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With legalized marijuana now available in many states, pets are showing up at vet clinics intoxicated
By Susan Coll
(Elizabeth von Oehsen/The Washington Post)
Last summer, my husband had gone hiking with our two dogs when one of them — a year-old rescue who weighs in at over 50 pounds, can scale steep inclines like a mountain goat and has the speed and grace of an Olympic athlete — suddenly collapsed.
We piled into our car and headed to an emergency veterinary clinic. I held Dafna’s head in my lap, convinced the end was near. This puppy had destroyed two pairs of my prescription eyeglasses, a new leather wallet, and had torn gashes in my clothes. She’d chewed through my daughter’s internet cords. Still, I loved her like no other.
A few moments later, we learned why. The vet explained that while they were running a urine test to confirm their suspicions, they were pretty sure Dafna had ingested THC, maybe from a marijuana plant growing wild along the trail, or perhaps she’d eaten a discarded pot roach.
It turns out that’s not so unusual these days.
In Vermont, where we were and where possession and use of marijuana was legalized in 2018, the vet said she now sees as many as 10 cases per week of pot intoxication. According to ASPCApro and local vets, that’s happening across the country.
“We are seeing a higher amount of marijuana/THC toxicities in dogs since legalization,” said Nastassia Germain, medical director of the Veterinary Emergency Group in D.C. “I am also seeing more severe cases due to access to medical grade THC/marijuana.”
Hanna Rosin, a podcast host who lives in D.C., was on a walk this fall with her adult rescue dog, Brian, a possible beagle-Chihuahua mix, when he suddenly became wobbly. “Like wobbly drunk,” Rosin said. She wound up at Germain’s clinic where “the vet took one look at him and was like, ‘THC,’” Rosin said.
“My brain didn’t compute,” Rosin said. “I was like, what is THC? Is that a common dog term that I don’t know? And then I was like, Wait, what? Like THC? And she’s like, ‘Yeah, like weed, like your dog ate some weed.’”
Germain said her clinic sees on average two or three pot intoxicated dogs per week these days, and with holidays and family gatherings, “we see more toxicities of all different kinds” including from chocolate, grapes, garlic and prescription medicines, in addition to marijuana.
We are seeing a higher amount of marijuana/THC toxicities in dogs since legalization.
— Nastassia Germain, medical director of the Veterinary Emergency Group
Intoxicants usually work their way through a dog’s system in a couple of days, during which they may be sleepy or more lethargic than usual. And with some IV fluids and anti-nausea meds at the vet, they’re generally fine. But the level of danger may correlate to the size of the dog, its overall health, and what amount and what form of THC has been ingested.
According to information on the Veterinary Emergency Group website, eating buds from a marijuana plant is more dangerous than eating the leaves. With pot gummies, it’s not just the THC that is a problem for dogs, Germain said. Often, gummies are sugar-free and use a sugar substitute called Xylitol, which in the worst case can be fatal for dogs. Even in very small amounts, this ingredient may lead to low blood sugar, seizures, and possible liver damage or failure.
Similarly, marijuana brownies pose a risk to dogs as much for the chocolate as the THC, Germain said. “Now we’re dealing with two different types of toxins that can have varying clinical signs,” she said.
Although there have been reports of pet deaths from THC, Germain said she hasn’t seen this in her clinic. “It can get severe where they could have low or abnormal heart rates, low blood pressure, and sometimes tremors that can lead to seizures and coma,” Germain said.
Germain said she has never come across a cat who has ingested marijuana, although it’s theoretically possible the THC ingestion would produce the same symptoms in felines. “They’re just a little bit more selective of what they eat than our canine friends,” Germain said. “I mean we can barely get them to eat their cat food sometimes.”
Veterinarian Lily Davis, who recently completed a one-year internship at an emergency room specialty veterinarian hospital in Denver, said her team saw dogs with THC toxicity at the rate of “at least one a shift or one a day, if not more.”
Yet, even there, with pot in all its forms so widely accessible in Colorado, people were often surprised to learn why their pets were acting funny, Davis said. “We tried to very politely say, is it possible that your dog could have ingested marijuana or marijuana containing products?” she said. “And almost always people would say, ‘Oh, I have no idea … we don’t have anything … .’”
Trying to figure out where an affected dog might have found the substance and in what form can require diplomatic skills by vets. Germain said she tells people, “We’re not the cops, we’re not going to report you, our job as vets is to just help the pets.” She described situations where family members had to be separated to get someone — the parents or the kids — to admit to having possessed the ingested stash.
Given that signs of intoxication are fairly easy to spot and that, in most cases, the animal’s system will naturally flush the toxins out, is it necessary to rush to the vet as we did?
“It’s a good question,” said Davis, who is now doing a veterinary anesthesia residency at the University of Tennessee. “I think, humanely, from an empathy standpoint, to see them feel nauseous and dizzy and just not good, it would be nice if people can afford to come into the vet and get some supportive care just to help them feel better and get through it.”
Dafna’s full recovery took a couple of days. We ended up with a bill for $317.98 and a slew of very bad jokes from our adult children.
As a rule of thumb, if the smell of marijuana is in the air — as it increasingly is in the 21 states, D.C. and Guam, that have legalized recreational use — the stuff is also likely to be in the street. And if you happen to have the substance at home, store it carefully away from pets, vets said.
“We think the dog can’t get on top of that table. They can, they’re just like toddlers. Like if there’s a way and there’s a will, they will do it,” Germain said.
A couple of days after Hanna Rosin’s dog went wobbly, a 3½-year-old hound mix belonging to her partner, podcast host Lauren Ober, suddenly began listing and had trouble getting up. This time they did not rush to the vet; it seemed clear that there was either something growing in their neighborhood or the dogs had tag-teamed in getting into the same trash — or stash.
In our case, Dafna’s full recovery took a couple of days. We ended up with a bill for $317.98 and a slew of very bad jokes from our adult children: We should pick up a large pizza for Dafna, our kids recommended. Also, stop at a convenience store for a bag of some Cool Ranch Doritos. And play some Grateful Dead on the ride home. | 2022-12-17T13:31:22Z | www.washingtonpost.com | More dogs are inadvertently getting high as states legalize marijuana - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2022/12/17/dogs-high-marijuana-vet-visits/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2022/12/17/dogs-high-marijuana-vet-visits/ |
The event made for a tough week for businesses and residents within a security perimeter around the convention center.
A member of the D.C. National Guard stands along New York Avenue NW, not far from the Walter E. Washington Convention Center ahead of the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in D.C. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post)
The blocks surrounding the Walter E. Washington Convention Center are typically bustling with tourists and residents. But the high-profile U.S.-African Leaders summit held there this week brought most of that neighborhood to a standstill and took a chunk out of year-end revenue at local bars and restaurants.
Business owners and residents had been given notice by city officials that some roads would be closed and security ramped up. But many in the neighborhood say they weren’t quite prepared for the extensive shutdown that snarled traffic for days, eliminated swaths of parking, severely hampered deliveries and trash pickup, and cut their business by more than half in some cases.
“Monday through Thursday our business was off by about 45 percent. Pretty bad,” said Oliver Cox, who with his wife is co-owner of Pearl’s Bagels on 7th Street NW, just outside the fenced-in security perimeter for the summit. To get to their shop, Cox said, customers had to walk around the fence, wind their way through concrete barriers and skirt past a National Guard Humvee. Most didn’t bother to make the effort. “It was pretty desolate,” he said.
Cox, who also lives in the neighborhood, said they had to cut staff for the week. The planning, he said, could have been much better.
“Not a lot of people knew this was coming at least not in a way that was that disruptive,” he said.
Roads were closed off most of the week in the neighborhood bordered by O and K streets NW, and 6th and 10th streets NW. Parking restrictions extended beyond the perimeter on many nearby streets. D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser requested operational support from the D.C. National Guard on Dec. 9 just ahead of the summit, which was held from Tuesday through Thursday, and brought leaders from across Africa to Washington to meet with top American officials including President Biden.
Security fencing around the perimeter meant residents had to be screened by law enforcement officers to get to their homes. And visitors who wanted to get to businesses or the many bars and restaurants in the neighborhood had to do the same. Uber and Lyft drivers steered clear of the cordoned off blocks and deliveries were severely hampered. Many restaurants removed delivery as an options. Others restaurants canceled office holiday parties because getting there would have been too difficult for guests.
“It was an extraordinary three days,” said Rachelle Nigro, vice chair of the Advisory Neighborhood Commission 6E. She said there was a similar event at the convention center in 2016 but there were fewer businesses and residents in the neighborhood at that time.
“We have a denser population now and for people who are newer to the District, it was a lot,” she said. “When you see basically several blocks fenced in completely it can leave you shocked. It was very challenging for the residents and the businesses.”
Eric Ziebold, the owner and chef of Kinship, also on 7th Street NW, said business was down 30 percent last week. Many diners canceled reservations at the Michelin-rated restaurant when they realized how challenging it would be to get to the restaurant, he said. The restaurant also reached out to customers to let them know in advance what they would be facing and offered to rebook their reservations.
Garbage is typically picked up every day at the restaurant but trash trucks couldn’t make their way past security barriers and it was four days before trash could be hauled, Ziebold said. Limiting trash pickup brought other problems to the neighborhood.
“I’m sorry, I hate to be blunt, but D.C. is ranking very high in rodent infestation and this past week is certainly not helping the cause,” he said.
Ziebold said information was provided in advance but it changed over time. “The plan wasn’t communicated very well.”
District officials acknowledged the heavy security presence for the summit and said Friday the mayor would engage with local businesses to better understand the impact the event had.
“The District of Columbia is host to numerous large and complex special events on an annual basis. National Special Security Events, such as the US-Africa Leaders Summit, require higher levels of security and we understand that there may be some impacts to the community,” Gabe Lugo, spokesperson for D.C. Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency, said in a statement. “The Mayor’s office and public safety agencies work closely with the U.S. Secret Service and other law enforcement partners to anticipate, mitigate, and communicate these impacts. The Mayor’s office is engaging local businesses to learn more about their experience this past week, we appreciate this feedback so that community engagement can be optimized for future events.”
Eric Eden, the owner of the Unconventional Diner on 9th Street NW, said his business took a 65 to 70 percent hit last week because of the closures.
Eden said he was aware of what to expect and knew that getting across the District would be difficult during the summit.
It is debilitating to the city and it did affect some of us, Eden said. “Entry points were hard to find and making your way to our business was difficult.”
But Eden also said that contending with the inconvenience of a neighborhood shut down is part of living in the capital city.
“Street closures are common place for large scale events,” he said. “The longer you live and work here the less surprised you are by these types of things affecting your business.”
Of the city’s preparation efforts Eden said he thought “they did the best they could to let us know what was coming.”
He encouraged city residents who weren’t able to visit the neighborhood during the summit to come back soon and support local businesses.
“It will help make up for loss revenue in a very trying time,” Eden said. | 2022-12-17T14:13:32Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Africa leaders summit street closures a pain for downtown D.C. neighbors - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/12/17/africa-summit-closures-business-impact/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/12/17/africa-summit-closures-business-impact/ |
Montgomery schools transportation staff ‘regularly’ violated purchasing policy, review finds
Montgomery County Public School buses sit at the depot in Bethesda, Md., in August 2021. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post)
Some employees in Montgomery County school system’s transportation department frequently misused county-issued purchasing cards, including more than $133,000 in prohibited purchases made by its former assistant director.
The violations were revealed as part of a county inspector general’s report released this week which reviewed transactions from July 10, 2020 to June 22, 2022 for all 12 department employees assigned purchasing cards. Some employees were found to have been issued two cards. The report noted that the department’s former director, former assistant director and some staff “regularly violated P-Card policies.”
The inspector general’s report is the latest investigation into the misspending by the transportation department that was first uncovered during a review of school system-issued credit cards last year.
The report does not name the employees involved, but notes that the former transportation director and assistant director were placed on leave in November 2021 when county police began an investigation into the department. Those employees were Todd Watkins, who was head of the department, and Charles Ewald, who was the assistant director.
According to the report, Ewald was fired in February. Watkins resigned in March. Phone numbers listed for Ewald and Watkins were not answered.
Police investigating Montgomery County schools’ transportation department
The report details that in September 2021, a school board’s internal audit unit found questionable purchases on the assistant director’s assigned purchasing card, which included items like large furniture, gift cards and home security cameras. The items totaled nearly $5,000. The assistant director entered “misleading descriptions” of the purchases into the PaymentNet system, an online service for cardholders to input information of their spending, “possibly to disguise personal purchases as work related,” according to the report. For example, a purchase of an Apple Watch band was described in PaymentNet as a laptop accessory.
When the board’s internal audit unit spoke to the assistant director about the purchases, he “provided no explanation.” The internal audit unit recommended the employee repay the school system for the gift cards.
Meanwhile, the school system hired an outside accounting and advisory firm to conduct a forensic investigation into the alleged financial improprieties of the department’s managers. Some of the findings were detailed in a state audit released in September, including $571,000 of transactions deemed questionable or required further review.
The state audit also revealed an “off the books” vendor account run by the department.
The Montgomery County inspector general expanded on the school system’s investigation. The county’s watchdog found that the department managers “encouraged and tolerated staff violations” of the district’s purchasing-card policy.
Of the transactions reviewed during the report’s two-year scope, four purchases of office furniture totaling $78,000 were found to have violated policy. One of those purchases was about $49,000, which exceeded a $25,000 purchasing limit that requires school board approval. The school district’s procurement office was never informed of the purchase, according to the report, and it was not approved by the school board. The department’s new transportation director and acting assistant director told the inspector general that they thought the furniture was purchased using the former assistant director’s purchasing card.
State audit details misspending in Montgomery school system
Roughly $46,000 of purchased items — including iPads, computer monitors and bathroom vanities — made on the assistant director’s purchasing card “should have been purchased through contracts with preapproved vendors or by other means,” according to the report.
And about $1,600 purchased on the assistant director’s card were likely for personal use, which included noise-canceling headphones, kayak covers and more, according to the report.
Since the school district’s internal investigation, all of the employees in the transportation department have been retrained on how to use purchasing cards, said schools spokeswoman Jessica Baxter. The school district has made other changes, such as decreasing purchasing card limits and deactivating cards that have unapproved purchases beyond 45 days. The school system has recovered in excess of $800,000.
The Office of the Inspector General said those initiatives should “minimize future policy abuses,” but added that the school system needed more oversight into its purchasing card program. The county watchdog found the school system did not conduct regular reviews into purchasing habits at schools and central offices, as required by district policy, according to the report. It issued four recommendations to the school district, which included enforcing those regular reviews and using compliance monitoring features through PaymentNet. | 2022-12-17T14:13:32Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Montgomery schools transportation staff ‘regularly’ violated purchasing policy, review finds - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/12/17/montgomery-transportation-purchasing-cards-investigation/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/12/17/montgomery-transportation-purchasing-cards-investigation/ |
Earlier this week, medical website STATnews reported on data that showed Covid vaccines have saved 3 million lives in the US. That’s about three times as many Americans as have died from the virus. Even if you quibble with the exact figure, these vaccines have been a momentous achievement.
But the same day, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis petitioned the state Supreme Court to start a grand jury investigation into the safety and efficacy claims behind mRNA vaccines — the dominant kind used in this country.
Despite the success of these vaccines, misleading messaging from public health experts and from the White House has created confusion that’s left fertile ground for DeSantis’s disingenuous and self-serving maneuvers.
It’s well past time to talk honestly about the downsides of the Covid-19 vaccines. They don’t do much to prevent people from getting mild cases of the current variants. They don’t do much to stem community transmission. And like all pharmaceuticals, they’re not perfectly safe. Booster mandates for young people amount to safety theater (free rapid tests would do a lot more to keep college students from infecting their grandparents or professors).
Papering over or ignoring those minor problems has eroded public trust and created an opening for DeSantis to sow discord and confusion.
While it’s fair to say that presidential hopeful DeSantis is proving himself a health hazard with his misleading petition, the move capitalizes on pre-existing distrust of public health, big pharma and the media on the part of many Americans.
In parts of his petition dealing with safety problems, DeSantis is playing into a common misconception: That anecdotes count as data. If you followed hundreds of millions of people for a period of time, some would die or suffer complications unexpectedly, by chance — and so when you give hundreds of millions of people a vaccine, the same thing will happen for reasons that have nothing to do with the vaccine. (That was brought home by the sudden death of sports journalist Grant Wahl , 49, during the World Cup — attributed to an aneurism by an autopsy but used by vaccine skeptics to drum up fear.)
But there’s a false narrative from the left as well, which was parroted in a Politico piece about the DeSantis grand jury stunt: “Most of the medical community, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the FDA and Johns Hopkins, have emphasized that the Covid vaccine is safe and effective in preventing the virus and protecting against serious symptoms.”
Science no longer backs the notion that the vaccine prevents the virus from infecting people. “The benefit of the vaccine in the omicron era isn’t protection against infection the way it was earlier. It’s protection against what matters most: severe disease, hospitalization and death,” said Johns Hopkins University senior scholar and physician Amesh Adalja.
Pediatrician and FDA vaccine advisor Paul Offit said the same thing to me earlier this month — the vaccines and boosters in 2022 and beyond are good for saving lives and preventing severe disease. At this point, most vaccinated people have been sick with Covid. They know firsthand the vaccine didn’t “prevent the virus” for them.
The science behind this issue isn’t that complicated. The shots induce so-called cellular immunity, which can offer months or perhaps years of reasonably strong protection against the kind of severe disease that lands people in the ICU. In those who aren’t elderly or otherwise immune compromised, this protection persists even against the much-mutated descendants of omicron now circulating.
But variants have evolved increasingly efficient ways to get around the first line of vaccine-induced defense — antibodies. So the protection from vaccines against mild disease is porous and transient. That’s why Offit says it’s better to focus the booster campaigns on those who need extra protection against severe disease.
There’s a reason scientists initially said the vaccines would prevent transmission of the virus: Clinical trials done in 2020 showed that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were around 95% effective at preventing symptomatic disease. It wasn’t perfect, and as I wrote in this 2020 column, the companies should have gathered data on whether the vaccines prevented asymptomatic infection as well. But it was a reasonable inference that vaccinated people were less likely to get infected and spread the virus.
The trials had other limitations — the Pfizer trial, for example, followed about 50,000 people from late July to mid-November. So they couldn’t detect the way antibodies wane over longer periods of time, nor could they detect side effects that might crop up in one in a hundred thousand or million people.
Scientists have continued to study the effects of the vaccine over the last two years, and that uncovered one serious side effect from mRNA vaccine: a kind of heart inflammation called myocarditis.
It’s an extremely rare side effect but has caused a few people to be hospitalized. The risk is concentrated in males in their teens and 20s, said Adalja. If he had an 18-year-old patient who was considering vaccination but worried about myocarditis, he might suggest the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which isn’t associated with myocarditis. (That vaccine has a few risks too; it has been associated with rare blood clots, mostly in pre-menopausal women.)
Independent risk communication consultant Peter Sandman points to some of the deceptions DeSantis uses in the petition, in which the governor claims: “The federal government, medical associations, and other experts have created an expectation that receiving a COVID-19 vaccine is an ethical or civic duty and that choosing not to get vaccinated against COVID-19 is selfish and harmful to others.”
That’s true — people did promote the vaccine as a way to protect others and end the pandemic — but DeSantis ignores the fact that the clinical trials made this look plausible at the time. The virus and the situation changed. DeSantis also ignores that the vaccines may still have some protective effect against infection and that, by reducing the risk of severe illness, they reduce the risk that hospitals will be overwhelmed with Covid patients.
And DeSantis “plays games with definitional ambiguities,” said Sandman. A good example is this passage, where “prevent” seems to imply perfection rather than reduced odds: “some Floridians made the choice to receive the COVID-19 vaccine because they believed that receiving the vaccine would prevent them from spreading COVID-19 to others.”
But, again, DeSantis is capitalizing on a distrust enhanced by the mistakes of the public health community and the Biden administration, who have at times oversold what the vaccines can do to the point of misleading the public. They may believe that the science is too complicated for the public to understand, or tell themselves some overpromising is acceptable because the vaccines do save lives. But there are costs to that approach, as we’re now seeing.
I asked Adalja what can be done to prevent him seeing more of his patients getting severely ill or dying. His answer: more-targeted use of the booster shots and Paxlovid for the elderly and other high-risk people. Some blame for neglecting our elderly and high-risk citizens can be placed on misdirected public health efforts and some on loss of public trust. What DeSantis is doing is unconscionable, but he’s filling a trust vacuum created by his enemies.
• It’s Still Worth Fighting Anti-Vaccine Misinformation: Faye Flam
• Abortion Clinics Shouldn’t Have to Stand Alone: Sarah Green Carmichael | 2022-12-17T15:01:52Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Ron DeSantis Vaccine Complaint Exploits Public Health Gaffes - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/ron-desantis-vaccine-complaint-exploits-public-health-gaffes/2022/12/17/e7a03698-7e13-11ed-bb97-f47d47466b9a_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/ron-desantis-vaccine-complaint-exploits-public-health-gaffes/2022/12/17/e7a03698-7e13-11ed-bb97-f47d47466b9a_story.html |
WILMINGTON, Del. — Donavon “Monty” Alderman’s career took a sweet turn a couple of years ago, and now he can’t imagine doing anything else.
The New Castle man’s bright, upbeat personality and culinary abilities recently caught the eye of the Food Network, which is featuring Alderman in “Bake It ‘Til You Make It,” a seven-episode program that premieres Dec. 26 at 9 p.m.
Robbie Jester, a Newark-based chef who has appeared several times on the Food Network and bested Bobby Flay on the program “Beat Bobby Flay,” is gearing up to be one of 11 contestants competing for $100,000 on the Netflix series “Pressure Cooker.”
“With ‘Bake It ‘Til You Make It,’ we are able to pull back the curtain on the world of competitive baking, giving viewers a front-row seat to the highs and lows of each baker’s quest for success,” said Jane Latman, president of Home & Food Content and Streaming for Warner Bros. Discovery. “The creations are incredible, the determination dogged, and the wild ride from ideation to presentation is something to behold.”
“I started going to barber shops (to sell cakes).”
During the pandemic, Alderman started Zoom cooking classes. “That kept me going,” he said.
He said he is not a professional chef or baker. “I didn’t go to school for culinary arts, but I’m doing what I love and what I do makes people smile.”
They also followed along this past summer as he went to Delaware State Fair and entered some baking contests. Alderman said it didn’t go so well for him.
“Those women whipped my tail,” he said, laughing.
Because the series hasn’t yet aired, “nothing has changed yet,” Alderman said. “It was a nice experience. For me, I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing.” | 2022-12-17T15:02:20Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Football player-turned-baker shows off skills on TV show - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/football-player-turned-baker-shows-off-skills-on-tv-show/2022/12/17/5a190f70-7e13-11ed-bb97-f47d47466b9a_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/football-player-turned-baker-shows-off-skills-on-tv-show/2022/12/17/5a190f70-7e13-11ed-bb97-f47d47466b9a_story.html |
Congress braces for a hectic year-end week. It wasn’t always this way.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that Congress would have liked to have finished must-pass legislation sooner. (Sarah Silbiger/For The Washington Post)
On Nov. 19, 2002, the Senate confirmed a federal judge, passed a resolution funding the government, and created the Department of Homeland Security. After that, the chamber doors closed — nine days before Thanksgiving — and the Senate did not come back into session until the new Congress was sworn in seven weeks later.
