings, garnering 13.2 million viewers across networks.
Committee members said Thursday to expect additional hearings in September. | 2022-07-22T22:28:44Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Nearly 17.7 million watched the second Jan. 6 hearing in prime time - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/tv/2022/07/22/prime-time-jan-6-hearings-ratings/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/tv/2022/07/22/prime-time-jan-6-hearings-ratings/ |
Data is recoverable, as the Secret Service likely knows.
A Secret Service agent watches as the area in front of the White House is cleared before the 2019 Fourth of July event on the National Mall. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
Regarding the July 22 news article “Criminal probe of Secret Service texts”:
Most data processing personnel know that there is no such thing as accidentally deleting data — without being able to recover it.
This is also known by most law enforcement agencies, as they use it to charge people with crimes after they have attempted to delete incriminating evidence from computers, hard drives, tape, thumb drives and so on. Most such agencies have their own experts or software to recover deleted data quite easily. There are also experts who can recover data that has been deleted and overwritten.
In the case of data storage that has been physically damaged, such as by a gun shot or burning, *some* of the data is *still* recoverable. It’s expensive, but there are companies that specialize in emergency data recovery; for example, in the case of corporate data that has been destroyed in a fire. Investigative agencies know all these facts.
So, why is the Secret Service pretending that the data can’t be recovered? If it can’t, some other agency, such as the FBI or the CIA, or a data recovery company or expert could.
T’Pell Wilson, Takoma Park | 2022-07-22T22:29:02Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Data is recoverable, as the Secret Service likely knows. - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/22/data-is-recoverable-secret-service-likely-knows/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/22/data-is-recoverable-secret-service-likely-knows/ |
The Founders intended for federal oversight of elections
The Supreme Court on July 14. (Tom Brenner for The Washington Post)
The “independent state legislature theory” (ISLT) wrongly suggests that state legislatures are omnipotent in making rules for federal elections. Jason Willick’s July 17 op-ed, “Liberals would be wise to compromise on the election case at the Supreme Court,” suggested compromise with ISLT. He quoted Article I, Section 4 of the Constitution (the elections clause) as saying the rules for federal elections “shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature.” The next 14 words of the elections clause state “but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations.” The 1787 Constitutional Convention proceedings show that the drafters unanimously approved federal curtailment of state legislative power to make the rules for federal elections when they adopted the elections clause.
ISLT’s omnipotence contention also fails because state legislatures embodied governmental powers differently in 1787 than they do today. For example, under Virginia’s constitution at that time, the governor and judges were elected by the state’s legislature, but the 1851 and subsequent state constitutions give the people the direct power to elect the governor and judges as checks and balances on legislative powers. The roles of state legislatures have changed since 1787, and the social contracts’ checks and balances embodied in state constitutions must be accounted for in modern jurisprudence.
Mr. Willick was right that the Framers did not mean for state legislatures to be superfluous, but they did place the elections clause in the context of honoring the will of the people, not the unrestricted will of state legislators.
Patrick Merloe, Washington
The writer is a member of the Election Reformers Network Advisory Council. | 2022-07-22T22:29:08Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | The Founders intended for federal oversight of elections - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/22/founders-intended-federal-oversight-elections/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/22/founders-intended-federal-oversight-elections/ |
During Thursday’s prime-time session, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) summed up the explosive impact of this summer’s hearings by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.
Analysis: It's not only what Trump didn't do on Jan. 6. It's also what he did do.
The committee lived up to the promise made at the outset by Chairman Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.) that its evidence would demonstrate that the Jan. 6 attack was the “culmination of an attempted coup,” not the work of an out-of-control crowd. The riot was of a piece with Trump’s creation of slates of fake electors, pressure on GOP legislatures to throw out valid election results, and even a request to a Republican election official in Georgia to “find” votes for him that didn’t exist.
Eugene Robinson: Trump's behavior on Jan. 6 was worse than you thought. Much worse.
Trump’s mastery of the Republican Party has been underscored by the reluctance of leaders who denounced him immediately after Jan. 6 to press the matter any further. They either resigned themselves to his power in the party and fell silent or, in the case of House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and so many of his colleagues, reverted to pro-Trump sycophancy.
Alexandra Petri: More outtakes from Trump's Jan. 7 speech
So it must have been very satisfying for Cheney and Rep. Adam Kinzinger, the Illinois Republican who co-led Thursday’s hearing with Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.), to show footage of McCarthy denouncing Trump shortly after the attack. Since then, McCarthy has led the internal party persecution of Cheney and Kinzinger for continuing to insist upon a truth that McCarthy himself once acknowledged.
The committee also called the bluff of the GOP’s Ivy League Fake Populist Caucus. After showing a photo of Sen. Josh Hawley (Republican of Missouri and Yale Law School) going into the Capitol with a fist raised in solidarity with the pro-Trump mob, they ran video of him fleeing in terror as the violent crowd surged through the hallways.
Ruth Marcus: I'm no longer doubtful. If Garland has a case, Trump must be prosecuted | 2022-07-22T22:29:14Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Finally, the dam is breaking against Trump - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/22/jan6-hearings-dam-breaking-against-trump/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/22/jan6-hearings-dam-breaking-against-trump/ |
Please don’t change the Library of Congress’s glorious Reading Room
Patrons walk through the Main Reading Room of the Library of Congress Jefferson Building on Feb. 18, 2019, in D.C. (Will Newton for The Washington Post)
As a former employee of the Library of Congress, I was dismayed to read in the July 19 Style article “Library of Congress plan called ‘vandalism’ ” about the proposed changes to the iconic Reading Room. Anyone involved in making this decision should watch the 1976 movie “All the President’s Men,” with the mesmerizing shot of the Reading Room desk from above, the camera going higher, higher, to take in the entire circular Reading Room in all its glory. Surely that would convince them to leave it as is, as it has been since 1897.
I cannot imagine why anyone would think changing the perfect design is a good idea. Tourists now can view the room from small galleries above, built for this exact purpose. The other proposed changes — additional exhibition space, a learning lab and an orientation center — seem to be reasonable improvements to the visitor experience. But that experience would be severely cheapened if the Reading Room is “vandalized.”
Joyce Garber Gamse, Arlington | 2022-07-22T22:29:21Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Please don’t change the Library of Congress’s glorious Reading Room - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/22/please-dont-change-library-congresss-glorious-reading-room/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/22/please-dont-change-library-congresss-glorious-reading-room/ |
Shawn O'Donnell at the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro. (Courtesy of Mary O'Donnell) (Courtesy of Mary O'Donnell)
I read with concern the July 22 Metro article “Woman riding bicycle to work dies after being struck by truck,” about the death of Shawn O’Donnell in a traffic incident in Foggy Bottom. The avoidable death of a cyclist is upsetting enough, but I was also confused and dismayed by the language from the police department’s news release on the incident suggesting that Ms. O’Donnell “attempted to ride ahead of” a truck making a right turn.
This incident might be described as occurring when the driver failed to check before turning. This odd, victim-blaming language was echoed in the police department’s release on the July 15 death of Michael Gordon, who was struck and killed by a dump truck in Shaw. That release noted that the truck, proceeding north on Seventh Street, had a green light when it made a right turn onto Rhode Island Avenue and struck Mr. Gordon in the crosswalk. The green light for northbound traffic on Seventh Street, of course, does not relieve the driver of the obligation to ensure that the crosswalk is clear before making a turn. Pedestrian traffic in the crosswalk would have a “walk” sign. This odd point of emphasis was compounded by the release’s inversion of the most logical description of the incident, in characterizing Mr. Gordon as having “struck the passenger side of the dump truck.”
My concern is that these questionable communications choices are not merely semantic but are reflective of an official police attitude toward traffic issues that goes a long way toward explaining why walking and bicycling in D.C. are so unsafe.
Quentin Buckholz, Washington | 2022-07-22T22:29:33Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Don’t shift the blame for bicyclist deaths - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/22/shifting-blame-bicyclist-deaths/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/22/shifting-blame-bicyclist-deaths/ |
‘They are Marines, period.’
Lt. Gen. Michael E. Langley in the Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on July 18. (Louie Palu/Agence VU for The Washington Post) (Louie Palu/ Agence VU/FTWP)
Regarding the July 21 news article “A historic nominee to lead U.S. Africa Command”:
Reflecting on Lt. Gen. Michael E. Langley’s nomination to become the first African American four-star Marine general made me think of the debt all Americans owe to the Montford Point Marines, the first official Black Americans to serve in the Marine Corps. They entered the lily-white Marines only in mid-1942, more than a year after Marine Corps Commandant Maj. Gen. Thomas Holcomb defiantly declared: “If it were a question of having a Marine Corps of 5,000 whites or 250,000 Negroes, I would rather have the whites.”
Although they weren’t deployed to fight on the front lines, they performed the essential duty of offloading ammunition and munitions from landing craft to the beaches and then farther inland. After demonstrating their bravery on Saipan and Guam while performing their tasks under fierce enemy shelling, Lt. Gen. Alexander Vandegrift, Holcomb’s replacement, stated that “the Negro Marines are no longer on trial. They are Marines, period.”
I’m hoping that the surviving Montford Point Marines will be invited to witness the product of their groundbreaking service when a fourth star is placed on Lt. Gen. Langley’s uniform.
Paul L. Newman, Merion Station, Pa. | 2022-07-22T22:29:39Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | ‘They are Marines, period.’ - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/22/they-are-marines-period/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/22/they-are-marines-period/ |
We have a lot to learn from emus
Regarding the July 20 Style article “Emmanuel the emu may not care about his celebrity. But the internet does.”:
Emus are feathered dinosaurs that have existed in their present form for at least 2 million years. In contrast, anatomically modern humans have existed for only about 160,000 years. Emus have survived two brushes with extinction because of humans and are currently confronting the existential threat of climate change. Probably, they will survive us. Certainly, their collective dignity is undiminished by human mockery, despite the antics of humans who laugh at the frantic behavior of traumatized captives such as Emmanuel and the emus misused by Liberty Mutual for its commercials.
We could learn a lot from emus, whose flexibility, persistence and cooperative culture have helped them to flourish despite changing circumstances, including a war in which Australian farmers used machine guns to try to drive them from their homelands. To this day, they have not ceded those lands. Nor have they consented to be held perpetually captive and forcibly bred for human amusement and profit. Their captors cannot speak for them.
Before it’s too late, let’s respect and learn from emus and other nonhuman elders who may know things about the world that we cannot yet see. Let’s have empathy, too, and release the captives to sanctuaries or the wild.
Pattrice Jones, Springfield, Vt.
The writer is coordinator of VINE Sanctuary, a multispecies community that includes emus. | 2022-07-22T22:29:51Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | We have a lot to learn from emus - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/22/we-have-lot-learn-emus/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/22/we-have-lot-learn-emus/ |
Here’s a workaround for Manchin’s intransigence on climate
A lone horse stands in a field on July 20 in Chivington, Colo., where temperatures reached 97 degrees. (Joshua Lott/The Washington Post)
Regarding the July 19 front-page article “U.S. heads for default on climate promise”:
Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) again has demonstrated that he is unwilling to advance the needle on needed environmental protection measures. It is a useless exercise to speculate about his motives. His stance harms a large share of the American people, will cause severe harm to the U.S. economy and further damages our reputation as good global citizens.
According to a 2019 study by the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program, 15 Republican states will suffer a disproportionate amount of the harm caused by climate change this century. It would seem logical for President Biden and the Democratic Senate leadership to reach out to Republican senators from those states and find one or more who would obviate the need to gain the support of Mr. Manchin. If the price was to earmark funds to projects located in such states, it would be a small price to pay and probably welcome by those senators’ constituents.
Ethan S. Burger, Chevy Chase
Halving emissions by 2030 is what climate scientists and the United Nations say will limit the most serious effects of climate change. The Biden administration committed to this goal, going further than any previous administration. Federal policymaking is an important tool, but other paths are also described.
The consensus of many recent articles seems to suggest the United States cannot meet its climate goals without congressional action. “Subnational” actors, such as states and cities — so far, 4,500 subnational actors from 92 countries, including about 1,000 cities and hundreds of multinational corporations and educational institutions — have committed to achieve 50 percent reductions by 2030. The D.C. Council recently passed aggressive climate policies.
Subnational actors play a role in ensuring countries stay on track with their climate goals. Occupying only 2 percent of the world’s land mass, cities consume 78 percent of the world’s energy and produce more than 60 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. By 2030, that number will increase as total urban population is expected to grow rapidly.
This is not to say we don’t still need leadership from Congress. But before we convince large percentages of the public that the failure of one policy negotiation process means “humanity is doomed,” let’s think more about all the local and state levers we have yet to pull. Optimism is essential to build public support for policymaking at any level and we desperately need more optimism in climate advocacy. We have eight more years to reach our next critical decarbonization benchmark. Let’s support the efforts of subnational actors filling the gap as we wait for federal policy that will inevitably come.
Charles “Will” Hackman, Arlington | 2022-07-22T22:29:57Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Here’s a workaround for Manchin’s intransigence on climate - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/22/workaround-manchins-intransigence-climate/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/22/workaround-manchins-intransigence-climate/ |
Footage released of police fatally shooting man at Va. shopping center
The footage appears to show the man raising his hand, holding a gun, shortly before officers shoot and kill him
Fairfax County police shot and killed a man in a parking lot at Springfield Town Center in June. (Clarence Williams/The Washington Post)
Fairfax County police on Friday released body-camera footage that appears to show a man raising his hand, holding a gun, soon before officers shot and killed him last month in the parking lot of the Springfield Town Center.
Officials played the footage at a news conference, as they revealed more details of the encounter that ended when officers fatally shot 37-year-old Christian Parker.
Efforts to reach relatives of Parker on Friday were not successful.
Police have said previously the incident began when police tracked Parker, who was wanted for an earlier incident involving a gun, to the shopping center parking lot.
In the footage, Parker approaches his vehicle and appears to bend over to search the left rear tire. One police cruiser drives up to Parker’s vehicle from behind, while a second pulls in front. Parker then retreats into his vehicle, and the footage shows Parker raising his right hand, holding what appears to be a gun, though not seeming to point at anyone in particular.
Officers tell him at least 20 times to show his hands and drop his gun, according to the footage.
Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis defended his officers, saying that they made the right decisions under the circumstances. He noted that the incident took place in a crowded shopping center parking lot with many civilians nearby.
“Thankfully no civilians were hurt, but if we would have tactically repositioned ourselves, it would’ve afforded him an opportunity to do a number of things that would’ve been very dangerous to the community at large,” Davis said, noting that officers did not want Parker to flee.
“We don’t want to get in a situation where we’re chasing someone in a car because exponentially, more people are in danger,” he said.
According to police, Fairfax County officers had responded days earlier to a home in Reston, where Parker stole his brother’s firearm and pointed the weapon at a relative. Police said Parker then fired the gun, a Glock 30, inside the home.
Officials said that police obtained an arrest warrant for Parker.
On June 30, police said, detectives learned that Parker was in the area of the Springfield Town Center and notified officers from the Summer Crime Initiative Team. Police said those officers found Parker’s car and waited until Parker returned to his vehicle.
According to police, an officer observed Parker swing the gun from side to side, with the barrel pointing in the direction of the officers. Two of the three officers fired eight shots, and Parker was hit six times, police said. After firing, officers continued to demand that Parker show his hands, the video shows.
According to police, officers requested a rescue squad within 12 seconds of shots being fired. More officers arrived later. One approached from the passenger side and said that Parker was down, but they could not see a gun, the video shows.
Officials said that police, unable to determine if Parker still had the firearm in his hand, broke the driver’s side front window, and removed Parker and provided medical aid. In the video, officers can be heard saying they cannot see Parker’s hands, but that he is slumped over in his seat.
Police recovered a gun from inside his silver Volvo. Davis said that the firearm was the one that Parker had stolen days earlier.
Davis said that this is the fourth officer-involved shooting of 2022 with Fairfax Police. The department had only one in 2021.
“We were interacting with a man who was armed with a gun, and in spite of at least 30 demands to drop the gun, he never did and we’re never going to know why,” Davis said. “The officers were faced with a very dangerous situation — one that they couldn’t turn and run from.”
He added: “The fact that his life is lost as a result of it is profoundly sad.”
Davis said that Parker’s family viewed the body-camera footage on Thursday. He said the two officers who fired their weapons are on an amended duty status while the investigation is ongoing. | 2022-07-22T22:45:56Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Footage released of police shooting man at Springfield Town Center - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/22/body-camera-footage-springfield-shooting/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/22/body-camera-footage-springfield-shooting/ |
Records in Fairfax double homicide must be released, judge orders
The home in Reston, Va., where a teen was charged in 2017 with the killing of his girlfriend's parents. (Cal Cary for The Washington Post)
A Fairfax County judge ruled Friday that court filings and evidence introduced in a sprawling double-slaying case must be open to the public, denying requests from prosecutors and the defendant’s attorney to keep them secret.
Fairfax Circuit Judge Brett A. Kassabian ruled in favor of The Washington Post and the Associated Press, which requested the release of the material, arguing that court records are presumed to be public under the First Amendment and Virginia law and that secrecy was not justified. Prosecutors and the public defender’s office had argued that the release of the records could jeopardize the integrity of the proceedings.
The records involve the case of Nicholas Giampa, who was indicted on murder charges in the shooting and killing of his girlfriend’s mother, Buckley Kuhn-Fricker, 43, and stepfather, Scott Fricker, 48, inside their Reston home shortly before Christmas in 2017.
Police say Giampa, who was 17 years old at the time, then shot himself in the head. He survived and is being tried as an adult. His public defender, Dawn Butorac, said in court Friday that the trial may not begin until mid-2023.
Giampa had dated Kuhn-Fricker’s then-16-year-old daughter and attended class with her at a school for teens with emotional and learning issues. He has been diagnosed with autism, Butorac said.
Va. teen accused of killing girlfriend’s parents to be tried as an adult
Before the shooting, Kuhn-Fricker had emailed the principal of the Fairfax County private school that her daughter and Giampa attended. The email included numerous images from a social media account linked to Giampa that had retweeted messages praising Hitler, supporting Nazi book burnings, calling for a “white revolution” and making derogatory comments about Jews and gay people.
Other tweets embraced the Atomwaffen Division, a paramilitary neo-Nazi group whose members have been linked to a handful of killings and consider Charles Manson a hero.
Janet Kuhn, Kuhn-Fricker’s mother, previously told The Post that her daughter told her she believed the boyfriend was trying to indoctrinate the girl with white-supremacist ideas. Before the shooting, the girl’s family staged an intervention and prevailed on her to break up with Giampa.
Members of Giampa’s family previously told The Post that they did not believe he was a racist and instead posted the tweets to provoke people online. They said he struggled with isolation and depression.
Butorac argued Friday that allowing members of the press and public to review the arguments submitted in writing and the evidence introduced so far in the case would “impact” Giampa’s chances of receiving a fair trial. She criticized all the news articles published about her client over the last four years and said it was false to describe Giampa as a “neo-Nazi,” arguing that news organizations were using the term for online clicks.
A teen is charged with killing his girlfriend’s parents. They had worried he was a neo-Nazi.
The fatal double-shooting received national attention in 2017, coming around the time of the deadly white-supremacist rally in Charlottesville.
Assistant Commonwealth Attorney Lyle Burnham II also argued to keep the court records secret.
“This case involves a lot of records,” the prosecutor said, adding that it was “not appropriate to have that be spread everywhere.”
The Post and the AP were represented by Robert G. Scott Jr. of the law firm Davis Wright Tremaine, who argued that the “breathtaking” secrecy being requested was not warranted under state and federal law.
Kassabian initially blocked access to almost all the records without having issued an order to seal. The Post requested to review the documents this month. The judge at first decided to release only the indictment and signed court orders, barring all the evidence that had been introduced and all filings from the prosecution and defense.
After The Post made repeated inquiries, the judge invited the prosecutors and defense to file a motion to seal. They did, and he denied their request Friday, ruling that the press and the public had a right to inspect the documents and evidence introduced. The attorneys in the case may appeal the ruling.
“We are pleased the court has upheld the public’s right of access to court records,” a spokeswoman for The Post said in a statement Friday.
One appeal already is underway and delaying Giampa’s trial start date. Kassabian this month ruled to suppress a statement Giampa made, and prosecutors are appealing that ruling. Butorac argued Friday that police had “violated his constitutional rights.” The content of Giampa’s statement is not public.
Separately, the judge denied a request from Butorac on Friday to release Giampa to the custody of his mother while he awaits his trial.
Kassabian said Giampa would pose a danger to the community if released and noted that the attack he is accused of carrying out included an “execution-type kill shot to the back of the head.” | 2022-07-22T22:46:03Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Case records in Fairfax double homicide can be released, judge rules - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/22/giampa-records-release-fairfax/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/22/giampa-records-release-fairfax/ |
ISTANBUL — Ships full of Ukrainian wheat and other food may be safely sailing across the Black Sea in the next few weeks after Ukraine and Russia signed a U.N. export deal. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has driven up food prices around the world and overloaded silos of grain stuck in Ukraine. The two countries signed separate export deals with the U.N. and Turkey. A joint monitoring group will be set up in Turkey to run the operation and both sides pledged not to attack the cargo ships. The U.N. chief called the deal “a beacon of hope” that will help millions of hungry people but Ukraine’s foreign minister expressed caution, saying he still did not trust Russia.
FARNBOROUGH, England — Movie fighter pilots are depicted as highly trained military aviators with the skills and experience to defeat adversaries in thrilling aerial dogfights. New technologies, though, are set to redefine what it means to be a “Top Gun.” Algorithms, data and machines are taking on a bigger role in the cockpit. Such changes are hinted at in the movie “Top Gun: Maverick.” The future for fighter pilots was on display this week at the Farnborough International Airshow, near London. Drones have been used extensively in the war between Russia and Ukraine and other modern conflicts. At the Farnborough show, experts said the future of air warfare is likely to be manned and unmanned aircraft working together.
NEW YORK — Wall Street gave back some of its strong gains from the week on Friday following discouraging readings on the global economy and another slew of profit reports from big U.S. companies. The S&P 500 lost nearly 1%, ending a three-day rally that had carried it back to its highest level since early June. The Nasdaq led the market lower with a drop of almost 2% following weaker-than-expected profit reports from tech-oriented companies. The Dow Jones Industrial Average held up better, in large part because constituent American Express gave an encouraging earnings report. Treasury yields slumped.
NEW YORK — The top policy and communications executive at Amazon and a one-time White House spokesman has been named the head of policy at Airbnb. It is just the latest high-profile departure for Amazon. It comes as the e-commerce giant is facing a shifting consumer landscape and heightened regulatory scrutiny. Jay Carney served as the press secretary for President Barack Obama. Airbnb said Friday that he will join its executive team and work with co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky. Earlier this month, the chief executive of Amazon’s consumer business who built the company’s massive warehouse operation left the company after 23 years. Two of Amazon’s senior Black leaders also left the company last month.
DETROIT — Clogged oil ports, electrical shorts and leaks of brake fluid are only some of the safety problems that have caused multiple fires and forced Hyundai and Kia to recall millions of vehicles in the past seven years. Now, Hyundai, the larger of the two affiliated Korean automakers, has promoted its North American safety chief to global status — an implicit acknowledgment by the company that it needs to address safety in a more robust way. The executive, Brian Latouf, who joined Hyundai in 2019 after 27 years at General Motors, says he will focus on data analysis and testing to detect problems earlier and fix them.
BERLIN — The German government will take a roughly 30% stake in energy supplier Uniper as part of a rescue package prompted by surging prices for natural gas and reduced Russian deliveries. Uniper, which has been Germany’s biggest importer of Russian gas, asked for a bailout two weeks ago. The rescue package announced Friday will result in higher prices for consumers. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says a levy for gas customers will start in September or October that could add up to 200 to 300 euros per year to the bill for a family of four. Uniper says a sharp reduction in Russian gas in recent weeks has forced it to buy substitute supplies at significantly higher prices.
VIENNA — Volkswagen has announced that the CEO of the German automaker is stepping down. The company said Friday that Herbert Diess will depart as of Sept. 1 “by mutual consent” with the board. His contract was set to expire in 2025. Diess presided over the automaker at a time of significant change in the industry, including a shift toward producing more electric vehicles. Oliver Blume, who is now CEO of Porsche, will succeed Diess. | 2022-07-22T22:50:17Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Business Highlights: Grain deal, tech stock slump - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/business-highlights-grain-deal-tech-stock-slump/2022/07/22/407819ba-0a0c-11ed-80b6-43f2bfcc6662_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/business-highlights-grain-deal-tech-stock-slump/2022/07/22/407819ba-0a0c-11ed-80b6-43f2bfcc6662_story.html |
Jaime Flores Gutierrez, a Telmex worker, joins an indefinite strike by unionized workers for better working conditions outside the Mexican telecommunications company headquarters in Mexico City, Friday, July 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)
MEXICO CITY — About 30,000 workers at Mexico’s largest fixed-line telephone and internet company agreed to go back to work Friday while the government mediates a dispute over wages, pensions and benefits. | 2022-07-22T22:50:42Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Mexican telephone union back to work, government to mediate - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/mexican-telephone-union-back-to-work-government-to-mediate/2022/07/22/70dbb812-0a09-11ed-80b6-43f2bfcc6662_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/mexican-telephone-union-back-to-work-government-to-mediate/2022/07/22/70dbb812-0a09-11ed-80b6-43f2bfcc6662_story.html |
By Dana Hull and Gerry Smith | Bloomberg
Vince McMahon Photographer: Ethan Miller/Getty Images (Photographer: Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Wrestling promoter Vince McMahon, under investigation by his board for misconduct, announced Friday that he’s retiring.
The company will be run by his daughter, Chairwoman and Co-CEO Stephanie McMahon, and Co-CEO Nick Khan, according to a statement. McMahon, who remains the company’s controlling shareholder, said he’ll continue to support WWE in any way he can.
The 76-year-old World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. executive was being investigated by his board for agreements to pay $12 million over the past 16 years to settle allegations of sexual misconduct and infidelity. The internal probe was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. McMahon stepped back from his role as chief executive officer in June.
“It’s been a privilege to help WWE bring you joy, inspire you, thrill you, surprise you, and always entertain you,” McMahon said in the statement. “I would like to thank my family for mightily contributing to our success.”
The settlements included $7.5 million to a former wrestler who said McMahon coerced her into giving him oral sex and then demoted her, the newspaper reported.
McMahon remained on top of his world for decades despite multiple controversies. Few entrepreneurs are as closely associated with a single company as McMahon was with WWE.
The barrel-chested entrepreneur was born into the professional wrestling business. His father, Vincent J. McMahon, was a boxing and wrestling promoter, focused mainly in the US Northeast. The younger Vince grew up in North Carolina and didn’t meet his dad until he was 12.
McMahon jumped into the business, though, and ended up buying it from his father in 1982. He upended the regional fiefdoms held by local promoters that had dominated the sport in the past, building a national touring program and putting WWE matches on national TV.
Along the way he developed, or stole from other promoters, new stars like Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold Steve Austin and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. McMahon dabbled in other businesses, including the XFL football league, but mostly stuck to wrestling. He appeared regularly in the ring, announcing matches and cavorting with the wrestlers.
It was, and remains, a family business. McMahon’s wife, Linda, who ran the Small Business Administration under President Donald Trump, served as president and CEO for a time. Their son, Shane, was paid $1.3 million as a performer last year, and Stephanie’s husband, Paul “Triple H” Levesque, is an executive responsible for talent relations.
Still, the company faces challenges, including the departures of wrestlers, weaker TV ratings, the pandemic eating into live events, and competition from an upstart league, All Elite Wrestling.
Perennially mentioned as a takeover target, any sale would entirely be up to McMahon. He owns 92% of the WWE’s Class B common stock, which has 10 votes for every share.
The shares were little changed in extended trading after the announcement. They closed Friday at $66.22 in New York, up 0.6%, and have gained 34% this year.
(Updates with history of the business in seventh paragraph.) | 2022-07-22T22:50:48Z | www.washingtonpost.com | WWE’s Vince McMahon Retires Amid Misconduct Allegations - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/on-small-business/wwes-vince-mcmahon-retires-amid-misconduct-allegations/2022/07/22/8059e86e-0a03-11ed-80b6-43f2bfcc6662_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/on-small-business/wwes-vince-mcmahon-retires-amid-misconduct-allegations/2022/07/22/8059e86e-0a03-11ed-80b6-43f2bfcc6662_story.html |
Comedian Dave Chappelle greets the audience before receiving the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the Kennedy Center in Washington on Oct. 27, 2019. (Yuri Gripas/Reuters)
Comedian Dave Chappelle was scheduled to perform in Minneapolis on Wednesday night, but just hours beforehand the venue canceled the appearance.
“We believe in diverse voices and the freedom of artistic expression,” it wrote in a statement announcing the decision, “but in honoring that, we lost sight of the impact this would have.”
The wording is vague but the reference is clear. Chappelle has drawn strong criticism in recent months for repeatedly making transgender people the punchlines of his jokes. Apparently concerned about appearing to endorse Chappelle’s view, the venue canceled.
By now, any venue engaging in such a cancellation will be aware of what is likely to follow: the decision being cast as a “cancellation,” a term used pejoratively to criticize incidents in which individuals or groups face repercussions for things they have said or done. Sometimes those repercussions are overblown and dubious. Often, with a little digging, it’s obvious that they are not.
Sure enough, the expected voices, mostly on the political right, cast Chappelle as the latest victim of “wokeism” — the pejorative term often used to describe those drawing attention to things people have said or done. Others wondered whether this might have a chilling effect on entertainers broadly.
That this involves Dave Chappelle, a well-known entertainer, almost necessarily means that it will generate a lot of attention and consideration. We like to ruminate over things to which we have a personal attachment, and most Americans probably have at least some familiarity with Chappelle, if not an opinion of him. So we tend to wonder: What does this mean?
The challenge is that this tendency can make it too easy to overstate what it means. If anything, the pattern this year has been an encroachment on the voices of non-majority groups, not on those of the powerful. But scores of anonymous individuals being shut down — including by government actors — attracts far less attention than one popular comedian having a door closed in his face.
So as we consider the Chappelle incident, it’s useful to also consider a number of lower-profile occurrences that either restricted speech or posed a threat to non-majority groups like the one that’s been the target of Chappelle’s jokes. Everything in the following three paragraphs occurred in 2022, except where otherwise noted.
Employees of Hartford Public Schools were targeted with threats after a school nurse gained national media attention for being suspended for comments about transgender students. A school district in Wisconsin canceled in-person classes for the year and its graduation ceremony after bomb threats against the school and employees. The threats followed national media covering an incident in which students faced investigation for transphobic comments. A man who faced charges for threatening Merriam-Webster over its definitions of gender had also threatened to “shoot up” a state school board meeting in Wisconsin “for promoting the horrific, radical transgender agenda.” Texas implemented a law in which parents of trans children could be investigated for child abuse. In Alabama, the governor signed a law banning transition care.
The mayor of a town in Mississippi threatened to pull funding from the town library for providing LGBTQ material. A public official in North Carolina made a similar threat. Libraries removed pride displays under pressure in South Carolina and Utah. The library in Vinton, Iowa, was forced to close after its director — the third in two years — resigned following a pressure campaign that included objections to LGBTQ books and ones by Jill Biden and Kamala D. Harris. The American Library Association felt compelled to release a statement condemning “the alarming increase in acts of aggression toward library workers and patrons.” Florida passed a law banning books in school libraries or on reading lists that are “inappropriate” for students’ grade levels and that allows parents to lodge objections to included books. From July 1, 2021, through March, PEN America counted 1,586 instances of efforts to ban books in the United States.
Members of the right-wing extremist group Proud Boys, at times armed, interrupted drag queen story hour events in California, Nevada and Texas. Members also attempted to storm a bar near Sacramento where a drag show had been planned but was canceled because of threats of violence. A drag queen story hour event in North Carolina was canceled after a series of threats. A drag queen story time event at a library in Connecticut was moved after workers received emails including anti-gay language and comments interpreted as threats. A gay state senator in California was a target of bomb threats that accused him of being a “groomer.” The openly gay mayor of a town in Oklahoma resigned after facing repeated threats. Thirty-one members of a white supremacist group were arrested in Idaho before they could start a riot at a pride parade. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed a bill restricting discussion of same-sex relationships in schools and his state promoted a civics initiative with overtly right-wing interpretations of foundational events and that played down slavery. Fifty-seven Black churches and historically Black colleges and universities were targeted with bomb threats.
Dave Chappelle’s show in Minneapolis on Wednesday, incidentally, was moved to a new venue the same evening. Tickets are still available for his other upcoming shows. | 2022-07-22T22:51:42Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Useful context for the cancellation of a Dave Chappelle performance - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/22/useful-context-cancellation-dave-chappelle-performance/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/22/useful-context-cancellation-dave-chappelle-performance/ |
As politics poison churches, a nonprofit teaches deep listening
Eyal Rabinovitch, co-executive director of Resetting the Table, third from right, facilitates a discussion during a Resetting the Table event in 2020. (Resetting the Table)
Nine United Methodist pastors from South Carolina with differing political views met online with a facilitator recently to learn a set of techniques for talking about such polarizing political differences.
The sessions were meant to teach them how to actively listen and demonstrate understanding.
As each pastor spoke about his or her views on the topic, their peers took turns reflecting back on what they said in a practice meant to help the pastor feel understood.
It was harder than many in the group thought.
One pastor, trying to restate a colleague’s view, remembered a small detail not relevant to the larger point. Another did what many pastors do — she added her own homiletic gloss to the argument. Yet another pastor admitted he stopped listening to the details of his fellow pastor’s position because he was already trying to formulate his own response.
Polarization is dividing American society, not only politically but socially, geographically, ideologically and religiously. Distrust, contempt, even enmity are rising. United Methodists are splitting over the ordination and marriage of LGBTQ people. Jews are divided on their views of Israel. Evangelicals are torn about coronavirus restrictions, vaccines, critical race theory or whether the 2020 election was stolen.
Resetting the Table, a 8-year-old organization dedicated to creating meaningful dialogue across political divides, is trying to engage clergy and congregations — among other groups — in more productive discussions.
The group is under no illusions that it can resolve conflict or foster agreement. Its training sessions do not attempt to produce consensus or even find common ground. There’s no expectation that participants might walk away thinking differently about an issue.
Rather, the techniques they teach are meant to allow people with deep differences to see each other in all their humanity.
“Listening to those who disagree with us is part and parcel of what it means to listen for God’s voice,” said Rabbi Melissa Weintraub, founding co-director of Resetting the Table. “We need to investigate our differences courageously.”
The organization has so far trained some 43,000 people in a carefully structured process that allows participants to listen, speak and challenge each other respectfully. With funding from Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw’s Hearthland Foundation, it works not only with clergy and congregations but also with entertainment industry workers, journalists and care professionals. But its work among religious groups is especially critical because those communities are among the last places where people with differing worldviews gather together.
Weintraub has become an expert on disagreement. As she was finishing her rabbinical degree from Jewish Theological Seminary, she co-founded Encounter, a Jewish organization that takes U.S. Jews on trips to Bethlehem, East Jerusalem and Ramallah to meet with Palestinians and better understand the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
Resetting the Table, her newest venture, does much of its work in Jewish settings. But with a staff of 11 and a network of facilitators, it has expanded its training to include clergy from other faith traditions, mostly Christian. (A short documentary about the group’s work in rural communities in Wisconsin and Iowa, shows how the process works.)
The Rev. Robin Dease, pastor of St. Andrew by the Sea in Hilton Head, South Carolina, and a former district superintendent in the state’s United Methodist Conference, said the tensions she sees in her own denomination led her to propose the two sessions among her clergy colleagues.
United Methodists are in the process of splintering, Dease said, and people aren’t engaging with one another.
“People leave abruptly without any conversation, without gathering to delve into the issue: theologically, spiritually, exegetically and socially. We’re not having the conversation,” Dease said.
Dease, who also serves on the denomination’s social justice arm, the General Board of Church and Society, had heard about Resetting the Table and participated in an interfaith training session for clergy from Southeastern states earlier this year. After it concluded, she picked a group of fellow pastors — some liberal, some conservative — from her own denomination to deepen the practice.
An initial session last month asked the participants to talk about formative life experiences. It then asked the clergy to complete a survey about their beliefs, which the facilitator used to assess broad areas of disagreement. During the next session, people of differing views were matched in smaller groups.
Resetting the Table techniques are modeled after a practice known as “transformative mediation.” Unlike traditional mediation, which aims to resolve disputes by arriving at mutually acceptable solutions, transformative mediation seeks to give people skills to see and understand the other person’s point of view so they are more willing to relate to one other respectfully.
The idea, said Eyal Rabinovitch, with Weintraub a founding co-executive director of Resetting the Table, is to disarm conflict’s destructive powers.
“One of the greatest insights from the world of trauma therapy is that people are their most receptive selves when they are seen as they wish to be seen,” Rabinovitch said. “We want people to say, ‘Yes, that’s exactly me.’ That makes all the difference in producing receptivity. Lots of changes can happen in those moments.”
When differences emerge, participants are asked to slow down the conversation, pause their own reactions and listen carefully. They are urged to look for “signposts of meaning,” words or expressions that convey particular passions. They are then asked to relate back what they heard the speaker say and to ask if their rephrasing is accurate.
The training was powerful for a Lynchburg, Va., evangelical church that signed up 15 members to participate in a set of trainings in April. Mosaic, a small church that meets in a shopping center, had experienced disagreement over pandemic closures. Some members left. Others nursed grudges for the church’s willingness to follow government-issued mandates they felt were an infringement on their liberties.
“I was fascinated to learn that it was very easy for me on some issues to take a very set view and not have a generous interpretation of what the other individual believes,” said Ron Miller, a Mosaic Church elder who works as the online dean for the School of Government at Liberty University. “The idea of looking at the other side of the issue and interpreting it more generously is a game changer if we apply that as a daily discipline.”
Miller is now working with Resetting the Table to convene a training for Lynchburg clergy this fall. He thinks the practices might also be helpful for Liberty University employees, too.
Rabinovitch acknowledged that clergy with big public platforms and a following that hinges on their extreme positions are unlikely to want to participate because doing so requires a degree of vulnerability. But they say most people yearn to communicate better.
Jeff Nitz, an elder at Mosaic Church, said the work may well save society from an escalating cycle of mutual distrust.
“It’s about getting closer to your neighbor,” he said. “We’re not caricatures. We’re real people. You can’t have that if you’re not listening to the other.” | 2022-07-22T22:52:00Z | www.washingtonpost.com | As politics poison churches, a nonprofit teaches deep listening - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2022/07/22/politics-poison-churches-nonprofit-teaches-deep-listening/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2022/07/22/politics-poison-churches-nonprofit-teaches-deep-listening/ |
Trump, Pence stump for rival GOP gubernatorial hopefuls in Arizona events
Former vice president Mike Pence and his wife Karen Pence wave to the crowd with gubernatorial candidate Karrin Taylor Robson during her campaign event at TYR Tactical. (Patrick Breen/Arizona Republic)
PEORIA, Ariz. — Former vice president Mike Pence, appearing here on Friday afternoon at a campaign event for Republican gubernatorial hopeful Karrin Taylor Robson, told a crowd that “there are those who want to make this an election about the past,” a possible reference to his former boss’s preoccupation with the 2020 election results.
About 90 minutes north this evening, former president Donald Trump is scheduled to hold a rally for Taylor Robson’s opponent, Kari Lake, a local TV news anchor turned Make America Great Again allegiant who has spent the last year spreading the falsehood that the election two years ago was stolen.
Pence made no direct comments about the controversial election, instead railing about border security, inflation and blaming Democrats for the high price of gasoline. About 300 people attended the event, held at a tactical-equipment business in the northwestern suburb of Phoenix, which hosted Pence in 2020 for a campaign rally.
The campaign appearances by the two top Republicans in a critical swing state that narrowly picked President Biden over Trump in 2020, also foreshadowed a possible 2024 showdown as both Pence and Trump flirt with the idea of running for president. Advisors to the former president say he is considering announcing a campaign to reclaim the presidency this fall. Pence allies say he is likely to run, regardless of whether Trump runs.
The dueling events occurred in the aftermath of a prime-time hearing by the House committee investigating the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, when Trump supporters sought to stop Congress and Pence — in his role as president of the Senate — from accepting the election results. Thursday night’s hearing revealed the panic expressed by Pence’s security detail as they tried to safely move him away from the pro-Trump mob on the day of the insurrection.
As the angry rioters came within 40 feet of Pence, President Donald Trump was back in the White House watching it unfold on television, the committee showed. As his supporters ransacked the Capitol, Trump tweeted: “Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done.”
Deanna Glaser, 68, a Republican who worked in the mortgage industry before her retirement, said she would likely vote for Trump in 2024, but could “possibly” support Pence, even though she believes the former vice president could have done more to stop Congress from certifying Biden’s win.
“I don’t think he was informed or educated on what he could do,” Glaser said. “There were five states that asked to recall electors and he didn’t honor that.”
Glaser said she worked on the 2021 Arizona ballot review, in which the GOP-led state Senate ordered a review of 2.1 million ballots cast in Maricopa County in the aftermath of Trump’s loss. She is convinced the election was stolen from Trump.
There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud in Arizona or anywhere in the country that would have changed the outcome of the election.
Pence’s appearance could serve as a clarifying moment for undecided GOP voters and independent voters, who were crucial to statewide wins by Biden and Sen. Mark Kelly (D) in 2020. Taylor Robson’s campaign seems to have accepted that hardcore election deniers who are likely to support Trump, will, by extension, back Lake.
Pence took a swipe at Lake, a former Democrat. “Look, I’m always happy to welcome converts to the Republican Party, but Arizona Republicans don’t need a governor that supported Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton,” Pence said, drawing loud applause.
He only mentioned Trump by name when he praised Taylor Robson’s for having supported him and Trump. “I can tell you firsthand, no one worked harder for the Trump-Pence (ticket) in 2016 or in 2020 than Karen Taylor Robson,” Pence told the crowd.
Taylor Robson, who helped raise $1.3 million for both of Trump’s campaigns, has said the 2020 election “was absolutely not fair” but did not say it was rife with fraud.
The top-tier candidates in Arizona’s gubernatorial GOP primary carry political brands that are strikingly similar to the men who now support them, Pence and Trump.
Taylor Robson, who has traveled in influential political circles, has sought to move on from litigating the 2020 results, instead trying to press the message that she is a capable conservative who wants to improve the state’s economy, reduce the staggering rate of inflation, and deal with water-policy issues in the drought-stricken region.
But much of her message has been drowned out because of questions over 2020.
Lake, a former local anchor for Fox News, is a political outsider just like Trump. She quit her media job in 2021, launched an insurgent bid for governor, and quickly secured Trump’s endorsement. She speaks with the former president often and visits him at Mar-a-Lago.
Lake has waged a legal battle against state and county officials largely financed by election denier Mike Lindell, the chief executive of MyPillow, over the use of vote counting machines in the 2022 elections. She said during a recent TV debate that she would not have certified Biden’s win in Arizona, as Ducey did, and described Biden as an illegitimate president, saying he “lost the election and he shouldn’t be in the White House.”
She is already laying the groundwork to make claims of a rigged election should she lose her race. Taylor Robson has said she would accept the results of her election.
The winner of the Aug. 2 primary will face either Katie Hobbs, Arizona’s secretary of state, or Marco Lopez, who has worked in both the public and private sectors, who are running in the Democratic primary.
Attendees included a mix of local business leaders and owners, local elected leaders and state lawmakers, including Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers (R), who recently testified before the U.S. House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol about the pressure campaign exerted on him to help overturn Trump’s loss in Arizona.
The modest event contrasts against the one planned for Lake in the evening at an arena that hosts concert and sporting events. It’s expected to be a typical Trump rally with the president rehashing the 2020 election and bashing his enemies by name.
Gilbert Valenzuela, 81, a Republican retiree from Sun City, came out to see Pence, but remains a Trump fan. He is undecided on who he will vote for in the Arizona gubernatorial race — and on who he might vote for if both Pence and Trump run for president in 2024.
“I like Donald Trump, he did a lot of good things for the country and I don’t think he would have the problems we have now if he was president,” he said. He is willing to “toss aside” some of the former president’s controversial behavior and maybe vote for him again if he runs.
But he also doesn’t begrudge Pence’s actions on Jan. 6.
“I think that he did the right thing,” Valenzuela said. “I don’t think that he did anything wrong.” | 2022-07-22T22:58:59Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Trump, Pence campaign for rivals Karen Taylor Robson and Keri Lake in Arizona - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/22/trump-pence-arizona-taylor-robson-lake/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/22/trump-pence-arizona-taylor-robson-lake/ |
Capitol rioter who said she wanted to shoot Pelosi, and just won GOP primary, is headed to prison
Violent insurrectionists loyal to President Donald Trump storm the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
A Pennsylvania woman who entered the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot and later recorded herself saying she wanted to shoot House Speaker Nancy Pelosi “in the friggin brain” has been sentenced to 60 days behind bars.
Dawn Lee Bancroft, 59, of Doylestown was also sentenced to three years probation, 100 hours of community service and ordered to pay a restitution of $500.
Bancroft is among the 800-plus people who were arrested and charged with seizing the U.S. Capitol building to contest the presidential election results. Bancroft is among the almost 200 people who have been sentenced while others await trials and work out plea agreements.
Bancroft pleaded guilty last year to a misdemeanor charge of parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building. The maximum sentence for the charge carried six months of incarceration and up to $5,000 in fines.
Carina Laguzzi, Bancroft’s attorney, told The Washington Post that incarceration for the misdemeanor charge of trespassing is “overly punitive,” especially for people with no criminal history.
During Bancroft’s sentencing hearing Thursday, prosecutors argued that the government was fair considering she unlawfully entered the Capitol twice on Jan. 6 and her comments about Pelosi were made within earshot of an unwieldy crowd, CBS News congressional Correspondent Scott MacFarlane reported in a series of tweets.
The hearing focused heavily on the video Bancroft made and shared with a friend, who in turn alerted authorities. Bancroft, however, was never charged with making a threat.
Judge Emmet Sullivan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia told Bancroft her comments are not acceptable in a democratic society and stated that he felt sorry for her, CNN reported.
“The comments made by you on the steps of the Capitol in the presence of others ... they were reckless statements that people should be held accountable for,” he said, according to CNN. “How many others left there that day [thinking], ‘Hey, next time I come I’m going to bring my bullets for Nancy.’”
Bancroft told the court that she regretted her decisions, explaining that her gym lost its CrossFit affiliation since she was charged and that she and her adult children have often been harassed or threatened.
In May, Bancroft won a primary race to be the Republican candidate for committeeperson in Doylestown Borough’s second district.
Bucks County Republican Committee Chair Patricia K. Poprick told the Philadelphia Inquirer that she had never met Bancroft and that the group will probably “have to have a conversation with her” about her sentencing and committee role.
The committee didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The committee publicly condemned the actions of Jan. 6 rioters.
“We cannot allow violence to undermine the rule of law. While we can be passionate about our beliefs and engage in peaceful protest, we must not revert to violence,” the local GOP party tweeted on Jan. 6, 2021. | 2022-07-22T23:12:02Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Capitol rioter who threatened Pelosi sentenced for trespassing - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/07/22/jan6-capitol-pelosi-riot/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/07/22/jan6-capitol-pelosi-riot/ |
Police: Woman accused in hotel shooting claimed victim was child molester
A D.C. police vehicle at a crime scene. (Peter Hermann/TWP)
A woman told police she shot her husband in a room at the Mandarin Oriental hotel on Thursday in the District because she heard allegations he had molested children at a day-care center she runs outside Baltimore, according to an arrest affidavit filed in D.C. Superior Court.
Police in Baltimore County said they are aware of the allegations and are investigating. The shooting victim, who D.C. police said suffered wounds that did not appear to be life threatening, has not been charged in a crime. Authorities did not say if any of the claims regarding the day-care center have been substantiated or have merit.
The shooting in an 8th floor room at the luxury hotel in the 1300 block of Maryland Avenue SW, near the Tidal Basin, occurred about 7:40 p.m. and forced the evacuation of guests and staff when police said the victim’s wife refused to exit the room.
A standoff with heavily-armed tactical officers lasted about an hour before police said officers forced their way into the room and found the wounded man. Police said they arrested the victim’s wife and found a gun in her purse and another firearm in an unlocked safe.
Police charged Shanteari Weems, 50, of Randallstown, Md., with assault with intent to kill, assault with a dangerous weapon, possession of a firearm without a license and possession of unregistered firearm.
Police said the victim was recovering on Friday from bullet wounds to his head and leg.
Efforts to reach the shooting victim or a relative were not successful. A spokeswoman for the police department in Baltimore City confirmed the man had been a member of the police force who retired in 2005.
A D.C. Superior Court judge on Friday ordered Weems detained and set a hearing for Monday. An attorney listed for Weems in electronic court records did not respond to a request for comment on Friday.
The arrest affidavit says authorities were first alerted to the shooting when a smoke detector sounded in the room. A hotel staff member opened the door “and observed blood on the wall,” according to the affidavit.
Police were called but said when they got to the door the woman inside threatened to shoot herself if they entered. Police said they heard a male voice shout he had been shot.
A short time later, police said they forced their way into the room and took Weems into custody. Police said Weems told them she had been married to the shooting victim for five years. Police said she told them that children at the day care had recently told her they had been molested by him.
Weems told police, according to the affidavit, that she had reported the allegations to authorities. Police said they found a notebook with comments they said appeared to be about the shooting. One, according to the affidavit, read: “I’m going to shoot [victim], but not kill him.”
Weems also told police the shooting occurred during an argument over the allegations, according to the affidavit, and that she shot her husband after he stood up and started to move toward her. | 2022-07-23T00:17:18Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Woman accused of shooting husband at luxury D.C. hotel - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/22/hotel-mandarin-shooting-dc/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/22/hotel-mandarin-shooting-dc/ |
The videos show a man waving a gun in his extended hand, but do not show the fatal encounter
D.C. authorities on Friday made public videos that show a man pointing a gun along the crowded waterfront entertainment district a week ago but do not capture the moment when an off-duty police commander fatally shot him.
“That’s the best we had available,” Police Chief Robert J. Contee III said of the videos from two security cameras and body-cameras worn by two officers who were among the first to respond to the July 16 shooting on the Wharf in Southwest Washington.
The videos also capture frightening moments when patrons inside a restaurant where Cmdr. Jason Bagshaw and his wife had been eating dove to the floor — apparently having become aware of a disturbance on a promenade outside. Bagshaw, in civilian clothes and not equipped with a body camera because he was off-duty, can be seen outside running toward the commotion.
Police said in a statement that Bagshaw “observed an individual with a handgun in his hand, pointed at another person.” Police said they do not have a video that shows that critical moment.
The videos also do not explain why 23-year-old Lazarus David Wilson, whom Bagshaw shot and killed, was pointing a .45 caliber Glock handgun loaded with a dozen bullets with his right arm extended.