It’s how things are supposed to work on Capitol Hill. But it’s exactly the way things no longer work.
Instead, this coming week, lawmakers are expected to be in town until Friday to approve the final bills for the 117th Congress. They may even work part of the last week of the year if some important business is on the verge of being negotiated.
Although this has been a productive two years overall for major legislation, congressional leaders have again waited until deep into the holiday season to assemble must-pass bills — and they’ve used them as legislative Christmas trees, attaching unrelated measures small and large.
These recent lame-duck sessions, after voters have chosen lawmakers for the next Congress, have turned into quite momentous periods.
The Senate signed off on the annual Pentagon policy bill late Thursday night. And leaders hope soon to unveil the details of a $1.7 trillion outline for funding federal agencies, with final votes planned by Friday, just two days before Christmas.
Passing these two behemoth bills is not cause for celebration; it’s a perfunctory duty. The Pentagon legislation has passed every year for more than six decades, and the funding bill must be approved or else the government shuts down.
Asked Thursday by Chad Pergram of Fox News why Congress waits so long to complete its basic tasks, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) grew irritated.
“We’ve been here longer. We have been here longer,” Pelosi said at her weekly news conference, relating how she took lawmakers on a New Year’s Eve 2012 trip to the National Archives because Congress was still handling tax legislation.
“It is not a tactic. We would have liked to have done it much sooner,” she added, before admitting, “There’s a better way to do it, yes.”
But these delays sure have a strategic impact amid the overall atrophying of Congress’s ability to pass important legislation as stand-alone bills.
Twenty years ago, the House and Senate each passed competing versions of the Pentagon bill before July 4, then they went into prolonged negotiations and the final version passed Nov. 13, 2002. This year, the Senate didn’t bother to act until it hatched a final version of the bill Dec. 6 after behind-closed-door talks with House leaders.
Once the Senate gave its blessing late Thursday to the legislation, lawmakers started to brag about the unrelated items they had tacked on to the bipartisan Pentagon bill. Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) touted having gotten a bill to increase funding for states to work on sexual assault cases, providing a federal standing for the rights of survivors.
Republicans on the House Homeland Security Committee highlighted 10 provisions that are under their jurisdiction that they managed to tuck into the Pentagon bill. One instructed FEMA to provide better assistance to small states and rural towns during natural disasters.
These policy riders, a long tradition in Congress, have grown so prolific that sometimes the additional items are more important than the underlying bill serving as the legislative Christmas tree.
Take this year’s government funding bill.
By waiting so late, congressional leaders are presenting their rank-and-file lawmakers with a hostage situation: Vote yes, approve the $1.7 trillion for federal agencies, and you can leave the Capitol in time for flights home by Christmas Eve.
“We all understand Christmas is Sunday and none of us want to be here. But all of us have a responsibility to complete the business of funding the government of the United States. So we will be here,” House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) told colleagues Thursday.
Washington Post Live: Rep. James Clyburn on the lame-duck session
Leaders tried for a few weeks to make it sound as if the delays were caused by spending disagreements. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) threatened to oppose the emerging legislation, called an “omnibus” by insiders, over objections to Democrats’ seeking an additional $26 billion of funding for domestic agencies.
That dispute added up to about 1.5 percent of the entire the bill, almost a rounding error, and the bipartisan leadership of the Senate Appropriations Committee announced Tuesday that it had a framework for the deal without revealing even what the overall spending would be.
In this case, the unrelated policy riders almost certainly will be more consequential than the underlying funding bill. Leaders have signaled that they will attach up to $37 billion to support Ukraine in the war against Russia.
In addition, they are certain to attach the Electoral Count Act, a response to the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, by supporters of then-President Donald Trump trying to overturn his election loss to Joe Biden in 2020.
As so often happens, the House passed its version of the bill in September. The Senate reached a bipartisan deal on its version of the legislation but then declined to act. Senate leaders just sat on the bill, deciding a few months ago that it would just be easier to attach this critically important bill to one of the must-pass buses just before Christmas.
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Dec. 13 said efforts to reform the Electoral Count Act would be included in the year-end spending bill. (Video: The Washington Post)
Others are trying to attach riders that would reduce cuts to Medicare, create a legal banking framework for cannabis companies and renew a child tax credit.
Pergram’s questions to Pelosi were spot-on and well-informed. This isn’t the way things used to work.
In 1990, 1992, 1996 and 1998 there were no legislative sessions after the elections, according to Senate records. In 1998, the House convened during the lame duck solely to consider the impeachment of President Bill Clinton.
As recently as 2008 — when the entire domestic and international economy was cratering — the lame-duck session was, in fact, pretty lame.
The Senate cast just two votes after the 2008 election: The first, on Nov. 20, approve extended unemployment benefits as the Great Recession started, and the second, on Dec. 11, failed to create a bailout program for the auto industry.
The chamber then adjourned. The House had closed up the day before. Congress didn’t return to session for almost four weeks.
But in 2009, as Republicans used every possible tool to block them, Senate Democrats stayed in session until Christmas Eve to pass their version of the Affordable Care Act.
It was like a psychic breakthrough. Congressional leaders then knew they could consider legislation right up to the once sacrosanct Christmas holiday and beyond.
The last votes in 2010 came on Dec. 22, and two years later Congress rang in the new year inside the Capitol: The Senate passed the “fiscal cliff” legislation raising taxes on the rich after 1:30 a.m. on Jan. 1, 2013, and the House signed off later that night — about 36 hours before the new, 113th Congress was sworn in.
In 2018, GOP leaders waited till a few days before Christmas to try to pass the agency-funding bill, only to learn that Trump opposed the legislation over a dispute about money for the border. The government partially shut down three days before Christmas and did not reopen for five weeks.
Both chambers waited until Dec. 21, 2020, to pass the omnibus spending bill for federal agencies, which included a gargantuan rider of $900 billion of funding to deal with the health and economic crises spawned by the coronavirus pandemic.
Rank-and-file lawmakers were asked to vote a few hours after the more than 5,000-page bill had been publicly released.
This is why Congress needs time to actually read this package before voting on it.
Members of Congress have not read this bill. It’s over 5000 pages, arrived at 2pm today, and we are told to expect a vote on it in 2 hours.
This isn’t governance. It’s hostage-taking. https://t.co/JpBbEHHkVG
This Congress, with both chambers run by Democrats and with Biden in the White House, will go down as historically significant. In March 2021, Democrats passed the party-line, $1.9 trillion pandemic relief plan, followed by the August 2022 party-line budget plan that poured more than $300 billion into fighting climate change and reined in some medical costs.
In between, several major bipartisan plans got passed, including a $1 trillion infrastructure plan and a $280 billion plan to boost U.S. manufacturing.
Voters are recognizing the accomplishments. According to a Marist Poll for NPR and PBS, 24 percent said this Congress accomplished more than recent Congresses — the highest percentage saying that since 1998.
Despite those successes, however, Congress will end this session in the coming days with a flurry of last-minute votes in which lawmakers will complain about having little input into trillions of dollars of spending and critical policy riders.
The drawn-out process might not be an official tactic, but leaders on both sides of the aisle have accepted this lame-duck smorgasbord as the new normal.
“The fact is,” Pelosi said Thursday, “we’re on a good path now to get something done.” | 2022-12-17T15:02:32Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Congress to spend final weeks of lame-duck session racing to pass legislation - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/17/congress-lame-duck-funding/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/17/congress-lame-duck-funding/ |
Supporters of France react on the Champs-Élysées avenue at the end of the World Cup semifinal soccer match between France and Morocco, in Paris on Dec. 14. (Thibault Camus/AP)
PARIS ― Before the World Cup got underway in Qatar last month, a fourth of French soccer fans said in surveys that they would boycott the controversial tournament. There was widespread outrage over the Persian Gulf state’s treatment of LGBTQ people and migrant workers, as well as the contest’s carbon footprint.
With France now gearing up for Sunday’s match with Argentina, moral dilemmas that once dominated French World Cup coverage are quickly becoming an afterthought.
“The French probably didn’t believe the team would get that far,” said Laurent Grün, a soccer history researcher in eastern France who decided to not watch the tournament. Even some of his own family members who previously joined the boycott have by now given in.
Among the France national team supporters watching Sunday’s match will be President Emmanuel Macron, a soccer fan who already traveled to Qatar for Wednesday’s semifinal and is making a second trip to the Gulf state this weekend.
“I’m backing the France team and I think that the French are too,” Macron said Thursday.
The French president is one of only a few top European officials who have attended this year’s World Cup. But his presence in Qatar — and his recent insistence that “sports should not be politicized” — appeared to capture the predominant sentiment among French soccer fans in these final days of the World Cup.
For those who were having second thoughts about their initial boycott plans, Macron’s defense of the tournament has served as a justification to give in. When France beat Morocco in Wednesday’s semifinal, over 20.7 million in France were watching on TV — the highest semifinal viewership since 2006, according to Médiamétrie, a polling company that measures audience and media usage.
But the debate over the tournament’s ethical dilemmas hasn’t entirely died down. Macron’s trip this week re-energized some of his political opponents, who have for months called for a boycott. On Wednesday, a group of left-wing members of parliament held a minute of silence to mourn the migrant workers who died in Qatar in the lead-up to the competition. And unlike during previous World Cups, major cities like Paris, Bordeaux, Marseille and Strasbourg won’t show the final on large screens in vast public viewing areas. Bars across Paris are expected to be overcrowded, and some fans may not find space to watch the match.
Defenders of a boycott are pointing to a moral obligation that might be stronger in France than other countries. Investigators are examining whether French officials — including former president Nicolas Sarkozy — played a role in helping Qatar win the bid to host the World Cup, French newspaper Le Monde reported last month. And amid an explosive investigation this week into allegations that current and former E.U. officials took bribes from Qatar, Macron’s government is facing mounting calls to rein in Qatari influence in France.
“It was out of the question to set up public viewing areas,” Paris’s deputy mayor overseeing sports, Pierre Rabadan, said earlier this year about the city’s decision to not host public viewing events. He cited Qatar’s labor conditions, environmental concerns, and the fact that fans would be standing in the cold because the tournament is held in winter and not, as usual, in summer.
Out of all the French cities that opted to boycott the World Cup, however, Paris’s move was the most puzzling one, critics said.
When Brazilian soccer star Neymar transferred to PSG in 2017, Hidalgo’s administration allowed the Eiffel Tower to be lit up in the club colors.
“She relies heavily on the image of PSG,” Bernard Caïazzo, a shareholder of French soccer club AS Saint-Étienne, said in October.
In many ways, Paris’s boycott of a World Cup hosted by a country that owns the city’s most valuable soccer club has encapsulated the dilemmas many national teams, cities, and governments faced during this World Cup: Sending a stronger signal would often have gone against their own interests.
In an interview, Samzun accused Qatar of a “disrespect for human rights” and criticized this year’s tournament as “environmental nonsense.” But he also took aim at the Paris boycott, calling it “hypocritical” and suggesting that local officials should never have been brought into the current position in the first place.
Unlike many other towns, Saint-Nazaire will show the World Cup final in a public viewing area on Sunday. A public transmission of Wednesday’s semifinal already drew over 1,000 people to the city’s fan zone on a former submarine base.
“There is a lot of evidence suggesting that FIFA is a thoroughly corrupt organization,” he said. “But I think that should be separated from the tournament once it has started.” | 2022-12-17T15:32:05Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Many French vowed to boycott the World Cup. Then their team did too well. - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/12/17/france-world-cup-boycott-qatar/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/12/17/france-world-cup-boycott-qatar/ |
Defensive end Chase Young is listed as questionable for Sunday night's game against the Giants. Young has missed the past 21 games with a knee injury suffered in Week 10 of the 2021 season. (John McDonnell/The Washington Post)
After Washington defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in a sloppy season finale to clinch the NFC East two years ago, Ron Rivera rhetorically asked, “Why not us?”
“If you gave me the scenario where everything else is the same, honestly, I wouldn’t have blinked,” Rivera said at the time. “The reason being is because at Week 5, I believed we had a chance at 1-3.”
Sunday’s prime time game against the New York Giants has the potential to create a similar storyline.
A win would increase Washington’s playoff odds to roughly 95 percent, according to some calculations. A loss wouldn’t erase the Commanders’ chances of making the postseason, thanks to the 49ers’ win over the reeling Seahawks to clinch the NFC West on Thursday, but it would put more pressure on their subsequent game in San Francisco on a short week (losses to the Giants and the 49ers would drop Washington’s playoff chances to 38 percent).
“For the most part, we’re just talking about the significance of it to the guys, just how important it is, the opportunity that they’ve created for themselves, the way the guys have done the things that they’ve needed to do to get us to this point,” Rivera said this week. “To be two wins above .500 — this is an opportunity, and we’ve got to focus in on it.”
Although their season started similarly to years past, the Commanders’ turnaround (should it continue) could give Rivera his first winning season with the franchise — all while the NFC East has transformed into one of the league’s toughest divisions.
More important: The Commanders’ play has instilled hope that their developmental years are starting to pay off. Finally, they may be a team on the rise.
“Now you put yourself in a position where you’ve got to compete weekly,” Rivera said. “That’s the balance; you’ve got to make sure you can stay focused on what each game means. And hopefully you can win and then you don’t have to sit there and try and map out … what’s happening in front of you, what’s happening with the other teams and the other divisions.”
A change in quarterbacks, from Carson Wentz to Taylor Heinicke, has sparked the Commanders’ midseason revival, but Rivera has also cited the continued growth of some of his young players. Defensive backs Darrick Forrest and Benjamin St-Juste, who was listed as questionable for Sunday because of an ankle injury, have helped remake the secondary. Linebacker Jamin Davis has come into his own after struggling his rookie season, and Washington’s offense turned to its running game, with the arrival of Brian Robinson Jr.
“This game will serve for us as [a chance] to see where our young guys are, how our young guys handle the situation, circumstances,” Rivera said. “I think that's a great question because when you look at as many of the young guys that we will play in this game, for some of them this is their first real experience and they'll have to rely on some of the veteran guys.”
In speaking to reporters Wednesday, Young said he’s “trusting the process,” and Rivera added Friday that Young has had “a couple good days” of practice. But neither offered a clear sense of whether he’ll play against the Giants (7-5-1).
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“It’s one of those things where we’re looking for that cut-loose, just ‘go,’ ” Rivera said. “We’ll have to see how he is [Saturday] and we’ll see how he is Sunday.”
This late in the season, Washington’s practices have been light in an effort to keep players fresh, making it even more difficult to gauge Young’s progress.
Washington’s success on defense, especially up front on the line, has allowed the team to take its time in bringing back Young. But the injury list grew Friday to include defensive end Efe Obada, who is listed as questionable for Sunday because of a finger issue. And with only four games remaining in the regular season, Young’s return this season could be paramount for his confidence next season.
“The only way you’re really going to know is when you play, because that’s when everything is ramped up,’ Rivera said. “ … [It’s] just trusting it and going.” | 2022-12-17T16:24:25Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Commanders-Giants in prime time? Ron Rivera knows this terrain. - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/17/commanders-giants-ron-rivera-snf/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/17/commanders-giants-ron-rivera-snf/ |
One dead after two are shot on busy D.C. street
A man was killed and a woman injured in a shooting early Saturday morning on a busy street in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Northwest Washington.
D.C. police spokesman Sean Hickman said police do not yet have any information about a suspect in the 1:20 a.m. shooting, which happened outdoors on the 2400 block of 18th Street NW, nor have they identified the man who was killed.
The stretch of 18th Street where the shooting occurred is a busy entertainment area, with bars and restaurants operating there. At least four bars and two pizza shops on that block are open past 1 a.m. The police investigation is continuing. | 2022-12-17T16:33:08Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Two people shot, one fatally, on busy Adams Morgan street in D.C. - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/12/17/adams-morgan-fatal-shooting-dc/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/12/17/adams-morgan-fatal-shooting-dc/ |
When the Baltimore 4th grader’s mom posted videos of him singing, she wrote that his ‘Black Boy Autistic Joy was infectious.’ She was right.
Kevin Johnson III, 10, sings during a performance at his Baltimore school. (Jennifer White-Johnson)
Ten-year-old Kevin Johnson III didn’t hold back at his school’s winter concert.
The fourth grader, who is known as Knox, had practiced singing “All I Want for Christmas is You” for weeks, and Tuesday, as he and his classmates gathered in the gym of their Baltimore school to perform for family members, he stood at the front and let his excitement show.
He bounced from one foot to the other and belted out the lyrics with so much energy and enthusiasm that he didn’t need a microphone to be heard.
“To see him be so unbridled and to have this unlimited amount of joy was incredible,” his mother, Jennifer White-Johnson, said. “I kept telling him to think of something happy when he’s singing, and that’s exactly what he did. He just thought of something joyful, and whatever that was, it just took him to heights.”
She captured his performance on video and, like many proud parents, posted it on social media. She didn’t know how people might react, but she hoped it might offer them a break from the normal online bleakness.
“Knox’s Elementary School Winter concert tonight was everything!” she wrote on Instagram. “He had two back to back concerts today and his Black Boy Autistic Joy was infectious and on full display!”
On Twitter she wrote: “Timeline cleanse if you need one! Knox tonight at his 4th grade school winter concert singing @MariahCarey ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ #AutisticJoy on full display! My kid is everything! I hope Mariah sees this!!”
You can guess what happened next. Clicks and shares sent joy rippling online — and the video eventually reached Carey.
“That’s who he is,” Johnson-White said of Knox. She and her husband both have people on their sides of the family that sing and Knox has sang since he could talk. “He sings around the house. He sings out in public. With him being autistic, he wasn’t always articulating typical conversations, but he was singing.”
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“We’re just so thankful that the school allows him to be completely and authentically autistic, because he wouldn’t be successful otherwise,” she said.
Knox was given a solo in the winter concert. The video shows him performing it with vigor. But it also shows him start to sing during another student’s solo. In that moment, music teacher Ryan Stewart can be seen gently patting the 4th grader’s shoulder and offering him a quiet reminder. In response, Knox stops singing and gestures to his classmate, directing the focus to her. Many people who saw the video were struck by the gentleness of that redirection.
“Shoutout to the choir leader for accommodating the joy and not expecting all students to stand in a nicely knitted row with minimal joy,” reads one comment on the video post.
“My daughter’s choir teacher told me if she couldn’t keep still she wouldn’t be allowed to perform,” reads another.
“That was my experience in choir and that forced compliance is just not ok,” reads yet another.
The first time I spoke to White-Johnson was after the death of Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman. In a column about ableism in Hollywood, I shared a photo she had posted on Instagram of Knox and the words she had written alongside it. The photo showed Knox with a scene from Black Panther superimposed across his body and the words explained how Black disabled people are similar to superheroes.
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“Just existing everyday as our true disabled selves is an act of resistance and super power,” she had written.
The video doesn’t show it, but when Knox finished singing, he ran toward his mom who had positioned herself on the floor in front of the crowd to capture his singing.
“He was in full tears,” she said. “It was such a beautiful moment because I felt like he was releasing all that joy he had built up and he was so proud of himself. I didn’t say, ‘Stop crying.’ All I could say was, ‘I’m so proud of you. I love you. You did such an amazing job.’ And he just kept saying to me, ‘I know.’”
The video that appeared on Twitter has drawn more than 264,000 views. People who’ve seen it have described it as making them smile or cry, or in the case of at least one person smile and cry: “I love your child. I love his joy. I love this teacher and students for knowing what inclusive means (unlike so many grownups). I’m not crying and smiling at the same time! Oh yes I am! I want him to have this joy forever.”
“Your kid IS everything!!!!!!” Carey tweeted. “Knox, you made my day. Your JOY gives me and everyone watching JOY. THANK YOU for reminding me why I wake up in the morning and do what I do. I love you.”
White-Johnson said she thanked Carey and told her they couldn’t make it this time.
Even though the family won’t get to see Carey sing in person, White-Johnson describes the star as giving them the “best Christmas present ever.” She said the interaction has left her family feeling “uplifted” and “seen.”
“She knows Knox’s name,” she said with awe.
Knox also knows the singer’s name — even if he didn’t understand at first why it was a big deal that she shared his video. It took him seeing the number of views on the video rise, and the video appear on several media outlets, to realize that meant people across the world were hearing him sing.
“She loves me?” he asked his mom. “Mariah Carey loves me?” | 2022-12-17T16:33:14Z | www.washingtonpost.com | A boy sang with unbridled joy at a school show. Mariah Carey noticed. - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/12/17/boy-singing-christmas-mariah-carey/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/12/17/boy-singing-christmas-mariah-carey/ |
A recording of Nixon’s condolence call survives at the Nixon Presidential Library.
Hear President Richard Nixon call then Senator-elect Joseph Biden on the day his wife and daughter died in a car crash on Dec. 18, 1972. (Video: The Richard Nixon Library & Museum)
“I could not speak,” the future president wrote in his autobiography, “Promises to Keep: On Life and Politics,” and “only felt this hollow core grow in my chest, like I was going to be sucked inside a black hole.”
Americans under 21 first voted 50 years ago. It didn’t go as expected.
But six months earlier, a team of White House agents were arrested trying to break into Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington, lighting the fuse on the Watergate scandal that would lead to Nixon’s demise.
Biden had just turned 30. He’d been elected a U.S. senator but had not yet been sworn in. He was on Capitol Hill in Washington with his younger sister, Valerie, in a borrowed office, interviewing staff.
His wife was home in Wilmington, Del., intending to have breakfast with Biden’s brother, James. She planned to do some Christmas shopping and buy a tree, the future president wrote in his book. It was a Monday.
“Val and I were sitting in the office … when Jimmy called from Wilmington,” Biden wrote. “He wanted to talk to Val. When she hung up the phone, she looked white. ‘There’s been a slight accident,’ she said. ‘Nothing to be worried about. But we ought to go home.’”
He had a sudden sense of dread about his wife. “I could already feel Neilia’s absence,” he wrote. “‘She’s dead, I said, ‘isn’t she?’”
His wife’s car had collided with a truck on a rural road in Hockessin, Del. The Bidens had been married for six years.
Nixon, who had expressed admiration for Biden’s campaign, read about the crash in the newspaper the next morning, according to White House recordings. “Good God,” Nixon said.
Nixon telephoned Biden at 12:21 p.m. It’s not clear where Biden was at the time. He may have been at the hospital, where, he wrote, he was a constant presence in his sons’ room.
Nixon: Senator, I know this is a very tragic day for you, but I wanted you to know that all of us here at the White House were thinking about you, and praying for you and also for your two children, and —
Biden: Yes, that’s correct.
Nixon: In any event, looking at it as you must in terms of the future, because you have the great fortune of being young, I remember I was two years older than you when I went to the House. But the main point is you can remember that she was there when you won a great victory, and you enjoyed it together. And now, I’m sure that she’ll be watching you from now on. Good luck to you.