Police on Friday did answer one question lingering over the case: they said it appears Bagshaw, a 20-year veteran who commands the Special Operations Division, identified himself as an officer before firing a single round that struck Wilson. They did not say what the basis for that determination was.
Wilson’s mother has not responded to interview requests this past week; Wilson’s sister said only that the family viewed the videos on Thursday and had no other comment.
Bagshaw, through a police department spokesman, declined to comment, and Contee said Friday the commander has not made a statement to investigators. Under police policy, he cannot be compelled to do so during an ongoing investigation that will be reviewed by federal prosecutors.
The Washington Post identified Bagshaw the day after the shooting, but D.C. officials released his name Friday in accordance with a D.C. law that requires the disclosure within five business days of a serious use of force.
The commander has been singled out in the past by activist groups, who have questioned his conduct handling demonstrations, particularly those involving racial justice after the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis. At that time in 2020, Bagshaw was a lieutenant.
Contee promoted the officer to commander in April, and said he knew of no disciplinary measures related to past demonstrations. Earlier this week, Contee praised Bagshaw and his wife, who is also a D.C. police officer and tackled a man who had been with Wilson. The chief said they took decisive action to stop a potentially deadly shooting in an area teeming with visitors.
They “went toward the danger … and they took action,” the chief said. “I think it says they care a lot about the city. We’ve seen across this country mass shootings that have happened all over the place.”
In early accounts, police said it appeared Wilson, who lived Dumfries, Va., had come to D.C. with another Virginia man and got into a dispute with men from the city. One person involved told police Wilson and his friend were trying to buy watches; police said Wilson had a bag with $30,962 in cash.
A D.C. police report says two men from the District “produced firearms and demanded cash” from Wilson and his friend. The report, which police said relies on the account of a person involved in the encounter, says Wilson grabbed money from a bag and threw it on the ground. His friend then picked up the money and handed it to one of the armed men. The Virginia man said the gunmen then ran away.
Contee confirmed that version was initially told to detectives by the person involved in the encounter, but he cautioned that it may not be accurate. He said the ongoing investigation could reveal “something very different from what was told to us that night.”
Police said that during or after the confrontation with the men from D.C., it appears Wilson took out a gun and began waving it around as he walked along the Wharf area.
Video from inside Bistro Du Jour, which was made public by police, shows patrons diving under tables and to the ground. The video does not include audio, and it was not precisely clear what the patrons saw or heard.
Contee said Bagshaw and his wife were inside the bistro and ran out to investigate the commotion. A police spokesman said there is no video that shows Bagshaw confronting Wilson and shooting him. Police had initially said they thought Bagshaw fired twice, as they had a second person who appeared to have a graze wound. Police on Friday said Bagshaw fired once, and they are now not sure if the injuries to the other person came from a bullet.
Police video in fatal shooting at District's Wharf
The next two videos police released are from two officers who responded to the gunshot. They run up behind Bagshaw, who by this time is on his knees, his arms crossed and above his head.
At least one of the officers has his gun drawn on Bagshaw. That officer yells, “Man with a weapon. Drop the f---ing gun now.” He then yells, “Get on the f---ing ground.”
As the officers get closer, Bagshaw points toward where Wilson on the ground injured: “He had a gun,” he tells the officers.
The video also shows a person identified by Contee as Bagshaw’s wife after she tackled the man who had been with Wilson. She screams “police, police, police,” seemingly to warn officers she is law enforcement.
As she lies on top of the man, a male voice Contee identified as Bagshaw’s can be heard yelling “Comply. This is serious.” | 2022-07-23T00:17:24Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Police release videos in fatal shooting by D.C. officer at Wharf - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/22/police-shooting-wharf-videos-released/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/22/police-shooting-wharf-videos-released/ |
A finger of the Rio Grande flows near Albuquerque on Dec. 23, 2021. (Susan Montoya Bryan/AP)
A stretch of the Rio Grande near Albuquerque that supplies farmers with water and a habitat for an array of marine life is drying — an unsettling sighting of climate change’s effects in a populous U.S. city.
As the summer’s hotter and drier weather has fueled drought and fire throughout the West, federal and local agencies are salvaging what they can along a 100-mile section of the river: rationing the water for 66,000 acres of agricultural land and rescuing silvery minnows stranded in the remaining puddles of water. If the area doesn’t get consistent rain soon, the drought not matched in four decades could worsen.
They are also warning residents to prepare for the sight of a bed of mud and sand where one of the nation’s longest rivers should flow. While southern stretches of the river regularly dry out, this reach has not experienced a drought like this since 1983, said Jason Casuga, CEO of the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District.
“Most folks in Albuquerque who have lived here have grown up always seeing the river have water,” he told The Washington Post. “So it would be a real big surprise to wake up and go outside and look at the river and realize, hey there’s no water.”
After three consecutive years of extreme drought conditions, officials had feared a historic dry spell, but heavy rain in late June offered a brief respite. Still, an arid July and triple-digit temperatures scorched any hope. As of Thursday, more than 73 percent of New Mexico is under an “extreme” or “severe” drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
Casuga said that officials’ fears came true Friday when investigators arrived at the river and reported seeing the stretch of gravel and sand. Where water had pooled, authorities could measure water flow, which was historically weak.
“We’re pretty much out of water at this point,” Casuga said.
Aside from rain, the other options for water have been sapped, Casuga said. New Mexico is in debt to Texas as part of their water-sharing agreement. A reservoir at El Vado is not accessible this year because of a dam-building project. Other reserves upstream would not be able to help much this year because of weak snowpack and a lack of rain. Nearby Elephant Butte Lake is half full compared with just months ago.
In the meantime, the Bureau of Reclamation has released stored water to target specific areas where silvery minnows live, rehousing fish as well. The river is also home to the willow flycatcher and yellow-billed cuckoo.
The unusual sight of the river, a brown scab through the green swatch of cottonwood and willow trees, has shocked those who live along the river.
John Fleck, who is writing a book about the river, investigated after a friend reported imminent drying and described it as “a lovely puddly mess of mud.” | 2022-07-23T01:53:07Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Rio Grande runs dry in Albuquerque amid heat, drought conditions - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/07/22/rio-grande-drought/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/07/22/rio-grande-drought/ |
Friday was our fifth 90-degree day, but may have been a summer milepost
Our heat wave simmered its scorching way into a fifth consecutive day on Friday, to the surprise of few who knew of the forecasts, the month, the season and the city.
For all its virtues, Washington also has its heat waves, and records show this is the hottest period in the hottest month of summer, in a city that has a reputation for heat.
Friday’s high temperature came in at an official 95 degrees, our fifth straight day of 90 or above. It was just as hot as Thursday, a day that may have warned us that summer, after providing many a pleasant afternoon here was again up to its old tricks.
Each day, even in a heat wave, has its own distinctive characteristics. Friday, by its mere position on the calendar, may have been particularly distinctive.
For few days may have better suggested the bittersweet nature of summer than did Friday. It seemed a fit symbol of the perennial tension of the season.
On the one hand, summer offers luxuriantly long hours of bright daylight, seemingly ours to enjoy without a care or great concern.
On the other hand, summer can flaunt its torments during those long hours, with a punishing severity that sometimes makes us wish the season gone.
Friday, July 22, was one month and a day after the summer solstice, often seen as the official start of summer.
By Friday we had voyaged about one third of the way from the June 21 summer solstice to the Sept. 22 autumn equinox.
Our longest days fall around the solstice. Our July days are still long. But they have shortened by 26 minutes, reduced at either end enough for us to notice.
Significantly, for the first time in many days, Friday’s sunrise, according to the Time and Date website, occurred as late as 6 a.m. On Friday it occurred exactly at 6.
Moreover, according to the same site, only three days ago, for the first time in weeks, did the sun begin to set here before 8:30 p.m. It set Friday at 8:28.
Thus, for all of Friday’s heat, for all this season’s sometime stickiness, summer is showing subtle signs that its lease, as the poet once had it, may not be endless.
Yet, in the here and now, each day may ask to be considered not as a sign of a trend, but on its own. Thus we note that although both Thursday and Friday shared a 95-degree high, Friday may actually have been less harsh.
On Thursday, the heat stayed on all day, as the mercury never slipped below 79 degrees.
That is particularly unpleasant for anyone hoping that darkness might offer respite from the worst assaults of summer daylight.
On Friday, however, we could claim that perhaps conditions had actually relented a bit. Friday’s low of 76 degrees in the early morning hours may have fostered a bit better sleep.
It is possible, however, that such small distinctions as between Thursday and Friday will seem relatively meaningless on Saturday and Sunday.
Forecasts call for the swelter to be dialed up a notch, perhaps even as high as the three digit mark before the weekend ends. | 2022-07-23T02:40:52Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Friday was our fifth 90-degree day, but may have been a summer milepost - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/friday-our-5th-90-degree-day-in-a-row-may-have-been-a-summer-milepost/2022/07/22/4f2a9dee-0a15-11ed-9a88-9b2bc12f7753_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/friday-our-5th-90-degree-day-in-a-row-may-have-been-a-summer-milepost/2022/07/22/4f2a9dee-0a15-11ed-9a88-9b2bc12f7753_story.html |
Nationals begin the second half with a bevy of moves
Patrick Corbin got the start for the Nationals against his old team Friday night in Phoenix. (Rick Scuteri/AP)
PHOENIX — The Washington Nationals did not quite ease into the season’s second half Friday. Before taking the field against the Arizona Diamondbacks, they shuffled their bullpen, added two veterans on minor league contracts, signed much of their draft class and moved a number of players up and down their farm system.
Maybe the all-star break necessitated this reminder: There is still business aside from whether Juan Soto will be traded in the next two weeks. The show, as they say, must go on.
Ahead of a three-game series at Chase Field, the Nationals recalled reliever Hunter Harvey from Class AAA Rochester, reinstated reliever Victor Arano from the injured list and put Tyler Clippard, another reliever, on the 15-day IL with a groin strain. Harvey, optioned right before the all-star break, was able to be promoted again quickly because he replaced the injured Clippard. Arano’s roster spot was open after the Nationals optioned right-hander Cory Abbott on Sunday. Clippard, 37, made one appearance for the Nationals — throwing two scoreless innings — before he felt pain while warming July 16.
Then, away from Phoenix, the Nationals added two veterans via minor league free agency: outfielder David Dahl and right-hander Daniel Ponce de Leon. The club also formally announced a reunion with utility man Dee Strange-Gordon, who agreed to a minor league deal last weekend.
Dahl, 28 and a former top prospect for the Colorado Rockies, had recently hit well for the Nashville Sounds, the Class AAA affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. But seeking another opportunity in the majors, Dahl opted out of his contract this month. Between 2016 and 2019, he thrived for the Rockies while healthy. The problem, though, has been his ability to stay on the field. Following his rough 2020, which followed an all-star season in 2019, the Nationals were interested in Dahl before he signed a one-year deal with Texas. He then struggled with the Rangers and was designated for assignment midseason.
Ponce de Leon, 30, made 57 appearances in parts of four seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals. This year, he had been with the Los Angeles Angels and Seattle, opting out of his deal with the Mariners this month. He logged a high ERA (7.95), strikeout rate (10.1 per nine innings) and walk rate (5.3 per nine) in 71⅓ innings with Class AAA Tacoma. His experience and versatility make him a decent fit as a depth arm. Ponce de Leon has been a starter and a multi-inning reliever and even pitched in some high-leverage spots for the Cardinals. All 16 of his appearances for the Rainiers were starts.
He and Dahl will begin their Nationals tenures with Rochester. Strange-Gordon was ramping up in West Palm Beach, Fla., at the team’s spring training facility and will join the Red Wings, too.
“[Dahl] was swinging the bat really well down at Triple-A,” said Manager Dave Martinez, nodding to Dahl’s .294 batting average, .357 on-base percentage and .468 slugging percentage with the Nashville Sounds. “We liked him in the past. The big thing with him is to keep him healthy. Hopefully he can go down there and swing the bat like he was swinging early on, and we’ll see what happens. You never have enough depth.”
On Friday afternoon, the low-hanging fruit was to call Dahl the eventual replacement for Soto. Ponce de Leon, similarly, could replace whoever replaces a reliever who’s shipped out at the Aug. 2 deadline. Planning to sell off or not, it doesn’t hurt to take some chances on the retread market and pad the system. The Nationals are expecting to need a few new players soon.
Which draft picks have the Nationals signed? First-round pick Elijah Green (outfielder, IMG Academy in Florida), second-round pick Jake Bennett (left-handed pitcher, Oklahoma), third-round pick Trey Lipscomb (third baseman, Tennessee), fourth-round pick Brenner Cox (outfielder, Rock Hill High in Texas), fifth-round pick Jared McKenzie (outfielder, Baylor), sixth-round pick Nate Ochoa (shortstop, Notre Dame Catholic High in Ontario), eighth-round pick Chance Huff (right-handed pitcher, Georgia Tech), ninth-round pick Maxwell Romero Jr. (catcher, Miami) and 10th-round pick Murphy Stehly (third baseman, Texas).
That leaves seventh-round pick Riley Cornelio (right-handed pitcher, TCU) as the only unsigned player among the Nationals’ top 10 picks. As of Friday night, Green’s signing bonus was not publicly known. The slot value for the No. 5 pick was $6,497,700. By signing Stehly for $10,000, per reports — well below the slot value of $154,800 — Washington saved money that it could spread to other selections.
Who moved around the system? Second baseman Darren Baker, infielder Omar Meregildo and catcher Israel Pineda were promoted to Class AA Harrisburg. First baseman Leandro Emiliani, infielder Junior Martina and right-hander Todd Peterson were promoted to high Class A Wilmington. First baseman Will Frizzell, infielder Paul Witt and right-hander Jose Atencio were promoted from the Florida Complex League to low Class A Fredericksburg. And to make room for Pineda in Harrisburg, catcher Drew Millas was reinstated from the injured list and sent to Wilmington. | 2022-07-23T03:06:58Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Nationals begin the second half with a bevy of moves - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/07/22/nationals-diamondbacks-all-star-break/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/07/22/nationals-diamondbacks-all-star-break/ |
The projected Democratic nominee for Maryland’s governor is a political newcomer whose high-profile endorsements helped him break through in a crowded field of established candidates
Maryland Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wes Moore. (Eric Lee for The Washington Post)
Political newcomer Wes Moore’s sparkling résumé, charisma and high-profile endorsements helped catapult him atop a crowded field of candidates with decades more experience.
Moore, 43, counts Oprah Winfrey and Spike Lee among his supporters, alongside powerhouses in Maryland’s Democratic establishment. The best-selling author and former chief of a large poverty-fighting nonprofit built the state’s best-funded campaign and captured the interest of voters concerned with gun violence, inequity, inflation and education.
He overcame questions about whether he failed to correct embellished details about his remarkable life story and appears to have sealed the Democratic nomination for governor.
With the Associated Press calling Moore the projected winner win late Friday, he will square off with Del. Dan Cox, a state lawmaker endorsed by former president Donald Trump, in a November election to succeed term-limited Gov. Larry Hogan (R) that will offer voters a dramatic choice.
Cox has objected to the certification of President Biden’s 2020 victory, wants to make abortion illegal, vigorously fought against coronavirus mitigation measures and wants to limit the role of government. Moore campaigned on helping people often overlooked, protecting abortion rights and healing a fractured society.
“As we wait for the final results, I know that together, we can chart a new path into a bold and better future for our state where we will leave no one behind,” Moore said Thursday on Twitter, as elections officials began counting the mail-in ballots that cemented his lead.
Cox projected to win Maryland’s GOP gubernatorial primary
Moore was locked in a tight contest at the end with former U.S. labor secretary Tom Perez.
On the trail, Moore, a combat veteran and former investment banker, often homed in on his background and what he calls his guiding life principle — that everyone deserves an equal opportunity to succeed, that “no one is left behind.”
U.S. Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D-Md.), one on a long list of supporters, said Moore and his running mate, former delegate Aruna Miller, commanded attention in an otherwise sleepy contest full of qualified candidates, inspiring “the young and old among us to believe again in things that are possible.”
He surged past established candidates such as Peter Franchot, a state comptroller who has held elected office almost as long as Moore has been alive, and Perez, who is entrenched and admired in national party politics. He consolidated support from the state’s heavy hitters, including U.S. House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, state Senate President Bill Ferguson, House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones and Prince George’s County Executive Angela D. Alsobrooks. He also won one of the biggest and most coveted labor endorsements, from the 76,000-strong state teachers union.
But he also has baggage. Almost since the beginning of his run, Moore has been dogged by questions about the compelling life story that launched him into public view.
He did not grow up on the tough streets of West Baltimore. He never won a Bronze Star. He’s not in the Maryland College Football Hall of Fame (which doesn’t exist, though he once was honored by a regional college football association).
Some discrepancies are rooted in the opening lines on the book jacket of his 2010 bestseller, “The Other Wes Moore”: “Two kids named Wes Moore were born blocks apart within a year of each other. Both grew up fatherless in similar Baltimore neighborhoods and had difficult childhoods; both hung out on street corners with their crews; both ran into trouble with the police.”
Moore said the error was made by his publisher, a mistake he asked it to correct and that his Democratic rivals seized on it to try to dampen his success. Republicans are expected to attack him on it.
Moore was 3 years old when his father died in front of him after he didn’t get the health care he needed for acute epiglottis. His widowed mother, an immigrant from Jamaica, moved him and his two sisters to the Bronx, where they lived with his grandparents, a minister and a longtime educator.
Moore takes pride in his story and noted in an interview that he and Miller, both children of immigrants, were the only ticket with legislative, executive, military and nonprofit experience. | 2022-07-23T03:20:01Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Who is Wes Moore, Maryland's projected Democratic gubernatorial nominee? - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/22/wes-moore-maryland-governor/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/22/wes-moore-maryland-governor/ |
Maryland Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wes Moore at a news conference in April. (Eric Lee/For The Washington Post)
Wes Moore, a best-selling author who garnered high-profile celebrity and political endorsements, is projected by the Associated Press to win the Democratic nomination for Maryland governor, setting up a battle between a state legislator who rallied the Make America Great Again base and a charismatic political newcomer who, if elected, would be the state’s first Black chief executive.
Moore beat two Obama Cabinet secretaries and another two candidates with multiple statewide wins to emerge from a crowded Democratic field.
Roughly two out of three Democrats picked someone else, and Moore will need to win them over. In November, Moore is poised to face off against Dan Cox, a freshman lawmaker backed by Donald Trump who claims that the 2020 presidential election was “stolen,” as he seeks to return the governor’s mansion to Democrats after two terms under Gov. Larry Hogan (R).
If elected in November, Moore, 43, a former nonprofit chief, would become only the third Black governor elected in the nation’s history. He galvanized the party’s base in the most diverse state on the East Coast with a message of equity and opportunity for all.
“I know a lot of people thought this was an improbable journey, but the reality of it is this … that our lives, for so many of us, have been an improbable journey,” Moore told a cheering crowd of supporters of different ages and races late Tuesday in Baltimore, as returns showed him leading the 10-person race. “I was almost 4 years old when my father died in front of me because he didn’t get the health care that he needed. … So much about all of our journeys is improbable.”
Moore’s lead cemented after elections officials across the state began tallying the hundreds of thousands of ballots cast by mail, lifting him over former U.S. labor secretary Tom Perez, Comptroller Peter Franchot, former U.S. education secretary John B. King Jr., former attorney general Douglas Gansler, and others.
Republicans are likely to seize on questions rivals raised during the Democratic campaign that Moore did not do enough to correct misperceptions about his compelling personal story.
In the end, the contest became a two-man race between Moore and Perez.
While others had more experience, more labor support or stronger backing from liberal groups, Moore had a bigger war chest, a coveted endorsement from the state’s powerful teachers union and the backing of almost all of the state’s top Democratic elected officials.
Mileah Kromer, a political science professor at Goucher College, said there is an “almost impossible path” to victory for Cox — who called Vice President Mike Pence a “traitor” on Jan. 6, 2021, on Twitter (he later expressed regret for his choice of words) — in a state where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by 2 to 1. Kromer, who conducts polling, said that none of the Goucher surveys show Trump as a popular figure among Democrats or independents in Maryland.
Kromer said Moore’s ability to raise money and assemble a coalition makes him “incredibly formidable. He would have been formidable even against Kelly Schulz,” a former member of Hogan’s Cabinet who was endorsed by the governor and defeated by Cox.
Moore’s supporters include Maryland insiders such as Rep. Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) and House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County), and wealthy outsiders like Spike Lee and Oprah Winfrey, who befriended Moore about a decade ago after the publication of his book “The Other Wes Moore.” Winfrey, who recorded radio and TV ads for Moore, was the special guest during a virtual fundraiser that brought in more than $100,000 in the final weeks of the campaign.
The historic prospect of Moore’s candidacy carries a shadow and a challenge: Only recently have Democrats nominated Black candidates to the governorship, and the last two have failed to win the job even as they captured more of the electorate.
Moore is the third Black candidate to win the Democratic nomination in the past three election cycles. Former lieutenant governor Anthony G. Brown lost to Hogan in 2014 and, in his bid for reelection, Hogan defeated former NAACP president Ben Jealous in 2018.
This spring, a prolific Democratic donor and state party official questioned the electability of Black gubernatorial candidates. In an email sent to party insiders to build support for Perez, Barbara Goldberg Goldman, then the state party’s deputy treasurer, wrote: “Consider this: Three African American males have run statewide for Governor and have lost. Maryland is not a Blue state. It’s a purple one. This is a fact we must not ignore.”
Goldberg Goldman resigned after the email became public.
Jealous has scoffed at the notion that Black candidates cannot win in Maryland statewide. Jealous won more than 1 million votes in his unsuccessful bid — a figure that probably would have resulted in a victory, he said, if his opponent wasn’t a popular incumbent.
After Cox’s win late Tuesday, the Cook Political Report, which assesses political races, reclassified the contest from “leans Democrat” to “solid Democrat.”
“The bottom line is the Republicans might have had a chance, but now this race is off the table for them,” said Jessica Taylor, an editor with Cook.
Cox is preparing for battle. On Thursday, he emailed a letter to supporters with the subject line: “Moore is LESS for Maryland.”
“Our governor refuses to support us, meaning we the People will need to work extra hard to ensure he and his friends do not hand our state over to the hard Left,” the email read.
Moore was on track to secure decisive victories in Baltimore City and Prince George’s and Baltimore counties, and to come in a distant second in Montgomery County, home to four of the top contenders.
During his year-long campaign, Moore, a Rhodes scholar, combat veteran and former investment banker, often homed in on his upbringing and the opportunities he was afforded, which informed “The Other Wes Moore,” the book that launched his national profile.
On the trail, he had to fend off allegations that he exaggerated his biography and failed to correct details about his life. An anonymous political dossier surfaced in the spring that accused Moore of falsely suggesting he was born in Baltimore and that he embellished the hardships he and his mother faced during his childhood.
Several published articles and interviewers over the years repeated incorrect details about Moore that for years went uncorrected. Moore denied that he ever misrepresented himself and in an interview charged his opponents with inflaming the issue to block his rise.
Some Democrats worried that Moore’s past would become ready-made ammunition for Republicans to use in a general election, dashing the party’s chances of winning.
Despite the questions, Moore’s candidacy continued to gain momentum with additional endorsements from elected officials and more money into his coffers.
Susie Turnbull, who was Jealous’s running mate for governor in 2018 and campaigned for Moore, summed up Moore’s appeal:
“In 2000, the question was: ‘Who do you want to have a beer with?’ ” she said. Now, “After all that all of us have gone through, it’s: ‘Who do you want to hug you?’ ”
Eva Herscowitz contributed to this report. | 2022-07-23T03:20:07Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Wes Moore wins Democratic nomination for Maryland governor - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/22/wes-moore-wins-maryland-governor-democratic/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/22/wes-moore-wins-maryland-governor-democratic/ |
She cuts nearly three-quarters of a second off her mark to drop it to 50.68
Sydney McLaughlin left no doubt Friday night. (Aleksandra Szmigiel/Reuters)
EUGENE, Ore. — On Wednesday evening, Edwin Moses meandered to the warmup track before the semifinals of the women’s 400-meter hurdles, the race that made him one of the most indomitable champions in track and field history. He watched Sydney McLaughlin walk across the track with a scowl on her face. “That gladiator look that I used to have,” Moses called it. Bobby Kersee, McLaughlin’s coach and his good friend, approached him.
“Bobby, your girl is doing really, really good,” Moses said.
“Hey, after chasing you down all those years, I learned a little something about the event,” Kersee replied.
Moses took the comment as a high compliment. Kersee once coached athletes who tried in vain to conquer Moses in the 1970s and 1980s as he won 122 consecutive 400-meter hurdles races over 10 years.
“He’s put everything he learned from training guys to beat me and put it into her,” Moses said. “She’s absorbed it all.”
After decades of searching, Kersee found an athlete who may someday challenge the achievements of Moses — or of any other runner who ever ties on a pair of track spikes. On Friday night at the world championships, McLaughlin radically reset the world record she has toyed with over the past year, separating herself even further from a pack that long lost sight of her.
At the start of 2021, no woman had run once around a track and over 10 hurdles in faster than 52 seconds. McLaughlin has broken the record four times since then. She lowered it to 50.68 on Friday night as the sun set over Hayward Field, breaking her record by a staggering 0.73 seconds.
McLaughlin’s time would have beaten two women in Friday’s 400-meter final — the one they run without hurdles.
Only 22, McLaughlin resides on a higher plane within her event. Even at a meet where Noah Lyles made one of Usain Bolt’s records tremble and Athing Mu is entrenching her superiority over 800 meters, McLaughlin stands behind no one in the U.S. track and field hierarchy.