Biden was sworn in as senator a month later in his sons’ hospital room in Wilmington. | 2022-12-17T16:33:27Z | www.washingtonpost.com | After Joe Biden's first wife died in a crash, Richard Nixon called - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2022/12/17/nixon-biden-recording-wife-accident/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2022/12/17/nixon-biden-recording-wife-accident/ |
The rapper formerly known as Kanye West. (Theo Wargo/Getty Images)
The New York Police Department is investigating an alleged attack in Central Park this week in which an attacker assaulted a 63-year-old man and spewed antisemitic comments before yelling out “Kanye 2024,” a reference to rapper Ye’s recent antisemitic rhetoric.
The 63-year-old man was walking in Central Park at about 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday when a man in his mid-40s allegedly hit him from behind, according to police. When the older man fell to the ground, he broke his hand and chipped a tooth, authorities said.
The attacker then uttered “numerous” antisemitic comments toward the man he had attacked, according to police. Before the attacker fled the scene on a bicycle with an attached trailer featuring a sign reading “Hungry Disabled,” police say the man in his 40s referenced the artist formerly known as Kanye West, who has issued several antisemitic tirades recently.
“Kanye 2024,” the attacker said, according to police.
The incident comes during a period where antisemitic attacks in the United States are at an all-time high. An audit released in April by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) found that there were 2,717 antisemitic incidents reported to the organization in 2021. The total represents not just the highest number of incidents since the ADL started tracking antisemitic attacks in 1979 but also a 34 percent increase from 2020.
That audit, the ADL said, includes “criminal and noncriminal acts of harassment and intimidation, including distribution of hate propaganda, threats and slurs, as well as vandalism and assault.”
Antisemitic attacks have spiked in New York, where such incidents in the city increased by 125 percent last month compared to November 2021, according to data released by the NYPD and reported by the New York ABC affiliate. This month, the NYPD arrested a man who was accused of firing a BB gun at a Jewish father and son outside of a Kosher supermarket in Staten Island, CBS reported. A separate incident this month saw two men — one of whom is Jewish — get indicted by a grand jury in connection to an online threat to attack a New York synagogue, according to CNN.
New York City Councilwoman Gale A. Brewer (D), who represents Central Park, denounced the antisemitic attack in an interview with The Washington Post.
“This attack was particularly awful,” Brewer said, noting that it was a physical and verbal assault by the attacker. “It was horrible on all levels.”
Federal officials recently suggested that this surge of antisemitism is not going away, in part, because of a rise in hate speech and disinformation about Jews on Twitter that is uniting and popularizing some extremists who have helped push people to engage in violent protests.
One person who has come to represent some of that extremism is Ye, who was recently suspended from Twitter after the rapper tweeted an image of a swastika blended in with a star of David. Ye faced another round of condemnation for his incendiary antisemitism after he praised Adolf Hitler and Nazis in an interview with far-right provocateur Alex Jones this month. That came after he dined with former president Donald Trump alongside white supremacist and antisemite Nick Fuentes last month.
“I like Hitler,” Ye told Jones. The rapper later added, “I love Jewish people, but I also love Nazis.”
The Wednesday attack in Central Park was quickly condemned by the ADL and others fighting against the rise in antisemitism in the United States.
“Horrified by this reported antisemitic assault of a 63-year-old in Central Park and by the injuries that were allegedly sustained,” the group wrote on Twitter. “Crimes like these have a ripple effect across communities and cause unique trauma on top of physical harm.”
The attacker was last seen around Washington Square Park, the NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force tweeted. The NYPD has described him as a man with light complexion who was last seen wearing a brown jacket, multicolored hat and beige pants. Police are asking the public’s assistance in helping to locate the man, who remained at large early Saturday.
Brewer said the attack with an alleged reference to “Kanye 2024” is the latest example of why so many are nervous at a time when antisemitism and hate crimes have hit historic levels.
“I don’t understand how people could be like this,” she said.
Michelle Boorstein, Isaac Arnsdorf and Joseph Menn contributed to this report. | 2022-12-17T16:33:33Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Antisemitic attacker yells ‘Kanye 2024’ in Central Park assault, police say - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/12/17/antisemitism-kanye-nyc-attack/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/12/17/antisemitism-kanye-nyc-attack/ |
Biden and his party defied the history of midterm elections. Trump’s missteps helped make that possible. This pattern continues to play out ahead of 2024.
President Biden enjoyed many legislative successes this year. (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post)
President Biden and former president Donald Trump are on a path that could lead to a rematch in 2024 of their 2020 election contest. Some past polls have suggested that such a face-off could be close.
Trump, infighting, weak candidates led to unsuccessful midterm election for Republicans
The election results speak for themselves. Republicans failed to take control of the Senate when they had an obvious path to the majority and barely won a majority in the House. The University of Maryland’s Critical Issues Poll found that nearly as many people said the election was a referendum on Trump (14 percent) as said it was a referendum on Biden (17 percent). Biden proved to be one of the most successful newly elected presidents, politically speaking, in generations.
A new USA Today poll showed DeSantis at 56 percent and Trump at 33 percent. The results are notable, if potentially transitory. After Trump announced his bid for president in 2016, he never trailed in any Washington Post-ABC News poll testing Republicans in a nomination contest — although those polls always involved a multicandidate field rather than head-to-head tests. The USA Today poll also showed Biden leading Trump by seven percentage points. | 2022-12-17T18:05:04Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Biden vs. Trump? In 2022, there was a clear winner and a clearer loser - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/17/biden-trump-2024/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/17/biden-trump-2024/ |
The principal of Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, Md., told parents in a letter Saturday that antisemitic graffiti was found on an entrance sign. Montgomery County police are investigating. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post)
A vandal painted “Jews Not Welcome” on an entrance sign at Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, just days after a schoolwide lesson on antisemitism, Principal Robert Dodd said in a letter to parents Saturday.
Montgomery County police are looking for the vandal. Montgomery County Council President Evan Glass (D-At Large) said county police also are investigating another instance of antisemitic graffiti discovered the day before, when someone painted a swastika at Montgomery Mall, which also is in Bethesda, four miles from the high school.
“Antisemitism is on the rise in Montgomery County and the D.C. region. There are more and more brazen remarks being made that are chilling to Jewish people like me and the broader community,” Glass said, adding that he has noticed an increase in county residents reporting antisemitic incidents to him in his role as a council member.
Last month, police investigated antisemitic graffiti, including swastikas, hangmen, and white supremacist language, found in Bethesda. Other antisemitic graffiti was found on the Bethesda Trolley Trail in August.
Glass said he attended a presentation this week at a local synagogue to encourage Jewish residents to keep reporting instances of discrimination. “When people experience or witness antisemitism, they need to call it out. They need to notify the police. Students need to inform their teacher or principal,” Glass said. “There’s a rise in antisemitism. There’s a rise in homophobia, transphobia, Islamophobia. Whatever the hate, we have to call it out whenever we see it.”
In his letter to parents, Dodd asked anyone with information about the vandalism at the high school to report it, and he urged parents to talk to students about antisemitism. He said the school’s Jewish Student Union had led a lesson on Wednesday for the entire school about antisemitism. That exercise included students’ accounts of their personal experiences at the high school. | 2022-12-17T18:52:42Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Antisemitic graffiti under investigation at Walt Whitman High School - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/12/17/antisemitic-graffiti-walt-whitman-high-school/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/12/17/antisemitic-graffiti-walt-whitman-high-school/ |
Special election set for western Virginia House of Delegates seat
A special election to fill the seat of the late Ronnie Campbell has been called for next month. (Salwan Georges/The Washington Post)
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) and House Speaker Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah) accounced a special election for Jan. 10 to fill the seat vacated by Del. Ronnie Campbell (R-Rockbridge), who died Tuesday.
Campbell, who had been in treatment for cancer, represented House District 24 on the western border of Virginia, which includes Rockbridge, Bath, and parts of Amherst and Augusta counties.
State officials said candidates must register by Thursday to run in the special election, which will be held a day before the General Assembly convenes for its annual session.
The winner will represent the district in the 100-member House of Delegates until the end of 2023. In the next general election, the shape of the district shifts, after recent voter redistricting. The seat has been held by just three men since 1983, all of them Republicans.
A special election for the seat of state Sen. Jen A. Kiggans (R-Virginia Beach), who last month was elected to represent the 2nd District of Virginia in Congress, is also being held on Jan. 10. | 2022-12-17T18:52:45Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Election to replace Ronnie Campbell in Virginia legislature next month - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/12/17/virginia-special-election-ronnie-campbell/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/12/17/virginia-special-election-ronnie-campbell/ |
Australian soccer match ends after fans rush the pitch, attack player
Melbourne City goalkeeper Tom Glover received stitches after he was assaulted during a Saturday A-League match. (Will Murray/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
A professional soccer match in Melbourne, Australia ended prematurely on Saturday after fans rushed onto the field and attacked a player.
In a widely circulated video of the incident, Melbourne City goalkeeper Tom Glover was seen being shoved and then hit with what appeared to be a metal bucket. He was reportedly taken off the field “dazed and bleeding.” Referee Alex King suffered a head cut during the incident.
Melbourne City led rival Melbourne Victory, 1-0, in the 22nd minute of their Australian A-League match when the incident unfolded. Saturday’s match was stopped after fans from the Melbourne Victory section of the stadium streamed onto the field at AAMI Park.
Melbourne City players rushed toward the fracas to protect Glover after he was struck with the bucket, which contained a smoky white substance. Melbourne City said Glover required several stitches to mend a laceration on his face, and he was taken to a hospital for further evaluation. King, who initially used his body to shield Glover from onrushing invaders, appeared to be escorted off the field.
Melbourne Victory said in a statement that it “unequivocally condemns the actions of fans,” and that the incident will be under police investigation.
“The actions that occurred, that saw spectators enter the pitch and injure a Melbourne City FC player, an official and a Network Ten cameraman, are not acceptable under any circumstance and have no place in football,” the statement said. “The security and welfare of everyone involved in a football match is paramount and the Club will not accept this behaviour.”
Saturday’s violence stemmed from frustrations over a recent decision by the Australian Professional Leagues (APL), the governing body of the country’s men’s and women’s soccer leagues, to sell hosting rights to the men’s and women’s grand finals. The showcase events, which were traditionally hosted by the league’s top team, are now set to be hosted in the southeastern city of Sydney — about 546 miles from Melbourne — for the next three years.
Remy Siemsen, a forward for Australia’s women’s national team and the A-League Women’s side Sydney FC, spoke out against the decision Monday in a social media post, saying, “like all competitors I have loved earning the right to play a home grand final and would love it to stay being earned.”
Craig Goodwin, the Adelaide United midfielder who scored during Australia’s improbable run to the men’s World Cup knockout stage earlier this month, also tweeted his displeasure over the decision, adding, “the fans are the most valuable thing in football and as we have seen from the support throughout the country for the Socceroos at the World Cup, they are the ones that create the atmosphere and culture, and what makes the game great.”
APL chief executive Danny Townsend told ABC News Australia the move was meant to create a “festival of football” around the final, but he conceded that he did not anticipate the backlash.
That response extended into this weekend’s A-League games, with fans at Friday’s match between the Newcastle Jets and Brisbane Roar walking out after the 20th minute in protest of the decision. Some left a sign that read “Fans > $$.”
During Saturday’s match in Melbourne, fans from both teams intended to leave the game in protest at the 20-minute mark, according to the Associated Press. Fans from both sides reportedly threw flares onto the field, with tensions escalating after one appeared to hit a television cameraman. Glover later picked up another flare and threw it back into the stands. Some fans then rushed the field and Glover was struck by the metal bucket.
The A-League, which features teams from Australia and New Zealand, resumed play Dec. 9, following a brief World Cup break. Saturday’s incident comes two weeks after the national men’s team finished second behind France in World Cup Group D, before losing, 2-1, to Argentina in the round of 16. | 2022-12-17T19:23:14Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Australian soccer player attacked by fans on the field during match - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/17/australian-soccer-player-attacked/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/17/australian-soccer-player-attacked/ |
FILE - Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer, creator of the atom bomb, is shown at his study in Princeton University’s Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, N.J., Dec. 15, 1957. The Biden administration has reversed a decades-old decision to revoke the security clearance of Oppenheimer, the physicist called the father of the atomic bomb for his leading role in World War II’s Manhattan Project. (AP Photo/John Rooney, File) | 2022-12-17T19:36:31Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Oppenheimer wrongly stripped of security clearance, US says - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/oppenheimer-wrongly-stripped-of-security-clearance-us-says/2022/12/17/4ce106ac-7e34-11ed-bb97-f47d47466b9a_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/oppenheimer-wrongly-stripped-of-security-clearance-us-says/2022/12/17/4ce106ac-7e34-11ed-bb97-f47d47466b9a_story.html |
With wreaths in hand, volunteers adorn military graves at Arlington
A U.S. Navy JROTC Sailor working with Wreaths Across America places a wreath on the headstone of a military service member buried at Arlington National Cemetery on Dec. 17. (Tom Brenner/Reuters)
Six-year-old Cruz Lizarraga and his sister Isla, 8, ran from headstone to headstone at Arlington National Cemetery on Saturday morning, reading the names of the soldiers, their family members and the wars and years in which they served.
Their father, Cory Lizarraga, walking closely behind, watched as the children laid a wreath at each stone, the red bow at the top nestled under the etched names. Each time, Lizarraga reminded the children of one thing: “Say their names. Don’t forget to say their names.”
The Bristol, Va., family stood in line at Arlington in 30-degree temperatures with about 200 others as early as 7 a.m. Saturday for the annual Wreaths Across America event, part of a national holiday wreath-laying ceremony at more than 1,600 military cemeteries across the United States and in 26 countries.
Large delivery trucks full of donated wreaths were stationed throughout the cemetery as volunteers walked up and were each handed one to two wreaths. The instructions were simple. Find a headstone and place the wreath at each one with the red ribbon at the top. Then, read the name etched on the headstone out loud as a way of honoring and remembering the service and sacrifice of the military person and their family.
More than 2.7 million wreaths have been donated worldwide for the occasion, said Karen Worcester, the executive director and co-founder of Wreaths Across America. Worcester and her husband, Morrill, started placing wreaths on the graves of deceased military men and women in 1992 in their home state of Maine. By 2005, the tradition had grown nationally and by 2007, the organization became incorporated as a nonprofit.
“This is a way of saying thank you. Thank you for your sacrifice. Thank you for your dedication,” Worcester said. “But it’s also a way of remembrance. That’s why we encourage everyone to say the names out loud. For some people here, they may have no family members alive to remember them. Saying their names is a way to keep their memory alive.”
Worcester said before the pandemic, at least 2,000 to 3,000 people would be waiting in line to get in each year. That number dropped dramatically into the hundreds in the past two years. But within an hour or two of the cemetery opening Saturday, thousands began to pour in.
Within an hour, the smell of fresh pine wafted through the cemetery. Volunteers laid wreaths and spoke names of military men and women who served in World War I, World War II, the Vietnam War and others wars and conflicts, as well as their immediate family members.
Indeed, it was the names of children — sons and daughters of military men and women, some newborn, even some too young to be named — whose presence surprised the Lizarraga family.
“I don’t think we expected to see infants, and children’s names,” said Lizarraga, 42, as his wife, Rebecca, rushed off to get more wreaths for their children. “We only expected to see names of adults. Seeing the names of children, infants, was difficult.”
Susan Oliver of Union, Maine, was still wiping away tears after laying a wreath. Minutes earlier she saw the headstone of her grandfather, Otis Oliver, for the first time. She was a middle-schooler when he died in 1980 and had been unable to attend his service.
“This is simply beautiful. I’m still misty-eyed,” Oliver, 59 said. “I knew he was buried here. But finally seeing it in person. Whew. That was something.”
Wreaths Across America had a few ground rules in place, to keep decorum. Members of the media were not to speak to anyone at a headstone, only on the walking paths, in order to not disrespect anyone’s moment at a grave. None of the Christmas wreaths were to be placed on any headstones with a Star of David, out of respect for those of the Jewish faith. Another group of volunteers will pick up the withered wreaths in January and dispose of them by burning.
Jan Pedone of Huntington, Md., brought her friend, Diane Paul, who was visiting from Alpharetta, Ga. “This was a just a small, little gesture that we could do to show our gratitude for the sacrifices that these people made,” Pedone, 69, said.
For those men and women who are active military, the wreath tributes with their family proved to be an even more special moment. Jerry Champion, who is an Army major, came to the cemetery with his wife, Alyssa, and their 4-year-old daughter Charlotte and 5-month-old son Luke.
“It’s a time to reflect on family and the sacrifices that not just the soldiers make, but their families. We all wanted to be here together. To honor everyone here, together. As a family,” Champion said.
Jeremiah “Miah” Magallonmata, of Fort Lee, Va., had one big frustration. The 10-year-old kept running out of wreaths and had to ask his father, Leonides Magallonmata, an Army drill sergeant, to return to the truck to get more.
“He’s out here with everyone, honoring these men and women and seeing for himself the sacrifice they made for our country,” Magallonmata said.
For Jeremiah, the challenge was trying to pronounce some of the names he saw on the headstones.
“I want to see them all if I can,” Jeremiah said eagerly. His father, standing nearby, looked across the 639-acre cemetery of more than 400,000 graves, and just smiled. | 2022-12-17T20:59:20Z | www.washingtonpost.com | With wreaths in hand, volunteers adorn military graves at Arlington - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/12/17/arlington-cemetery-wreaths-across-america/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/12/17/arlington-cemetery-wreaths-across-america/ |
FILE - This Nov. 2014, file photo provided by the U.S. National Park Service shows a mountain lion known as P-22, photographed in the Griffith Park area near downtown Los Angeles. P-22, the celebrated mountain lion that took up residence in the middle of Los Angeles and became a symbol of urban pressures on wildlife, was euthanized after dangerous changes in his behavior led to examinations that revealed poor health and an injury likely caused by a car. (U.S. National Park Service, via AP, File) (Uncredited/U.S. National Park Service) | 2022-12-17T21:08:03Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Famed LA mountain lion euthanized following health problems - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/famed-la-mountain-lion-euthanized-following-health-problems/2022/12/17/5114fc5a-7e44-11ed-bb97-f47d47466b9a_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/famed-la-mountain-lion-euthanized-following-health-problems/2022/12/17/5114fc5a-7e44-11ed-bb97-f47d47466b9a_story.html |
Keeping Giants quarterback Daniel Jones from running will be a big factor for the Commanders on Sunday night. (John Minchillo/AP)
After a disappointing tie two weeks ago against the New York Giants, the Washington Commanders used their bye week to get healthy ahead of a critical prime-time rematch with New York. According to Football Outsiders, Washington’s playoff probability would rise to 86 percent with a win. With a loss, that number drops to 28 percent.
Here’s what to watch for when the Commanders host the Giants (8:20 p.m., NBC).
Prioritize containing Daniel Jones on the ground
A lot has been made of Jones’s abilities as a runner, especially against the Commanders, and rightfully so. Jones has eclipsed 70 yards rushing in three of his last four games versus Washington, including a 71-yard performance in Week 13, and ranks fifth in the NFL among quarterbacks with 548 yards. Washington will be looking to prioritize stopping Jones as a runner.
The Commanders have resisted the temptation of assigning a spy when facing mobile quarterbacks, in favor of attacking the mesh point, the area where the quarterback and running back come together during a potential handoff. During this week’s media availability, defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio was wary of discussing how his unit will adjust.
“Yeah, it's not something I like to talk about,” Del Rio said. “Obviously, you don't want the guys running. You gotta try and slow down guys that can [run] and use the different tools that are available.”
While Jones’s running ability must be addressed, the way his mobility can open up the Giants’ passing game likely plays into how the Commanders will defend him. Despite having one of the most disruptive defensive lines in the NFL, Washington recorded just one sack through the first 56 minutes of the teams’ last meeting.
Is Heinicke magic sustainable for an entire game?
For as nice a job as Taylor Heinicke has done in helping the Commanders revive their postseason hopes, Washington has still struggled to register a complete offensive performance.
Through 13 games, the Commanders have been held scoreless for an entire quarter in 10 of them. Washington failed to score in two or more quarters in six of those 10 contests — tied for second most among teams that would make the playoffs if the season ended today.
The Commanders’ tie with the Giants illustrates why the team needs more from its offense, despite doing just about everything right in that game. The defense did its part, holding New York to 20 points and 316 total yards. Washington possessed the ball for 41-plus minutes and the running game produced 165 yards.
Yet, the Commanders still needed a late 90-yard touchdown drive just to reach overtime.
Assist offensive line with quick throws
When Heinicke took over for Carson Wentz, his ability to evade pressure was an obvious reason. But after the quarterback took five sacks and another 10 hits two weeks ago, the Commanders need to do more to help out their offensive line.
With one of its most consistent offensive linemen, Saahdiq Charles, out with a concussion and Trai Turner, Andrew Norwell and Sam Cosmi coming off injuries, look for Washington to get the ball out quickly. Making a concerted effort to hit playmakers Curtis Samuel and Terry McLaurin on short and intermediate routes should put a damper on the Giants’ pass rush.
“They have a bunch of different looks,” Heinicke said of the Giants. “It’s all about execution. If you’re on it, you know what you’re supposed to do, get the ball out quick and we should be fine.”
Stop Saquon Barkley
Whether it’s the 251 accumulated carries (third most in the NFL), a nagging neck injury or simply adjustments by opposing defenses, there’s no denying that Giants star running back Saquon Barkley’s level of productivity has seen a significant drop off over the last month.
Over his last four games, Barkley has rushed for just 152 yards on 53 carries while catching 13 passes for 64 yards. The Giants are 0-3-1 in those games.
The Commanders need to do whatever it takes to ensure that slump continues. Washington did an admirable job of limiting Barkley, whose 1,083 rushing yards rank fourth in the NFL, during the first meeting. After rushing for 60 yards and a touchdown in the first half, Barkley had just three yards in the second half.
In addition to Charles being out with a concussion, wide receiver Cam Sims (back), cornerback Benjamin St. Juste (ankle) and defensive end Chase Young (knee) are listed as questionable. Defensive lineman Efe Obada, who had been questionable, was cleared to play Saturday.
The final Giants-Commanders injury report: pic.twitter.com/h2TD2Z7UJh
The Giants this week placed linebacker Elerson Smith (Achilles) on injured reserve. Offensive lineman Joshua Ezeudu (neck), cornerback Adoree’ Jackson (knee) and offensive lineman Shane Lemieux (toe) are all listed as out.
Tight end Daniel Bellinger (rib), wide receiver Richie James (concussion), defensive back Nick McCloud (illness), linebacker Jihad Ward (concussion) and defensive lineman Leonard Williams (neck) are listed as questionable. | 2022-12-17T21:08:15Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Commanders-Giants keys: Control ground game, sustain offense - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/17/commanders-giants-nfl-keys/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/17/commanders-giants-nfl-keys/ |
Croatia beat Morocco on Saturday to take third place at the World Cup. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
The Real Madrid star won the Golden Ball as the most valuable player of the 2018 World Cup in Russia, where Croatia lost to France, 4-2. He and others will move on.
The defeat failed to dampen Morocco’s month-long accomplishments. In becoming the first African team to advance to the semifinals, the Atlas Lions became the feel-good story of the World Cup and, following Croatia’s trendsetting march four years ago, inspired nontraditional programs. They also galvanized fans across Arab countries.
“We were given a 0.01 percent chance of winning the World Cup,” Regragui said. “Now we are one of the top four in the world. If you had told me that before the tournament, I would’ve accepted it right away.”
Without the high stakes of a semifinal or final, third-place games often bring out oddities. In 1958, France’s Just Fontaine scored four times against West Germany. In 1994, Sweden goalkeeper Thomas Ravelli performed cartwheels and danced along with the music at the Rose Bowl. Eight years later, Turkey’s Hakan Sukur set a World Cup record by scoring 11 seconds into a game against South Korea. | 2022-12-17T21:08:21Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Morocco's World Cup ends with loss to Croatia in third-place match - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/17/croatia-morocco-world-cup-third-place/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/17/croatia-morocco-world-cup-third-place/ |
In a potential wedge issue for the 2024 primary, DeSantis is attacking the life-saving covid shots he once praised and promoted
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) leaves after a news conference at Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park in Miami-Dade County on Dec. 1. (Lynne Sladky/AP)
Early in the pandemic, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis repeatedly praised President Donald Trump for the expedited development and rollout of a coronavirus vaccine. The governor’s office pushed for $480 million in pandemic resources, including media campaigns promoting the shots, according to state budget documents. And DeSantis, a Republican, even lauded the Biden administration for helping to expand access to vaccines.
“These companies have made a fortune off this federal government imposing or at least attempting to impose mandates, and a lot of false statements,” DeSantis said at the roundtable event on Wednesday. “I think people want the truth and I think people want accountability, so you need to have a thorough investigation into what’s happened with these shots.”
The hard-line position he’s now staking out is taking on additional significance: DeSantis is widely seen as a potential presidential candidate in 2024, with many Republicans wanting him to challenge Trump for the GOP nomination and some seeing vaccines as a potential a wedge issue to outflank the former president to his right.
“We know he’s not really anti-vax, he’s on the record, but now he’s taking this position for really blatant political purposes, it appears, and it’s really undermining to health care professionals,” said Dr. David Pate, a retired health systems executive and lifelong Republican who has advised Idaho governor Brad Little (R). “I’m not sure what the gain is, because he’s already got the base, and now this is just going to alienate moderates and independents.”
Trump has all but acknowledged his potential vulnerability on the issue of vaccines. He was booed in December 2021 for saying he received a booster shot. Then, at a rally in Alaska in July, he touted his administration’s response to the pandemic while avoiding using the word “vaccine.”
Tensions have grown between the two men as Trump formally announced his 2024 candidacy and DeSantis has risen as a potential rival, with chants of “two more years” at his reelection victory party on Nov. 8. Several early primary polls have showed DeSantis leading Trump; a CNN survey this month found one of the steepest drops in support for Trump’s 2024 bid among voters who describe themselves as very conservative. Skepticism about the vaccines and guidance from government health agencies has been palpable in the far-right wing of the party in recent years.
DeSantis’s event succeeded in drawing cheers from pro-Trump corners of the far-right. “What I like about DeSantis, he’s probably not a guy you’d like to run at, let’s go have a beer, but he’s all business,” former Trump strategist Stephen K. Bannon said on his podcast.
Supporters of DeSantis pushed back on suggestions — including from Trump allies — that the vaccine announcements were meant to outflank Trump ahead of a potential 2024 clash.
“If the left comes at him and says, you flipped because you want to be more anti-vaccine than Trump, he’s just gonna kill ’em with facts,” said Eric Anton, a GOP donor who said DeSantis would be one of his top choices for 2024. “If you want to call that political, then I think you’re too political.”
Even before DeSantis solidified his standing as the leading GOP alternative to Trump following a decisive reelection win, Republican strategists were quietly discussing Trump’s handling of the pandemic as a point of attack for DeSantis. But embracing a hostile position toward vaccines is not without political risk in the long run.
Public health experts voiced concern that DeSantis’s roundtable event could contribute to undermining public confidence in vaccines, especially for Florida seniors at high risk for severe covid.
“Initially his position was much more reasoned where he was actually saying vaccines are an important tool but maybe he didn’t think it was necessary to mandate that. That’s a reasonable debate to have,” said Jennifer Nuzzo, a professor of epidemiology and director of the Pandemic Center at the Brown University School of Public Health. “Where I feel that the argument has improperly gone is to try to impugn the safety of these vaccines. … I hate to think that people’s takeaway is going to be that these vaccines are not safe and effective, and that is just simply false.”
Throughout 2020, DeSantis repeatedly praised the Trump administration for working with industry to accelerate vaccine development, production and distribution, an effort known as “Operation Warp Speed.”
“I think they’re putting all hands on deck for it,” he said in one interview on Fox News Channel. “I applaud the president. I think that’s the right approach.”
As the vaccine became available in 2021, DeSantis defended the rollout against frustrations with initially scarce supplies. “I can tell you, we wish we have had more vaccine every week, but it’s just being produced,” he said in a February interview with Fox News. “So, I think, by and large, the Warp Speed team did a great job.”
DeSantis appeared in person at vaccination-related events, such as a February visit to a World War II veteran, a stadium appearance in Pahokee, Fla., and a March discussion highlighting “Florida’s status as a national leader on vaccine distribution.” His office also touted partnerships with companies such as Publix supermarkets, a vaccine site for law enforcement officers and a rural vaccination initiative.
In the face of new variants that threatened to blunt the effectiveness of vaccinations, DeSantis stood by the shots. “We’ve not seen any data or any evidence to suggest these vaccines are not effective,” he said at a February 2021 news conference.
As the Biden administration took over, DeSantis demanded that the federal government’s “sole focus” be on increasing vaccine supplies, which he promised his state would deliver right away. He also attributed the vaccines’ successes to Trump.
“I think the credit goes to President Trump,” he said in an interview with right-wing radio host Mark Levin in April 2021. “If we’d had a Biden, or heck, if we’d had some establishment Republican, they would have gotten drowned out in bureaucracy. This would never have gotten done.”
In another Fox News interview that month, DeSantis said the state’s efforts to encourage vaccinations, especially among seniors, succeeded in bringing down hospitalization rates. He was so enthusiastic about the vaccines’ effectiveness that he criticized the CDC for initially advising vaccinated people to continue wearing masks and social distancing.
“I think the messaging should be, ‘Get a vaccine because it’s good for you to do it. It works. You’re not going to have to have to be doing anything abnormal. You can live your life,’” DeSantis told a crowd at an April 2021 event in Lakeland. “That’s got to be what the message is.”
He also specifically endorsed the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, which were developed using an innovative mRNA technology that DeSantis has more recently criticized in public statements. Back in March 2021, when production problems caused a shortage of the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, DeSantis encouraged people to get the mRNA shots instead. “If you have your heart set on Johnson & Johnson but you are able to get Pfizer or Moderna, I would say get it,” he said at the time.
Later in 2021, DeSantis’s office formally asked state lawmakers to approve $480 million in additional funding for the state’s health department, specifying that the money would support coronavirus testing, medical staffing and “Media and Education campaigns in response to COVID-19 and associated vaccinations.” The current state budget authorizes using leftover money for fighting covid, including testing and “immunization.”
“If you are vaccinated, fully vaccinated, the chance of you getting seriously ill or dying from covid is effectively zero,” DeSantis said in July 2021. “These vaccines are saving lives.”
DeSantis began his shift away from vaccines by opposing mandates, calling a special legislative session to ban employer requirements in 2021. By January 2022, after Trump was booed, DeSantis wouldn’t say whether he’d received a booster. “I’ve done whatever I did,” he said. “The normal shot, and that at the end of the day is people’s individual decisions about what they want to do.”
The governor appointed a new state surgeon general, Joseph Ladapo, who advised young men against getting vaccinated, citing a preliminary analysis that was not signed or peer reviewed and that was denounced by medical and public health leaders. Ladapo has given interviews on podcasts associated with the groundless QAnon conspiracy theory — an extremist movement the FBI has designated as a domestic terrorism threat. Back in 2020, Ladapo participated in an event with a right-wing group that promoted false covid treatments.
“You expect disinformation from social media, but to actually have these folks holding government positions is really a slap in the face in the health-care profession,” said Pate, the retired health-care executive.
DeSantis invited Ladapo to present that discredited research at Wednesday’s event, before appointing him to lead a state panel that would issue its own guidance to rival the CDC’s. The other panel members, introduced at the event, are prominent critics of the vaccines. They include the authors of a controversial open letter calling for lifting pandemic restrictions and letting the virus spread to achieve “herd immunity,” as well as an emergency room physician whose studies on adverse reactions to the vaccines have been rebutted by experts. At DeSantis’s prompting, the ER doctor said calling the vaccines safe and effective is “a lie. It has to be.”
At the event, DeSantis also announced a petition to the Florida Supreme Court to establish a grand jury to investigate fraud related to the vaccines. The formal petition cited government and company statements about the vaccines’ protection against infection over time. But instead of understanding those statements as reflecting evolving scientific evidence and resistant new variants, the petition alleges a conspiracy.
“It is impossible to imagine that so many influential individuals came to this view on their own,” reads the petition, signed by DeSantis. “Rather, it is likely that individuals and companies with an incentive to do so created these perceptions for financial gain.”
In a statement, Pfizer said regulatory agencies around the world approved the company’s vaccine based on independent evaluations of scientific data on safety and efficacy, confirmed by real-world studies. “Over the course of this deadly pandemic, mRNA vaccines have saved hundreds of thousands of lives, tens of billions of dollars in health care costs, and enabled people worldwide to go about their lives more freely,” the company said.
Nuzzo, the Brown epidemiologist, said the vaccines’ safety has been proven by the billions of doses delivered worldwide. There are rare cases of heart inflammation in young men that scientists are working to avoid with measures such as spacing out doses.
“Those are reasonable, science-based questions to have,” she said. “But when dressed as, 'I’m going to ask for a legal investigation, that was just irresponsible. … You gave a national platform to them to basically advance the goal of anti-vaxxers.”
Hannah Knowles, Fenit Nirappil and Scott Clement contributed to this report. | 2022-12-17T21:34:13Z | www.washingtonpost.com | DeSantis reverses himself on coronavirus vaccines, moving right of Trump - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/17/desantis-vaccine-reversal/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/17/desantis-vaccine-reversal/ |
Frank Shakespeare, Nixon’s TV guru who redefined political ads, dies at 97
Frank Shakespeare in 1968. (CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images)
Frank Shakespeare, a former CBS executive who deployed his television skills on Richard M. Nixon’s 1968 presidential campaign with a blitz of montage-style ads and on-air events that helped win the White House and underscored TV’s power as a political tool, died Dec. 14 at his home in Deerfield, Wis. He was 97.
The death was confirmed by Ed Feulner, founder of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington think tank, where Mr. Shakespeare served as board chairman from 1981 to 1985. No cause was given.
Mr. Shakespeare’s role as a Republican envoy covered decades, including heading the United States Information Agency while seeking a sharper pro-American edge to its broadcasts and other media. That included “The Silent Majority,” a 1970 news-style propaganda film produced by Mr. Shakespeare’s agency, that asserted widespread American support for the Vietnam War and Nixon’s policies.
Mr. Shakespeare later served as an ambassador to Portugal and the Vatican, acting as a liaison between President Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II in discussions over shared opposition to communism.
But Mr. Shakespeare’s most direct stamp on U.S. political sensibilities came during the homestretch of the wrenching 1968 campaign, which played out amid the assassinations of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and Democratic candidate Robert F. Kennedy. Then came harsh crackdowns on antiwar demonstrators outside the Democratic National Convention in Chicago that August that further rocked the nation.
Mr. Shakespeare was part of a team of media advisers, including future Fox News president Roger Ailes, tasked with remolding Nixon’s image as someone who could rise to the challenges. The former vice president, however, was burdened by his own lack of public finesse and the lingering infamy of his clunky performance in a 1960 televised debate with John F. Kennedy.
The group also grappled with questions that still preoccupy campaigns in the digital age: how best to directly reach voters beyond interviews and rallies? Mr. Shakespeare and his colleagues decided to give Nixon a more neighborly approach.
Nixon voiced-over ads in a conversational style as if talking to a small group — while images of uplifting patriotism or social strife, blamed on Democrats, flicked by on the screen.
Some ads pushed Nixon’s “law and order” platform. “In recent years, crime in this country has grown nine times as fast as population,” Nixon intoned over images of guns and drug use. “I pledge to you,” he concluded, “the wave of crime is not going to be the wave of the future in America.”
Others sought to showcase Nixon’s empathy. To lilting music and snapshots of happy children, Nixon says: “I see the face of a child. What his color is, what is ancestry is, doesn’t matter. What does matter is he’s an American child.”
One ad had just jarring, discordant music over scenes from Vietnam and street riots.
Mr. Shakespeare and Ailes also stage-managed televised town hall-style events in which pre-vetted people posed questions to Nixon. Mr. Shakespeare said at the time that audience applause and reactions helped keep viewers engaged in ways “a quiet interview does not.”
The crowd, he said, “adds luster.”
“This is the beginning of a whole new concept,” Ailes told journalist Joe McGinniss, whose 1969 book, “The Selling of the President 1968,” chronicles the increasingly made-for-television campaign. “This is it. This is the way they’ll be elected forevermore. The next guys up will have to be performers.”
At a time when the Vietnam battles were known as the “living-room war” with nightly reports from the field, Nixon’s 1968 race against his main rival, Democratic vice president Hubert Humphrey, became known as the “living-room campaign.”
“We wanted a program concept of what Richard M. Nixon is in a way in which the public could make its own judgment,” Mr. Shakespeare told the New York Times in 1968. “We wanted to try to create electronically what would happen if five or six people sat in a living room with him and got to know him.”
Mr. Shakespeare led a team whose core members, McGinniss wrote, “knew television as a weapon”: advertising executive Harry W. Treleaven Jr., who was fresh off the successful campaign of a Texas GOP congressman named George H.W. Bush; lawyer Leonard Garment, who would become a Nixon adviser, and producer Ailes. (Ailes resigned from Fox in 2016 amid allegations of sexual harassment and died the following year.)
Mr. Shakespeare’s attention covered even small details. He tweaked the lighting at televised events, had suggestions on Nixon’s wardrobe and made sure the pro-Nixon signs at an October 1968 gathering were all hand-lettered to show apparent grass roots support. “Nixon is groovy,” one read.
After taking the helm in 1969 at the United States Information Agency — which was responsible for global “public diplomacy” through media and other outreach — Mr. Shakespeare quickly gained a reputation as a willing fighter in what is known now as the political culture wars.
He ordered libraries under the agency’s control to boost their collections of conservative-leaning material. A Lisbon site once counted the volumes of William F. Buckley Jr. books compared with those of economist and Democratic stalwart John Kenneth Galbraith.
In a public spat over funding for the agency, Mr. Shakespeare called Sen. J. William Fulbright (D.-Ark.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, “bad news for America.” Mr. Fulbright retorted that Mr. Shakespeare was “a very inadequate man for his job.”
Mr. Shakespeare even became a punchline for a 1970 political cartoon on “The Silent Majority” film and its claims.
“It’s a Shakespeare production — you’ve heard of him,” a man says.
“Sure,” said a woman, “he wrote, ‘A tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.’”
“No!” the man says, “William wrote that … this is Frank Shakespeare, who was Nixon’s television campaign adviser.”
Radio to television
Frank Joseph Shakespeare Jr. was born in New York City on April 9, 1925, and served in the Navy before graduating from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., in 1946.
He found his way into television through radio stations, where he worked as an advertising salesman. He was general manager of a CBS affiliate in Milwaukee for two years before being named vice president and general manager of New York’s WCBS-TV, the network’s flagship station, in 1959.
He was taken under the wing of James T. Aubrey Jr., the network chief known as “the smiling cobra” for his cutthroat reputation. (Aubrey was fired in 1965 amid questions over possible kickbacks on program pitches and later oversaw a major sell-off of assets at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios.)
In 1965, Mr. Shakespeare was appointed to the No. 2 job at CBS as executive vice president, but was moved to other executive roles after Aubrey’s departure. Mr. Shakespeare took a leave to join the Nixon campaign.
After the United States Intelligence Agency, Mr. Shakespeare returned to television with Westinghouse’s broadcast operations and as head of RKO’s radio and television stations. In 1981, he was named by Reagan to oversee Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty.
He served as ambassador to Portugal from 1985 to 1986 and to the Holy See from 1987 to 1989.
Mr. Shakespeare, who was divorced, is survived by a son and two daughters.
Even before Nixon’s 1969 inauguration, Mr. Shakespeare persuaded the president-elect to do another show — unveiling all his Cabinet choices in a 10 p.m. broadcast rather than announcing them one by one. It makes for better TV, Mr. Shakespeare told him. | 2022-12-17T22:39:37Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Frank Shakespeare, Nixon TV guru who reshaped political ads, dies at 97 - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/12/17/frank-shakespeare-nixon-ads-dies/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/12/17/frank-shakespeare-nixon-ads-dies/ |
Iconic L.A. mountain lion, P-22, euthanized after ‘extraordinary life’
P-22, the celebrated mountain lion who lived in Los Angeles and became a symbol of urban pressures on wildlife, was euthanized Saturday after a decade of fame. Seen here in 2014, P-22 took up residence in Griffith Park after crossing two major freeways in 2012. (U.S. National Park Service/AP)
The iconic mountain lion known as P-22 — who lived in Los Angeles’ Griffith Park for a decade, became an international celebrity and was a symbol of the need for urban wildlife protection — was euthanized Saturday, California state officials said.
P-22 had “significant trauma” to his head and internal organs after apparently being hit by a car last week, officials said. An examination by a team of veterinarians from the San Diego Zoo Safari Park also revealed several other chronic health problems.
The chronic conditions and need for surgery and long-term medical care, combined with P-22′s age, left the cougar with “no hope for a positive outcome,” the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said in a statement Saturday, five days after P-22 was captured for a health assessment.
“Mountain lion P-22 has had an extraordinary life and captured the hearts of the people of Los Angeles and beyond,” the department said. Euthanasia was “the most difficult but compassionate choice.”
He was believed to be about 12, having been estimated to be 2 when biologists first found him in 2012, according the National Park Service. Mountain lions can generally live up to 10 years in the wild and 21 years in captivity, the National Wildlife Foundation says.
He was too unwell to live out the rest of his life in an animal sanctuary, said Beth Pratt, the National Wildlife Foundation’s regional executive director in California, who attended a briefing by the lion’s medical team. In a statement, she said keeping him alive with medical intervention would have prolonged his suffering.
P-22′s extraordinary journey began when he crossed two multilane freeways to get from the Santa Monica Mountains to Griffith Park in 2012, where he was spotted by a biologist, according to the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum.
He found fame thanks to a National Geographic article, which included an image by photographer Steve Winter of P-22 prowling underneath the Hollywood sign. He became a beloved figure, and eventually inspired a bridge crossing for wildlife over busy Highway 101 in the Santa Monica Mountains.
“P-22 was an icon,” tweeted California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D). “His incredible journey helped inspire a new era of urban conservation, including the world’s largest wildlife crossing in CA.”
He was such a celebrity that his obituary was pre-written by the Los Angeles Times, a practice reserved for notable figures, reporter Laura J. Nelson said on Twitter.
“I won’t rest until P-22 has a bronze statue in Griffith Park and maybe a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame,” tweeted Laura Friedman (D), a state legislator.
With black markings around his eyes and framing his white muzzle, the tawny, sleek lion was often caught on wildlife cameras mid-prowl. For locals in Los Angeles, seeing P-22 was like a celebrity spotting. He sometimes roamed around town, once even cozying up in a home’s crawl space, and showed up on residents’ doorbell cameras.
“Whenever I hiked to the Hollywood sign, or strolled down a street in Beachwood Canyon to pick up a sandwich at The Oaks, or walked to my car after a concert at the Greek Theater, the wondrous knowledge that I could encounter P-22 always propelled me into a joyous kind of awe,” said Pratt. “We may never see another mountain lion stroll down Sunset Boulevard or surprise customers outside the Los Feliz Trader Joe’s.”
P-22 became a symbol for animal conservation, and advocates have used his story to urge more efforts to protect wildlife, including in urban areas.
This spring, construction began on the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing, which Pratt said “would not have been possible” without P-22′s inspiration. Construction on the massive bridge, which will allow wildlife to cross the freeway and be the largest such project in the world, is projected to be completed in 2025, according to the Annenberg Foundation.
Because his territory was limited to the park’s island of wilderness, P-22 never found a mate. In the Santa Monica Mountains, the long-term survival of a stable mountain lion population is threatened by development, according to the National Park Service.
Roads break up habitat, prevent animals from roaming to breed, and lead to car collisions. About 100 mountain lions live in the area; Los Angeles and Mumbai are the only two of the world’s largest cities with big cats.
For P-22, it eventually led to suffering. As he got older, “the challenges associated with living on an island of habitat” seemed to increase, state officials said last week.
He had lived to be “remarkably old” for a cat in the wild, state officials said. Recent changes in his behavior indicated he might have been in distress.
In March, he left Griffith Park and went farther into an urban area than he ever had, eventually returning to the park, according to the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum. He killed a pet Chihuahua in November, and had been venturing into residential areas.
On Dec. 7, the state wildlife department received an anonymous report that he might have been hit by a car. Biologists found him in a woman’s backyard on Monday, where wildlife officers tranquilized him and took him in for a medical examination.
Famous Los Angeles cougar, P-22, captured for medical exam
P-22′s weakened health may have hindered his ability to evade cars, but if such a collision led to his death, that still represented a failure by humans to better protect wildlife, Pratt said. State officials said they would not investigate the car incident.
“This situation is not the fault of P-22, nor of a driver who may have hit him,” the wildlife agency said. “Rather, it is an eventuality that arises from habitat loss and fragmentation, and it underscores the need for thoughtful construction of wildlife crossings and well-planned spaces that provide wild animals room to roam.”
Six veterinarians from the San Diego Zoo and four veterinary specialists were involved in the assessment, the state wildlife department said. Among P-22′s other ailments were kidney disease, a skin infection, arthritis and chronic weight loss. The damage to his internal organs from the likely car collision would have required invasive surgery.
“This has been a difficult journey for all of us,” the state said in its statement.
She said she got to say goodbye to P-22 before he was euthanized. She told him he was a good boy and was loved by the world.
“He changed the way we look at LA. And his influencer status extended around the world, as he inspired millions of people to see wildlife as their neighbors. He made us more human, made us connect more to that wild place in ourselves,” Pratt said. “His legacy to us, and to his kind will never fade.” | 2022-12-17T22:39:43Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Famous L.A. mountain lion, P-22, euthanized after being hit by car - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/12/17/mountain-lion-p-22-los-angeles/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/12/17/mountain-lion-p-22-los-angeles/ |
Jan. 6 rioter charged with plotting to kill agents who investigated him
The scene outside the Capitol after Trump supporters breached the building on Jan. 6, 2021. (Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post)
A Tennessee man facing charges over assaulting a police officer during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol has been charged with plotting to kill the law enforcement agents who investigated his case, the Justice Department said.