“She’s the prototype for the event,” Moses said.
Starting in Lane 5, McLaughlin caught up to everyone on her outside by the middle of the backstretch. Around the second turn, she had passed everyone. When the final turn came, she had already made it a blowout. After she cleared the final hurdle, a pasture of brick-red track separated from Dutchwoman Femke Bol and American bronze medalist Dalilah Muhammad, the friendly rival whose record McLaughlin took at the U.S. Olympic trials last year and never looked back.
Afterward, McLaughlin sat on the track on her backside, mouth agape, processing what she had done. Already an Olympic gold medalist, McLaughlin is now a world champion and owner of a performance that NBC analyst Ato Boldon instantly hailed as the best he has ever seen.
As McLaughlin further entrenched her status as a legend, another one made a surprise return. A week after announcing she had run her final race as the United States won bronze in the 4x400 mixed relay at the outset of the world championships, Allyson Felix will come out of short-lived retirement and run in Saturday’s preliminary round of the 4x400 women’s relay, a USA Track & Field spokesperson said.
But this night belonged to McLaughlin. She made the 2016 U.S. Olympic team at 16, stamped for greatness from the moment she began clearing hurdles in Dunellen, N.J. By 2019, though, she still had not surpassed Muhammad, who set the world record while beating McLaughlin at the world championships.
During the pandemic layoff, McLaughlin switched coaches to Kersee, a legendary figure who has coached wife Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Florence Griffith Joyner and Felix. Kersee is unconventional and notoriously demanding. He instructed McLaughlin to watch old film of Moses, switching her cadence from 15 to 14 strides between hurdles. He entered her in 60- and 100-meter hurdle races early in the season.
“Bobby accepts people that want to come into the camp that know who they’re coming to deal with,” said Jackie Joyner Kersee, who has become a mentor to McLaughlin. “He’s not going to change for any person. If you’re going to work with Bobby, you got to take all the good and all the bad that comes with it.”
Dominant and telegenic, McLaughlin has been reticent to embrace celebrity. She married Andre Levrone Jr., briefly an NFL wide receiver, this spring, which she documented extensively on social media. Otherwise, she shares little of herself publicly beyond athletic brilliance and devotion to her faith.
McLaughlin glowers in the blocks. She rarely displays emotion on the track, even after she crosses the finish line. One lane over Friday night, Muhammad smiled and waved to the crowd upon being introduced. When McLaughlin’s name boomed over the public address to raucous cheers, she stared at the ground, countenance unchanged.
“She’s not messing around,” Moses said. “She sees, but she doesn’t see. I can tell. Her mind is so focused that she could see right through you. That’s how I was. I didn’t give a damn.”
The 400-meter hurdles is a race of navigating land mines. Moses viewed the course as an opportunity to make 31 mistakes — the start, and then takeoff, flight and landing over all 10 hurdles. Runners rarely stumble over hurdles, but any deficiency in form can doom a competitor. McLaughlin has the athleticism to leap off either foot, and her strength and speed make her wickedly efficient. She makes a complicated race seem simple.
“It doesn’t look like she’s moving that fast,” Moses said. “Sydney looks like she’s barely doing any work at all.”
McLaughlin removed any drama from the finish of her race, but in the women’s javelin final American Kara Winger made up for it. On her sixth and final throw, after exhorting the home crowd, Winger unleased a 64.05-meter (210 feet 1 inch) throw that catapulted her from fifth to second. Winger’s massive heave gave American women medals in all four throwing events.
As McLaughlin carried her event to new heights, Michael Norman returned to his in the 400. Norman won gold with a gutty final sprint, edging a crowded field in 44.29 seconds. Around the final turn, Norman sprinted even with Grenadian Kirani James, Britain’s Matt Hudson-Smith and South African world record holder Wayde van Niekerk. Norman managed a small lead and held them all off, raising his arms over his head.
“I just want to thank all the people who stuck with me throughout these past three years,” Norman said.
Norman became one of America’s best and most promising sprinters in 2019, tying Jeremy Wariner as the fourth-fastest man ever at 43.45 seconds. But he lost the U.S. championship that year to Fred Kerley and failed to make the final at the world championships with an injury. In Tokyo, Norman entered as the favorite but finished a disappointing fifth before salvaging his Olympics by winning gold in the 4x400 relay. Still only 24, Norman is again on top of the world.
It was a good night for American men running once around the track. After adding to their debacle-laden history in Tokyo, the U.S. men’s 4x100 team — Christian Coleman, Noah Lyles, Elijah Hall and Marvin Bracy-Williams — bolted one lap in 37.87, the fastest time in the world this year, in a preliminary round. In a display of their chemistry, Lyles led them afterward in an impromptu group rap of Meek Mill’s “Dreams and Nightmares.”
“Nice day at the office,” Williams-Bracy said. “We’re just having fun.” | 2022-07-23T03:42:06Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Sydney McLaughlin shatters 400-meter hurdles world record - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2022/07/22/sydney-mclaughlin-400-meter-hurdles-world-record/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2022/07/22/sydney-mclaughlin-400-meter-hurdles-world-record/ |
I have seen this woman in passing many times and not one word of thanks has been given. I have started giving her the cold shoulder, but I don’t think she notices.
By the way, I don’t like her anyway! Should I just let it go?
Down: Your story reminds me of the well-known thought experiment: If you deliver a cold shoulder, but the recipient doesn’t notice, is the shoulder still cold?
You don’t seem to have a positive relationship with her, and so the stakes are different than if you had a long-standing friendship to worry about.
We are decorating our new home in preparation to start a family. However, I’ve been very busy at work. My mother-in-law, “Kathleen,” offered to help with the house. I’m very grateful.
This includes multiple (six) photos of his wedding to his ex-wife, “Sharon,” and from their life together. I acted out and called her immediately. Am I wrong for yelling at her over the phone?
Furious: The only thing you did wrong here was to “act out” and yell at your mother-in-law on the phone. I understand your reaction, but you invited her into this task, and when dealing with a new mother-in-law, you should think first and act later, when you are calm and more in control.
If you’d have been more in control, you could have stated: “ ‘Kathleen,’ thank you for your help with the house. I appreciate it. But the only wedding photos I’m going to display in our bedroom are my own.”
Fan: I receive plenty of compliments, and appreciate them all. This one’s for you. | 2022-07-23T04:55:43Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Ask Amy: She never thanked me and now I’m giving her the cold shoulder - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/advice/2022/07/23/ask-amy-friend-clothes-thanks/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/advice/2022/07/23/ask-amy-friend-clothes-thanks/ |
Clearly, your reprimand did not warrant being cussed out and name-called. Lines are there for a reason, and there is usually nothing wrong with politely informing those who stray.
The last time they stayed with me, they slept in our guest room, which has a pullout sofa. After they left, I noticed that they had bent the bed frame so badly that it couldn’t be bent back into place.
Of course, I did not say anything about it to them, but I have since purchased a new pullout sofa. They are planning to visit soon, and I don’t know what to do about the sleeping arrangements. My husband thinks it’s very strange to offer them our bed, and I think they would find it strange as well. Do I have any other options?
Not really. No doubt, your guests will be keenly aware of why there is a new sofa bed — and fearful of breaking the new one if it is offered. (A note to sofa bed manufacturers: Please make your products more sturdy.) Any awkwardness in suggesting the bed will likely pale in comparison to the prospect of the alternative — or the relief in not having to discuss it. Miss Manners suggests something as simple as, “We’re moving things around a bit. Why don’t you take our room?”
Only if she made an indelible impression on the hosts and was invited. Or if the invitation reads “plus one,” in which case Miss Manners is afraid those hosts get what they deserve.
Yes, but you and Miss Manners are the only ones who seem to know it. She therefore would appreciate it if you did not succumb to peer pressure, leaving her alone. | 2022-07-23T04:55:55Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Miss Manners: I told her she cut me in line and she got angry - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/advice/2022/07/23/miss-manners-cut-in-line/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/advice/2022/07/23/miss-manners-cut-in-line/ |
The new president, Ranil Wickremesinghe, must now confront upheaval unleashed by the pandemic and Ukraine war.
A Buddhist monk, who is also a protester, stands in front of the president's office as they prepare to leave the premises in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on July 21, 2022. (Eranga Jayawardena/AP)
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — When Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was chased from office by protesters this month, his government became the first in the world to be felled so dramatically by the double punch of the pandemic and economic fallout from the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The choice of his successor, Ranil Wickremesinghe, by parliament this week does little by itself to ease the economic distress that brought tens of thousands of Sri Lankans onto streets across the country.
Wickremesinghe, a six-time former prime minister, inherits a bankrupt nation with a collapsed economy and now faces a daunting task. The country defaulted on its $51 billion foreign debt in May. Miles-long fuel queues stretch along the streets of Colombo, sky-high food inflation has pushed people into poverty and the country’s currency has depreciated sharply.
Many economists say that the next step for Sri Lanka is a bailout package from the International Monetary Fund that has been under discussion for weeks. In a statement at the end of a visit to Colombo in June, the IMF delegation said the objectives of a support program would be to “restore macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability” while carrying out reforms and protecting the poorest.
Now, the world is looking at Sri Lanka as a cautionary tale. Kristalina Georgieva, the managing director of the IMF at the G-20 summit this month issued a dire forecast. “Countries with high debt levels and limited policy space will face additional strains. Look no further than Sri Lanka as a warning sign,” she said.
Sri Lanka, once considered a success story with high levels of education and standard of living, could now be the first among a litany of developing countries that will face political instability.
Dane Chamorro, a partner at the consultancy Control Risks, said countries ranging from Pakistan to Egypt to Kazakhstan were buckling under the “perfect storm” of economic disruption caused by the pandemic and several other shocks that all came this year.
“You have a combination of the aftereffects of the pandemic, prices of commodities shooting up because of the war in Ukraine, climate issues, and particularly, underlying political instability and bad management,” Chamorro said. But some governments have navigated the pandemic better than Sri Lanka.
“It just shows you how much impact bad management and outright corruption can really derail what would otherwise be a wealthy country,” he said.
First, the coronavirus pandemic wrecked Sri Lanka’s tourism sector — the country’s third-highest source of foreign exchange reserves — that had already slowed after the 2019 Easter bombings. From $4.38 billion in 2018, tourism earnings dropped to $500 million after two pandemic years.
The government’s ban on chemical fertilizers to promote organic farming — instituted overnight — crashed agricultural production. Generous tax cuts enacted by the Rajapaksa government cost the government $2.22 billion annually.
The war in Ukraine dealt a final blow to the country as fuel and food prices rose globally. Between February and May, the cost of Sri Lanka’s fuel imports shot up by more than 38% from the same period a year ago.
Even with the IMF’s willingness to help, Sri Lanka has its work cut out.
Ankur Shukla, an economist specializing in South Asia at Bloomberg Economics, said that the IMF is seeking a plan to restructure the country’s debt and discussions with a diverse set of creditors — from China to the World Bank — will take time.
“There are high chances that though an agreement [with IMF] might happen this year, the aid would not likely come this year,” he said. “There is a lot of uncertainty.”
For its immediate needs, the country is in urgent need of financing.
“The liquid external resources available with the central bank are almost nonexistent,” Nandalal Weerasinghe, the Sri Lanka’s Central Bank governor, told CNN this week. All available foreign exchange resources had been used for importing gas, he said, adding that the country has secured fuel supplies for the next few weeks.
The energy crisis coupled with rising food prices has left millions of people cutting back on food. Food prices are 80 percent higher than last year, data from the Central Bank shows.
Cullen Hendrix, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said that while Sri Lanka is not the only country to see protests over economic hardships, the magnitude and impact of its uprising has been striking.
“The twin fuel and food price crises are hitting at a time when public patience with many governments is already virtually nonexistent in the aftermath of the global pandemic,” Hendrix said. “And the calls for relief are coming at a time when global credit markets are tightening, closing fiscal space for these governments to address the pain with subsidies or more targeted interventions,” he added.
The country’s economic hardships prompted a political crisis and that in turn has worsened the economic woes. But even as Wickremesinghe’s selection as president has ended a leadership vacuum, he is broadly seen as an unpopular establishment figure, and this is likely to undercut political stability.
Seen as a Rajapaksa ally, Wickremesinghe’s foremost challenge will be to contend with protesters who have vowed to continue their agitation. They argue that the parliament undermined the country’s democracy by picking a president who was not elected to a parliamentary seat.
In the wake of popular demonstrations that saw protesters occupy of key government buildings and homes of the president and prime minister, Rajapaksa fled the country, first to Maldives and then to Singapore.
Hours after Wickremesinghe took the oath of office on Thursday, police and military forces surrounded the protest site and seized control of the presidential office in a predawn raid. Security forces charged at protesters with batons and demolished tents, injuring many, eyewitnesses described.
The protesters, who have camped for more than 100 days, described the president’s action as “undemocratic.”
The crackdown was condemned by human rights groups among others.
Former diplomat and academic Dayan Jayatilleka said the “rash” action of the president has aggravated an already precarious situation. “The needless use of military force has made political stability impossible which the IMF and others have said is needed for economic reform,” he said.
Hafeel Farisz in Colombo and Gerry Shih in Delhi contributed. | 2022-07-23T06:28:04Z | www.washingtonpost.com | After Sri Lanka ousts president, economic crisis could still fuel unrest - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/23/sri-lanka-economic-political-crisis/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/23/sri-lanka-economic-political-crisis/ |
Bannon attacks Jan. 6 committee on Fox News after Congress contempt conviction
Former White House chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon speaks to reporters in Washington on July 22. (Jose Luis Magana/AP)
Hours after being convicted of contempt of Congress on Friday for refusing to cooperate with the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, Stephen K. Bannon appeared on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show and attacked the panel’s legitimacy.
Bannon, a far-right media and political figure who served as White House chief strategist in the Trump administration, was required by subpoena to provide testimony and documents to the committee. His defense counsel insisted that he did not intentionally refuse to comply, though a jury returned a guilty verdict after 2½ hours of deliberation.
But Bannon struck a belligerent tone during his Friday interview with Carlson, and appeared to threaten congressional staffers on the committee with an investigation into their work. “I will tell the Jan. 6 staff right now, preserve your documents, because there’s going to be a real committee and this has to be backed by Republican grass-roots voters,” he said.
“The Democrats are completely lawless, look at how they’ve run this committee,” he said of the bipartisan panel.
Bannon also repeated a GOP talking point that there was no ranking Republican on the committee, though Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), a prominent critic of President Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election, serves as vice chair. A Trump-appointed federal judge has ruled that Cheney serving as vice chair instead of “ranking minority member” is a distinction without a difference.
Representatives for Cheney and Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.), chair of the Jan. 6 Committee, did not immediately return requests for comment.
Bannon is one of only two Trump officials to face criminal charges linked to rebuffing the committee, alongside ex-White House trade adviser Peter K. Navarro. His sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 21. Each of the two misdemeanor offenses that Bannon has been found guilty of carries a penalty of between 30 days and one year in jail, though no one has been jailed for contempt of Congress since 1948.
Bannon’s defense team said it would file a “bulletproof” appeal, but their client appeared resigned to the possibility of imprisonment.
“I support Trump and the Constitution and if they want to put me in jail for that, so be it,” he said.
The podcaster and longtime Trump confidant also criticized the legal process. “They took away every possible defense for somebody to have a defense of law,” Bannon said.
U.S. District Judge Carl J. Nichols, who presided over the trial, rejected numerous potential defenses and mainly limited Bannon’s lawyers to the issue of whether their client understood the deadlines for answering lawmakers’ demands. Bannon’s attorneys intend to appeal some of Nichols’ rulings.
Bannon’s decision to criticize the panel and the ruling on Carlson’s show could prove unfavorable if he is sentenced, said Andrew M. Wright, a Washington-based attorney who specializes in congressional investigations. Judges weigh acceptance of responsibility as a factor in federal sentencing, he added.
“It’s hard to predict what the judge would do between the 30 days and the one year, but I can certainly tell you that I would not counsel a client to go out on the courthouse and trash the process,” said Wright, who previously worked for the Biden-Harris presidential transition team.
Bannon was a private citizen during the insurrection, but the Jan. 6 committee sought his testimony because members believe his podcasts may have contributed to radicalizing Trump supporters. The panel also said it has evidence of Bannon repeatedly talking to Trump officials in the lead-up to the Capitol riot.
The contempt case involved legislative efforts to investigate the Jan. 6 violence and what led up to it, rather than the actual events of the day.
Spencer S. Hsu, Devlin Barrett and Katie Mettler contributed to this report. | 2022-07-23T06:53:10Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Bannon attacks Jan. 6 committee on Fox News after contempt conviction - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/23/steve-bannon-jan-6-tucker-carlson/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/23/steve-bannon-jan-6-tucker-carlson/ |
EUGENE, Ore. — Sydney McLaughlin shattered her world record by a whopping 0.73 seconds, blazing through the 400-meter hurdles in 50.68 seconds for her first title at world championships.
NEW YORK — World Wrestling Entertainment impresario Vince McMahon announced he is retiring amid an investigation into alleged misconduct involving the flamboyant showman who turned a small wrestling company into a worldwide entertainment business.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The NCAA charged Tennessee with 18 major rules violations involving allegations of providing impermissible cash, gifts and benefits worth about $60,000 to football recruits and their families under former coach Jeremy Pruitt. | 2022-07-23T07:58:25Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Friday Sports in Brief - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/friday-sports-in-brief/2022/07/23/d8afdf60-0a52-11ed-80b6-43f2bfcc6662_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/friday-sports-in-brief/2022/07/23/d8afdf60-0a52-11ed-80b6-43f2bfcc6662_story.html |
Secret Australian marijuana facility exposes location after turning sky pink
A pink glow lights the sky above the Australian town of Mildura this week. (Instagram @desert_2_sea via Reuters)
A mysterious pink glow illuminated the sky above the Australian town of Mildura on Wednesday evening, leaving residents wondering if they were witnessing an alien invasion, misplaced northern lights or some sort of solar flare.
Local resident Tammy Szumowski and her family thought the world might be coming to an end. “I was just like ‘what the hell is that?' It is very bizarre, this huge pink light in the sky,” she said. “I’m trying not to freak out because I’ve got my girls in the car.”
“I was driving home and it was dark, and I noticed a very unusual, quite large pink glow,” said Anne Webster, a lawmaker who represents the area in Australia’s Parliament. “I thought that is very strange. My first thought was there has to be a logical reason for this.”
In fact, the glow emanated from a medical cannabis facility on the outskirts of Mildura that inadvertently revealed its previously undisclosed location while testing out LED lights, which reflected off the cloudy night sky to create an eerie, supernatural scene that spooked and delighted the town of 56,000 residents.
As the facility’s security guard investigated the source of the hot pink light, he realized it was attracting attention around Mildura, which is about 340 miles northwest of Melbourne.
“He went out on the evening and noticed a glow and he noticed a few vehicles pulling up to see where it was coming from,” Peter Crock, chief executive of Cann Group, the cannabis research and production company behind the facility, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
The company normally uses blackout curtains to hide the red-spectrum LED lights used to encourage plant growth. But on Wednesday the curtains were left open for a time, sending a Bat-Signal that was visible for miles around the facility, located in the southeastern state of Victoria.
In 2016, Australia legalized the cultivation, research and manufacturing of medical marijuana. Today, some 70,000 Australians turn to medical marijuana for relief, bringing in estimated revenue of $160 million in 2021, according to Fresh Leaf Analytics, a cannabis market research company. Australians use medical marijuana primarily for pain, anxiety and sleep problems, according to a 2022 study published in the journal Frontiers of Pharmacology.
Prescriptions have spiked in the past two years, which the study attributed partly to the “mental health burden” of Australia’s coronavirus containment restrictions. The country imposed one of the world’s strictest lockdowns before vaccinating 95 percent of its adult population.
Scientists try to bring Australian ‘tiger’ back from extinction
Cann Group was the first company licensed by Australia to conduct cannabis research. It received a $1.4 million grant from the Victoria state government, part of which was used to develop a commercial medical cannabis facility in a location that was undisclosed until this week’s illumination incident. The Mildura facility, which was built on the site of a former juice factory, harvested its first batch earlier this month.
“It is providing jobs, and this is only the tip of the iceberg because it has quite a future for growth,” said Webster, the lawmaker, who has toured the Cann facility.
“We’ve resumed normal transmission but it definitely caught everyone’s attention in the meantime,” Crock, the Cann chief executive, said of Wednesday’s incident. “Any publicity is good publicity.” | 2022-07-23T07:58:31Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Australian medical marijuana farm's LED lights turn night sky pink - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/23/australia-mildura-medical-marijuana-pink-sky/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/23/australia-mildura-medical-marijuana-pink-sky/ |
Nationals owner Mark Lerner walks the stands during their final game of the shortened 2020 season. (Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post)
By the time Ted Lerner and his family’s purchase of the Washington Nationals had more than tripled in value, I was all-in. A season ticket holder — and happily so.
It was 2017. I had moved back to my ancestral home of Washington 10 years earlier. I had witnessed the Nationals blossom into a playoff team. They were coming off a painful National League Division Series loss to the Chicago Cubs. Affable baseball lifer Dusty Baker was their skipper. Brash 20-something Bryce Harper, whom the Nationals had drafted No. 1, was must-watch with every at-bat. The left side of the infield was slick with the always cool Anthony Rendon at third and quick-as-a-wink Trea Turner at short. Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Gio Gonzalez were dealing from the rubber, and Sean Doolittle was a cult figure coming in from the bullpen.
It seemed the city’s half-billion dollars, or closer to $1 billion when you factor in interest, to fund a new stadium for the billionaire Lerners was money not so unbearably misspent — especially when the team won the World Series in 2019.
But before they won that championship, the Lerners refused to re-sign Baker despite his leading the team to consecutive 90-plus-win seasons. Then they watched Harper walk away to Philadelphia. Why? Because they wouldn’t pay him without deferring much of his salary.
Barry Svrluga: Trading Juan Soto might be smart. It also might be impossible.
And after the Nationals won it all, the Lerners let Rendon, the World Series hero, leave for the Los Angeles Angels. Why? Because, again, they wouldn’t pay him upfront, discovering once more that players know a dollar today is worth more than one tomorrow.
Then last July, as their season cratered under the weight of injuries, coronavirus setbacks and poor play, the Nationals dealt Scherzer to the Los Angeles Dodgers. I wasn’t mad about that. Scherzer was 37. He had done his thing here spectacularly for seven seasons, longer than his stint in Detroit.
But when Turner’s name popped up as part of the Scherzer deal, I was staggered. Turner was a first-time all-star. He was just 28. He had become as electrifying of a player as there was in the game because of his speed on the base paths and his bat that got him there often. Yet it appeared he was tossed into the trade for, oh, the hell of it. Word was the Lerners didn’t want to pay Turner what appeared to be his going rate: upward of what shortstop Francisco Lindor got from the New York Mets, $341 million over 10 years. Turns out, that would have been a near bargain. Turner is outhitting Lindor, outslugging him, stealing more bases and scoring more runs.
Against that dismal backdrop, I got the bill from the Lerners for my 2022 ticket package last offseason — and it was up 21 percent. With no Turner. No Scherzer. No Rendon. No Harper. No Baker. That added up, not surprisingly, to more losses than wins — so many losses that the Nationals threatened to have the fastest fall after winning a World Series in baseball history.
And now it is believed the Lerners will trade Juan Soto, just 23 — whom, like Harper and Rendon, is a homegrown player who developed into a star — after he turned down a third long-term contract offer, the latest worth $440 million over 15 years.
In April, the Lerners announced they are shopping the franchise, our franchise, which is now valued at $2 billion, maybe more — at least four times more than the $450 million they spent for it.
If you’re selling the team that made you a billion and a half, sell it as-is. Soto should convey. Let the next billionaire owner decide whether to keep as exciting of a player as there is in the game or start anew without him in what almost certainly would become a ghost town of a home stadium.
The Soto saga isn’t about a contract for him as much as it is about a contract with us, the fan base. We enriched the Lerners through taxes to build the stadium and this season by shelling out $279.30 on average for a family of four to watch the worst team in the game.
But I’m not certain the Lerners are in touch with us. If they were, they wouldn’t have allowed Scott Boras, agent to the stars, to push a story about the team refusing to get Soto a charter flight to Los Angeles, where he won the Home Run Derby in dramatic fashion. No, the Nationals didn’t have to. But if the Lerners cared about optics, they would’ve used the equivalent of one night of my Nationals Park section’s spending to ensure no hard feelings with the cornerstone and face of the team. Instead, they chose to further alienate everyone.
I don’t want to hear about any merits in dealing Soto, because there aren’t any. Swapping an apparent Hall of Fame commodity who plays the game with the panache of Ken Griffey Jr. for a bunch of prospects guarantees absolutely nothing.
I want to recognize the virtue of keeping Soto.
The Lerners owe not only Soto, for what he has accomplished and what his accomplishments promise for the future; the Lerners owe the fans, for the stewardship we’ve endured the past few seasons.
If they don’t pay us, then I’m not all-in anymore. Not as a season ticket holder. And angrily so. | 2022-07-23T09:29:46Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Lerner family owes it to Nationals fans to keep Juan Soto - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/07/23/lerners-juan-soto-washington-nationals-fans/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/07/23/lerners-juan-soto-washington-nationals-fans/ |
Mystics forward Alysha Clark (22) and center Elizabeth Williams (1) have played tough defense against players such as Candace Parker of the Chicago Sky to help the team lead the WNBA in points allowed. (Katherine Frey/The Washington Post)
New York Liberty Coach Sandy Brondello sat in a makeshift interview room inside Capital One Arena on Thursday when a wide smile crept across her face. Sporadic breaths escaped in a half-laugh as she began to talk about a Washington Mystics defense that would hold her team to its fifth-fewest points of the season soon after.
“Their guards, they’re annoying,” Brondello chuckled. “I love them, but they’re just tough-minded. They play big minutes. They compete. They love that side of the ball, and they have really good chemistry with each other. They’ve got post players that can cover them when they need them with their length — [Elena] Delle Donne that can shot-block and Elizabeth Williams. To be a great defensive team, it’s five players on the court doing what they need to.”
Brondello is far from the only one in the WNBA to be driven to nervous laughter by the Mystics’ defense. Three-time all-star guard Kayla McBride of the Minnesota Lynx recently tweeted, “I wish I could explain to y’all what sucks about the clark, cloud, atkins combo but you gotta go thru it to understand … literally.” She added the hashtag, “I just wanna take an open shot.”
“They’ve definitely hung their hat [on defense],” Lynx Coach Cheryl Reeve said before the Mystics held them to a season-low 57 points Sunday.
Washington (17-11) has championship aspirations and will lean on its defense as it strives to accomplish that goal. Entering Friday’s games, the Mystics led the league in points allowed per game (75.0), ranked second in defensive rating (94.3), stood fourth in three-point percentage allowed (33.3) and were fifth in field goal percentage allowed (42.7). All of those numbers are improvements from the Mystics’ 2019 title-winning squad.
If defense wins championships, the Mystics are in an enviable position. Before last season, when the Chicago Sky finished eighth, 11 straight WNBA champions had ranked in the top four in points allowed. The top-rated team has won the title in three of the past six seasons: the Seattle Storm in 2020, the Lynx in 2017 and the Los Angeles Sparks in 2016.
Mystics Coach Mike Thibault is quick to point out that everyone talks about Washington’s prolific 2019 offense but overlooks that it had one of the best defenses during the season’s second half. The winningest coach in WNBA history is known for offense, but he expected 2022 to be different.
“This time we’re a little more physical,” Thibault said. “We have more size in the lane as far as physical size. Shakira [Austin] is bigger than Emma [Meesseman] — not a lot but bigger and longer. We have big wing players in [Natasha Cloud, Alysha Clark and Ariel Atkins] — they all have decent size about them. And we’ve tweaked a few things, too, just to adjust to how teams are playing. Honestly, we haven’t gone into a game where you’ve said we’re outmatched.”
Brondello and McBride were talking about the trio of Cloud, Clark and Atkins. All three have received all-defensive team honors, with Atkins the only player in league history to be named to one of the teams in each of her first four seasons. Delle Donne believes Clark should have been named defensive player of the year in 2020. Delle Donne is an underrated defender, too; she averages a block per game. Cloud (second), Clark (fifth), Delle Donne (seventh) and Atkins (10th) rank in the WNBA’s top 10 in defensive win shares per game.
“It definitely helps when you have a lot of above-average, really good defenders,” Clark said. “It definitely helps your defensive chemistry. It makes games a lot easier. You don’t have to really overthink. You can just kind of play to the strengths of what you have on the floor night in and night out. And that helps us to be able to be so consistent on the defensive side. So, yeah, it’s just as simple as having multiple defenders at every position, and it makes your job easier night in and night out.”
Williams was first-team all-defense in 2020 and this year leads the league in defensive rating (86.4) among those who have played more than 12 games. She was expected to be the starter this season, but the play of Austin, the No. 3 draft pick, has pushed her into a reserve role. Austin is 20th in defensive rating (93.4) — that work against some of the league’s top players earned her the starting role. Thibault said she instinctually knows where to be and when to help. Austin has been able to battle against opponents much stronger than she faced in college, and Clark called her fearless. At 6-foot-5, she has the mobility to switch and guard multiple positions.
The defensive skill of Delle Donne, Austin and Williams in the paint allows the guards and wings to be extra aggressive on the perimeter.
“My dad has always put a defensive mind-set onto me from a young age,” Austin said. “So pretty much all of what I’ve been doing is instinct. Some of it is learning what player tendencies are, but, honestly, most of it is just me going out there and understanding what most people want to do.”
It appears the rookie has learned from Clark, who is known for memorizing opponents’ tendencies. Her film work is renowned in the WNBA, and her basketball IQ often has her coaching defense during workouts right along with Thibault’s staff.
Beyond the starters, Shatori Walker-Kimbrough, Myisha Hines-Allen and Tianna Hawkins are versatile defenders with Williams on the second unit. The Mystics have gotten more practice time recently as the schedule has slowed. They have used that time to work on defensive details — and have allowed more than 74 points just twice in their past seven games.
Washington’s offense has been inconsistent, but its defense has kept it in contention. If recent history holds true, it could bring the franchise its second championship. | 2022-07-23T09:29:52Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Mystics' top defense is good sign for title aspirations - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/07/23/mystics-top-defense/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/07/23/mystics-top-defense/ |
Commanders Coach Ron Rivera will begin his third training camp in Washington on Wednesday. (Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post)
It was only a year ago, when Washington opened training camp in Richmond, that the coach expressed a mix of hope and concern for the start of the new season.
“I think the maturity level, more so than anything else, [shows] that these guys are ready to accept the responsibility of it all,” Rivera said during a phone interview from California this month. “... Last year going into this whole thing, my big concern was maturity. And having gone through what we went through … I just kind of feel like this group of guys is ready to take a step.”
Colts’ Frank Reich believes Carson Wentz can be a top-10 QB for Commanders
“We had a bunch of guys go through some real-life s---, and that was hard,” he said. “It was rough on a lot of guys, and for us, we’re still trying to change and develop who we are and find our guys, and we’ll keep going through this process. ... | 2022-07-23T09:29:58Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Commanders' Ron Rivera is confident heading into 2022 NFL season - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/07/23/ron-rivera-training-camp-2022/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/07/23/ron-rivera-training-camp-2022/ |
Airlines tried shifting blame, but they’re the biggest cause of delays
After faulting air traffic controllers for delays and cancellations, airline industry leaders are now taking a more conciliatory tone
Passengers onboard an airplane traveling from Charlotte to Washington this month. (Daniel Slim/AFP/Getty Images)
Airline executives, under a barrage of criticism from the public, lawmakers and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, have sought to shift blame for flight troubles this summer onto the nation’s air traffic control system. But federal data shows that airlines themselves are the biggest reason for delays in recent months and bear responsibility for an unusually high share of cancellations.
The numbers, reported by airlines and released this past week by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, also confirm the experiences of many passengers: 2022 has been a rough year for air travel. Federal transportation officials say 88,161 flights were canceled through May — the second-most in the first five months of a year since 1988, topped only by 2020 during the emergence of the pandemic.
The jump in flight delays and cancellations — stemming from surging demand in an industry that shed tens of thousands of employees during the pandemic — prompted unusual rounds of public finger-pointing beginning this spring. It came as the nation’s airports were recording their busiest days of the pandemic era, prompting unequipped airlines to boost worker pay incentives and pare back schedules.
The industry’s criticism of air traffic controllers sparked rebuttals from the Federal Aviation Administration and Buttigieg, reminding passengers of their rights to refunds when airlines cancel flights or subject passengers to extended delays.
While air traffic control officials acknowledge their own pandemic-era challenges, data suggests that those issues haven’t played a significant role in this year’s airline struggles.
According to the Transportation Department figures, air carriers were directly responsible for about 41 percent of delays through May, a figure on par with last year but higher than before the pandemic. Late-arriving aircraft — another problem mostly attributable to airlines — accounted for an additional 37 percent of delays.
Problems with the nation’s airspace, such as congestion, bad weather or staffing at air traffic control facilities, accounted for 17 percent of delays — the lowest level since officials began tracking the data in 2004. Extreme weather is its own category and accounted for about 5 percent of delays.
As for cancellations, problems attributed to airlines were cited in 38 percent of cases, the highest rate since 2012. But the majority of cancellations involve circumstances beyond the carriers’ control. Weather was cited in 55 percent of cases. National airspace problems, such as those involving air traffic control, accounted for 7 percent of cancellations.
Buttigieg said there are signs that air travel is becoming more reliable, even as cancellation rates continue to hover above acceptable levels.
“What I’ve emphasized to the airlines is we want to support them when they’re doing the right thing. We’re also here to enforce the rules when they’re not,” he said recently. “Anytime there’s anything under FAA’s control, they will work on it, but I want to be very, very clear here: That is not explaining the majority of delays.”
Experts said the dispute between airlines and air traffic control probably reflects a desire by industry leaders to spread the blame after months of difficulties. Senior figures in the industry this past week signaled that they are ready to set aside the dispute, striking a more conciliatory tone.
In a Thursday earnings call, United Airlines chief executive Scott Kirby said he had personally apologized to Buttigieg after an internal company memo appeared to fault air traffic controllers for many of the carrier’s tardy flights.
“I think the whole system is strained,” Kirby said. “There’s tight staffing everywhere, and that’s a part of it. It’s not unique to the FAA. It’s everything in the whole economy, and certainly a big chunk of things that touch on aviation are tight.”
Sharon Pinkerton, senior vice president for legislative and regulatory policy at the trade group Airlines for America, added: “We really are not interested in engaging in a finger-pointing exercise. We are focused on collaboration and trying to make sure that we’re all focused on the things that are going to improve the operational reliability.”
There are signs the labor issues that have plagued the industry are improving. Southwest Airlines employs more people than it did before the pandemic. Delta Air Lines officials said this month that the company has hired 18,000 people since 2021 and its workforce is 95 percent of pre-pandemic levels.
Airlines and the FAA routinely communicate to manage the nation’s skies. Air traffic controllers and airline managers meet virtually each afternoon to plan the next day’s flights, with other meetings at least every two hours throughout the day to share updates.
Former FAA administrator Michael Huerta said previous incidents involving tension between the agency and airlines were resolved behind the scenes. In public, both have typically tried to show unity, he said.
“There always is a tension between what the system can handle comfortably and what the carriers might want to provide,” said Huerta, who led the FAA during the Obama administration.
The fact that tensions are being aired publicly “reflects a sense of frustration on everyone’s part,” he said.
Disputes began building in April, when airline leaders sought a meeting with FAA officials to address air traffic control issues in Florida. Demand for travel to the state is booming, with several airports seeing more flights than before the pandemic. Space launches have also emerged as a source of congestion.
The meeting involved a dozen airlines, private aircraft operators and FAA officials over two days in early May. The FAA pledged to add workers to its busy Jacksonville air traffic control facility, which agency figures show had low staffing levels.
In a late June letter to Buttigieg, Nicholas E. Calio, chief executive of Airlines for America, said one of its members reported that air traffic control issues were a factor in one-third of the carrier’s recent cancellations. While weather also was a factor, Calio wrote that air traffic control “staffing issues have led to traffic restrictions under ‘blue sky’ conditions.”
In a memo to employees after the July 4 holiday weekend, United executive Jon Roitman estimated that more than half the carrier’s delay minutes and three-quarters of its cancellations were because of “FAA traffic management initiatives,” which had been particularly acute in Newark and Florida. And while he acknowledged that many of those delays stemmed from weather, “air traffic volume and staffing are also contributing.”
“The reality is that there are just more flights scheduled industry-wide than the ATC staffing system can handle (particularly in NY and FL),” the memo said. “Until that is resolved, we expect the U.S. aviation system will remain challenged this summer and beyond.”
Airlines trimmed summer schedules, aiming to avoid high-profile meltdowns
The memo drew a sharp response from FAA officials.
“It is unfortunate to see United Airlines conflate weather-related Air Traffic Control measures with ATC staffing issues, which could deceptively imply that a majority of those situations are the result of FAA staffing,” the agency said in a statement, adding that while there are overlapping factors that affect the nation’s air system, “the majority of delays and cancellations are not because of staffing at FAA.”
The FAA said there were no air traffic control staffing issues on July 3 and 4, yet airlines canceled more than 1,110 flights, a quarter of which were operated by United.
Jeff Guzzetti, a former official at the Transportation Department’s inspector general office, examined flight delays and offered recommendations on reducing their effects on customers in a 2013 report. He said the causes of delays are complex, adding that it can be “tough to nail down what each of those contributing factors are.”
Even so, he laid blame for the bulk of recent cancellations and delays on airline operations as the nation has begun emerging from the pandemic — a time when demand for travel has skyrocketed.
Michael J. McCormick, an assistant professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and a former FAA official, said the rise in delays and cancellations reflects a travel demand beyond what the industry was prepared to handle.
“The airlines don’t want to be the one organization holding the blame for what’s going on in the system and are saying ‘the FAA, you share blame in this,’ ” he said. Air traffic control issues are “definitely a part of it, but I would not characterize them as the major one.”
While airlines shed workers as people stopped flying in 2020, the pandemic’s effects on the FAA’s workforce were less severe. FAA documents show it lost about 500 air traffic controllers between September 2019 and September 2021. That has left some major facilities with staffing toward the low end of what the agency estimates is required, according to a recent FAA staffing study. The union that represents maintenance technicians also says staffing numbers have fallen in recent years.
The FAA hired 509 controllers last year but is seeking to add 1,020 more this budget year to help rebuild its staff, a process that involves years of training.
“There are certain geographies, notably Florida, where the impact of covid on our training pipeline really did affect the air traffic organization,” Buttigieg said.
Airline executives have also pointed to airspace around Newark Liberty International Airport as being especially troubled. United has cut flights there to get a better handle on its operations — a process in which Kirby said federal officials have been a reliable partner. | 2022-07-23T11:01:37Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Summer air travel: Airlines are biggest source of flight delays - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2022/07/23/airline-delays-summer-cancellations/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2022/07/23/airline-delays-summer-cancellations/ |
Part of the port of Odessa on March 28, 2022. (Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post)
ODESSA — Ukrainian officials accused Russian forces of striking the Black Sea port of Odessa with missiles on Saturday, a day after Moscow and Kyiv agreed to restart shipments of blockaded grain in a deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey.
The military command in southern Ukraine said air defense systems shot down two missiles while two others “hit the infrastructure of the port.”
“It took less than 24 hours for Russia to launch a missile attack on Odesa’s port, breaking its promises,” said Oleg Nikolenko, a spokesman for the Ukrainian foreign ministry, who charged Moscow with “undermining its commitments” to the U.N. and Turkey under the grain agreement.
“In case of non-fulfillment, Russia will bear full responsibility for global food crisis,” he said.
The U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget A. Brink, described the strike as “outrageous.”
Friday’s deal, designed to help release millions of tons of grain trapped in Ukraine, involved Russian assurances it would not attack merchant ships or port facilities involved in the initiative.
The agreement marked a step toward easing a crisis that has exposed many countries to the threat of rising hunger, especially in Africa and the Middle East.
Francis reported from London. Stern reported from Kyiv. | 2022-07-23T11:01:43Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Russian missile strike hits Odessa port day after grain deal, Kyiv says - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/23/russian-strike-odessa-port-ukraine-grain/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/23/russian-strike-odessa-port-ukraine-grain/ |
Gabriela Alfonso Perez and Ria Acosta, a couple, play in their garden with Ria's 2-year-old daughter Ivelle Acosta in Havana on July 13. (Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters)
On Friday, the communist state’s national assembly approved plans for a vote on the update, which is aimed at ensuring greater rights for women and children. The changes will require more than 50 percent of votes to pass, with Cubans living abroad able to vote a week before the date of the referendum.
Cuban Justice Minister Oscar Silvera Martínez welcomed the decision to hold the referendum, describing Friday’s vote in parliament as “a historic day.”
“It is the result of a lot of work and, in particular, the contribution of our people,” he tweeted, urging Cubans to vote in support of the changes.
“We are a marriage. We have the plans together … It is not fair that this possibility does not exist,” Acosta said.
The text of the proposed law, which would replace legislation dating back to 1975, was put to public consultation earlier this year, with officials saying that almost 62 percent of Cubans were in favor of the changes. In previous referendums, however, policy changes had the support of more than 90 percent of voters.
During consultations on the changes to the family law earlier this year, Catholic bishops in the country said that “the majority of Cubans wanted the definition of marriage to be maintained as the union of a man and a woman, as it appears in the current Family Code of 1975.”
A number of other Latin American countries — including Argentina and Brazil — have already passed similar laws, while federal courts and a number of states in Mexico also allow same-sex couples to marry. | 2022-07-23T11:09:48Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Cuba approves family law update that could enable gay marriage - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/23/cuba-same-sex-marriage-referendum-family/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/23/cuba-same-sex-marriage-referendum-family/ |
A statue of Dr. Hunter Holmes McGuire, a Confederate surgeon, stands in Capitol Square in Richmond on July 20. (Julia Rendleman/The Washington Post)
RICHMOND — The scars where Confederate statues once stood along Monument Avenue are now covered with pavement or landscaping, and social justice protests have largely gone silent. But just across town, a statue of rebel Gen. A.P. Hill still towers over one of Richmond’s busiest intersections.
Outside the State Capitol, whose chambers were emptied of Confederate iconography one night in 2020, Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson still stands in bronze atop a stone pedestal.
To his left along Capitol Square: a statue of Hunter Holmes McGuire, the Confederate doctor who amputated Jackson’s arm and was a lifelong defender of slavery. To Jackson’s right: William “Extra Billy” Smith, who served terms as governor both before and after being a general for the Confederacy.
Richmond has drawn international attention for its efforts to confront the legacy of slavery and the Civil War, with some of its toppled icons now reinterpreted in museums or hidden away in storage. But the work of ridding public spaces of “Lost Cause” symbols remains incomplete two years after the first monument came down.
The remaining figures are a testament to how deeply Confederate heritage was woven into Richmond’s landscape, lingering despite widespread public sentiment that they should go. The subject flared up again this month when Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R), who took office in January, appointed a historian who defends the statues to the state Board of Historic Resources.
The board — which primarily handles historic landmark designations and oversees historical markers — has not had a role in removing Confederate statues. But the appointment of Ann Hunter McLean raised questions of Youngkin’s intentions in changing course from his predecessor, Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam, who spearheaded efforts to take down Confederate memorials from state-owned land.
Asked whether Youngkin would seek to either remove the remaining statues or restore those that were taken down from inside the Capitol, spokeswoman Macaulay Porter replied in a written statement that “he firmly believes that we must not airbrush our history. The governor believes that we must not overlook or excuse the sins of our past but we must resist the movement to cleanse our history.”
Porter added that “the decisions to remove the statues were decisions made by previous administrations and politicians. Today, the governor is focused on inflation, education, and rising crime in Virginia.”
State Sen. Jennifer McClellan (D-Richmond), who heads the General Assembly’s Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Commission, said removing racist statues “is not whitewashing history. We teach history in school … but what we choose to memorialize on public spaces should reflect the values of the public.”
The fact that several remain in prominent spots is a measure of work left undone, she said. “Progress takes time, and Virginia generally and Richmond specifically had a lot of [memorials] … There was a pretty deeply ingrained support of them among the old-guard White power structure and it’s just taken this long to overcome that.”
Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney ordered about a dozen Confederate memorials removed from city property in the summer of 2020, but the Hill statue was a special case: It’s the only one that stands above its subject’s mortal remains.
Hill was killed outside Petersburg in the closing days of the Civil War, his body buried first in Chesterfield County then dug up two years later and moved to Richmond’s Hollywood Cemetery. Finally, in 1891 — with a grand new statue of Robert E. Lee unveiled on what would become Monument Avenue — Hill was moved a third time to a memorial just north of town anchoring a suburban housing development.
Perspective: Richmond tore down its statues — and revealed a new angle on history
Today, the intersection of Laburnum Avenue and Hermitage Road has a reputation as one of Richmond’s most hazardous as traffic whizzes around the big gray obstacle of the Hill statue. By early last year, the city had approved a plan to take it down, contingent on consulting with his family to relocate the body.
City officials worked for months to identify and communicate with Hill’s indirect descendants — he had four daughters but no grandchildren — and in May of this year asked a Circuit Court judge to approve a reburial. The city paid $1,000 for a plot in Fairview Cemetery in Culpeper, Hill’s hometown, and lined up a funeral home to handle the move.
The statue would go to Richmond’s Black History Museum, which is overseeing efforts to repurpose all of the city’s toppled Civil War monuments. Most of the statues are being stored under heavy security at a water treatment facility, though the paint-spattered figure of Confederate president Jefferson Davis is being displayed on its side at the Valentine museum — home of the studio where the likeness was created by sculptor Edward Valentine.
But on July 1, a separate group claiming to be descended from Hill’s family filed an objection to the city’s plan for that statue. Represented by lawyer S. Braxton Puryear, who also took part in court battles aimed at saving Confederate statues in Charlottesville, the group agrees with the city’s reburial effort but not with giving the figure to the museum.
Arguing that the site is a cemetery, Puryear’s court filing calls the monument a “grave marker” and says the city has no authority under state law to dispose of it. The statue is the “personal property” of the descendants, the filing says, and they “seek to Remove and Relocate to a place of Dignity and Discretion as a Cenotaph for A.P. Hill.”
The city of Richmond filed a response on Wednesday, denying that Puryear’s clients have any claim to the statue and denying “that the intersection of Laburnum Avenue and Hermitage Road … is a cemetery.”
No hearing has yet been scheduled in the case. Stoney’s office declined to comment, but the city has retained Team Henry — the same contractor who removed all the other Confederate memorials around Richmond — and said in court filings that the monument could be cleared in fewer than 10 days once the court gives the green light.
Local residents have been hoping the end would come soon. The Hermitage Road Historic District Association passed a resolution in June 2020 asking that the intersection be cleared “expeditiously. We understand the reinterment process may take more time, so we ask that the statue itself be removed as soon as possible.”
Former Del. Jay Jones (D-Norfolk), who sponsored the Byrd bill, said he had hoped to include the Jackson, McGuire and Smith statues as well, but was told by aides that jurisdiction over them was unclear. “It was my understanding that there is a patchwork system of which entities are responsible for which statues” on Capitol Square, Jones said.
Del. Eileen Filler-Corn (D-Fairfax), who served as speaker of the House during the Democratic majority in the 2020 and 2021 sessions, ordered Confederate statues and busts removed from House-controlled areas inside the Capitol in 2020. Workers carted them out in the middle of the night for security purposes.
Filler-Corn said she determined that she had no authority over statues outside the building, which most likely fell to the governor. “Folks asked about those other statues and I knew I did not have the power or jurisdiction to remove them,” she said.
Clark Mercer, who as Northam’s chief of staff was instrumental in getting the giant Lee statue removed from state property on Monument Avenue, said he believed it would have taken action by both the governor and the legislature to remove the trio on Capitol Square. And after a nearly 18-month legal battle over Lee that wound up in the state Supreme Court, Mercer said the Northam administration essentially ran out of time.
“Lee was our primary focus because that was the largest and most imposing monument to the Lost Cause in the world,” Mercer said. He noted that Northam had removed language from an arch honoring Confederate President Jefferson Davis at Fort Monroe in Hampton in 2019 — a year before the social justice protests that led to the others coming down — and had been quietly laying the legal groundwork for removing Lee since shortly after taking office in 2018.
“Perhaps we ran out of time, but we also had to prioritize,” he said.
A group of Jackson admirers in Great Britain funded the piece after the general’s death in 1863, but plans to ship it to Virginia halted when the war ended. Confederate veterans helped revive the effort several years later; by then, Reconstruction was in full swing. Ten Black members of the House of Delegates joined three White Republican colleagues in voting against spending state money to receive the statue, according to researchers at the Library of Virginia. They lost.
When the memorial was unveiled before thousands of spectators in 1875, plans called for Black militia members to join the honorary procession, but Confederate Gen. Jubal Early prevented it. The presence of Black troops would be “an indignity to the memory of Jackson and an insult to all Confederates who shall attend the inauguration of the statue,” Early wrote to organizers, according to the Library of Virginia.
“I would prefer them not to be here, personally,” said Michael, 44.
Son Miles, 15, was more direct: “For all I care, the bronze could be melted down and put into cars.” | 2022-07-23T11:48:57Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Richmond took down its Confederate statues. But not all of them are gone. - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/23/richmond-confederate-statues-stonewall-hill/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/23/richmond-confederate-statues-stonewall-hill/ |
A man uses a cellphone in New Orleans in August 2019. (Jenny Kane/AP)
The hotline is noteworthy for another reason: It was the product of bipartisan legislation, signed into law by President Donald Trump in 2020. The Biden administration has since invested around $400 million to help states prepare. So far, it appears to be a rare policy with support from both sides of the aisle.
Preparedness and long-term funding, however, remain persistent concerns. The National Suicide Hotline Designation Act left the question of funding largely to states. Just 21 states have enacted some form of legislation to fund the hotline, according to the National Academy for State Health Policy, and only four have passed bills for phone-bill charges, as they do to run 911. A survey by Rand Corp. earlier this year found that fewer than half of behavioral health program directors felt confident their jurisdictions were prepared for the launch. This has led to fears of lengthy wait times and more dropped and unanswered calls, which are already at rates of 30 percent or higher in some states. If local call centers are overburdened, calls will be redirected to national backup centers, where responders have less knowledge of local services. This is of particular concern in remote or rural areas, where further support and treatment could be harder to reach.
Officials are trying to scale up infrastructure to meet expectations of growing demand. Experts believe a more accessible hotline will improve crisis care, despite concerns about service delivery and adequate resourcing in the transition period. We hope they are right. But authorities must work efficiently to increase staffing and support for the hotline, and states should find sustainable ways to fund it.
If officials can build on the system’s strengths and work quickly to minimize its shortcomings, 988 could be transformational. We should not allow it to be another missed opportunity on mental health.