Edward Kelley, 33, of Maryville, Tenn., and an alleged accomplice, Austin Carter, 26, of Knoxville, Tenn., were charged with conspiracy, retaliating against a federal official, interstate communication of a threat, and solicitation to commit a crime of violence, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee. The two men are being held without bail after a hearing Friday in federal court in Knoxville.
Kelley recruited Carter and another person at his place of work to help him with the new plot, according to the complaint. The unnamed co-worker decided to cooperate with law enforcement and made secret recordings of a discussion of Kelley’s plans to kill the officials as well as attack the Knoxville office of the FBI.
Authorities said that the three men met in Jarvis Park in Maryville on Dec. 3 to discuss what Kelley called “assassination missions,” according to the indictment. Kelley urged the witness to “reach out to your cop buddies and see what information you can collect on the individuals on the list.”
The attack: Before, During and After
Efforts to reach Kelley’s family members were unsuccessful, and Kelley’s attorney on the Jan. 6 case, Marina Medvin of Alexandria, Va., recently withdrew from his case. He is seeking a court-appointed attorney.
On Dec. 13, as the witness and Carter were finishing up a work shift, Carter gave the witness the list and told him to memorize it and then “burn everything in the envelope,” according to the complaint. The witness then took the envelope to authorities and agreed to make “surreptitious recordings” of Kelley and Carter for the FBI, the complaint said.
“You guys are taking them out at their office,” Kelley said on one recording. “You don’t have time to train or coordinate, but every hit has to hurt.
In May, Kelley was arrested and charged with assault, resisting arrest, unlawful entry and other offenses for his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
That indictment said that Kelley, wearing a gas mask and a green tactical helmet, had fought with a Capitol Police officer on the west front of the Capitol building as the attack began. | 2022-12-17T22:39:49Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Jan. 6 defendant plotted to kill agents investigating him, authorities say - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/12/17/jan-6-law-enforcement/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/12/17/jan-6-law-enforcement/ |
The embattled crypto executive may consider extradition to the U.S., according to an employee of Fox Hill prison
Sam Bankman-Fried is escorted out of the Magistrate Court building the day after his arrest in Nassau, Bahamas, on Dec. 13. (Austin Fernander/the Tribune Bahamas via AP)
Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced and indicted former cryptocurrency executive, spends his days in a Bahamian jail watching movies and reading news articles about himself, holding out a sliver of hope that he will be granted bail and soon leave, according to a prison official who interacts with him on a regular basis.
Bankman-Fried might also soon decide to give up fighting extradition and allow himself to be brought to the U.S. to face charges, the official said.
Days after he arrived at the prison known as Fox Hill, Bankman-Fried remains in “good spirits” in the facility’s sick bay, where he has been undergoing a medical evaluation for several days, and he has expressed confidence that his lawyers will convince a judge to grant him bail after their first attempt failed, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
But if the lawyers’ efforts were to fail, Bankman-Fried would then waive his right to fight extradition and go back to the U.S. to “face the music,” he told the official on Friday morning in a brief exchange.
Reuters reported Saturday evening that the former FTX executive is expected to appear in court on Monday for a hearing to reverse his decision to fight extradition.
The official described the young ex-billionaire as “a little arrogant,” but overall “a nice guy” who has kept to himself and seemed “awfully scared” during his first days at the prison. He wouldn’t laugh when the other men held in the same room jokingly asked him how he managed to make so much money.
Earlier this week, as Bankman-Fried was watching a local TV news report about himself, the official asked him how he felt. He responded unperturbed: “It’s OK, I will deal with it,” the official recalled.
Bankman-Fried’s lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Bankman-Fried’s life has taken a dramatic turn since he was arrested. Until last week, he lived just a few miles away in a $30 million penthouse with his closest friends, running one of the world’s most well-known crypto currency exchanges. As U.S. regulators and prosecutors release an array of charges against him, his new address at a correctional facility, notorious for its unsanitary conditions and severe overcrowding, underscores his dramatic fall from grace.
As he waits for his new bail hearing on Jan. 17, there is a chance the former CEO of FTX could be transferred out of the sick bay — which is distinctly nicer than the rest of the facility and has amenities like air conditioning and proper beds — to a prison cell without running water or even a toilet.
His extradition trial, meanwhile, begins Feb. 8, but he could decide at any time to accept extradition and be sent back to the U.S. expeditiously before then.
Opened in 1952, Fox Hill, as it is commonly known, is the country’s only prison and has a long history of inmate complaints that have been backed up by expert witnesses and court documents. There is little or no access to running water, and prisoners are often forced to defecate in plastic bags or buckets. Many develop bed sores from sleeping on the bare ground.
Cardboard beds
For now, Bankman-Fried is staying in the sick bay of the maximum-security block with five other men as he undergoes medical evaluation, according to Doan Cleare, acting Commissioner of Corrections at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services.
Cleare refused to say where else he would be transferred in the facility or when that might happen, but added his department is addressing the complaints of poor conditions.
“This new administration is addressing all maters of concern,” he told The Post Saturday, adding that the department has made “tremendous stride in upgrades,” and that it will soon invest $1 million on plumbing fixtures in the remand center.
The facility has different sections that separate violent from nonviolent offenders, but these populations are often arbitrarily mixed due to understaffing or attempts to avoid fights between rival gangs, said Christina Galanos, a local criminal attorney. Defendants who have been arraigned but are not yet tried are usually located in the remand center, where Bankman-Fried would likely be transferred to, she added.
But the prison official said Bankman-Fried could also be transferred to a block within the maximum-security area that has been renovated. It houses inmates in individual cells, isolated from the rest of the population for safety reasons.
In most areas of the prison, inmates are supposed to get an hour every day outside for exercise. But due to staff shortages, overcrowding and an increasing number of gang brawls, they can often go days, sometimes weeks, without being allowed outside, Galanos said.
The sleeping situation is not much better. Inmates often sleep on sheets placed on top of cardboard on the floor, and many have complained of bedsores, hives, and overall body pain, said Galanos, who visits the prison on a regular basis and has represented over 100 clients held there. There is no plumbing in most of the facility and no access to purified drinking water, she added.
A 2021 human-rights report on the Bahamas by the U.S. State Department found that cells were also infested with rats, maggots and insects. The facility holds 1,617 inmates, even though it was built to accommodate 1,000.
To Cary Allen Chappell, an American citizen who spent over two months at the prison earlier this year after being charged with multiple gun and ammunition-related violations, the conditions are “inhumane,” he said in an interview.
For a period of time, Chappell recalled, he slept on concrete floors and went four or five days without eating anything except bread and water. At one point, he fell sick but was denied medical attention despite several requests to see a doctor. During this time, he said, he lost 30 pounds.
The remand area, where Chappell spent 45 days sharing a cell with four other inmates, was hardly an improvement. They all would urinate in a sink with no running water and then use their own jugs of drinking water to flush their waste. Although Chappell did have a mattress, it was full of bed bugs, he added.
As he recalls, inmates were only allowed 20 to 30 minutes in the courtyard about three times a week, but that could vary depending on the section he was staying at. The isolation, lack of recreational activities, scant natural light, and overall deplorable conditions pushed him into an extreme psychological state, he said.
“I was suicidal most of the time,” he said. “You just sat there all day thinking about the problems of your life.”
In comments to the local Eyewitness News site, Commissioner Cleare said that the crypto mogul would receive “no special treatment than any other inmate” while he stays on remand.
Galanos, the lawyer, said it is rare for any inmates to stay longer than a few days in the sick bay barring a “serious medical condition.” But considering Bankman-Fried’s notoriety, authorities may decide to keep him there so that he is separated from the general population.
“Someone may hurt him, harass or threaten him, and if he ends up dead it would be a scandal,” Galanos added. “No one wants that.”
During his first bail hearing last Tuesday, Bankman-Fried’s lawyers argued he should be released on bail because he has special vegan needs and has suffered from depression, insomnia and ADHD for more than a decade.
Cleare countered that a prison doctor will determine a dietary plan for Bankman-Fried and that officials would reach out to his family to bring him food and accommodate his “severe, strict diet.”
In the meantime, the prison official said, Bankman-Fried is getting vegan food, a luxury few other inmates have.
There were no such options for Valentino Bethel, a current Fox Hill inmate who filed a lawsuit against the Bahamas Department of Corrections in the Supreme Court last year for breaching his constitutional rights and inflicting “inhumane treatment.” He was held in a 6-by-9-foot cell with four other inmates with no mattresses. The poor diet, including a paucity of fruits and vegetables, caused him to lose more than 30 pounds, according to court documents.
“The cell lacks plumbing and running water for sanitation, there is no lighting in the cells which are infested. The roof leaks causing cells to flood. Inmates are forced to urinate in a bottle and leave the bottles at a corner in the cell. Inmates defecate in plastic bags, which they defecate directly in a bucket or barter,” the claim argued.
Although prison regulations require that inmates exercise and shower daily, Bethel said that inmates were given windows of only 15 to 20 minutes, twice a week, when they could choose to shower, exercise, or go the barbershop, according to the lawsuit.
The court dismissed the claim earlier this year, arguing that Bethel skipped several lower tribunals, and instructed him to direct his complaint to the Correctional Services Review. | 2022-12-17T22:39:55Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Sam Bankman-Fried is ‘ready to face the music,’ prison official says - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/12/17/sbf-prison-bahamas/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/12/17/sbf-prison-bahamas/ |
Holiday gloom at The Washington Post
The Post headquarters on K Street NW in Washington. (Robert Miller/The Washington Post)
In December 2006, David Carr, the media columnist for the New York Times, wrote a column about The Washington Post and mentioned that layoffs could be in the works. Leonard Downie Jr., then The Post’s executive editor, responded with fury: “We want to quash any stupid, false rumors like this one,” said Downie.
That didn’t mean The Post wasn’t slashing its payroll. Thanks to its rich pension fund, the company laid out a series of buyouts in the 2000s — generous packages bulging with cash and health benefits — that aging Posties had trouble resisting. But at least they weren’t layoffs.
What Publisher Fred Ryan announced at a town hall event on Wednesday — those are layoffs. “In the coming year we will be eliminating a number of positions,” said Ryan, who explained it was important to align The Post’s editorial offerings with readers’ interests. The cutbacks, he later emphasized in a staff email, wouldn’t exceed “a single-digit percentage of our workforce.” A 9-percent layoff would reduce The Post’s newsroom by about 100 staffers.
The announcement bewildered Post employees who had crowded into the paper’s fourth floor conference space for the year-end meeting. It arrived as a harsh coda to a series of upbeat presentations on bold initiatives, including ambitious climate coverage, an innovative news-delivery product, and changes afoot in the opinions section. Never bury the lead in a crowd of journalists.
Adding to a sense of whiplash: Early this year, the paper announced a newsroom expansion of 70-plus journalists, featuring 41 editors and fortifications in the spheres of health and wellness, technology, climate, national and international news. “We are placing big bets on a few new areas of coverage in line with our news mission,” noted Executive Editor Sally Buzbee.
Still, the cutbacks don’t come straight out of the blue. The New York Times reported last summer that Ryan had spoken with masthead leaders about the possibility of cutting 100 positions. Sector-wide weakness in ad revenue along with falling subscriptions — The Post had dipped from the 3 million paying digital subscribers that it had touted in 2020 — forced the reckoning, noted the Times.
There is a broader context, named Donald Trump. The Post’s journalism and business model soared when the real estate mogul came down the escalator in June 2015 to announce his presidential bid. Traffic and subscriptions proliferated, as did new hires to handle the sensational story.
Did The Post do enough to prepare for the inevitable draining of the punch bowl?
Puck’s Dylan Byers has argued that the Times anticipated this moment with investments in lifestyle content — NYT Cooking, for instance, as well as the company’s games expansion and podcast build-out — that drove digital subscriptions. This has somewhat insulated the company from the very forces that are driving staff reductions or other austerity measures at media outlets including CNN, NPR and Gannett.
Though The Post may not have made the visionary bets of the Times, it didn’t exactly stand still under Ryan, who was appointed as publisher in 2014 by owner Jeff Bezos. The Post’s newsroom has doubled in size under his watch — to around 1,100 journalists — with significant investments in key national and international coverage areas. The paper’s winning entry for the public service Pulitzer Prize drew on the work of 100-plus journalists who investigated every aspect of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection.
Newsroom leaders can soften the backlash to layoffs at The Post by better explaining the financial rationale for the cuts and saying why veteran employees cannot be matched to new missions. They missed that mark in late November, when the company announced the shutdown of The Post’s stand-alone Sunday magazine, along with the elimination of 10 positions. The company declined to mount an effort to find spots for these journalists elsewhere in the newsroom. Though a company source notes that laid-off employees are eligible to apply for open positions, The Post is offering them a “Separation Incentive Program” under which they get an enhanced exit package in return for a commitment not to apply for a job at The Post for 18 months, according to Sarah Kaplan, chief steward at the Washington Post Guild. Guild-covered employees who don’t opt into the severance program, notes the company source, will land on a rehire list for up to 12 months and “will be rehired for the same job or for comparable jobs.”
Buzbee cited “economic head winds” in announcing the magazine closing, though Kaplan took issue with the claim. “Post management has signaled that the magazine is being cut for financial reasons. But there is no economic justification for layoffs in a year when The Post has hired a record number of new employees,” Kaplan said in a statement.
The seeming contradiction shadowed Ryan’s message at Wednesday’s town hall event. In addressing the newspaper’s overall health, he noted that a recession in the advertising sector has already arrived. Post leadership, he continued, has a “responsibility” to stay ahead of “readers’ ever-evolving preferences and habits. We cannot afford to keep spending on initiatives that no longer align with readers’ interests.” The company will be eliminating positions in the first quarter of 2023, said Ryan, though he pledged to continue hiring as well — to such an extent that the newsroom a year from now would be as big as it is now, if not bigger.
One way to interpret that: Post management doesn’t believe its current workforce is entirely ready to compete for readers and advertising dollars.
That’s why The Post Guild is roaring. “People don’t understand what Fred’s journalistic and business vision is,” Kaplan tells the Erik Wemple Blog. Engaged in ongoing contract discussions with management, the Guild signed up a crew of new and prominent Posties in the aftermath of this week’s events.
Ryan left the town hall without taking questions. The assembled crowd, which oozed out of the conference space into the surrounding corridor, felt snookered by an hour of happy talk punctuated by a gut punch. “We’re not going to turn the town hall into a grievance session for the Guild,” said Ryan before he exited the room, signaling that his town hall was more hall than town. | 2022-12-17T22:40:01Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Layoffs and confusion at the Washington Post - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/17/washpost-layoffs-newsroom-fredryan/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/17/washpost-layoffs-newsroom-fredryan/ |
With his close friend Andy Warhol, he began his career rebelling against abstraction
Portrait artist Philip Pearlstein in front of one of his paintings in his studio in June 1989. (Jack Mitchell/Getty Images)
Philip Pearlstein, an artist who with his friend Andy Warhol rebelled against abstraction in the 1950s, then built a legacy that rests on realistic, even daring paintings of nude models, died Dec. 17 at a hospital in Manhattan. He was 98.
Inspired by an idea for an illustration, Mr. Pearlstein painted a large dollar sign in the center of a canvas, which led to a series of what he called “paintings of icons,” which included the Statue of Liberty, Dick Tracy and Superman. Exhibited in New York in 1952, the works prefigure the Pop Art movement by a decade; Warhol began drawing and painting dollar signs in the early 1960s.
Mr. Pearlstein, however, chose to see himself as an art-world rebel. “It seems madness on the part of any painter educated in the twentieth-century modes of picture-making to take as his subject the naked human figure,” he wrote in the magazine ARTnews in 1962. He proceeded to make the naked human figure his subject for the next half-century.
Unlike the fleshy, pulchritudinous and radiant nudes of Rubens and Renoir, Mr. Pearlstein’s models are painted as ordinary human beings. Their often sagging, uncomfortably posed flesh and their expressions reveal the boredom of the excruciatingly slow modeling process. A few paintings include men, but the vast majority depict women.
Stomachs show folds and creases, breasts succumb to gravity, and arms, feet and knees claim much space on the canvas, producing a vertiginous effect. The paint itself seems to refute any hint of glamour in the flesh, with dull shades of brown and tan contesting Renoir’s insistence on glowing cotton-candy pinks.
Much of Mr. Pearlstein’s career coincided with a growing feminist consciousness in the art world, and for some women his pictures were merely another instance of the male gaze objectifying the female body.
Mr. Pearlstein’s artistic interest was not limited to his naked subjects. Especially in later paintings, the human figure competes for attention with Turkish rugs, African or Asian masks and other precisely painted decorative objects, the patterns of which dazzle the eye and divert any possible fixation on the nude.
Andy Warhol, Pioneer of Pop Art, Dies After Heart Attack
After they settled in New York, they roomed together for a year before Mr. Pearlstein married Dorothy Cantor, a painter who also had been a Carnegie Tech classmate. She died in 2018. Survivors include three children; and two grandchildren.
These paintings, shown at the Allan Frumkin Gallery in New York in 1963, cemented his reputation as an artist willing to confound aesthetic fashion. They also cemented his commitment to painting the human figure over the course of the next 50 years, with the exception of an ongoing series of clothed portraits of artists, family and friends.
Mr. Pearlstein influenced younger realist painters, including Chuck Close, Rackstraw Downes, Janet Fish and Sylvia Plimack Mangold. All studied painting at Yale University, where Mr. Pearlstein was a visiting critic in 1962.
Mr. Pearlstein’s paintings are in the collections of major institutions including the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art, all in New York; the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington; and the Art Institute of Chicago. A member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, he served as its president from 2003 to 2006.
Mr. Pearlstein’s devotion to painting from direct observation remained constant throughout his career, and he continued to hire models and rely on props culled from his lifetime collection of decorative arts from around the world.
“At a certain point I have to accept what I have seen,” he told the New York Times in 2002. “Otherwise I will keep shifting the image around forever, like a Giacometti. It would be easier to work from photographs, obviously, but there’s an energy, an urgency working from life that doesn’t come from a photograph. You’re capturing something elusive, something you’re not always sure of, or you’re trying to capture it, before it vanishes.” | 2022-12-17T23:10:09Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Philip Pearlstein, painter who mastered the nude, dies at 98 - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/12/17/philip-pearlstein-painter-dies/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/12/17/philip-pearlstein-painter-dies/ |
Jackson State Coach Deion Sanders, left, and his son (and quarterback) Shedeur Sanders sing the school's alma mater after the Celebration Bowl on Saturday in Atlanta. (Hakim Wright Sr/AP)
ATLANTA — The Celebration Bowl didn’t deliver the storybook ending that Deion Sanders had hoped for in his final game as coach of Jackson State.
After vowing to see the season through once he accepted Colorado’s head coaching job on Dec. 3., Sanders led his Tigers out for one last game Saturday in the unofficial Black college football national championship, pitting his Southwestern Athletic Conference champions against North Carolina Central, champions of Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
Despite the heroics of quarterback Shedeur Sanders, one of the coach’s two sons on the team, Jackson State fell just short, 41-34, in overtime. The Tigers’ quarterback threw for four touchdowns and ran for another.
The contest riveted a Mercedes-Benz Stadium crowd of 49,670.
With Jackson State trailing in the waning seconds of regulation, Shedeur Sanders found Travis Hunter in the end zone for a 19-yard strike as time expired.
Feinstein archive: Deion Sanders at Jackson State is too compelling to ignore
Sanders called for the extra point to settle matters in overtime. But the Tigers (12-1) couldn’t match N.C. Central (10-2), which scored a touchdown to start overtime. A Jackson State receiver dropped a pass in the end zone before one last incompletion ended sealed the loss.
Afterward, both Shedeur, who’ll join his brother, Shilo, in accompanying their father to Colorado, and Deion Sanders voiced gratitude for everyone associated with Jackson State — administrators, fans, football staff and townspeople they said they had come to regard as family.
“I miss these guys already — these young men,” Deion Sanders said after meeting with his players to sing the school’s fight song one final time and share a team prayer, as is custom.
While Saturday’s outcome was a second consecutive Celebration Bowl disappointment for Sanders and Jackson State, the defeat had a deeper a subtext of bruised feelings and thorny questions about whether the university — and HBCU football in general — can sustain and, ideally, build on the momentum “Coach Prime” ushered in after he takes his megawatt personality to the Pac-12.
In terms of results, Sanders delivered beyond expectations in his three seasons in Mississippi, compiling a 27-6 record, back-to-back SWAC championships and the first unbeaten regular season in the program’s rich history.
But feelings are mixed over whether Sanders owed Jackson State more — namely, a longer stay, given the vision he charted for transforming Black college football.
Asked about that on eve of the eve of Saturday’s game, Sanders tackled the question head on.
Archive: Deion Sanders is inspiring hope at Jackson State. What happened at Prime Prep?
“Never once did I say, ‘They’re going to put a tombstone with my name on it at Jackson State,’ so I wasn’t going to die here — y’all know that,” Sanders told a roomful of reporters.
“Everything I said I would do, I did. Everything I said I wanted to happen, I tried my darnedest to make it happen. We've exceeded, I think, expectations, in some realms. But when I don’t fit into someone else’s plan and purpose, now there's ridicule.”
Sanders isn’t getting any grief from Washington Commanders executive Doug Williams, a former Super Bowl MVP who’s regarded as royalty in HBCU football after starring as a player and, later, coach at Grambling State.
“What Deion did for Jackson State was extraordinary,” Williams said. “And what he did for the SWAC and HBCUs reopen the eyes of America.”
For that reason, Williams has no problem with Sanders’s move.
“First of all, let’s be brutally honest: We’ve got to think about the arithmetic, whatever it is,” Williams said, alluding to the reported $5.9 million annual salary Colorado offered, with incentives, which is nearly 20 times the reported $300,000 Sanders was earning at Jackson State.
“Remember, Brian Kelly left Notre Dame for LSU; Lincoln Riley left Oklahoma for USC,” Williams added. “Life is arithmetic. And that’s the business of coaching.”
Moreover, Williams said, anyone who faults Sanders doesn’t understand how few head coaching jobs at major football powers are ever offered Black coaches.
Like Sanders, Williams launched his coaching career in the high school ranks. In time, he got the chance to succeed his mentor, the legendary Eddie Robinson, at his alma mater and led Grambling to three consecutive SWAC championships.
That led to interviews for top jobs at Michigan State and Kentucky, but Williams said he understood he wasn’t given serious consideration.
“It was a show,” Williams recalls. “They said they did their due diligence, just like the do in the NFL. Sham interviews. The NCAA is worse than the NFL.”
Sanders said upon his hiring at Jackson State in September 2020 that God had called him to Mississippi. He set to work quickly raising expectations on and off the field, with a goal of bringing national attention to the Tigers, the university and HBCUs in general.
And he got results in a program that hadn’t had a winning season since 2013 — or, as Sanders put it during Friday’s news conference, “since Moby Dick was a minnow.”