If you or someone you know needs help, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or 800-273-TALK (8255). You can also text a crisis counselor by messaging the Crisis Text Line at 741741. | 2022-07-23T12:02:00Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | The 988 suicide hotline could be transformational — if done right - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/23/988-suicide-prevention-hotline-transformational/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/23/988-suicide-prevention-hotline-transformational/ |
A woman holds a poster with the image of Belarus opposition activist Roman Protasevich during a demonstration demanding the freedom of the activist in Berlin on May 29, 2021. (Markus Schreiber/AP)
The events in the air traffic control tower in Minsk, Belarus, on Sunday, May 23, 2021, were extraordinary. A civilian airliner, Ryanair Flight 4978, was flying from Athens to Vilnius, over the territory of Belarus. On board the flight was Roman Protasevich, a co-founder of Nexta, a Telegram channel that was a major source of news about opposition protests against President Alexander Lukashenko, and Mr. Protasevich’s companion. In the tower, there was a mysterious man — later identified as coming from the Belarus KGB.
According to a just-released report by the International Civil Aviation Organization, the KGB man and others in the tower that day ordered air traffic controllers to transmit to the airplane a “false” report of a bomb on board, causing the pilot to land in Minsk and allowing the authorities to arrest Mr. Protasevich and his girlfriend. The new report, updated from one earlier this year, fills in important details about the gambit, which was also the subject of a New York federal grand jury indictment Jan. 20 charging Belarus officials with conspiracy to commit aircraft piracy.
Even before the plane entered Belarus airspace, there was a discussion in the Minsk control tower about the flight, the report says. The deputy supervisor commented that there was a bomb aboard the aircraft and it should land at Minsk airport. The air traffic controller who was to handle the flight, seeing the KGB man present, decided to record whatever was said on his smartphone. Shortly thereafter, the KGB man sat down, to the controller’s right.
At 12:30 p.m., as the flight was over Belarus, the air traffic controller told the flight crew that “we have information from special services that you have a bomb on board. The bomb can be activated over Vilnius.”
At 12:44 p.m., the flight crew asked the controller how credible the threat was, using a preestablished color code. Green means no credible threat, continue to the destination; amber suggests uncertainty; red means a credible threat, land at the nearest airport. According to the report, when the controller asked the KGB man sitting next to him, he replied, “Let’s make it red.” That was conveyed to the pilot, although the report concludes “the bomb threat was deliberately false.”
When the flight crew asked the Minsk tower what was the source of the threat, they said that it came from an email they had received. In fact, according to the New York indictment, the email was “fabricated by Belarusian officials as part of the plot.”
The pilot issued a “mayday” and landed in Minsk. After Mr. Protasevich and his girlfriend were seized, the plane took off for Vilnius. Mr. Protasevich later renounced his political activism and was released from jail into house arrest, although many believe he was coerced to recant. Sofia Sapega, who was seized with him, was sentenced to six years in prison on charges of being a “terrorist accomplice” and recently asked for a pardon.
The new report hints at the courage of the air traffic controller who made the smartphone recording and was interviewed by investigators in June. The report also throws into high relief the dangers of a dictator such as Mr. Lukashenko, who respects no rules but his own, using trickery and lies to divert a civilian plane in flight to nab a dissident. | 2022-07-23T12:02:12Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | How Belarus used a false bomb threat to arrest Roman Protasevich - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/23/roman-protasevich-belarus-false-bomb-threat/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/23/roman-protasevich-belarus-false-bomb-threat/ |
Let’s talk about the beasts of sci-fi and horror. ‘Cujo,’ anyone?
From ‘The Island of Dr. Moreau’ to ‘Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH,’ animals are central to some of the most memorable novels
Review by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Lavie Tidhar
(Gallery; Open Road Media; Aladdin)
Science fiction writers (and readers) love animals. Whether it’s the Beast Folk of H.G. Wells’s 1896 “The Island of Dr. Moreau,” Kafka’s giant insect, the cat warriors of Larry Niven’s “Ringworld” (1970) or the rabid Saint Bernard in Stephen King’s 1981 horror classic “Cujo,” creatures with otherworldly powers have propelled some of the most memorable novels. Here are some of our favorite sci-fi and horror novels featuring animals, in some form or another.
Silvia: When it comes to dogs in science fiction, I am fascinated by Blood, the telepathic mutt who is the sidekick of a teenage scavenger roaming a post-apocalyptic United States in Harlan Ellison’s “A Boy and His Dog” (1969). This is a violent, disturbing story that has all the hallmarks of Cold War fears, including nuclear warfare and mutations. It’s a dark journey but one that shows exactly why Ellison was a New Wave darling. The story is collected in “Blood’s a Rover: The Complete Adventures of a Boy and His Dog” (2021). When it comes to cats, I am drawn to the lighter, zanier approach of “Chilling Effect” (2021) by Valerie Valdes. The novel has a space opera vibe, as a foul-mouthed captain helms a spaceship that bumps from adventure to adventure.
Let’s talk about ‘Alien’ and other works that blend sci-fi and horror
Lavie: David Brin coined the term “uplift” for animals raised to human intelligence. Check out “Startide Rising” (1983) for its spaceship crewed by uplifted dolphins! Of course, there’s also Clifford Simak’s classic “City” (1952), an elegiac saga that follows the lives of the Webster family, their robot servant Jenkins and the rise of a dog civilization.
Silvia: Vonda N. McIntyre is not especially well known, though one of her novels was recently adapted into film (“The King’s Daughter,” from the novel “The Moon and the Sun”). Her 1978 novel “Dreamsnake,” itself an expanded version of her award-winning short story “Of Mist, And Grass, And Sand,” takes place in a post nuclear-holocaust world. A healer who employs snake venom to cure illnesses must go on a quest to obtain a new dreamsnake. It offers an excellent contrast not only to Ellison’s post-nuclear vision of the future, but also to the work produced by women during that decade, including James Tiptree Jr. and Ursula K. Le Guin.
Lavie: “Dreamsnake” — I loved that book. And I love Cordwainer Smith’s “Norstrilia,” published just three years earlier. Its rather madcap plot concerns a boy who becomes the richest person in the galaxy overnight, buys Earth, travels there, falls in love with the cat-girl and discovers how the “underpeople” — genetically-modified, intelligent animals — are trying to fight for their basic (can I say human?) rights.
Silvia: You know what we haven’t talked about? Rats. When I was a kid, I read and then watched the animated adaptation of Robert C. O’Brien’s 1971 novel “Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH” and fell in love with Justin, one of the super-intelligent lab rats that have developed a secret lair and must help a field mouse protect her home. Apparently all girls my age fell in love with either Justin or the animated fox from Robin Hood, and if we didn’t succumb to talking animals then we ended up with a crush on Jareth the Goblin King and the demon from “Legend.” This perhaps explains the wave of fantasy romance novels with “shifter” romances where a man can be part lion, bear or tiger, oh my. I’m not sure rats rank high as potential romantic partners in this category, but you just never know.
Lavie: Speaking of rodents, who can forget Algernon, the super smart mouse companion to Charlie, in Daniel Keyes’s “Flowers for Algernon” (1966)? It’s one of the most famous (and often parodied) science fiction stories of all time. But for a fun, hard-boiled tale of tails, whiskers, double-dealings and more violence than you can shake a paw at, Daniel Polansky’s “The Builders” (2015) sees a group of grizzled anthropomorphized animal mercenaries come together for one last job — with bloodied results. It’s like “The Good, The Bad and the Badger!”
Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s new book is “The Daughter of Doctor Moreau.” Her previous works include “Mexican Gothic,” “Velvet Was the Night” and “The Return of the Sorceress.” Lavie Tidhar’s most recent novels are “The Escapement” and “The Hood.” | 2022-07-23T12:32:27Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Best science fiction novels with animal characters - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2022/07/23/science-fiction-animals/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2022/07/23/science-fiction-animals/ |
Zhifan Dong, center, poses with her father, Mingsheng Dong, and her mother, Junfang Shen. (Parker & McConkie)
Zhifan Dong told the University of Utah two days after her ex-boyfriend’s arrest that he had assaulted her.
The 19-year-old freshman and her ex-boyfriend, fellow student Haoyu Wang, had gotten into an argument while at a hotel on Jan. 12, she said. As she was packing her bags, he allegedly turned off the lights and then held down her neck and arms.
“I began to scratch him to get off. He began to hit me,” Dong said, according to a Jan. 14 report written by an employee of the university’s housing office. “I got scared, I quickly packed my stuff, the hotel front desk helped me call the police. That I know of, he was in jail for an hour.”
University policy mandated that the housing staff immediately notify the school police, student conduct staff and Title IX office of possible intimate partner violence. But in an echo of a previous tragedy involving a University of Utah student, those steps would not be taken until Feb. 8 — nearly four weeks later.
By then, it was too late: On Feb. 11, police found Dong’s body in a hotel room, with Wang beside her. He confessed to giving her a fatal dose of heroin and fentanyl, according to an affidavit, as part of what he described as a suicide pact.
Wang, 27, is now charged with murder in his ex-girlfriend’s death. His attorney said he has entered a not guilty plea.
The Salt Lake Tribune recently won a court fight to force the university to release the police report in Dong’s death. On Tuesday, the university released more than 100 pages of documents related to the case, showing that employees made crucial missteps in the weeks before Dong’s ex-boyfriend allegedly killed her. Her death echoes the case of Lauren McCluskey, another University of Utah student killed by a former romantic partner who was on the school’s radar.
After McCluskey’s killing in 2018, the university pledged to improve domestic violence training and streamline the school’s response to reported abuse. But records tracing Dong’s last days indicate that university staff waited weeks after she was last seen to escalate the issue to campus police, repeatedly called an out-of-service phone number for Dong’s ex-boyfriend and called another student with a similar name — raising questions about how much the school’s processes have truly improved and how well it supports international students.
Slain University of Utah athlete had told school of ex-boyfriend’s harassment
The university acknowledged “shortcomings” this week in its response to Dong’s case, including “insufficient and unprofessional” communications and the housing workers’ delay in notifying campus police and other offices. Two housing employees resigned during an internal investigation, and three others were disciplined, school officials said.
“In this case, key details were overlooked and staff failed to make connections with other parts of campus that could have accelerated the university’s ability to gather additional information and respond more urgently,” Lori McDonald, vice president for student affairs, said in a statement. “This is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.”
Brian Stewart, the Dong family’s attorney, said the university’s police force and housing office failed to prevent Dong’s killing despite knowing that Wang had allegedly assaulted her weeks earlier.
“Especially after professing to have learned from Lauren McCluskey’s death, it is inexcusable that the University continues to make the same mistakes with the same tragic consequences,” Stewart, whose firm also represented McCluskey’s family, said in a statement.
Dong’s parents, Junfang Shen and Mingsheng Dong, said the university had betrayed their trust by failing to keep their daughter safe.
“They knew Zhifan was in serious danger but failed to protect her when she needed it the most,” they said in a statement provided by Stewart.
Among the documents released Tuesday was a timeline of the school’s actions since Dong and Wang, international students from China, were admitted and started dating last fall.
After the Jan. 12 altercation — which left Dong with visible injuries, according to a police report released to the Tribune — city officers brought Wang to jail and released him the same day after he agreed to a temporary restraining order, Salt Lake City police said.
City police did not tell university police about the protective order. No policy or law requires them to do so, Salt Lake City police and the university said. Instead, city police said they list restraining orders in a statewide database that law enforcement officers can search.
The next day, officers who were called to the same hotel hospitalized Wang involuntarily due to a suicide attempt, Salt Lake City police said. Police think Dong made the call for help, but officers found Wang alone and could not determine whether Wang had violated the protective order.
The school first heard about the Jan. 12 altercation two days later, when Dong relayed her concerns about Wang’s suicidal ideation to the university’s housing staff. The pair continued living in the same dormitory building, which the university said is allowed when there is a protective order as long as both people abide by it.
When Dong requested that the housing office conduct a wellness check on Wang, staff responded that they were “unable to do much to help” that night and promised to follow up. They closed the initial report by stating that “no further action was needed.” That action was contrary to their training, which mandated that they report possible intimate partner violence and suicidal ideation to police and other campus officials, the university said in disciplinary letters after Dong’s death.
Over the next few weeks, housing staff repeatedly tried to contact both students by email and phone, though they knew Wang’s number was out of service. On Jan. 31, housing staff called a different Haoyu Wang enrolled in the same international program, who reported that he was fine. Unaware that they had spoken to the wrong student, they did not report Wang missing — even though he had not swiped into his dorm in a week.
In early February, Dong’s suitemate and one of her instructors reported concerns that they had not seen her for a while. On Feb. 8, housing staff filed a missing persons report on Dong, alerting campus police for the first time. Officers quickly discovered the city police force’s report on the Jan. 12 incident and Dong’s protective order, according to the school.
On a video call with university police officers on Feb. 8., Dong appeared to be alone, but refused to tell them where she was, the school says. Officers searched several local hotels and spoke with Dong’s mother, who assured them that her daughter would return to campus that week.
Instead, the search ended in tragedy. On Feb. 11 at 3:51 a.m., Wang emailed a housing administrator that he and Dong were still in love and had made a pact to die by suicide together. The administrator saw the email an hour later and called police, who found Dong dead in a local hotel room and arrested Wang.
Wang is being held in jail and is awaiting a competency hearing in his case. His attorney said in a statement Friday that, “there are mental health issues concerning everyone involved in this case that will need to be addressed prior to trial and I would conclude with the need for adequate and early mental health assessments and care that could prevent additional tragedies in the future.”
Dong’s death comes less than two years after the university settled with McCluskey’s family for $13.5 million, acknowledging that it mishandled her repeated attempts to get help from university officials. McCluskey, a 21-year-old track and field athlete, told campus police in 2018 that she was being harassed and extorted by Melvin Rowland, whom she briefly dated before discovering that he was a registered sex offender, according to a university review.
According to a lawsuit filed by her parents, McCluskey provided a campus officer with explicit photos of herself that Rowland was using to blackmail her; the officer then bragged about the photos downloaded to his personal phone and shared them with a colleague not involved with the case. Days later, Rowland shot and killed McCluskey on campus before killing himself.
An officer allegedly showed explicit photos of a woman later killed by her ex-boyfriend
In addition to Dong and McCluskey, three other women at the University of Utah have been killed in domestic violence cases, according to the Tribune. Staff member Katherine Peralta was killed by her husband in 2016, medical resident Sarah Hawley was killed by her boyfriend in 2019 and undergraduate Mackenzie Lueck was killed in 2019 by a man she had talked with on a dating app.
Jhumka Gupta, an associate professor at George Mason University who studies intimate partner violence, said Dong’s case illustrates the need for universities to consider how their violence prevention programs support international students, who may already feel more isolated on campus.
“It’s important to also note the mix-up of the names by university personnel — a different Haoyu Wang was contacted by university housing staff at one point, which underscores the critical importance of integrating an intersectional perspective into campus dating violence prevention and intervention,” Gupta said in an email.
Kimmi Wolf, a spokesperson for the Utah Domestic Violence Coalition, said it takes “strength and courage” to bring abuse allegations to authority figures and institutions need to respond appropriately.
“A domestic violence response, either in the community or on a university campus, needs to be a coordinated effort,” Wolf said in a statement. “When victims request help, there is no room for silos or a lack of open communication, especially when the victim is in mid-crisis.” | 2022-07-23T12:32:40Z | www.washingtonpost.com | University of Utah failed to help Zhifan Dong before she was killed, documents show - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/07/23/university-utah-zhifan-dong/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/07/23/university-utah-zhifan-dong/ |
Why your sunscreen isn’t working
Evidence shows that people tend to use less than half of the recommended amount and neglect to apply it every day, experts say
Julian Sass is a sunscreen educator to his nearly 20,000 followers on Instagram, and every time he posts a sunscreen review — via a 90-second reel” — he applies approximately half a teaspoon (2.14 grams) of sunscreen. The most frequent viewer question he gets: “Why are you using so much?”
But, rather than applying “too much” sunscreen, Sass is instead following Food and Drug Administration guidelines for testing sunscreen protection factor (SPF), which means a lot of his sunscreen review followers are probably applying too little.
Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States — nearly 100,000 people in the United States are expected to be diagnosed with melanoma this year — and sunscreen has been shown to help prevent early signs of aging and damage that can lead to skin cancer, but that’s only if you apply it correctly and reapply it often.
How to find sunscreen that’s good for the environment — and you
“When a sunscreen brand does a photo shoot and they use a teardrop amount [of sunscreen] on a model’s cheek, people then think that’s how much they should use, and they end up getting sunburned,” said Sass, a biomathematics and statistics PhD candidate at North Carolina State University who maintains a free database of more than 200 sunscreens.
Evidence shows that people tend to use less than half of the recommended amount of sunscreen (the same study showed it’s common for people to burn from “missing a spot” and waiting to apply sunscreen until they are outside).
One sunscreen application doesn’t give you “carte blanche to go sit in the sun for eight hours,” said Jennifer Lin, a dermatologist and co-director of the Melanoma Risk and Prevention Clinic at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School.
How often should you reapply?
The American Academy of Dermatology recommends reapplying sunscreen of at least 30 SPF every two hours outdoors, although Lin said it could be more often if you spend prolonged time outdoors.
“Think of your sunscreen as a constantly waning force field, particularly chemical [nonmineral] sunscreens‚” Lin said. When it absorbs the ultraviolet (UV) radiation, the chemical is quenched; it’s no longer present. You walk outside with 100 percent coverage, and over the course of two hours, your coverage may drop down to close to 0 percent, Lin added.
There are three types of skin cancer: basal cell and squamous cell carcinoma are the two most common; melanoma is not as prevalent but is far more dangerous. Research shows that intermittent high doses of UV radiation can lead to melanoma while cumulative everyday exposure is associated with carcinoma.
“The science is very strong that extensive sun exposure causes damage to the skin,” said Henry Lim, a Detroit-based dermatologist and specialist in dermatology immunology. This ranges from wrinkles and precancerous rough spots to the development of skin cancer. “We also know that with proper photoprotection, we can decrease the probability of sun damage.”
What you need to know about the chemicals in your sunscreen
Sunscreen should be combined with seeking shade and wearing sun-protective clothing, sunglasses and a hat, said Ranella Hirsch, a dermatologist in Cambridge, Mass. “Sunscreen was not meant to stand alone as the only warrior in this battle.”
Hirsch’s warrior of choice for kids is a sunscreen stick. “It makes things neat and easy.” Hirsch trained her children to use a stick when they were preschoolers. She recommends swiping three to four passes on each exposed body part with a 25 percent overlap.
One of the reasons skin cancer is so common in the United States, Hirsch said, is because our fundamental approach to sun protection differs from other countries. “Americans think of sunscreen more as ‘I’m going to the beach, so I’ll throw my sunscreen in the bag,’ rather than applying it every day like in Asia and Australia.”
And, despite the overwhelming evidence for sun caution, Gen Z still wants to tan. On TikTok, #tan had notched up 2.7 billion views as of last week and included videos of young people showing off their tan lines, advertising sun-amplifying products and posing inside tanning beds. (Strong evidence exists that indoor tanning increases the risk of melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers.)
“Any type of tanning is an indication the skin is undergoing damage,” Lim said.
He also advises against substituting coconut oil for sun protection. “No data shows that coconut oil can protect the skin,” Lim said. “Because coconut oil is moisturizing, it could enhance the penetration of UV into the skin.”
3.4 million Americans could be diagnosed with skin cancer in 2022
Jennifer Bowers, a cancer prevention fellow and psychologist in the National Cancer Institute’s Basic Biobehavioral and Psychological Sciences Branch, focuses her research on suntanning behaviors in college students, who are considered a high-risk population because they spend more time in the sun than older people.
One of Bowers’s main research areas is unintentional tanning in young people. “We found that indoor tanning has gone down in the past few years, but rates of melanoma are still rising,” she said, which prompted her to look deeper into unintentional tanning. “I heard from participants in my studies that they could get tan from walking across campus or doing errands and things like that.”
Bowers recommended setting reminders for yourself to reapply sunscreen. “It’s about building a habit to protect yourself.”
The experts agreed that the best sunscreen is the one you will use consistently.
“UV radiation is getting stronger because the ozone layer is getting thinner,” Lin said. “So, if anything, sun protection will become more and more relevant for us as a species.”
Janna Mandell is a freelance reporter based in the San Francisco Bay area. | 2022-07-23T12:32:46Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Your skin needs you to use more sunscreen - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/07/23/use-more-sunscreen/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/07/23/use-more-sunscreen/ |
Classical music is ditching printed programs. We’re not happy.
Long PDFs on cellphones are taking the place of paper, once an essential part of the concert-going experience
Perspective by Michael Andor Brodeur
Classical music critic
(Miguel Pang/Illustration for The Washington Post)
It’s been truly lovely to get back to some approximation of normal in the performing arts these past few months. Patrons are once again filling up the rows of concert halls and theaters, and a chock-a-block fall season is already filling up the columns of my calendar. Musicians are playing, dancers are dancing and, like fussy swallows returning to lousy, overcrowded Capistrano, the critics have even returned to complaining.
For instance, while I have observed several additions to the post-covid concert-going experience (few fashionistas could have predicted coordinated masks as the literally must-have accessory of 2020), certain other things seem to have unceremoniously vamoosed through the stage doors. And I’m not talking about fundamental smartphone etiquette (though I could be).
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I’m talking about programs. Once reliably handed to you by happy ushers on your way into pretty much any performing arts event of a certain price tag, the rich, thick, glossy, palm-filling printed programs of pre-pandemic days have become harder and harder to find. (Maybe it fell under the seat? I think it fell under the seat.)
And this scarcity is by design. As anyone who has attended concerts or stage performances over the past year can tell you, digital programs are increasingly sprouting up as the heir apparent to the printed programs we’ve come to know and love and rustle and curl and pretend to read rather than make eye contact with people we don’t feel like talking to right now.
Those ushers who once carried proud armfuls of programs now wander the lobbies, outfitted (sometimes literally) with oversize QR codes, waiting to be scanned by passing patrons like a can of soup at the self-checkout. From there, concertgoers (many of whom, how do I put this gently, don’t know how to use their phones) head to their seats to scroll and squint at long PDFs with tiny type, desperate to identify the mezzo.
I’m actually pretty tech-savvy. I’m writing this on a computer right now. And generally speaking, I embrace our robot overlords (i.e. the algorithms of social media) and do not resist our culture’s slow migration on every physical front to the digital. Virtual is the new reality. I get it.
But this particular bit of progress feels like a drag. I treasure my shoe box graveyard of old Playbills that I barely ever open or look at. When I do, their pages whoosh me back to my seat in the hall.
Before the concert, I’d leisurely leaf through their thoughtful essays and bonus interviews and notes on the sets and costumes and historical context. I’d school myself on the singers and players, composers and conductors. I’d map out the terrain of the evening and the tempi of movements as though plotting a hike into someone else’s imagination. (And all without relying on iffy WiFi.)
During the concert, I’d briefly consult or deeply retreat into their pages depending on what was happening onstage. I’d use my program as an ersatz notebook for jotting down sudden thoughts, or as a handy guide to navigating libretti in foreign languages, or merely as something pagey and flippy to quietly fiddle with whenever I get fidgety. (Also: Have you ever tried to fan yourself on a hot day with an iPhone? Not as good.)
And after the concert, it goes in the shoe box. Or the trash. Or the floors of the concert hall, and then the trash. (Okay, so maybe we don’t need these things.)
Keepsake and archival value aside, printed programs enjoy a window of usefulness that seldom lasts more than a few hours — compared with the months it will spend decomposing in a landfill.
“The second you print it, it becomes obsolete,” says Jim Kelly, president and chief executive of the Bethesda-based National Philharmonic. (Kelly also plays viola in the orchestra.)
The Philharmonic was spending roughly $20,000 a year (of a budget that sits somewhere between $3 million and $4 million) on printing programs for its concerts at Strathmore and Capital One Hall. In seasons before the pandemic, the orchestra would produce one (rather chunky) book to cover all its fall concerts, and another one for the spring.
When the pandemic hit, priorities changed. Printed materials in general had a bad few months as covid confusion had us Lysol-wiping our groceries. Moreover, the prospect of returning to print when audiences hadn’t fully returned to real life seemed financially unwise. And the notion of printing a year’s worth of plans when no one knew what the next day would bring seemed more foolish than optimistic. The digital program, meanwhile, offered a level of flexibility.
“The benefit of the digital program is if there’s any mistake in the program notes, a last-minute change in the program or a change in a donor, we can do that literally moments before the concert starts, and keep it a living and breathing document,” Kelly says. “When every dollar matters, the dollars should be going into the art and paying the musicians. It shouldn’t be going into things that don’t have a lasting effect on the organization.”
For much larger organizations, such as the Kennedy Center, the scale of its program-printing program has become less a matter of cost than of conscience. Eileen Andrews, the arts center’s vice president of public relations, says covid considerations were never part of the calculation behind their full-scale migration to digital programs over the past two years. It was about trash.
The 1.5 million programs the center printed — for every event in its main spaces, regardless of genre — amounted to 250 tons of paper per season at an annual cost of nearly $400,000, according to Andrews. This doesn’t count the additional paper waste created for inserts, which primarily address corrections or updates, though are sometimes geared toward fundraising. (Those 1.2 million inserts could add an additional $200,000 to seasonal costs, Andrews says.) Not to mention the programs produced by renters of Kennedy Center spaces.
The result of all this is massive waste from entrance (where overages in production produce boxes of unopened programs) to exit (where the trash cans are located).