In December 2021, Sanders landed Hunter, the nation’s top recruit, who reneged on his commitment to Florida State (Sanders’s alma mater) to play for “Coach Prime.”
In October, ESPN’s College Game Day broadcast from the campus for the first time on the occasions of Jackson State’s annual rivalry game against Southern.
News that Sanders was leaving for Colorado — within hours of his leading Jackson State to the SWAC on Dec. 3, came as a gut punch to many alumni.
“We had just got into the mind-set of winning after being down for 10 years,” said Alfred Stokes, 46, a former Jackson State defensive lineman who traveled from Madison, Miss., for Saturday game’s. “The whole move was so fast. We knew it was coming, but you know how you never want a great relationship to end?”
Stokes said he appreciated all the resources Sanders brought to Jackson State during his three seasons — corporate donations from companies like Wal-Mart and American Airlines that helped upgrade woefully inadequate facilities.
In his playing days, Stokes said, the team practiced in tattered jerseys and worn pads so old he wondered if Walter Payton once wore them. The team had no shortage of talent, he noted. But without the vast resources that top FBS schools have — first-rate weight rooms, athletic trainers, nutrition and position coaches — Jackson State and all SWAC athletes came out of college as “rough diamonds,” without the polish of other NFL prospects.
Under Sanders, Jackson State was closing that gap, taking pride in the exploits of latest minted NFL rookie, Detroit Lions pass rusher James Houston.
“The dream he sold was the idea that he was going to revolutionize Black college football,” Stokes said. Based on that, he expected he’d stay at least four years or one recruiting cycle.
Tuskegee graduate Charles Hall, 65, feels Sanders was a blessing for Jackson State and all HBCUs.
“I love Deion Sanders,” Hall said. “I’m proud of what he’s done, and I can’t blame him for moving on to higher ground. It was a short period of stay, but he did great things. He put Jackson State on the map. Now it’s time for him to go, so let him go. He done left a blueprint for them.”
Roy Eaves, president and CEO of the Black College Sports Network, also has no hard feelings about Sanders’s departure.
“A lot of people felt he made a promise that he was going to be this savior,” Eaves said. “Well, one man can’t be our savior. This is an internal issue, The HBCU’s were powerful before he got there.”
Williams makes the same point, noting that before integration and into the 1970s, Black athletes had nowhere to go but the HBCUs.
More than 30 members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame played at HBCUs, including Jerry Rice (Mississippi Valley State) and Jackson State’s Payton, Jackie Slater and Robert Brazile, who has been Sanders’s adviser and confidante during his time at the school.
Sanders also persuaded corporate American to pay attention.
Walmart, whose CEO is a friend of Sanders, pledged $2.4 million and provided a turf football field.
“We were going 20 miles away to practice on a darn high school, and we were a college,” Sanders said.
American Airlines and Procter & Gamble contributed, as did Sanders’s own sponsor, Aflac, and Baltimore-based Under Armour, which now outfits all Tigers teams.
Sanders himself donated half his 2022 salary to ensure completion of the football facility renovation.
“I don’t know if that process will remain, but I pray that it does,” Sanders said, asked about the companies’ long-term commitment to the program. “I’ve said from Day One: All these kids need is an opportunity and exposure, and that does not change with my arrival and departure.” | 2022-12-18T00:59:10Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Deion Sanders's Jackson State finale is tough loss in Celebration Bowl - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/17/deion-sanders-jackson-state-celebration-bowl-hbcus/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/17/deion-sanders-jackson-state-celebration-bowl-hbcus/ |
By Carlos Rodriguez | AP
MEXICO CITY — Jimmy Butler scored 26 points, Bam Adebayo had 22 points and 13 rebounds and the Miami Heat extended their winning streak to four, beating the San Antonio Spurs 111-101 on Saturday in the first NBA game in Mexico City since 2019. Tyler Herro added 21 points and Duncan Robinson and Max Strauss had 12 each for the Heat. Keldon Johnson scored 22 points for San Antonio. At 9-20, the Spurs are last in the Western Conference. | 2022-12-18T01:45:00Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Butler, Adebayo lead Heat past Spurs in Mexico City - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nba/butler-adebayo-lead-heat-past-spurs-in-mexico-city/2022/12/17/bdf925b4-7e6f-11ed-bb97-f47d47466b9a_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nba/butler-adebayo-lead-heat-past-spurs-in-mexico-city/2022/12/17/bdf925b4-7e6f-11ed-bb97-f47d47466b9a_story.html |
Lakers star Anthony Davis is sidelined with right foot injury
Los Angeles Lakers center Anthony Davis was ruled out at halftime of a Friday win over the Denver Nuggets with a right foot injury. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
The oft-injured Davis, who has been enjoying a resurgent season, sustained the injury during the Los Angeles Lakers’ 126-108 win over the Denver Nuggets on Friday. As the eight-time all-star drove to the basket during the first quarter, the top of his right foot appeared to make contact with the back of Nuggets center Nikola Jokic’s left leg. Davis came up hobbling immediately but tried to play through the injury before the Lakers ruled him out for the night at halftime. He finished with 10 points and four rebounds in 17 minutes and underwent postgame X-rays.
“I don’t want to speak on it until I know what’s going on,” Lakers Coach Darvin Ham said Friday. “He’s having a foot issue. He injured his foot. They took him back for some X-rays. We’ll know more [Saturday].”
Davis was expected to undergo an MRI on Saturday, but the Lakers didn’t immediately release an update with the results of follow-up testing or a recovery timeline. Instead, Davis was listed as out with “right foot soreness” for Sunday’s game against the Wizards in Los Angeles. His status beyond that remains unclear.
“Health is always first when it comes to any of our teammates,” Lakers forward LeBron James said Friday. “That doesn’t change with A.D. That’s the most important.”
Following the Lakers’ dreadful 2-10 start, Davis’s stellar two-way play had been essential to their turnaround, which included an 8-2 stretch in late November and early December. Davis has eclipsed James as Los Angeles’s leading scorer and emerged as a leading candidate for defensive player of the year.
James acknowledged the Lakers would be entering uncharted water if Davis can’t return quickly.
Since Davis’s 2019 arrival in Los Angeles, the Lakers are 97-66 (.595) when he plays and 42-48 (.467) when he is sidelined. The Lakers also owe their first-round pick to the New Orleans Pelicans as part of the 2019 blockbuster trade that brought Davis to Los Angeles, so there’s no hope of a silver lining should they fall further out of the playoff chase. | 2022-12-18T02:30:42Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Anthony Davis to miss Lakers' game vs. Wizards with right foot injury - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/17/anthony-davis-injury-update-lakers/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/17/anthony-davis-injury-update-lakers/ |
Washington Wizards center Daniel Gafford, top, defends against Los Angeles Clippers guard John Wall (11) during the second half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Dec. 17, 2022, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
LOS ANGELES — Kristaps Porzingis faked left, then right, flinging out a rangy arm to call for the ball over his Los Angeles Clippers defender. This was life for the Washington’s second-leading scorer Saturday afternoon just about every time his team had the ball, just trying to find an inch of space to break free.
The Clippers didn’t have superb rim protectors on the floor in the second half, and they weren’t great in transition in the first. But they did have Terance Mann and Luke Kennard, both of whom stand about a head shorter than the 7-foot center and pestered him into submission. They also had Nicolas Batum, 6-foot-8 and solid as an oak as a backstop, and Kawhi Leonard to take care of everything else.
With Bradley Beal (hamstring) sidelined for the sixth straight game, the Clippers homed in on Porzingis to hand Washington its ninth straight loss, 102-93. The Wizards have dropped 12 of their past 13.
What appeared to be a promising start accompanied by a 15-point lead in the first half evaporated in the first five minutes after halftime.
The Clippers chipped away at Washington’s defense and threw daggers from the three-point line — they buried 12 total, not an overwhelming amount, but well-timed — and leaned on staunch defense to grind the Wizards’ offense to a halt. Washington managed just one field goal over the final four minutes of the third quarter.
Los Angeles consistently doubled Porzingis, who missed Wednesday’s game in Denver with lower back tightness. The center was held to 19 points and seven rebounds, his worst effort since Nov. 25 in Miami.
Kyle Kuzma had 17 points and six rebounds for his lowest output since a 14-point performance Dec. 2.
“They were fronting me, they did a really good job with that, and then they were doubling,” Porzingis said. “So there were all kinds of bodies they were seeing, and I think a lot of those situations when we did get the ball in we got some pretty decent looks. But it was definitely one of the toughest games I’ve had, the way they were guarding.”
Deni Avdija logged 11 points and 10 rebounds and Monte Morris added 12 points. Will Barton added 14 points off the bench but the Wizards’ halting offense wasn’t enough to combat Leonard and Kennard.
The Clippers have managed Leonard’s minutes carefully after the two-time Finals MVP returned this season following ACL surgery. The Wizards had the unfortunate luck of being on court for the first time Leonard played more than 30 minutes in a game — he stuck it out for 33 and came away with a season-high 31 points and nine rebounds, with a trio of successive jumpers with 3:14 to play turning a three-point Clippers lead into a nine-point gap.
As for Kennard, his 20 points — including four three-pointers — faintly recalled ugly memories of his game-winning play almost a year ago to seal a 35-point comeback against Washington.
“He just likes playing the Wizards,” Kuzma said. “He kills us every time. Every time.”
The Wizards’ flimsy late-game defense was compounded by sludgy offense in the second half.
They went into halftime with a 36-14 scoring edge in the paint after pushing the pace in transition to take advantage of the Clippers’ penchant to operate in the half court. They scored 20 points on fast breaks to help build a 15-point lead — despite allowing eight three-pointers in the first half.
But with Porzingis locked down and Los Angeles playing smaller in the second half, the ball stuck. The Wizards had 20 assists — and 15 came before halftime.
Said Porzingis: “I was telling the guys also, when we cannot get the ball in right away, let’s not force it, stagnate. Let’s just swing and keep playing and I will space out and we just keep going. But that’s a learning process.”
Although Beal did not play Saturday, Coach Wes Unseld Jr. said the guard was a full participant in practice Friday at UCLA’s Wooden Center and is close to making a return.
“He’s ramped up pretty well,” Unseld said. “He was a full participant yesterday, did some extra work the day before when we got into town. So he’s in that final stretch, final stage. We just want to make sure he gets right before we throw him out there.”
Rui Hachimura (ankle), who last played on Nov. 18, played three-on-three with coaches and players including Delon Wright (hamstring) and Johnny Davis at practice Friday as well.
Davis joined the team in Los Angeles while on assignment with the Capital City Go-Go before participating in the G League showcase starting Monday in Las Vegas, and Wright is ramping up after straining his hamstring Oct. 25.
Unseld said Hachimura’s body responded well after a heavier workload.
“We want to make sure we’re once again allowing that injury to heal properly... but he’s progressed well. That’s a big part, being able to play three-on-three, doing parts in live segments, at times being a participant in practice except for the five-on-five part. I think there’s still some discomfort in [his ankle].” | 2022-12-18T02:30:45Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Wizards fall to Clippers for ninth straight loss - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/17/wizards-clippers-porzingis-losing-streak/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/17/wizards-clippers-porzingis-losing-streak/ |
FILE - In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un gives a lecture at the Central Cadres Training School in North Korea on Oct. 17, 2022. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File) (Uncredited/KCNA via KNS) | 2022-12-18T03:15:30Z | www.washingtonpost.com | N. Korea fires ballistic missile into waters off east coast - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/seoul-north-korea-launches-ballistic-missile-off-east-coast/2022/12/17/bd78c96c-7e7b-11ed-bb97-f47d47466b9a_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/seoul-north-korea-launches-ballistic-missile-off-east-coast/2022/12/17/bd78c96c-7e7b-11ed-bb97-f47d47466b9a_story.html |
Capitals defenseman Erik Gustafsson, center, is congratulated by teammates after scoring his third goal Saturday night in a 5-2 win over Toronto. Gustafsson's hat trick was the first for a Washington defenseman since Sergei Gonchar in 2000. (John McDonnell/The Washington Post)
On a Saturday night when many at Capital One Arena were hoping to see history made by Alex Ovechkin, fans instead were treated to a historic night from … Erik Gustafsson.
The Washington Capitals defenseman posted his first career hat trick, and goaltender Charlie Lindgren was stout as Washington delivered an impressive 5-2 win Saturday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Ovechkin, sitting on 800 career goals, one back of Gordie Howe for No. 2 on the NHL’s all-time list, was held without a goal for the second straight game. He had two shots on former Capitals goalie Ilya Samsonov in 18 minutes 15 seconds of ice time.
Gustafsson opened the scoring 8:48 into the first period, added his second tally early in the second and completed his hat trick 3:47 into the final period, with the final score pushing Washington’s lead to 5-2. Lindgren (34 saves) took it from there.
“We’re just answering the bell,” the goalie said. “All four lines, our D-men are playing excellent. It’s a really good win against a really good hockey team.”
Gustafsson’s three goals were the first for the defenseman all season. He became only the third Capitals defenseman to score a hat trick and the first since Sergei Gonchar in 2000.
“Scoring the first goal as a Cap, too, and get a hatty on that is pretty unbelievable. It was a great feeling,” said Gustafsson, who added he “blacked out” after scoring his third goal.
The contest was a one-goal affair headed to the third period before Washington seized control. Garnet Hathaway scored 10 seconds into the final frame and Gustafsson struck a short while later.
“We’re helping out each other in every zone we play,” Gustafsson said. “I think we’re feeling it a little bit now, and we just got to keep it rolling.”
It wasn’t all good news for Washington (16-13-4). T.J. Oshie suffered what appeared to be a noncontact upper-body injury midway through the second period while skating on the backcheck. He pulled up in clear discomfort, skated to the bench and had to stand up as he leaned on his stick grimacing in pain.
During the TV timeout, Oshie used the boards to help him slowly get to the other end of the bench and exit down the tunnel with assistance. The team later announced he would be reevaluated Sunday.
Oshie was previously hurt Oct. 29 against Nashville and missed 11 games before returning Nov. 23.
“I think because of the [injury] history there is always a concern,” Coach Peter Laviolette said.
Gustafsson’s first goal came when he beat Samsonov at the left post. William Nylander knotted the score two minutes later for the Maple Leafs (19-7-6) before Trevor van Riemsdyk answered about 90 seconds later with his third goal in four games. The Capitals kept that 2-1 lead into intermission.
Samsonov, who played his first game in Washington since he signed with Toronto in the offseason, finished with 23 saves.
Ovechkin has had a history of slowing down slightly before milestone goals. Back in 2020, the Russian star scored a hat trick against Los Angeles to reach 698. He then went goalless in five games before ultimately scoring on consecutive nights to hit 700.
“It’ll come for sure,” center Evgeny Kuznetsov said. “There is no doubt. I feel like the more people talk, the more pressure it puts [on Ovechkin].”
“Congrats to him,” Samsonov said before the game. “It’s really great for him. Everyone knows he’s a nice player and great sniper. I wish him the best in pursuing Gretzky’s record. But not against Toronto.”
Dowd, Shepard out
Nic Dowd did not play after he was a late scratch with a lower-body injury. Dowd was a full participant in the morning skate, and the details of his injury were not immediately disclosed. Saturday was the first game Dowd has missed.
Nicolas Aube-Kubel took Dowd’s place in the lineup.
Goalie Hunter Shepard also was ruled out with an upper-body injury. Shepard has yet to play in an NHL game after he was called up from the team’s American Hockey League affiliate in Hershey, Pa. Shepard had acted as a backup to Lindgren for the past six games.
Netminder Zach Fucale was recalled from Hershey to take Shepard’s place as Lindgren’s backup. Darcy Kuemper is still on injured reserve. Laviolette said Saturday morning that Kuemper is getting closer to returning to the lineup.
Backstrom sheds noncontact jersey
Nicklas Backstrom practiced for the first time Saturday in a full-contact jersey. Laviolette said Backstrom no longer being in a noncontact jersey is “another step” and “certainly a positive sign” but that the veteran center still has “a lot of work to do” before returning to the lineup. Backstrom will need to go through extended practices with substantial contact before Washington can gauge where he is at. | 2022-12-18T04:10:56Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Capitals too much for Maple Leafs as Erik Gustafsson notches hat trick - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/17/capitals-maple-leafs-erik-gustafsson/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/17/capitals-maple-leafs-erik-gustafsson/ |
Man slain in Adams-Morgan, D.C. police say
Shooting occurred near Ontario Road and Euclid Street, police say
A man was shot and killed Saturday night in the Adams-Morgan area of Northwest Washington, the D.C. police said.
The shooting occurred a few minutes after 10 p.m. in the 2400 block of Ontario Road, deputy police communications director Paris Lewbel said.
The victim was not identified immediately, and it was not immediately clear what led up to the shooting.
The site is south of Columbia Road and near Euclid Street. It is within three or four blocks of the site of another fatal shooting, which occurred about 1:20 a.m. in the 2400 block of 18th street NW.
Homicides in that area are relatively uncommon. Aside from the proximity of the two killings, it was not known whether any connection existed. | 2022-12-18T05:07:36Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Man fatally shot Saturday night in Adams-Morgan area - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/12/17/shot-killed-adams-morgan-ontario/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/12/17/shot-killed-adams-morgan-ontario/ |
Argentina’s forward Lionel Messi celebrates after scoring against Mexico during Group C play at the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar on Nov. 26. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
Well — for Messi, at least.
“It’s time for him to win one,” Becerra said. “Not only is he a great player. He seems like a great guy. …
“He doesn’t seem Argentine.”
Now, as Argentina faces off against France in Sunday’s final, its biggest star is rallying Latin Americans to cheer for a country they love to hate.
One reason: They’re out of options. Colombia, Chile and Peru didn’t make this year’s tournament. Mexico, Ecuador, Costa Rica and Uruguay couldn’t survive the group stage. Brazil was eliminated in the quarterfinals.
It hasn’t been easy. Argentina’s national soccer team — two-time World Cup champions — has long divided the continent, eliciting a combination of admiration, annoyance and jealousy. But in what is expected to be 35-year-old Lionel Messi’s last World Cup, the Argentine captain is somehow breaking through the region’s long-held misgivings about the country.
“People don’t seem to know what to do,” said Antonio Casale, a Colombian radio broadcaster. “They don’t want Argentina to win, but they want Messi to win.”
It’s a complicated mix of feelings that extends beyond the sport, said University of Buenos Aires historian Martín Bergel, “an ambivalence somewhere between fascination and repulsion.”
Many Argentines resent the stereotypical depiction, based on a cartoonish simplification of the wealthy, supposedly arrogant porteño, or Buenos Aires resident — a trope lampooned in Argentina itself.
The origins of the image are hard to pin down. But Bergel suspects they can be traced back to the 19th century, to prominent Argentines such as Domingo Faustino Sarmiento. The president and prominent writer, credited with modernizing the country’s education system, “was arrogant,” Bergel said, “and had an almost prophetic idea of what Argentina could be.”
By the early 20th century, Argentina was an economic powerhouse, larger and wealthier than Canada, and Buenos Aires was a cultural and intellectual hub comparing itself to London and Paris, and developing icons from the tanguero Carlos Gardel to the architect César Pelli to the writer Jorge Luis Borges.
Argentina has long been viewed by Latin Americans as one of the Whiter countries in the region. In contrast to Brazil, which has at least rhetorically embraced its multiracial heritage, Argentina is seen as made up of and largely dominated by people of White, European descent (an image that fails to include the country’s Indigenous and mestizo populations).
Today, amid economic and political crises — Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner was convicted of corruption this month and sentenced to six years in prison — the Argentine present is starkly different from its golden era. But the stereotypes linger — especially during international soccer games.
The home of soccer greats Diego Maradona and Messi, Argentina has been locked in bitter rivalry with Brazil, Latin America’s other soccer giant, the most successful team in World Cup history with five championship wins. The teams play each other annually. The match is called the Superclásico de las Américas.
In 2014, when Argentina advanced to the World Cup final in Rio de Janeiro, Argentine fans held back none of their gleeful pride in playing for the title on Brazilian soil. “Brazil, tell me how it feels,” Argentines chanted, “to have your daddy in your house?”
Unsurprisingly, Argentina found little support from its Brazilian hosts that year.
“It was unthinkable for Argentina to win a Cup on Brazilian soil,” said Brian Winter, editor in chief of Americas Quarterly. “They believed the Argentines would be intolerable for decades or centuries to come, hanging it over their heads.”
This time, Winter said, “is clearly different.” He’s noticed a swell of support for Argentina, partly in appreciation for Messi, and partly in the hope that La Albiceleste can bring the Cup back to South America after four straight European wins. “That solidarity seems strong enough to overcome the fear that yes, Argentines will still brag and lord it over everybody for decades to come!”
In one recent survey, Argentina was the top pick among Brazilians to win in Qatar if Brazil didn’t. A Spanish newspaper called it “an unthinkable fandom.”
“It’s not about Argentina. It’s about Messi,” said Guga Chacra, a commentator for Brazil’s GloboNews who spent years living in Argentina and even has a dog named Messi. “Besides that, he’s a genius, he’s this normal guy. … His head is always down, like he has all of Argentina on his back.”
There’s also the fact of Argentina’s opponent on Sunday. France has defeated Brazil three times in World Cup play, once in a final. Brazil is the last country to win two World Cups in a row, in 1958 and 1962, when Pelé lit up the pitch. Brazilians certainly don’t want to see Les Bleus, the 2018 champion, match the feat, Chacra said.
Still, there are holdouts, beyond even Messi’s reach.
Eliezer Budasoff, an Argentine editor in the Mexico City offices of El País, assumed he would find at least some Mexicans supporting the Latin American side when Argentina played the Netherlands in the quarterfinals. He was wrong. When Argentina scored its first goal, he was the only one in the Mexico City bar to jump out of his seat and cheer. Everyone else was rooting for the Netherlands.
When the game went to penalty kicks, a friend grabbed him: “Let’s get out of here.”
“If it wasn’t for him,” Budasoff said, “I think I could’ve gotten beaten up.”
Budasoff has tried all week to convert his colleagues in his Mexico City office into Argentina supporters, with mixed success. Carolina Mejia, a 27-year-old photographer and video editor, is rooting for France. Argentina’s team is “arrogant,” she said. “They play in this very individualistic way.”
Yet for many Latin Americans, Sunday is all about one individual.
“How much for your Messi shirt?” a man asked at a jersey store in downtown Bogotá.
Shopkeeper John Fernández, 35, has sold soccer jerseys in the Colombian capital for 13 years. He’s never seen so much interest in the blue-and-white striped Argentine shirts with Messi’s name on the back.
Of course, he roots for Colombia when the country qualifies for the World Cup. Otherwise, he supports Brazil, because Brazilians remind him of Colombians: “They’re cheerful, like us.”
But he felt he had to back Argentina this year. A Messi win would be good for business during a peak Christmas shopping week. His jerseys would fly off the shelves.
But that would also mean an Argentine win.
“Who’s going to be able to put up with them then?” said Becerra, the Uber driver.
He shook his head and laughed.
“Oh no,” he said. “I might regret cheering for Argentina.” | 2022-12-18T07:18:22Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Latin Americans cheer for Lionel Messi, not Argentina, in World Cup final - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/18/messi-latin-america-world-cup/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/18/messi-latin-america-world-cup/ |
Adam Bates, a former Army Ranger wounded in Afghanistan in 2009, foreground, demonstrates walking techniques for Anatoliy Kirda, left, Oleksandr Fedun, center, and Ruslan Tyshchenko, right. The Ukrainian soldiers getting replacement limbs at Medical Center Orthotics and Prosthetics in Silver Spring, MD. (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post)
America’s most recent wars led to profound advancements in prosthetics and new standards for treatment. For most Ukrainian soldiers in need, the best is often out of reach.
The ground was a thicket of Russian land mines. Lethal. Too many to avoid. Oleksandr Fedun, a soldier in the Ukrainian army, remembers driving through the field and then a roar of fire, shrapnel and light.
He leaped from the wreckage of his self-propelled howitzer. What was left of his legs snapped and splintered when he hit the earth, alive — miraculously — and with enough presence of mind to slip on two tourniquets. The field hospital, though, was hours away.
That was in May, as Ukrainian troops in the country’s southeast blitzed pockets of Russian forces in limited counteroffensives. Six months later, Fedun, 23, was in suburban D.C., ready to attempt what his doctors back home had said was unlikely ever to happen.
He grasped the parallel bars, took a breath and hoisted himself up on his new carbon-fiber legs. It was a start. But Fedun’s goal isn’t just to walk. It’s to run. And then return to the front. That would not only inspire his friends, he said. It would humiliate Ukraine’s enemy.
“Their amputees,” Fedun said of the Russians, “are not going back to the battlefield.”
The war’s toll has been devastating, with U.S. officials estimating recently that around 100,000 service members have been killed or wounded on each side. It’s unclear how many Ukrainian soldiers have lost limbs, but their government — with its economy in tatters and hospitals under constant attack — possesses neither the funds nor the expertise to equip its military’s growing number of amputees with state-of-the-art prosthetics, leaving many to seek help in Western countries sympathetic to their cause.
The support that Fedun and select Ukrainian personnel have received reflects the profound advancements in combat medicine made by the United States and NATO allies over 20 years of war in Afghanistan and Iraq. It’s the standard of care assured to American and Western service members, but for many Ukrainian soldiers who’ve suffered amputations, it remains out of reach. What’s happening in Silver Spring, Md., and at similar facilities in cities like Minneapolis is only made possible through a flood of private charitable donations.
The Defense Department has not yet leveraged its vast medical resources to help wounded Ukrainian troops as part of the nearly $20 billion in security assistance committed to the government in Kyiv since Russian forces invaded. It’s unclear why.
Wounded Ukrainian soldiers reveal steep toll of Kherson offensive
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin issued guidance in May that allowed for the treatment of up to 18 Ukrainian soldiers at a time in a U.S. military hospital in Germany. Since then, only a single wounded service member has been seen there, officials said. The patient was evaluated and transferred to an unspecified partner country late last month, Landstuhl Regional Medical Center said in a statement.
A Pentagon spokesman declined to address questions about the demand from Ukraine for help treating wounded personnel, or whether such requests have been denied. Ukrainian military officials did not respond to requests seeking information about the number of amputees in their ranks and their treatment options.
Over several visits in the fall, The Washington Post accompanied three Ukrainian soldiers as they received their prosthetics and began the long, difficult task of learning to use them. Their rehab was performed in a nondescript business park not far from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where hundreds of U.S. troops, their bodies shattered by roadside bombs and other improvised explosives, were shown how to regain their mobility and, with it, their sense of independence. The experience, they said, has given them hope that better days are ahead.
The soldiers, each wounded in separate incidents and in separate locations, gave harrowing accounts of the large-scale conventional war being fought in Ukraine and the harsh realities for those who are wounded.
Skilled but overworked doctors struggle to keep up with a crush of patients. One factor is the lack of fast air evacuation, an assured resource in recent U.S. wars but often an impossibility in Ukraine under contested airspace, leaving many soldiers waiting hours to reach treatment, their arms and legs crushed by tourniquets that can end up killing the limbs with necrosis. Some amputees receive rudimentary prosthetics, with doctors explaining to those with the most catastrophic cases that a future with wheelchairs and crutches is the most realistic prognosis. Ukraine has focused on getting medical operations back online, experts have said, but the demand has only increased.
“There are just not enough rehabilitation specialists able to proactively help the wounded recover and maintain the highest possible level of mobility,” said Ivona Kostyna, chairwoman of Veterans Hub, a nonprofit that provides resources for Ukrainian troops and veterans. “Simply speaking, once stabilized, soldiers might end up just laying in bed, instead of actively restoring the functioning in their body, and lose the precious time for their recovery.”
A big challenge is expense. Fedun and his fellow soldiers made it to the United States and received care with assistance from multiple nonprofits, including Revived Soldiers of Ukraine and Operation Renew Prosthetics, in partnership with Brother’s Brothers Foundation.
Medical Center Orthotics and Prosthetics donated the new limbs, worth a total of $320,000, co-founder Mike Corcoran said, along with physical therapy from Adventist Rehabilitation Hospital and others who volunteered services. Corcoran’s company provided contract support to the U.S. military’s primary amputee treatment facility at Walter Reed from 2005 until April, he said, treating roughly 1,400 American service members.
Corcoran’s Ukrainian patients are eager to start working with their new limbs and, like their American counterparts, exhibit mixed comfort with their new appearance. Some want prosthetics made with rubber coatings that resemble human flesh. Others want to bare their mechanical designs.
American troops typically spent months or even years at Walter Reed undergoing physical therapy and numerous prosthetic fittings, before continuing their care through other military or Veterans Affairs hospitals. The Ukrainians’ schedule is compressed into four weeks, leaving open the question of how much support they will receive once they return home.
‘I need to take my time’
Fedun, who will spend some extra time in the United States for dental work, comes across as focused — and impatient. He said his double amputation has interrupted his personal quest to push every Russian soldier out of Ukraine, and that every day in America is a day he isn’t making a difference there.
Fedun, who has served in Ukraine’s military for close to four years, was nearly killed in the Zaporizhzhia region, about 26 miles from his family’s home. Ahead of the assault that left him wounded, a Ukrainian reconnaissance had reported the area was clear. The Russians arrived later, he said, and laced the fields with antitank mines.
Fedun’s 2S1 Gvozdika, a self-propelled howitzer, led a column of vehicles. After the explosion, he cranked the wheel hard, bringing the Gvozdika to a stop so that it shielded the vehicles behind him. His comrades killed nearby Russian ambushers one by one before making an arduous evacuation that took about five hours. Using a small torch, he said, Fedun cauterized his ruptured artery to save himself from bleeding out.
He woke up in a surgical center, depressed about his new normal, he said. Then his thoughts lingered on getting back onto artificial feet.
In Maryland, he started with a pair of “shorties,” the low gravity prosthetics that help to strengthen an amputee’s remaining muscles and improve the balance needed for walking with full-size legs. But they put double amputees at the height of a child, which is unpalatable to some.
Fedun did push-ups on the parallel bars to demonstrate his strength, but he got winded after only a few strides on his full legs. A therapist explained it was a matter of physiology. Bones and muscle harness energy needed for movement, and now, every step requires considerably more effort to compensate for what he lost.
“I was expecting it to be easier, to be less taxing,” Fedun said. “I just realized I need to take my time.”
It’s another commonality with American troops, Corcoran explained: a stubborn sprint to recovery colliding with reality. “You have to let them make their own mistakes,” he said.
Ruslan Tyshchenko has moved at a more deliberate pace to master his gait.
The 44-year old engineer and military reservist was assigned to Kharkiv, along the Russian border, when he volunteered to crawl through a field and place mines in a bid to blunt Russian tanks from reaching his unit. To do this, he affixed the mines to each of his limbs, laying all but one when he raised his head. He caught the glint of a tank’s optic shimmering through nearby foliage.
The tank fired. Tyshchenko was blown several meters from his position. He radioed for help, and his comrades dragged him to safety. His left leg was shredded. His right still held a mine that somehow didn’t explode.
Tyshchenko said he was wary of running afoul of certain superstitions held by troops in the field, like shaving before a mission or heading out donning a clean uniform. He was wearing new boots when he was wounded.
After a chaotic evacuation and visits to five hospitals, Tyshchenko’s entire left leg was amputated — like a doll’s leg, pulled clean out of the socket. “I have nowhere to put them on now,” he said, joking about his new boots.
Tyshchenko suffered a hip disarticulation, which means there is no remaining leg bone. He praised the care he received in Ukraine, but learned his amputation was one of the most difficult to address. His appeals to several European countries were answered, but he was told there were waiting lists.
In the Maryland clinic, Tyshchenko strode back and forth on his new leg, painted in the Ukrainian national colors of blue and yellow. He and his wife Iryna bought a home in the Kharkiv area, which will become his garden refuge, he hopes, to stock with rabbits.
Not all of the challenges ahead will be physical, Iryna said, watching as her husband ambled through the facility. Soldiers can slip into bouts of depression, yearning for their pre-injury lives. It’s important to make him feel accepted and loved, Iryna said, and ensure his role as the family’s patriarch is unchanged, in big and small ways.
“He used to make me coffee in the morning,” she said. “He still does.”
Family support has been vital to recovery, said Anatoliy Kirda, a 59-year old commercial sailor who after the invasion rushed home from Israel and volunteered to fight. He helped defend the capital, Kyiv, during the war’s opening phase, then transferred to an assault brigade that experienced a fierce fight over the strategic city of Izyum in eastern Ukraine.
The Russians launched endless volleys of rockets and mortars, Kirda said. In May, while moving through trenches to another position, he heard the buzzing of a small enemy surveillance drone but couldn’t see it. The drone reported his position, he surmised, to a Russian crew firing grenades into the trench line. His leg was nearly severed in an explosion six feet away. He strapped on a tourniquet and crawled to his comrades for help.
His wife, also named Iryna, soon joined him as he moved from one hospital to another. Each was bursting with patients. Some of the wounded felt useless, he said, and refused to meet with their wives. Not him, he said.
“It saved me from emotional stress,” Kirda said, his wife by his side.
The men, dealing with different injuries and on separate journeys back to their lives in Ukraine, perked up when their potential walked through the clinic door.
Adam Bates, a former Army Ranger who lost both legs in an explosion in Afghanistan in 2009, stopped by to offer some of his hard-earned wisdom. The Ukrainian soldiers were instantly impressed with his balance and ease of movement. They peppered him with questions.
How can they improve?
How long until they can move about like him?
Bates held court in his demonstration. Keep your shoulder and hip aligned, he told them. Widen your stance.
Perhaps the most vital advice was to recognize and embrace inevitability. They will stumble during therapy. They will tumble, alone, in their hotel rooms. They will crash to the ground at home in Ukraine.
It’s important to know how to fall — and how to get back up. He showed them how. | 2022-12-18T07:27:05Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Ukraine’s combat amputees and the cost of caring for them - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/12/18/ukraine-combat-amputees-prosthetics/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/12/18/ukraine-combat-amputees-prosthetics/ |
Abmas leads Oral Roberts against South Dakota State after 23-point showing
BOTTOM LINE: Oral Roberts hosts the South Dakota State Jackrabbits after Max Abmas scored 23 points in Oral Roberts’ 80-77 win against the Missouri State Bears.
The Golden Eagles are 7-0 in home games. Oral Roberts ranks second in the Summit in rebounding averaging 35.1 rebounds. Connor Vanover paces the Golden Eagles with 6.9 boards.
The Jackrabbits are 1-5 on the road. South Dakota State ranks ninth in the Summit with 28.8 rebounds per game led by Zeke Mayo averaging 6.5.
The Golden Eagles and Jackrabbits meet Monday for the first time in Summit play this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Abmas averages 3.3 made 3-pointers per game for the Golden Eagles, scoring 20.0 points while shooting 34.3% from beyond the arc. Vanover is averaging 12.6 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.2 blocks over the last 10 games for Oral Roberts.
Mayo is shooting 30.6% from beyond the arc with 1.8 made 3-pointers per game for the Jackrabbits, while averaging 14.3 points and 6.5 rebounds. | 2022-12-18T09:20:26Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Abmas leads Oral Roberts against South Dakota State after 23-point showing - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/abmas-leads-oral-roberts-against-south-dakota-state-after-23-point-showing/2022/12/18/f35aa416-7ea7-11ed-bb97-f47d47466b9a_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/abmas-leads-oral-roberts-against-south-dakota-state-after-23-point-showing/2022/12/18/f35aa416-7ea7-11ed-bb97-f47d47466b9a_story.html |
Arizona State hosts Earlington and San Diego
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Arizona State -12; over/under is 141
BOTTOM LINE: San Diego plays the Arizona State Sun Devils after Marcellus Earlington scored 21 points in San Diego’s 84-58 victory against the UCSD Tritons.
The Sun Devils are 5-0 in home games. Arizona State ranks third in the Pac-12 in rebounding with 35.8 rebounds. Warren Washington leads the Sun Devils with 7.3 boards.
The Toreros play their first true road game after going 6-5 to begin the season. San Diego is fifth in the WCC scoring 32.0 points per game in the paint led by Eric Williams Jr. averaging 7.3.
TOP PERFORMERS: DJ Horne is averaging 12.8 points and 3.1 assists for the Sun Devils. Frankie Collins is averaging 10.6 points over the last 10 games for Arizona State.
Jase Townsend is scoring 15.2 points per game and averaging 3.3 rebounds for the Toreros. Williams is averaging 13.4 points and 9.3 rebounds over the last 10 games for San Diego. | 2022-12-18T09:20:50Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Arizona State hosts Earlington and San Diego - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/arizona-state-hosts-earlington-and-san-diego/2022/12/18/e0a419ec-7ea7-11ed-bb97-f47d47466b9a_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/arizona-state-hosts-earlington-and-san-diego/2022/12/18/e0a419ec-7ea7-11ed-bb97-f47d47466b9a_story.html |
Brown leads UMBC against William & Mary after 21-point game
William & Mary Tribe (4-7) at UMBC Retrievers (8-4)
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: UMBC -8; over/under is 141.5
BOTTOM LINE: UMBC hosts the William & Mary Tribe after Dion Brown scored 21 points in UMBC’s 72-69 win over the Loyola (MD) Greyhounds.
The Retrievers have gone 5-1 in home games. UMBC is 2-0 in games decided by 3 points or fewer.
The Tribe are 0-5 on the road. William & Mary has a 2-6 record in games decided by at least 10 points.
TOP PERFORMERS: Colton Lawrence is averaging 14.5 points for the Retrievers. Matteo Picarelli is averaging 3.0 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games for UMBC.
Anders Nelson is scoring 10.9 points per game and averaging 2.1 rebounds for the Tribe. Ben Wight is averaging 10.8 points and 4.9 rebounds over the last 10 games for William & Mary. | 2022-12-18T09:21:14Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Brown leads UMBC against William & Mary after 21-point game - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/brown-leads-umbc-against-william-and-mary-after-21-point-game/2022/12/18/fa4af488-7ea7-11ed-bb97-f47d47466b9a_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/brown-leads-umbc-against-william-and-mary-after-21-point-game/2022/12/18/fa4af488-7ea7-11ed-bb97-f47d47466b9a_story.html |
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Santa Clara -11.5; over/under is 131.5
BOTTOM LINE: Santa Clara faces the California Golden Bears after Carlos Stewart scored 29 points in Santa Clara’s 86-74 victory against the UC Irvine Anteaters.
The Broncos are 7-1 in home games. Santa Clara has a 2-0 record in games decided by less than 4 points.
The Golden Bears have gone 0-2 away from home. Cal gives up 67.3 points to opponents while being outscored by 9.7 points per game.
TOP PERFORMERS: Keshawn Justice is shooting 33.0% from beyond the arc with 2.7 made 3-pointers per game for the Broncos, while averaging 12.8 points. Brandin Podziemski is averaging 18.2 points, 8.7 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.4 steals over the last 10 games for Santa Clara.
Devin Askew is shooting 38.8% and averaging 18.2 points for the Golden Bears. Sam Alajiki is averaging 0.7 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games for Cal. | 2022-12-18T09:21:21Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Cal hosts Stewart and Santa Clara - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/cal-hosts-stewart-and-santa-clara/2022/12/18/cf4ef3f6-7ea7-11ed-bb97-f47d47466b9a_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/cal-hosts-stewart-and-santa-clara/2022/12/18/cf4ef3f6-7ea7-11ed-bb97-f47d47466b9a_story.html |
Chattanooga hosts Belmont following Sheppard's 33-point showing
Belmont Bruins (6-5, 1-1 MVC) at Chattanooga Mocs (8-3)
Chattanooga, Tennessee; Sunday, 2 p.m. EST
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Chattanooga -5.5; over/under is 152.5
BOTTOM LINE: Belmont visits the Chattanooga Mocs after Ben Sheppard scored 33 points in Belmont’s 85-75 overtime loss to the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders.
The Mocs are 5-1 on their home court. Chattanooga is seventh in the SoCon with 8.9 offensive rebounds per game led by Sam Alexis averaging 1.5.
The Bruins have gone 1-3 away from home. Belmont is 2-1 in games decided by less than 4 points.
TOP PERFORMERS: Jake Stephens is averaging 21.6 points, 9.6 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.3 blocks for the Mocs. Jamal Johnson is averaging 11.1 points over the last 10 games for Chattanooga.
Sheppard is averaging 20.6 points, 3.6 assists and 1.5 steals for the Bruins. Cade Tyson is averaging 13.5 points over the last 10 games for Belmont.
LAST 10 GAMES: Mocs: 8-2, averaging 82.4 points, 37.0 rebounds, 16.9 assists, 5.4 steals and 4.5 blocks per game while shooting 47.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 65.3 points per game. | 2022-12-18T09:21:39Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Chattanooga hosts Belmont following Sheppard's 33-point showing - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/chattanooga-hosts-belmont-following-sheppards-33-point-showing/2022/12/18/0ff9eed8-7ea8-11ed-bb97-f47d47466b9a_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/chattanooga-hosts-belmont-following-sheppards-33-point-showing/2022/12/18/0ff9eed8-7ea8-11ed-bb97-f47d47466b9a_story.html |
Coastal Carolina faces Charleston (SC) after Mostafa's 25-point performance
The Chanticleers are 4-1 in home games. Coastal Carolina ranks third in the Sun Belt in rebounding with 37.5 rebounds. Mostafa paces the Chanticleers with 10.5 boards.
The Cougars are 2-1 on the road. Charleston (SC) is 9-1 against opponents over .500.
TOP PERFORMERS: Jomaru Brown is scoring 16.6 points per game with 2.6 rebounds and 3.0 assists for the Chanticleers. Mostafa is averaging 14.1 points and 10.5 rebounds while shooting 62.9% for Coastal Carolina.
Dalton Bolon is scoring 12.6 points per game with 3.8 rebounds and 0.8 assists for the Cougars. Ryan Larson is averaging 11.5 points and 3.5 assists over the past 10 games for Charleston (SC). | 2022-12-18T09:21:47Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Coastal Carolina faces Charleston (SC) after Mostafa's 25-point performance - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/coastal-carolina-faces-charleston-sc-after-mostafas-25-point-performance/2022/12/18/d2d07784-7ea7-11ed-bb97-f47d47466b9a_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/coastal-carolina-faces-charleston-sc-after-mostafas-25-point-performance/2022/12/18/d2d07784-7ea7-11ed-bb97-f47d47466b9a_story.html |
Georgia squares off against Notre Dame
BOTTOM LINE: The Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Georgia Bulldogs square off in Atlanta, Georgia.
The Bulldogs are 7-3 in non-conference play. Georgia averages 70.0 points while outscoring opponents by 6.7 points per game.
The Fighting Irish have a 7-2 record in non-conference play. Notre Dame scores 72.4 points while outscoring opponents by 3.5 points per game.
Nate Laszewski is shooting 52.2% and averaging 14.9 points for the Fighting Irish. Dane Goodwin is averaging 12.9 points for Notre Dame. | 2022-12-18T09:22:07Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Georgia squares off against Notre Dame - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/georgia-squares-off-against-notre-dame/2022/12/18/08882458-7ea8-11ed-bb97-f47d47466b9a_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/georgia-squares-off-against-notre-dame/2022/12/18/08882458-7ea8-11ed-bb97-f47d47466b9a_story.html |
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Mount St. Mary’s -4; over/under is 130
BOTTOM LINE: Robert Morris takes on Mount St. Mary’s for a Division 1 Division matchup Sunday.
The Mountaineers have gone 2-2 at home. Mount St. Mary’s is ninth in the MAAC in rebounding with 31.4 rebounds. Malik Jefferson leads the Mountaineers with 7.9 boards.
The Colonials are 2-3 in road games. Robert Morris is fifth in the Horizon with 13.4 assists per game led by Michael Green III averaging 5.0.
TOP PERFORMERS: Jalen Benjamin is shooting 44.0% from beyond the arc with 2.2 made 3-pointers per game for the Mountaineers, while averaging 17.1 points and 4.4 assists. Jefferson is shooting 58.0% and averaging 10.5 points over the past 10 games for Mount St. Mary’s.
Josh Corbin is shooting 46.3% from beyond the arc with 3.5 made 3-pointers per game for the Colonials, while averaging 12.6 points. Kahliel Spear is averaging 14.1 points and 8.1 rebounds over the past 10 games for Robert Morris. | 2022-12-18T09:23:44Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers welcome the Robert Morris Colonials on Sunday - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/mount-st-marys-mountaineers-welcome-the-robert-morris-colonials-on-sunday/2022/12/18/ec0d85fc-7ea7-11ed-bb97-f47d47466b9a_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/mount-st-marys-mountaineers-welcome-the-robert-morris-colonials-on-sunday/2022/12/18/ec0d85fc-7ea7-11ed-bb97-f47d47466b9a_story.html |
Quinnipiac visits Saint Peter's after Dasher's 23-point outing
Quinnipiac Bobcats (9-2, 0-1 MAAC) at Saint Peter’s Peacocks (5-5, 0-2 MAAC)
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Saint Peter’s -4; over/under is 135
BOTTOM LINE: Saint Peter’s plays the Quinnipiac Bobcats after Isiah Dasher scored 23 points in Saint Peter’s 58-57 win against the Hartford Hawks.
The Bobcats are 0-1 in MAAC play. Quinnipiac ranks fourth in the MAAC with 13.5 assists per game led by Luis Kortright averaging 4.1.
Matt Balanc is averaging 12.3 points for the Bobcats. Ike Nweke is averaging 11.1 points and 7.1 rebounds over the past 10 games for Quinnipiac. | 2022-12-18T09:24:32Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Quinnipiac visits Saint Peter's after Dasher's 23-point outing - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/quinnipiac-visits-saint-peters-after-dashers-23-point-outing/2022/12/18/137b1564-7ea8-11ed-bb97-f47d47466b9a_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/quinnipiac-visits-saint-peters-after-dashers-23-point-outing/2022/12/18/137b1564-7ea8-11ed-bb97-f47d47466b9a_story.html |
Rider hosts Davis and Delaware
BOTTOM LINE: Delaware takes on the Rider Broncs after Jyare Davis scored 23 points in Delaware’s 76-69 victory over the Princeton Tigers.