Like many performing arts organizations, the Kennedy Center produced its programs (for its more than 2,000 performances a year) through the third-party publication Playbill. The center would submit editorial copy 60 to 70 days in advance, and Playbill would augment it with its own content as well as advertising. Programs would then be produced, printed and shipped back to Washington.
Since transitioning to digital, the arts center has shifted program operations in-house, using its own stable of writers to produce essays, its own designers and its own proprietary platform to develop programs with a consistent identity across the board. This also allows programs to be scaled for the events they detail. (A one-size-fits-all program approach for both text-heavy events like operas and relatively straightforward rock or jazz performances was another source of waste.)
“It’s an evolution,” Andrews says. “It’s somewhat entrepreneurial, but at the core we’re using technology to streamline the process and reduce the total amount of paper consumption — because we are the Kennedy Center and these are big numbers.”
Andrews says the center hasn’t received complaints about the programs. I, on the other hand, have become something of a human suggestion box. Patrons have written to call the switch to digital programs “frustrating on many levels” and “a terrible evolution in the performing arts.” I’ve heard scuttlebutt from the donor community, some of whom are reportedly miffed to have their microscopically printed names out of circulation. I’ve even heard from musicians weary of the cascading effects of non-paper programs, one of whom had to resist the urge to “grab a few phones out of peoples’ hands” during some particularly egregious emailing.
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For the fall season, the Kennedy Center will produce limited runs of streamlined printed programs for those who need them (for lack of a cellphone, for instance), and large-print and Braille versions of printed programs will remain available.
But the center intends to refine and improve its digital program platform, increase visibility and availability of QR codes around the hall, increase enforcement of phone silencing, and employ other means to address those elements patrons might miss. (Donors, for instance, may increasingly see their names displayed on screens outside of the center’s three primary venues.)
Similarly in the fall, the National Philharmonic will limit its output of printed programs (300 or so per concert) and create individual handouts for works with libretti or other text.
The classical world, generally speaking, isn’t wild about works in progress. You can hear the growing pains of this digital revolution throughout the concert halls — they sound like ringtones, dropped phones and exasperated voices begging someone, anyone to show them how to use this damned thing.
Even those of us well-accustomed to the ongoing fall of the physical world to the digital one may find ourselves huffing with frustration and squinting to read the fine print of a 57-page PDF on a six-inch iPhone.
One day, maybe not so far in the future, we’ll move on from this clunky technological in-between we seem to be stuck in — i.e., the smartphone era. We won’t always have to carry these noisy cumbersome bricks around, chirping and buzzing in our pockets and purses like a suffocating canary.
One day, we’ll be able to identify what movement we’re in by tapping an earlobe and thinking about it; or the libretto will run in our favorite font at the point size of our choosing on the inside of our contact lens; or the Supreme Commandant will ban music and we won’t have to worry about any of this.
Until then, it’s a world in transition, where change is the only constant and nostalgia the only reminder that we’re actually moving forward. On that note, I’m gonna need a fan to match my mask. | 2022-07-23T12:32:52Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Classical music is ditching printed programs for PDFs on phones - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/music/2022/07/23/playbills-digital-programs-pdfs/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/music/2022/07/23/playbills-digital-programs-pdfs/ |
White House fears potential Pelosi trip to Taiwan would inflame China
The speaker, a longtime critic of Beijing, is reportedly weighing a visit to Taiwan. Biden officials worry such a trip would provoke China at a highly sensitive moment.
Cate Cadell
President Joe Biden and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) after a meeting with House Democrats on Oct. 1, 2021. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
The Biden administration is increasingly concerned that a planned trip by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan next month could spark a major crisis across the Taiwan Strait, and the White House and an array of national security officials have briefed Pelosi and her team about the risks of traveling now, administration officials said.
If Pelosi (D-Calif.) follows through with the trip, she would be the first House speaker to visit the self-ruled island in 25 years. China claims Taiwan as its own, while the United States has bolstered economic ties and arms sales to the democratically governed island. Taiwan is the single most contentious and volatile issue in the U.S.-China relationship, which has fallen to its worst state in years.
Chinese leaders would see Pelosi’s trip as a purposeful provocation by the United States, administration officials fear. Defense, military and intelligence officials have “tried to explain the risks associated with the timing of her proposed trip,” said one administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity. “But everyone understands that this is her decision.”
President Biden himself on Wednesday told reporters that “the military thinks it’s not a good idea right now” that Pelosi travels to Taiwan. Distrust between Washington and Beijing is at a heightened level, as China has acted with increased aggressiveness in recent encounters with the United States and allied military forces in the region.
Pelosi responded to Biden by saying that she is not advocating for Taiwanese independence, which is a red line for China. “I think that it’s important for us to show support for Taiwan,” she said at her weekly news conference Thursday, adding, “None of us has ever said we’re for independence when it comes to Taiwan. That’s up to Taiwan to decide.”
Some China hawks have seized on the tension, arguing that if Pelosi refrains from visiting Taiwan it will amount to giving Beijing a veto over U.S. foreign policy. “This pathetic self-deterrence is a mistake, and it will invite more aggression,” said Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.).
For now, administration officials are walking delicately — hoping to dissuade Pelosi without causing a public dust-up — but opposition to her trip is widespread within the executive branch.
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Beijing’s military has made repeated incursions into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone, declared this year that the Taiwan Strait is not international waters, and had an increasing number of encounters with the U.S. military in the South China Sea. The latter led Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to order a review of hundreds of U.S. military interactions with Chinese forces over the last five years.
U.S. expands diplomatic presence in the Pacific to counter China
Some in the administration fear that China might challenge Pelosi’s aircraft, or ''escort” it by flying a Chinese military jet over Taiwan, which would be an unprecedented step.
Dan Lamothe and John Hudson contributed to this report. | 2022-07-23T12:32:58Z | www.washingtonpost.com | White House fears potential Pelosi trip to Taiwan would inflame China - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/07/23/biden-pelosi-taiwan-trip/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/07/23/biden-pelosi-taiwan-trip/ |
Sri Lanka’s multiple crises just came to a head
The pandemic and past war debts have left the economy in tatters
Analysis by Fathima Cader
Zachariah Mampilly
A protester shouts slogans during a street demonstration on July 22 against the raid of an anti-government protest camp in Colombo, Sri Lanka. (Adnan Abidi/Reuters)
Sri Lanka’s legislators named Ranil Wickremesinghe to complete the term of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa after protesters stormed the presidential palace last week. On Friday, police launched a surprise raid to clear a protester camp in the capital, Colombo, a move that may deepen popular distrust of the new government.
Political unrest in Sri Lanka has escalated sharply following months of economic crisis — and inflation surpassing 50 percent. The government declared bankruptcy in early July as the country ran short of fuel. On July 8, protesters clashed with soldiers, then allegedly torched the prime minister’s home and took over the presidential palace. As protesters swam in the presidential pool, Rajapaksa left for the Maldives and is reportedly now in Singapore. His brother Mahinda, who had resigned as prime minister in May, reportedly took refuge on a military base.
What just happened, and what’s likely to unfold in the weeks and months ahead? Our research explains how multiple crises — historic and contemporary, national and global, as well as political and economic — came to a head.
Sri Lanka’s constitution calls for parliament to select a new president — and that’s what happened on Wednesday. But there’s little consensus among protesters about the way forward: Some are calling for patience and following constitutional guidelines, others are calling for revolution.
Worried about the state of democracy? Here are some reasons to be optimistic instead.
Sri Lanka’s war brought it close to bankruptcy before
Unlike its South Asian neighbors, Sri Lanka has a unique system with both an executive president and a prime minister. For over a decade, the Rajapaksa brothers dominated the country’s politics. Sinhala Buddhist nationalism guided their regime, which was determined to decimate the separatist “Tamil Tigers,” or LTTE. Western advocates of the War on Terror hailed the Rajapaksas’ approach as a model for defeating insurgencies.
To fight the Tamil insurgency, Mahinda, who was president at the time, with Gotabaya serving as defense minister, borrowed heavily to purchase weapons. Between 2005, when Mahinda was elected, and 2009, when the war ended, Sri Lanka’s military spending more than doubled.
But this helped push the country’s finances to the brink. A $2.5 billion IMF emergency loan bailed out the government, despite protestations from Tamil and human rights activists who criticized the Rajapaksas’ devastation of the country’s northern region. Having stoked the flames of Buddhist ethnonationalism, Mahinda called for an early election in 2010, which he won in a landslide.
When Mahinda ran for a third time in 2015, he lost to a coalition government that promised to root out corruption and promote ethnic reconciliation. With Wickremesinghe serving as prime minister, the new government did little to bring the Rajapaksa regime to account for its wartime atrocities or economic mismanagement, out of fear of angering Buddhist nationalists.
Then, just days after Gotabaya returned to Sri Lanka to compete in the 2019 presidential election, a series of bombings on Easter Sunday rocked the country, killing over 200 people. Police arrested several Muslims for the attacks. Gotabaya promptly mounted a national security campaign, stoking fears of further violence to secure the presidency. Subsequent investigations revealed that members of the security forces were aware of the potential attack but did not take action; nor were there any connections to the Islamic State, which the Rajapaksas had widely asserted.
Economic pressures deepened
After the election, Sri Lanka’s economic problems continued. These escalated rapidly with the pandemic’s onset, prompting months of farmer protests and teacher strikes.
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Similar to Sudan, Lebanon and other countries facing popular uprisings, the spark behind Sri Lanka’s latest conflagration might seem mundane — an increase in food and fuel prices. Shortages forced the closure of hospitals and schools. United under slogans like “GotaGoGama” (roughly, “Gotabaya Go Home” in English) or simply “Aragalaya” (Sinhalese for “struggle”), thousands have protested since April. Protesters have now forced the resignations of both Rajapaksa brothers, as well as pressuring their political successors.
In April, Sri Lanka defaulted on its payments toward an estimated $52 billion in foreign debt. While loans from China received much of the attention, the country’s largest creditors are international financial institutions as well as the United States, India and Japan.
Once the government halted payments, Sri Lanka’s creditors refused to extend additional loans. In May, as inflation drove up the cost of food and fuel — and medicine shortages became rampant — large demonstrations demanded the president’s resignation.
The Rajapaksa family had long relied on support from the Sinhala poor and middle classes, courting their votes with promises to end the threat of terrorism. That no longer seems to work. Ultimately, it wasn’t the war crimes against Tamils nor their stoking of hatred against Muslims that ousted Sri Lanka’s ruling family, but foreign debt and a collapsing economy.
While Wickremesinghe, a six-time prime minister who has never completed a full term in office, enjoys support among Western politicians, many Sri Lankans are unconvinced, and point out his inaction against the Rajapaksas. And some protesters likely blame the economic crisis on his liberalization policies, like his long-standing support for pro-market reforms.
There’s little chance for a quick resolution to Sri Lanka’s compounding crises. The country’s ruling elites have shown little interest in heeding the protesters’ demands. With the economy in tatters and foreign creditors wary of Sri Lanka’s ability to repay its debts, there’s little relief in sight for ordinary Sri Lankans.
Nor has the protest movement meaningfully addressed the matter of Sinhala Buddhist majoritarianism. That’s not an unrelated issue — conflicts over national identity have long plagued Sri Lanka, but also boosted the debt that has now brought the government to its knees.
Will Sri Lanka’s protesters accept Wickremesinghe as president, and go home? And can Wickremesinghe broker a bottom-up process of reconciliation and power-sharing between the country’s various ethnic communities — as well as restructure the country’s external debts and jump-start the economy? Anything else seems likely to leave the country vulnerable to continued unrest.
Fathima Cader is a lawyer and adjunct professor at the Faculty of Law at the University of Windsor in Ontario.
Zachariah Mampilly is a professor at the Marxe School of Public and International Affairs and an affiliated faculty member at the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center. | 2022-07-23T12:33:10Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Why is Sri Lanka in turmoil? - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/23/srilanka-protests-wickremesinghe-rajapaksa/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/23/srilanka-protests-wickremesinghe-rajapaksa/ |
2 dead, 1 missing after flash floods swamp wildfire-scarred areas of N.M.
A forest along NM518 in Mora County, N.M, is scorched by the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire on May 23, 2022. (Eddie Moore/The Albuquerque Journal via AP, File)
Two people are dead and one person remains missing after flash flooding unfolded this week in a stretch of northern New Mexico previously devastated by the state’s largest wildfire on record, officials announced Friday.
The San Miguel County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that first responders recovered the bodies of two women in a creek on Thursday afternoon. Investigators also found a capsized vehicle. Tim Nix, chief of the Cabo Lucero Volunteer Fire Department, told the Associated Press that the two bodies were found near Las Vegas, N.M., about 67 miles east of Santa Fe.
The sheriff’s office noted that the New Mexico State Police and authorities were continuing “to search for the third individual, believed to be an adult male.” The names of the victims and missing man have not been released as of early Saturday.
Heavy rains have pounded northern New Mexico this week, accumulating more than an inch per hour in some areas. The rains have inundated areas already scarred by the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire, which has devastated the state for more than three months. The blaze, which has burned more than 341,000 acres since early April, was 93 percent contained as of Saturday, according to New Mexico Fire Information.
The Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire was a merger of two prescribed burns in the state that quickly grew out of control thanks to high winds. Larger in area than the city of Los Angeles, it has destroyed more than 900 structures, including many homes, and is the most destructive blaze in state history.
The cost to battle the blaze has exceeded an estimated $284 million. President Biden announced last month during a visit to New Mexico that the federal government would fully reimburse the state for costs related to emergency protective work and debris removal.
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) said in a statement that she was saddened by the deaths in the latest “heartbreaking blow” for the state. She also called on Biden for additional federal assistance to help with the flooding in the burned area, saying that county and state agencies, as well as volunteer groups, were operating at mass capacity over the past few months.
“For a community that has already been through so much this year, this loss is another heartbreaking blow,” the governor said. “The communities in impacted areas have been unable to recover from the initial impact of the largest wildfire in New Mexico history. Now, these same communities are threatened by worsening monsoon rains with the potential to cause even more catastrophic damages.”
Edward Dominguez, a Las Vegas, N.M., resident, told the Albuquerque Journal how the flooding came after the wildfire destroyed not just his family’s 300-year-old ranch but also the small chapel his mother had built.
“Then the floods came, and whatever was standing there is for sure gone now,” said Dominguez, 60.
The potential for additional flash flooding in the state is likely to continue through the middle of next week due to a “surge of monsoon moisture,” according to the National Weather Service office in Albuquerque. The NWS said the scars in the burned area made that stretch of the state “especially susceptible to runoff, flash flooding and debris flow.”
The San Miguel County Sheriff’s Office on Friday stressed to residents who are walking or driving to “not attempt to cross water on roadways.”
“It only takes a few inches of water to wash a vehicle downstream,” the sheriff’s office wrote. “San Miguel County would like to remind all residents to stay vigilant and aware of the flooding dangers during monsoon season.” | 2022-07-23T13:50:46Z | www.washingtonpost.com | 2 dead, 1 missing after New Mexico flash flooding rips through wildfire area - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/07/23/flood-new-mexico-wildfire-flash/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/07/23/flood-new-mexico-wildfire-flash/ |
Finally got the deed back. (Photographer: David McNew/Getty Images)
During the 1920s, the city of Manhattan Beach, California, used the power of eminent domain to seize the only seafront resort in Southern California that welcomed Black beachgoers. The owners received a small fraction of the market value, and together with other Black property owners were essentially run out of town. In a ceremony last week, the deed to the land known as Bruce’s Beach was finally restored to the family. What happened in between is a tale not only of racism and theft, but also of the risks that arise when government can act without scrutiny.
Bruce’s Beach was established in 1912 in Manhattan Beach; a decade and a half later, the city took the land by claiming they planned to develop it into a park. But the vaguer the limits on government power, the easier it is to wield that power for a malign purpose. And the limits of eminent domain are vague indeed.
That the city had no interest in building a park quickly became clear. Nothing was done with the property until 1927, when the buildings were torn down. Then the land sat until the 1940s, when it was deeded to the state of California, which eventually returned it to Los Angeles County. Last year, the county agreed to return the property to the Bruces’ heirs, which -- with the dismissal of lawsuits challenging the transfer -- has now been accomplished.
None of this might have been necessary had the courts more closely scrutinized the condemnation proceedings in the first place. But judges didn’t do that back then and they don’t do it now. All that’s necessary is a public purpose that the court doesn’t consider a pretext.
But proving pretext is nearly impossible.
Examples abound of eminent domain takings said to be racially motivated. The historian N.D.B. Connolly tells us how in 1947 the Miami City Commission “took all of twelve hours ... to turn a fifty-year-old community of black homeowners into condemned land for a ‘whites only’ park, school, and fire station.” Or consider the case of East Arlington, Virginia, a thriving Black locality founded by fugitive slaves. During World War II the entire neighborhood was taken by eminent domain to build ... well, the Pentagon.
I’m aware that there’s considerable debate over whether the data show that eminent domain power is disproportionately exercised to the detriment of racial minorities, and I admit that I’ve long been in the camp that prefers to build policy on hard numbers rather than excitement and anecdotes. But in the particular case of eminent domain, the relative laxity of judicial scrutiny creates a space where subterfuge can easily hide.
As happened, for example, in the case of Bruce’s Beach, where the record is crystal clear.
News accounts insist the history has been recently discovered, but the theft of Bruce’s Beach has fascinated historians at least since the 1950s. In 1912, not long after Charles and Willa(1) Bruce purchased the land, the Los Angeles Times reported that “[t]he establishment of a small summer resort for negroes” had “created great agitation among the white property owners of adjoining land.” Neighbors erected “no trespassing” signs across a convenient path from the resort to the water. The Times warned ominously: “Property owners of the Caucasian race who have property surrounding the new resort deplore the state of affairs, but will try to find a remedy, if the negroes try to stay.”
To which Mrs. Bruce replied: “I own this land and I am going to keep it.”
Encouraged by her example, other Black families began to buy land in Manhattan Beach and build summer houses. For over a decade, Black vacationers from as far away as Washington, D.C., and Honolulu flocked to the resort. But what the Black community considered a seaside frolic White residents saw as an “invasion.”
The city began condemnation proceedings on the Bruces’ property in 1924. The family hired lawyers and vowed to fight. As the litigation unfolded, there were multiple “mysterious fires” on the property of Black residents of Manhattan Beach. After the 1926 arson of a much fancier Black resort under construction in Huntington Beach, the Bruces surrendered.
Which brings us back to eminent domain. Although judges are free to consider history when deciding whether a condemnation is pretextual, recent cases make clear that tales of longstanding oppression will play at best a minor role in the judicial calculus. In 2013, a federal court in Illinois ruled that evidence of past mistreatment of Black residents was relevant only if those challenging eminent domain could show that what was happening to their community today “was motivated by the same discriminatory intent.” Just last year a federal court in Texas reached more or less the same conclusion.
Perhaps such results are inevitable, given the state of eminent domain law. And maybe race played no role in these and many other recent condemnations.
The trouble is that even when race is involved, the relatively low bar that the government must surmount in an eminent domain case makes subterfuge relatively easy. Indeed, even under today’s standards, it’s hard to see how Charles and Willa Bruce could have demonstrated in court that Manhattan Beach acted with anything but the purest of intentions.
It’s true that nearby White property owners had sworn to get rid of their resort, but that was a decade earlier. It’s true that many of those same White owners allowed White but not Black strangers onto their own beaches, but the city had no racial prohibitions at the time. (Those came later.) It’s true, as the Bruces’ lawyer pointed out, that Manhattan Beach could instead have condemned any number of nearby White-owned parcels, but the law of eminent domain does not require the government to show that there exists no less restrictive alternative.
The city, for its part, could have pointed to the fact that many other Southern California municipalities that were, around the same time, busily condemning waterfront property to create municipal parks. (Or in a couple of cases, oil terminals.)
Truth be told, under the current law of eminent domain, I doubt that the Bruces would have stood a chance.
And that’s a problem. If it takes a century to right so great a racial injustice, there’s something wrong with the law. Over the past 15 years, all but a handful of states have restricted the use of eminent domain for economic development. But those reforms wouldn’t have helped the Bruces; their land was condemned for a park.
Somehow we have to make taking private property harder. There have been lots of proposals for reform: Necessity. Least-restrictive alternative. I don’t know which adjustment would be best. All I can say for sure is that today’s hands-off attitude toward eminent domain wouldn’t have done a thing to stop the racist theft of Bruce’s Beach.
• Biden’s Covid Diagnosis Is a Wake-Up Call for America: Tyler Cowen
• The Customer Demand Is There. The Supply Still Isn’t.: Brooke Sutherland
(1) Although her name is frequently given today as “Willa,” contemporaneous reports give “Willie.” | 2022-07-23T14:03:49Z | www.washingtonpost.com | A Black Family Won Back Its Beach. The Law Remains Broken. - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/a-black-family-won-back-its-beach-the-law-remains-broken/2022/07/23/2dc8ccfc-0a88-11ed-80b6-43f2bfcc6662_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/a-black-family-won-back-its-beach-the-law-remains-broken/2022/07/23/2dc8ccfc-0a88-11ed-80b6-43f2bfcc6662_story.html |
A Miami jury determined an ex-crew member for Carnival sexually assaulted a woman in 2018
Hannah Sampson
A file photo of the Carnival Miracle, the ship where a woman alleges a crew member raped her in 2018. (Becky Bohrer/AP)
A jury in a federal court in Miami found Carnival Cruise Line owes $10.2 million to a woman who claimed a crew member raped her during a 2018 cruise.
The verdict delivered Tuesday in the Southern District of Florida determined former Carnival employee Fredy Anggara committed sexual assault against a woman who filed a lawsuit in 2019 as a Jane Doe. The jury decided Carnival is liable for $243,000 worth of past and future medical and psychological expenses and $10 million in additional damages for physical and emotional distress.
“It’s my understanding it is the largest verdict ever by a sexual assault victim against a major cruise line,” said Daniel Courtney, the attorney for the woman who filed the suit.
Both the woman and Carnival Corporation have an opportunity to file motions to seek a different payment. Courtney said that process could drag out for years.
The jury ruled Carnival was not negligent in allowing the assault to occur, and Anggara did not intentionally inflict emotional distress upon the plaintiff.
Carnival Corporation released a written statement saying it denies the allegations in the lawsuit and intends to appeal the decision.
“The crewmember admitted that he had a consensual sexual encounter with the guest which is consistent with an investigation by the FBI that concluded the encounter was consensual,” Carnival said in a statement. The FBI did not bring criminal charges against Anggara, Courtney said.
Courtney said his client was “heavily intoxicated” and “concussed” at the time of the alleged rape because she hit the back of her head during a fall.
“To say that it’s consensual is really hurtful to her,” Courtney said.
Is cruising safe? Most of the time, but beware of what can go wrong.
According to Carnival’s statement, the company fired Anggara after the incident was reported because it has a zero-tolerance policy for “crew fraternization with guests.”
“The safety and security of Carnival guests is paramount,” the statement said. “Carnival complies with all applicable rules and regulations for security and guest safety, including the U.S. Cruise Vessel Safety and Security Act and U.S. Coast Guard requirements. Carnival is also RAINN-certified and follows its guidelines for handling and investigating alleged sexual assaults.”
The case falls under federal jurisdiction according to general maritime law. The Washington Post does not identify victims of sex crimes.
According to the civil complaint filed in Miami, the incident took place aboard the Carnival Miracle on Dec. 1, 2018, when the plaintiff was 21 years old. The lawsuit states it was her first cruise.
Anggara was waiting for the plaintiff while she walked up a flight of stairs by herself, the lawsuit says, at which point he locked her in a maintenance closet and raped her. Immediately afterward, the lawsuit says the plaintiff went to her room, told her friend what happened and “started hyperventilating and having panic attacks.”
The plaintiff reported the assault to Carnival staff, then submitted to a rape kit and interviews with ship security and FBI agents, according to the civil complaint.
The lawsuit claims Carnival was liable for the rape because it failed to monitor dark, public areas of the ship where women could be vulnerable to assaults. It says the company should have exercised a level of reasonable care for guests because “on board its cruise ships there have been numerous assaults, batteries, sexual assaults and batteries, rapes, and attacks perpetrated by crew on passengers.”
In court documents responding to questions from Carnival Corporation’s representation, the plaintiff described how the alleged assault changed her life.
“I have depressive episodes,” she says in the documents. “I suffer from anxiety especially in public. It has affected how intimate I am with a person.”
“At my lowest point I thought of killing myself,” she says in the documents. “I had a plan. I went around to visit my friends and created memories for them to remember me. I also wrote everyone notes. I was hospitalized.”
In statistics kept by the Department of Transportation showing allegations of criminal activity on ships that embark and disembark in the United States, sexual assault is the top offense. There were 82 allegations in 2018, and 101 in 2019. The pandemic forced an industry-wide halt in March 2020, and the department has not updated the reports since ships started sailing again last summer.
Attorney Michael Winkleman said his firm, Lipcon, Margulies & Winkleman, handles a “huge” number of sexual assault cases on behalf of cruise passengers. He did not work on the Carnival suit that was decided this week.
“I always say it’s a hidden epidemic at sea,” he said. He pointed to the lack of independent law enforcement on ships and an over-service of alcohol as contributing factors.
“You’ve got these unlimited drink packages that are on all the cruise lines,” Winkleman said. “It’s just a recipe for people just dramatically being overserved, dramatically consuming too much alcohol, and that’s when bad things happen.”
He said most such cases result in confidential settlements.
“It is somewhat atypical for a case to go all the way to trial like this did, and I think the result is a significant result,” Winkleman said.
Cruise industry officials have insisted over the years that allegations of serious crime on ships are rare, pointing to an industry-commissioned report comparing crime at sea and on land. | 2022-07-23T14:05:03Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Carnival Cruise Line owes alleged rape victim $10 million, jury says - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2022/07/23/carnival-verdict-rape-lawsuit/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2022/07/23/carnival-verdict-rape-lawsuit/ |
Kid Cudi storms off stage at Rolling Loud after he gets pelted with bottles
Rapper Kid Cudi performs onstage during day one of Rolling Loud Miami 2022 at Hard Rock Stadium on July 22, 2022 in Miami Gardens, Fla. (Jason Koenrer/Getty Images)
Midway through his Friday night performance at the Rolling Loud festival in Miami Gardens, Fla., rapper Kid Cudi was sick and tired of the audience members who kept throwing water bottles and other debris at him during his headlining set.
About two seconds later, a bottle whizzed by his head; Cudi dropped the microphone and walked offstage, just about 30 minutes into his set to the surprise of the thousands of fans at Hard Rock Stadium. Some booed, while others immediately chanted for West, who now goes by Ye. West eventually showed up in a surprise appearance on Friday night, not long after Cudi stormed off.
Cudi and West had a decorated creative partnership until their very public falling out earlier this year. After West criticized Cudi on Instagram for his friendship with comedian Pete Davidson, who is dating Ye’s ex-wife Kim Kardashian, Cudi vowed to never work with West again and called him a “dinosaur.”
It wasn’t the first time West backed out of a headlining performance at a music festival this year. He canceled his performance at Coachella 11 days before he was scheduled to take the stage, according to Variety. A production and design company sued West this week for $7.1 million, claiming in a California court that the rapper did not pay them for his canceled Coachella performance or the release show for his album “Donda 2.”
“We look forward to welcoming Kid Cudi as a headliner in Miami and we can’t wait to see what he has in store,” Cherif and Zingler said in a statement.
Shortly after he left his stage, rapper Lil Durk brought out a surprise guest during his set: West. Despite backing out of his headlining set, West took the stage to perform “Father Stretch My Hands, Pt. 1” — a hit featuring Cudi’s vocals.
“That was an interesting first night of #RLMIAMI,” the festival tweeted. | 2022-07-23T15:13:26Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Kid Cudi walks offstage at Rolling Loud after Kanye West fans kept throwing things at him - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2022/07/23/kid-cudi-rolling-loud-kanye-miami/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2022/07/23/kid-cudi-rolling-loud-kanye-miami/ |
Jenny Shields's CPAP machine, used to help control her sleep apnea, was recalled for safety reasons. (Rachel Wisniewski for The Washington Post)
Jenny Shields was terrified when she would awaken coughing and spitting up phlegm seeded with black specks. “I couldn’t figure out what it was,” she said. Shields had her house checked for mold. Nothing. Her doctor was mystified.
Eventually, Shields found out a machine she uses to control a serious medical condition had been recalled because it could spew particles and gases into the device’s air pathway.
Shields, like millions of Americans, has sleep apnea, which causes short pauses in breathing, raising the risk of heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure and an irregular heartbeat. Devices called continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP, machines are the recommended treatment. The small bedside units pump a steady stream of air through a hose and face mask to ensure uninterrupted breathing during sleep.
Today, those machines are at the heart of one of the biggest medical device debacles in decades. In June 2021, the Dutch health-care conglomerate Royal Philips announced that millions of CPAP machines and mechanical ventilators had a hidden flaw: The foam used to reduce the noise of the motor could disintegrate, releasing debris and chemicals into the air hoses.
If inhaled or swallowed, the emissions could cause headaches, asthma, lung problems and even cancer, the company warned in launching a massive recall. The Food and Drug Administration classified the recall as the most serious type, saying “use of these devices may cause serious injuries or deaths.”
But as the voluntary recall enters its second year, the pace is excruciatingly slow. Philips says it has repaired or replaced about 1.7 million of 2.8 million affected devices in the United States and about half of 5.5 million machines around the world. The recall, originally scheduled to be completed this fall, will stretch into next year.
That leaves millions of patients in the lurch, many of whom are railing against Philips on social media and flooding the inboxes of FDA officials with complaints. Attorneys are trolling for clients on television and Twitter, with lawsuits against the company proliferating.
“This is dangerous, you stop breathing, that’s why you are using it,” said Christine Hinckley, who lives in Prospect, Conn. “Someone needs to do something. Months go by and you hear nothing. Nothing.”
The FDA, usually tight-lipped about companies, has taken an aggressive stance with Philips, accusing the company of being too slow in notifying consumers about machines that the agency suggests were defective from the outset.
In May, the FDA announced it had received 21,000 reports, including 124 deaths, concerning the breakdown of the polyester-based polyurethane foam in sleep apnea machines and ventilators during the past year — a sharp increase from 30 the previous decade. The agency said the reports, by Philips and others, do not prove that foam deterioration caused injuries. The FDA also said there was evidence some company officials knew about problems as early as 2015 — six years before the FDA was notified.
Now, the agency is threatening to take the unprecedented step of requiring Philips to submit a detailed plan to repair or replace the devices or refund the cost so consumers can buy their own or be reimbursed if they have already done so.
Philips, in a statement to The Washington Post, denied dragging its feet in notifying the FDA and consumers. Spokesman Steve Klink acknowledged that Philips Respironics, the subsidiary that made the machines, handled occasional foam problems on a “case-by-case” basis in years past but said that when Philips’s executive committee became aware of the issue in early 2021, “we took adequate actions leading to the voluntary recall notification.”
Today, patients who have not received replacement machines face difficult decisions. Some continue to use the recalled devices, most of which are DreamStation 1 CPAPs, saying it is the only way to avoid pounding headaches or nodding off during the day. Others have stopped treatment altogether, raising the risk of health problems. Still others have bought new machines, which can cost $1,000 or more, or tried changing sleeping positions or losing weight to deal with their sleep apnea.
“Patients are stuck between a rock and a hard place,” said Vinay Rathi, an otolaryngologist and health policy researcher at Massachusetts Eye and Ear.
Josh Alba, a 32-year-old utility worker and stand-up comedian, was desperate when his doctor told him to stop using the Philips CPAP machine.
“Hello, I can’t breathe when I sleep, can you help me?” he said he told operators at the Philips call center. When the Brooklyn resident received a replacement machine, key parts were missing. He was finally bailed out by a “kind man in Queens” who gave him an old device made by a different company, he said.
To medical device experts, the problems with the Philips recall partly reflect weaknesses in the FDA’s oversight of the sprawling industry.
The episode “is unfortunately a sterling example of a lot of the problems with medical device safety,” said Sanket Dhruva, assistant clinical professor at the University of California at San Francisco. “There are lots of safety concerns that are being missed or being identified too late. This has been a saga for a period of years. And it shows that even knowing about a recall and having a fix in place is not always a solution.”
Philips acknowledges it has faced supply chain and other production challenges in trying to handle the recall. Usually, the company makes 1 million sleep apnea machines and ventilators a year; now, it is trying to crank out many more than that.
“The supply and logistics environment is going to remain a daily battle because the world is so unpredictable, and we see covid rising again, unfortunately,” Roy Jakobs, chief business leader for Philips’s Connected Care unit, told the trade publication MedTech Dive.
A widespread ailment
Nearly 30 million U.S. adults endure sleep apnea, with many remaining undiagnosed, according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, whose members are sleep specialists. The most common type, obstructive sleep apnea, occurs when muscles in the back of the throat relax, closing or narrowing the airway and causing snoring, gasping and choking, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Lower oxygen levels in the blood increase the risk of high blood pressure, recurrent heart attacks and strokes. People who are overweight or older than 50 are more likely to have sleep apnea.
Three years ago, Deb Miller, a retired schoolteacher, was driving past a Marietta, Ga., landmark — a 56-foot-tall metal bird called the Big Chicken — when she passed out and crashed into oncoming cars. She woke to the screams of her 4-year-old granddaughter in the back seat.
During a subsequent sleep study, a technician rushed in saying, “You have the worst sleep apnea we have ever seen. How do you even function?”
“Diet Coke, I guess,” Miller replied.
When Miller began using a Philips DreamStation, she immediately felt more energetic: “It was life-changing.” When she heard about the recall, she stopped using the device and became achy and exhausted. After months of waiting for a replacement, she finally paid $900 for a device made by another company, she said.
But many people cannot afford a new machine or find one. Many insurers, including Medicare, cover new devices every five years — their expected life span. But they typically don’t pay to replace newer machines, even if they have been recalled.
‘Why can’t Philips find me?’
After Shields heard about the CPAP recall, the Wilmington, Del., resident stopped using the Philips machine, and the black spots in her phlegm disappeared.
But she soon developed other problems: bouts of dizziness and sometimes feeling that her heart was racing. She was worried her atrial fibrillation — an abnormal heart beat that can be triggered by sleep apnea — had recurred. While her doctor said that wasn’t the case, Shields was unnerved enough to get a machine from another manufacturer.
Shields said she was infuriated by a lack of information from Philips. “If Honda … can track me down and tell me to replace my air bags, why can’t Philips find me?” she said.
When Philips announced the recall, it urged consumers to register so they could be sent replacement machines with different foam. But after the FDA complained that the notification efforts were insufficient, Philips began to run ads about the recall online, in newspapers and in doctor offices.
In the last several months, Philips has walked back its earlier draconian assessment of health problems linked to the machines, saying the devices passed new safety tests by independent laboratories. The machines showed “a very low prevalence of visible foam degradation” and passed testing on the release of gases and particulates, Frans van Houten, chief executive of Royal Philips, said in June. “This is very encouraging.”
The original, alarming notice was based on an “initial, limited data set … and assumed a worst-case scenario for the possible health risks,” the company said. Philips also has pointed to an independent study that did not find a higher risk of cancer among people with sleep apnea who used the firm’s CPAP device compared with those who used other companies’ machines or did not receive treatment.
The FDA has expressed skepticism about Philips’s test results, saying in May that certain data were “not persuasive” and rejecting the company’s argument that use of unapproved ozone cleaners is a main culprit. The agency has suggested the machines were not made properly in the first place. The FDA told The Post that many tests “are still outstanding” and that recommendations by the agency and Philips about the devices have not changed.
Safety vs. speed
The sweeping recall has spurred calls for improved FDA safety surveillance, which the agency itself has sought. Last year, the FDA proposed spending millions of dollars in industry medical device user fees to improve oversight of an array of medical machines on the market.
Industry representatives balked, arguing the FDA should use the fees to speed up approvals slowed down by the pandemic — not to check on devices already on the market, according to meetings between the FDA and industry officials posted on the agency website.
The FDA dropped the plan, saying it was “disappointed.”
Scott Whitaker, president of AdvaMed, a trade group for medical technology companies, said the user-fee program was designed to help pay for FDA work involving device approval, not monitoring their safety afterward. If the agency wants to beef up post-approval surveillance, it should use its funding from Congress, he said.
Dhruva, of UCSF, sees parallels between the infant formula crisis and the Philips problem. In both cases, he said, the FDA lacks the staff and resources needed to monitor companies to ensure “the successful and timely resolution of safety concerns.”
Tom Wilson, a retired corporate executive, began using a Philips CPAP device in spring 2018 after being diagnosed with sleep apnea. By that fall, he started coughing excessively and vomiting. In June 2021, when the recall was announced, he stopped using his machine and bought one from ResMed, another big manufacturer. Wilson now runs a Facebook support group on the Philips recall with more than 4,000 members who post about their frustration.
At Wilson’s suggestion, several members have emailed Jeffrey Shuren, director of the FDA’s device center, to complain about the difficulty of getting replacement machines. Wilson said Shuren asked him for permission to forward some of the complaints to Royal Philips’s CEO.
“Many patients and caregivers have reached out to share their concern over Philips Respironics’ response and we share their frustration,” the FDA said, adding it is “engaging with Philips leadership on a regular basis.”
The recall has sparked a tsunami of class action and personal injury lawsuits against Philips. In addition, the Justice Department is investigating Philips Respironics, its parent company announced this year. Royal Philips has set aside more than $900 million to handle expenses related to the recall, a figure that does not include the potential cost of legal action.
Susan Halpin recently posted on the Facebook group that after waiting a year for a replacement machine, she sent an email to Jakobs, the Philips executive, saying: “Shame on you. It is absolutely absurd that I’ve been waiting for a year now for a new machine. When an individual calls your customer service they just say they don’t know. I can’t sleep at night, I’m short of breath.”
She said she got a quick response, asking for more information and soon her replacement was on the way. “Wish I’d been more persistent earlier,” she said. | 2022-07-23T15:35:17Z | www.washingtonpost.com | For sleep apnea patients with recalled CPAP machines, restless nights - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/07/23/cpap-machine-recall-sleep-apnea/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/07/23/cpap-machine-recall-sleep-apnea/ |
Tareco Timothy receives a monkeypox vaccination July 15 in Fire Island-Cherry Grove, N.Y. (Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)
The World Health Organization on Saturday declared the international monkeypox outbreak a global emergency, a decision that underscores concerns about rapidly spreading infections.
The decision to label the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, the highest level of alert the WHO can issue, is expected to marshal new funding and to pressure governments into action. More than 16,500 cases have been reported in 75 countries.
“In short, we have an outbreak that has spread around the world rapidly through new modes of transmission about which we understand too little,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters Saturday.
The emergency declaration came after a second meeting of the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee, which declined to take the step a month ago. The committee remained divided on whether the outbreak constituted an emergency, Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, but he took the unusual step of declaring an emergency anyway. Some experts and public health advocates criticized the decision not to issue the highest alert earlier, saying a declaration would have improved global coordination to contain the virus.
Monkeypox has spread across the world at an unprecedented rate in the last two months. The zoonotic virus, which causes flu-like symptoms and rashes that spread across the body, has been around for decades and is endemic in parts of Africa. But infections during the latest outbreak have surged in countries that have not historically reported monkeypox.
Infections in the ongoing outbreak are reported overwhelmingly among men who have sex with men, and experts believe close contact during sexual activity is a major driver of transmission. The virus transmits through other forms of skin-to-skin contact and in households through prolonged respiratory spread and the sharing of contaminated items. Authorities have also reported small numbers of women and children infected with monkeypox.
Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the outbreak can be stopped if countries work with communities of men who have sex with men to contain the virus, while stressing the world should avoid stigmatizing the group.
Few fatalities have been reported, although some men have been hospitalized with excruciating pain linked to lesions near the genitals.
Spain leads the world in confirmed cases with more than 3,100 infections, according to tracking by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The United States has the second-highest tally at nearly 2,900, with Germany and the United Kingdom each reporting more than 2,200 infections.
On Friday, health authorities reported the first two U.S. cases of monkeypox in children.
The pediatric cases, detected this week in an infant and a toddler, are likely the result of household transmission, according to the CDC.
The WHO’s move is not likely to have a direct effect on the U.S. response. But it could put pressure on the Biden administration to declare monkeypox a public health emergency, which could result in increased funding and compel states and local authorities to report more data to the CDC.
During a Washington Post Live interview Friday, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said inconsistent data inhibits the agency’s ability to observe trends in race and ethnicity, sexual behavior and vaccination
“And yet again, like we were for covid, we are again really challenged by the fact that we have the agency have no authority to receive those data,” Walensky said. | 2022-07-23T15:35:24Z | www.washingtonpost.com | WHO declares monkeypox a global health emergency as infections soar - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/07/23/monkeypox-who-global-emergency/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/07/23/monkeypox-who-global-emergency/ |
BALTIMORE — A Baltimore man has pleaded guilty to charges that he posed as a young girl to induce teenage boys to send him sexually explicit images and videos before he extorted them, a federal prosecutor said.
Once Walsh got the images, he extorted the boys into producing more explicit images and videos, threatening to send the earlier images to their friends if they didn’t, the plea agreement said.
To date, more than 40 boys have been positively identified as victims of Walsh’s conduct, and at least 30 victims’ pictures and videos were sold and/or distributed to others by Walsh. | 2022-07-23T15:35:30Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Prosecutor: Man posed as young girl to get explicit videos - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/prosecutor-man-posed-as-young-girl-to-get-explicit-videos/2022/07/23/e8e08a22-0a95-11ed-80b6-43f2bfcc6662_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/prosecutor-man-posed-as-young-girl-to-get-explicit-videos/2022/07/23/e8e08a22-0a95-11ed-80b6-43f2bfcc6662_story.html |
Car crashes into Watergate complex, injuring 1 person
A car crashed into the Watergate complex in Northwest D.C. on Friday afternoon, injuring one other person but leaving the historic riverfront property structurally intact.
The D.C. fire department said officials responded on the 2600 block of Virginia Avenue NW just after 2 p.m. Photos posted by the agency on Twitter showed a gray Subaru Forester had apparently gone headfirst into a glass wall.
Officials said they stabilized the vehicle to remove the driver, who declined further treatment. A person in a second vehicle was transported to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The collision resulted in “no structural integrity issues” to the Watergate complex, a group of six buildings in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood that include offices, apartments and a hotel.
Once one of the District’s most high-profile addresses, the Watergate is best known as the site of the 1972 burglary into the Democratic National Committee headquarters, which later sparked a political scandal by the same name.
A heavy rescue crane was also deployed to the scene but did not need to be used, officials said. | 2022-07-23T17:02:18Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Car crashes into D.C.'s Watergate building, injuring 1 person - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/23/car-crash-watergate-building-injury/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/23/car-crash-watergate-building-injury/ |
World War II veteran Eugene Bishop arrives at his 100th birthday party with family and friends on July 22 at a ballroom in Hillcrest Heights, Md. Bishop was born in 1922 and then enlisted in the U.S. Army for World War II on Aug. 2, 1942. (Michael A. McCoy for The Washington Post)
Eugene Bishop pulled up to his 100th birthday party Friday like a celebrity arriving at the red carpet. He emerged from a gray Porsche, driven by a friend, and was dressed in a spotless white-collared shirt, navy pinstripe suit and U.S. Army baseball cap. Relatives offered to guide him out of the car, but he politely refused any help. As he had done for much of his 100 years of life, Bishop preferred to do things his own way.
“Good afternoon,” he said, walking into his party at a ballroom in Hillcrest Heights, Md., to Stevie Wonder’s rendition of “Happy Birthday.” “Doctor Bishop coming through.”
The World War II veteran — nicknamed “Doc,” since his family says he can fix just about anything — celebrated his centennial Friday, surrounded by dozens of family members and friends. Bishop has so many descendants — 11 children, dozens of grandchildren, great-grandchildren and even great-great-grandchildren — that his family has stopped keeping count.
If Bishop has taken any lessons with him over the past century, the most important ones are to put faith first and try to be good.
Meet the centenarian who’s worked at the same company for 84 years
Bishop said he was born and raised in the small town of Bishopville, S.C. He never met his father — he died before Bishop was born — and his mother died when he was barely a teenager. He was mostly raised by his grandfather, who Bishop said was a preacher and instilled in him the importance of church and religion. He attended church every Sunday.
He worked as a sharecropper for most of his young life, dropping out of school before finishing third grade. Later, his love for gardening translated into a long career in landscaping. Among his family, he’s known for being able to make anything grow.
It’s been a good life, Bishop said. But Geneva Bishop, his eldest daughter, said he rarely shared his struggles with his family. Sharecropping was hard work without much reward, she said, but he always managed to support his family.
“My daddy had to learn a lot of stuff on his own,” she said. “But he always had a job, he always worked. I think that’s amazing for someone who had as little education as he did.”
He met his future wife, Rosa Mae Bishop, at church. Their marriage wasn’t always easy — the two faced Rosa Mae’s disapproving parents, moved from South Carolina to Washington, D.C., and helped raise grandchildren together, Geneva said. But they remained by each other’s sides until Rosa Mae died in 1983.
Bishop volunteered to serve in World War II in 1942, he said. It worried him to leave his family, but he felt compelled to go. He served overseas in Okinawa and worked mainly in the kitchen but also as a quartermaster and prison guard.
The family moved to D.C. in 1953, said Geneva, 74. They moved houses frequently as their family grew. Bishop now lives in Temple Hills, Md., with one of his daughters, Comiller Brunson.
“We was happy,” Geneva said. “There were so many of us, so we stuck together. ... It was wonderful.”
Bishop remained a presence in his children’s lives, in both joyous and difficult times. Brunson remembers vividly that when her first son, Arthur, was born with spinal meningitis, Bishop stayed by her side at the hospital and prayed over her son, reassuring her he was going to be okay.
Arthur now has an especially close bond with his grandfather. Bishop taught Arthur how to drive, the importance of hard work and the value of his faith. Bishop used to refuse to let Arthur help out with landscaping, instead telling him he was “for the books.”
Ask any of his grandchildren, and they will say the greatest lessons they learned from Bishop were his perseverance and his steady faith.
“He taught you anything is possible,” said Brandon Cornelius Bishop, another grandchild.
And with Bishop happily celebrating a century of living, surrounded by six of his surviving children and dozens of adoring family members, perhaps anything is.
“I made it,” said the former sharecropper and soldier. “I made that 100.” | 2022-07-23T17:02:24Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Eugene Bishop, Maryland World War II vet, celebrates 100th birthday - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/23/eugene-bishop-100-birthday/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/23/eugene-bishop-100-birthday/ |
Heat scorches Northeast as temperatures skyrocket to dangerous levels
Jennifer Pagan, center, sits in front of an open fire hydrant in New York City on Friday as dangerously high temperatures threatened much of the Northeast and Deep South. (Seth Wenig/AP)
Brutal heat is pressing down on much of the United States this weekend, with tens of millions of Americans sweltering under heat advisories and heat indexes in the Northeast soaring into the triple digits.
Officials up and down the Interstate 95 corridor urged residents to hydrate and watch for signs of heat-related illness as people flocked to pools and cooling centers for relief in cities stretching from Boston to D.C.
More than 30 National Weather Service stations may approach or exceed record temperatures by Sunday, the NWS Weather Prediction Center said Friday. High humidity is pushing heat indexes — the temperature that the air feels like — above 100 degrees Fahrenheit, an about-face from the Northeast’s relatively temperate start to the summer.
“The ‘Dog Days of Summer,’” the Weather Prediction Center said, “are unquestionably here.”
The extreme heat is another warning sign that climate change is increasingly imperiling what traditionally is a time associated with relaxing summer vacations. Temperatures are rising, wildfires are becoming more severe and droughts are becoming more common — a striking change from previous generations, scientists say.
In some cities, this weekend’s extreme heat caused major events to be altered due to safety concerns. The Boston Triathlon originally scheduled for Sunday was postponed to late August “due to the current Heat Emergency.” While New York City’s triathlon and duathlon is still scheduled to take place Sunday, organizers announced they had shortened the bicycling and running segments of the competition.
“The safety of our athletes and everyone in attendance is our top priority,” New York City Triathlon organizers said.
New York officials converted public spaces to cooling centers and offered spray caps for fire hydrants, which are meant to lessen the amount of water released if people open the hydrants to stay cool. The city’s Weather Service station said the next two days would be the area’s “hottest weekend of the year so far” and warned that temperatures would climb into the 90s and could feel even higher.
If New York’s heat wave lasts through Monday, it would match a similar seven-day heat wave in 2013 when heat indexes reached at least 95 degrees each day.
Boston was set to experience temperatures in the high 80s to high 90s Saturday, with “comfortable” humidity levels. But the Weather Service warned of more oppressive heat conditions for Sunday, with heat index values up to 105 degrees.
Excessive heat can be dangerous, making it hard for the body to cool itself and potentially causing a rapid pulse, nausea or loss of consciousness. The unsafe temperatures are forcing people up and down the Atlantic coast to figure out how to protect themselves.
Susan Driscoll, 58, said she has been going on runs earlier than usual to avoid Boston’s heat. The photographer and personal trainer captured an image of the sunrise at Paul Revere Park on Saturday morning.
“Miles have been down and pace has been down,” because of the heat, she said, adding that she is “listening to her body” this weekend.
“I didn’t have any races or anything on the agenda, thank goodness, because I might have gone out and walked it,” Driscoll said.
In Philadelphia, where the heat index could reach the low to mid 100s on Sunday, the fire department implored residents not to use fire hydrants to cool off — warning that opening the hydrants could damage them and nearby property and people. It encouraged residents to find public pools and spray parks instead.
The District of Columbia is preparing for temperatures to potentially reach triple digits for the first time since 2016. Temperatures there already felt like the mid 90s on Saturday morning and were continuing to rise, The Washington Post’s Capital Weather Gang reported. In response, the city extended operating hours at public pools, opened cooling centers and expanded the number of beds in its homeless shelters to offer people a cool place to sleep.
The heat wave is particularly challenging for some residents in the Northeast, where air conditioning is not as ubiquitous as it is in other parts of the country.
Lauren Kinsley said she has been working from her Manhattan home over the past few days to avoid the heat.
“I just have one air conditioner in my apartment — one window unit — but I’m trying to keep costs down,” said Kinsley, 32, who works in fundraising. “So it’s just been sweltering in my apartment basically this whole week, and right now I just went outside to get coffee. And I came back drenched.”
Kinsley said she is planning to go see “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris” at a movie theater this weekend, in part because it means she’ll be in an air-conditioned space.
“But you have to brave the heat to get there,” she said, adding she is holding off on running errands until the temperature cools down. | 2022-07-23T17:06:33Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Heat wave scorches Northeast, New York, Boston as temperatures skyrocket - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/07/23/heat-wave-northeast-extreme-temperatures-summer/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/07/23/heat-wave-northeast-extreme-temperatures-summer/ |
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