The Broncs have gone 2-0 at home. Rider scores 73.1 points while outscoring opponents by 3.8 points per game.
The Fightin’ Blue Hens are 1-3 on the road. Delaware ranks ninth in the CAA with 7.9 offensive rebounds per game led by Christian Ray averaging 2.7.
TOP PERFORMERS: Dwight Murray Jr. is shooting 48.1% and averaging 19.4 points for the Broncs. Allen Powell is averaging 9.6 points for Rider.
Davis is averaging 17.1 points and 3.3 assists for the Fightin’ Blue Hens. Jameer Nelson Jr. is averaging 19.5 points, 3.3 assists and 2.1 steals over the last 10 games for Delaware. | 2022-12-18T09:24:50Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Rider hosts Davis and Delaware - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/rider-hosts-davis-and-delaware/2022/12/18/0513ecf8-7ea8-11ed-bb97-f47d47466b9a_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/rider-hosts-davis-and-delaware/2022/12/18/0513ecf8-7ea8-11ed-bb97-f47d47466b9a_story.html |
Thomasson and Niagara host NJIT
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: NJIT -3.5; over/under is 122.5
BOTTOM LINE: Niagara visits the NJIT Highlanders after Noah Thomasson scored 20 points in Niagara’s 67-60 win against the Eastern Michigan Eagles.
The Highlanders are 0-3 in home games. NJIT is eighth in the America East with 24.8 points per game in the paint led by Souleymane Diakite averaging 9.0.
The Purple Eagles are 1-4 on the road. Niagara is ninth in the MAAC scoring 65.1 points per game and is shooting 43.9%.
TOP PERFORMERS: Miles Coleman is scoring 15.2 points per game and averaging 4.8 rebounds for the Highlanders. Kevin Osawe is averaging 7.6 points and 6.5 rebounds while shooting 40.5% for NJIT.
Thomasson is averaging 17 points and 3.7 assists for the Purple Eagles. Aaron Gray is averaging 10.6 points for Niagara. | 2022-12-18T09:25:33Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Thomasson and Niagara host NJIT - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/thomasson-and-niagara-host-njit/2022/12/18/16ea5d0e-7ea8-11ed-bb97-f47d47466b9a_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/thomasson-and-niagara-host-njit/2022/12/18/16ea5d0e-7ea8-11ed-bb97-f47d47466b9a_story.html |
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: UNC Wilmington -7; over/under is 143.5
BOTTOM LINE: UNC Wilmington will try to keep its six-game home win streak intact when the Seahawks face High Point.
The Seahawks have gone 4-0 in home games. UNC Wilmington is sixth in the CAA scoring 69.4 points while shooting 43.8% from the field.
The Panthers have gone 1-1 away from home. High Point is the Big South leader with 38.7 rebounds per game led by Zach Austin averaging 6.5.
TOP PERFORMERS: Eric Van Der Heijden is shooting 40.0% from beyond the arc with 1.5 made 3-pointers per game for the Seahawks, while averaging 4.8 points. Trazarien White is averaging 13 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.5 steals over the past 10 games for UNC Wilmington. | 2022-12-18T09:25:46Z | www.washingtonpost.com | UNC Wilmington faces High Point, looks for 7th straight home win - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/unc-wilmington-faces-high-point-looks-for-7th-straight-home-win/2022/12/18/0909ce72-7ea8-11ed-bb97-f47d47466b9a_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/unc-wilmington-faces-high-point-looks-for-7th-straight-home-win/2022/12/18/0909ce72-7ea8-11ed-bb97-f47d47466b9a_story.html |
UT Arlington takes on San Francisco, looks to halt 3-game skid
BOTTOM LINE: UT Arlington enters the matchup with San Francisco as losers of three in a row.
The Dons are 5-0 on their home court. San Francisco is eighth in the WCC scoring 74.1 points while shooting 43.4% from the field.
The Mavericks are 0-2 on the road. UT Arlington has a 0-1 record in games decided by less than 4 points.
TOP PERFORMERS: Khalil Shabazz is scoring 14.5 points per game and averaging 5.9 rebounds for the Dons. Tyrell Roberts is averaging 14.2 points and 3.6 rebounds over the last 10 games for San Francisco.
Shemar Wilson is shooting 46.2% and averaging 9.7 points for the Mavericks. Aaron Johnson-Cash is averaging 8.5 points over the last 10 games for UT Arlington. | 2022-12-18T09:25:52Z | www.washingtonpost.com | UT Arlington takes on San Francisco, looks to halt 3-game skid - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/ut-arlington-takes-on-san-francisco-looks-to-halt-3-game-skid/2022/12/18/cb57c002-7ea7-11ed-bb97-f47d47466b9a_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/ut-arlington-takes-on-san-francisco-looks-to-halt-3-game-skid/2022/12/18/cb57c002-7ea7-11ed-bb97-f47d47466b9a_story.html |
UTSA hosts Bethune-Cookman after Medor's 23-point performance
The Roadrunners are 5-2 in home games. UTSA is 1- when it turns the ball over less than its opponents and averages 13.6 turnovers per game.
The Wildcats are 0-5 on the road. Bethune-Cookman gives up 74.4 points to opponents and has been outscored by 8.7 points per game.
Zion Harmon is averaging 13 points for the Wildcats. Marcus Garrett is averaging 12.0 points for Bethune-Cookman. | 2022-12-18T09:26:06Z | www.washingtonpost.com | UTSA hosts Bethune-Cookman after Medor's 23-point performance - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/utsa-hosts-bethune-cookman-after-medors-23-point-performance/2022/12/18/1a5a57fa-7ea8-11ed-bb97-f47d47466b9a_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/utsa-hosts-bethune-cookman-after-medors-23-point-performance/2022/12/18/1a5a57fa-7ea8-11ed-bb97-f47d47466b9a_story.html |
Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson reacts after an NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens, Saturday, Dec. 17, 2022, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/David Richard)
CLEVELAND — Deshaun Watson leaned against a wall Saturday night in the bowels of FirstEnergy Stadium wearing a fuzzy, pastel-hued sweater, waiting for his turn to speak at a news conference. He had a football tucked under his left arm, a keepsake from another signpost in a relationship between player and city that remains uncomfortable for most and unsettling for many.
The Browns beat the Baltimore Ravens, 13-3, in a game Watson called “really cool” and “super fun.” It was Watson’s first regular season home game since more than two dozen women accused him of sexual misconduct during massage appointments, since the Browns traded for him and awarded him the most lucrative contract in NFL history, since he settled with most of his accusers over the summer and since he served an 11-game suspension imposed by the league.
Watson’s presence had divided the Browns fan base since the spring, when Cleveland acquired the 27-year-old in a trade from the Houston Texans and signed to a fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million contract. Some celebrated the arrival of a franchise quarterback, the kind of talent the Browns have lacked as they have languished for decades. Some recoiled at the embrace of a man accused by an overwhelming number of women of sexual misconduct, dismayed at the message it sent to survivors. Some bought No. 4 Watson jerseys. Some surrendered their fandom.
When owner Jimmy Haslam enticed Watson with the unprecedented contract, he sought a path for the Browns to crawl out of their dismal history of losing. He also invited the kind of scene that played out early Saturday afternoon.
As tailgaters marched downtown, a folding table on East Ninth a few blocks from the venue displayed T-shirts for sale. One read, “Big D--- Watson.” The other, colored Browns orange, read: “B---- Give Me A Massage.”
NFL Week 13: Deshaun Watson wins Browns debut amid boos in Houston
“They’re a hot seller,” said the vendor behind the table, who only gave his name as Rab. “They were a hot seller from Day One. But we took them off the market until he got back. And now he’s back, and everybody wants one. It’s a joke. If people could take a joke, it’s a joke. It’s not meant to hurt nobody’s feelings. Check it out — it’s freedom of speech. This is America. A person don’t have to look.”
As crowds walked past, Rab shouted the phrases on the shirts to attract customers. Most people laughed. “I heard that!” yelled back one fan in an old Colt McCoy jersey. “Give it to ‘em Big D---!”
Rab pointed across the street at a man folding the same shirts. He was the one, Rab said, who hatched the idea and printed the T-shirts. The man was asked what motivated him to do so. “Make some money,” he said. “That’s all.” He declined further comment and would not share his name.
Shortly before the Browns’ first offensive play, a woman wearing Browns gear in the stadium’s upper deck showed off one of the orange T-shirts to the fans seated around her.
With the Browns sitting at 4-9 and out of realistic playoff contention, Cleveland greeted the occasion of Watson’s home debut with mild apathy. Hours before the game, tickets could be bought from online resellers for as little as $7. Empty orange seats dotted the stadium. There were some, but not many, No. 4 jerseys in the stands; Nick Chubb’s No. 24 and Myles Garrett’s No. 95 were much more visible.
To Watson, though, the atmosphere felt heightened. He compared the feeling to playing in a playoff game. “From the time we came out pregame, you could feel the energy in the air,” Watson said.
The Browns chose to introduce their starting defense, which meant Watson’s name was not mentioned by the public address announcer and fans had the opportunity to neither cheer nor boo. He instead trotted out of the tunnel with the entire team, jogging slowly at the back.
At the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center, staffers prepared for a potential spike in calls. Officials at the center learned months ago that when Watson surfaces in the news, “it’s very triggering” for survivors of sexual assault, CRCC Director of Community Engagement Donisha Greene said this week in a phone conversation. On the weekend the Browns traded for Watson, calls to the center increased 130 percent, many callers triggered by the news. It also received 2,000 new donors and attributes $120,000 in donations to Watson’s acquisition.
“It’s certainly something that we prepare for,” Greene said. “People definitely respond. This weekend is no different. Our hotline is ready to respond if there is indeed a spike. We are not directly attributing this to the story of Deshaun Watson, but we are up 20 percent in calls to our hotline from where we were last year.”
If he plays out his contract, Watson will be Cleveland’s quarterback for five years. The grappling of Browns fans will harden into conclusive stances. Greene is conflicted about whether it should be possible for Clevelanders to support survivors while retaining their Browns fandom.
“Oh, man, it’s tough,” Greene said. “Yes? I don’t know if we’ve figured it out just yet. For someone who has experienced sexual harassment or sexual assault, they’re done. This is it. They don’t want any part of the Browns. They have given up their season tickets. They have donated the cost to an organization like ours.
“But for others, they’re lifelong fans. They’re family. Every Sunday is tailgating. It’s tough for our organization to think in that way, because our space is with survivors and that’s where we like to stay. What we know is that far too often, violence against women is normalized by our society.”
Tony Buzbee, the lawyer who represented more than 20 women who accused Watson of sexual misconduct, did not plan on watching Sunday. Buzbee attended Watson’s first Browns game in Houston after a few of clients contacted him wanting to get tickets. “The mere fact that he knew that they were there and they still matter and they still count, that was what they were interested in,” Buzbee said.
Otherwise, Buzbee has moved on and encouraged clients to do the same. He emphasized that the women he represented cannot be painted with a broad brush; some have moved on more readily or easily than others. Buzbee said he received death threats online when Watson returned in Houston.
From Sally Jenkins: Deshaun Watson's non-apology shows how little he's learned
“I bet I got more than 500, 600 a day direct messages of just the nastiest, vilest, vitriolic [nonsense] you could think of,” Buzbee said. “I completely understand how people are blindly loyal to people that they’ve never met before, which is crazy. I always thought it was funny: All the people sending these direct messages to me, threatening all kinds of things to me — they know where I live, all kinds of baloney like that — my thought was, Deshaun Watson wouldn’t pee on them if they were burning. You know what I mean?”
Despite the nastiness, Buzbee feels nothing about Watson’s football career. Whether he is beloved or jeered, whether he flails or wins a Super Bowl, Buzbee shrugs.
“To be quite frank, I [couldn’t] care [less] either way,” Buzbee said. “ … I know it’s hard to believe. We spent the last almost two years in a fistfight with Watson’s legal team, a very public fistfight. But as far as him taking the field and how he’s received, it’s really of no concern to me. … But I do believe in karma. I believe strongly in karma.”
It’s far from certain Watson’s acquisition will work strictly on football terms. Watson was sidelined for nearly two years, because he sat out the 2021 season while demanding the Texans trade him. He has lacked precision and decisiveness. Though he played well Saturday in the second half, the Browns have scored two offensive touchdowns in Watson’s three games, and he passed for a paltry 161 yards against the Ravens.
The Browns went three-and-out on their first possession after Watson couldn’t sprint around Ravens linebacker Roquan Smith and flung the ball out of bounds. At the end of the first half, Watson sailed a possible touchdown pass out of tight end David Njoku’s reach, and some fans booed.
Watson showed improvement. “All those game reps,” Coach Kevin Stefanski said, “they all add up.”
In the third quarter, Watson finished a 91-yard drive with a three-yard touchdown pass on a slant to Donovan Peoples-Jones. Indecisive about whether to run or pass on several plays in the first half, Watson scrambled for 17 yards on a key third and seven early in the fourth quarter. The crowd roared, one fan in an orange No. 4 jersey raising his arms in a seat behind the Browns’ bench.
After Watson knelt to run the clock out, he raised his index finger and screamed in celebration, looking up at the snow swirling in the night sky. “Just soaking in the moment and releasing all the energy I had inside me,” Watson said.
Watson himself betrayed none of the uneasiness others may have felt. When he exited his news conference, he walked past a pair of fans. “Nice job, Deshaun!” one of them yelled. “Great job!”
“If he comes out here and wins — all’s forgiven until the first loss,” said Greg Wyatt, a 56-year-old Cleveland native. “These fans that come here, they know the situation. You may have some haters that come, but the true Browns fans, they’ll back him. If he can bring [winning] here, they’ll love this guy. You know how all this goes.
“It’s good that he got in at this time of year,” Wyatt added. “Hopefully by next season, this will all just … because Americans forget quickly. They forget quickly.” | 2022-12-18T10:12:45Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Deshaun Watson won his Cleveland debut. Browns fans are still divided. - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/18/deshaun-watson-debut-cleveland-browns/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/18/deshaun-watson-debut-cleveland-browns/ |
Denise Guidoux holds a photo of her son, Salah Hammouri, at a news conference in East Jerusalem on Dec. 4, after Israel announced it had stripped Hammouri of his Jerusalem residency and planned to deport him to France. (Mahmoud Illean/AP)
HAIFA, Israel — Israel revoked the citizenship of a Palestinian activist and deported him to France Sunday over what it called a “breach of allegiance to the State of Israel,” threatening to spark a diplomatic fight with Paris and amplifying international condemnations of Israeli policies toward Palestinians under occupation.
Salah Hammouri, a French Palestinian lawyer and activist, was deported to France at 6 a.m. local time on orders given by right-wing Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked. She has accused him of having ties to a banned militant group, though he has not been charged in the current proceedings.
“It is a tremendous achievement that just before the end of my duties I was able to bring about his deportation, with the tools at my disposal, and advance the fight against terrorism,” Shaked said in a statement. “I hope that the incoming government will continue in this line and deport terrorists from Israel.”
Aryeh Deri, who has been tapped to take over the Interior Ministry in Benjamin Netanyahu’s incoming government, said the deportation was “the end of a long but just legal process.”
Following a years-long process that France has repeatedly objected to, the deportation comes as Israel prepares to swear in the most far-right government in its history. Among its highest-ranking members is Itamar Ben Gvir, the radical leader of the Jewish Power Party, who has promised to expel “disloyal” citizens as part of his platform to reassert sovereignty amid the escalating Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In 2005, Hammouri was imprisoned and accused of being involved in planning an attack on Israel’s chief Sephardic rabbi, Ovadia Yosef. He was released in a 2011 prisoner trade, in which Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, held by the militant group Hamas, was traded for over 1,000 Palestinian prisoners. Israel says Hammouri is active in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which it has labeled a terrorist organization.
Since March, Hammouri had been held in administrative detention, a legal category in which Israel holds thousands of suspected Palestinian militants for undefined periods of time, without charge or trial. When his administrative detention expired early this month, Shaked announced the decision to revoke his citizenship and deport him.
Israel’s Supreme Court rejected an appeal of the decision, but the move has spurred condemnation from international human rights organizations.
Several groups called on French President Emmanuel Macron this month to oppose the expulsion, saying it was a violation of international humanitarian law, including the ban on deportation of citizens of an occupied territory.
“Deportations of protected persons from an occupied territory can amount to war crimes,” said a letter issued this month from Amnesty International France, Human Rights Watch and three other French groups.
Hammouri was born in Kufr Aqab, a Palestinian village that is part of Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem. Palestinian residents there live in legal limbo, with revocable residency rights. Few apply for Israeli citizenship, which is seen as accepting the occupation.
Hammouri has worked as a defense attorney for Palestinian prisoners and, until last year, was active in Addameer, which advocates for prisoners’ rights. Along with five other Palestinian nongovernmental organizations, the group received a terrorist designation and was outlawed by Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz last year, in a move that international watchdogs decried as state-sponsored persecution of Palestinians who criticize the Israeli occupation and government. Hammouri was also among six human rights activists whose cellphones were infected with malware by the Israeli spyware company NSO.
Jessica Montell, director of HaMoked, the Israeli human rights group that has defended Hammouri, condemned the Israeli decision and said it was still unclear whether France would accept his deportation.
“Deporting a Palestinian from their homeland for breach of allegiance to the state of Israel is a dangerous precedent and a gross violation of basic rights,” Montell said, adding that her organization “will continue to fight against this draconian and unconstitutional law.” | 2022-12-18T10:25:52Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Israel deports Salah Hammouri, French Palestinian lawyer and activist - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/12/18/israel-palestinian-salah-hammouri-deported-france/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/12/18/israel-palestinian-salah-hammouri-deported-france/ |
A local reporter chronicled the incident in a touching Twitter thread.
The stuffed Santa decoration that was stolen from the display outside a restaurant in Greenville, S.C., on Dec. 14. The day after he took it, the thief returned the Santa and apologized. (Courtesy of Bonjour Main)
Mayra Gallo showed up at her restaurant in Greenville, S.C., several days ago and couldn’t believe what she saw: Her Santa decoration — which she made and placed in front of her eatery as part of a holiday display — was gone. Someone had snatched it.
The figure was part of an elaborate Christmas exhibit, which Gallo and her staff set up to participate in a local “Window Wonderland” competition. The thief had destroyed their display, which featured Santa “cooking the Grinch.”
A thread about today’s story:
I was about to interview a local restaurant owner about the theft of her Santa from outside her business. Then, she stopped me and said, “He’s sitting right up there.”
Sure enough, sitting at the counter up front, was the man responsible.
— Henry Coburn (@henry_coburn) December 15, 2022
“The owner, a very warm woman named Mayra, went up to him while I was setting up my camera. I waited and watched and then Mayra came back to me,” Coburn wrote in a poignant Twitter thread, which has been shared widely. “She said, ‘He is here to apologize, so I told him if he wants me to accept the apology, he has to talk to the camera and come clean.’”
“Just wasn’t thinking,” he continued. “I was like, ‘That’s cool. Wish I had it.’” | 2022-12-18T11:09:28Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Santa thief forgiven after returning with roses to apologize - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2022/12/18/santa-bonjour-main-thief-apology/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2022/12/18/santa-bonjour-main-thief-apology/ |
In D.C., a mayoral critic is on the outs. Again.
Bill Slover, a D.C. Housing Authority commissioner who has been the agency's most outspoken critic, in his office in D.C. on Dec. 13. (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post)
Bill Slover asked his wife the other day if she could recall his reaction when he learned that D.C.’s mayor was trying to kick him off the board that oversees public housing for the city’s poorest residents.
“Which time?” she answered.
Slover, now in his second stint as a D.C. Housing Authority commissioner, has had his share of clashes with City Hall, the first more than a decade ago when then-mayor Adrian Fenty booted him as the board’s chairman after he raised questions about city contracts.
Now Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D), seeking to repair the beleaguered agency, is pushing to dismantle the board, which she has described as “dysfunctional,” and replace it with a smaller panel. Her plan, which requires D.C. Council approval, would replace most current commissioners, including Slover, the board’s longest-serving member and the agency’s most vocal critic.
It was Slover whose questions about agency contracts led to the resignation of a Bowser appointee who served as the board’s chairman. It was also Slover who questioned the credentials of Brenda Donald, another Bowser ally who became the agency’s executive director last year despite having no experience managing public housing.
And it was Slover who lobbied the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development to audit the agency, which owns 52 properties and serves 30,000 households. An ensuing review resulted in a scathing HUD report at the end of September that portrayed the agency as mismanaged.
Bowser, who introduced her plan for a restructured board as emergency legislation, was joined by Council Chair Phil Mendelson (D), who has since revised the bill as he seeks the nine votes needed for passage. Mendelson’s revisions did not include a seat for Slover.
“Is it fair that Bill Slover has done so much to shed light on the agency and he may not be on the board? No it’s not fair,” said Council member Robert C. White Jr. (D-At Large). Yet White, who has proposed his own changes to the mayor’s plan, said that preserving Slover’s seat appears impossible because it “seems clear” that Bowser “doesn’t want Bill on the board.”
“The thing that matters most is what’s going to fix this agency,” White said. “If I spend all my time fighting for Bill, I can feel better. But the people of public housing — their situation is no better. Our obligation is to fix public housing and this current board can’t do it.”
Slover, in an interview, said that those who want to overhaul the board are focused on “appeasing the mayor” rather than the source of the agency’s problems, which he described as a lack of qualified leadership at the agency’s highest levels.
“I don’t want this to be about me — I want it to be about all the voices kicked off the board,” Slover said as he sat beneath a fluorescent light in his office in the basement of his home in the Palisades. At the same time, Slover understands that he has become a focus of the debate over the board’s future because he has been the agency’s most public critic.
“The question becomes, what are you trying to achieve here?” he said. “If the goal is to make the agency better, why would you remove the guy who had the courage to stand up and say we’re doing a lot of things wrong?”
Tomás Talamante, Bowser’s deputy chief of staff, in a statement, did not address questions about Slover. “The administration believes the board needs a reset to better serve its residents and the agency’s mission,” he said in an email. But Bowser appeared to invoke Slover in October when she told reporters that there are some “board members that have been there longer than anybody, that are appointed by advocacy groups and are accountable to no one.”
Donald, the former director of the D.C. Child and Family Services Agency, became the agency’s interim executive director in May 2021 before receiving a board-approved two-year contract that Slover voted against. In an interview, she said she has found Slover’s questions about the agency “useful,” but that his “style and tone” have helped create “what I would describe as a very hostile and toxic environment” on the board.
“Mr. Slover is frankly very bullying,” Donald said. “The line of questions at board meetings is very condescending, a lot of grandstanding, and often seems to be designed to make points rather than to illicit information.”
“It’s persistent and consistent and it’s actually very disheartening for me and my staff,” she said. “He feels I’m not qualified and he never fails to make that point. It’s not a good feeling.”
Donald’s description of Slover’s behavior was echoed by board chair Dionne Bussey-Reeder, who also said in a text message that “he never wants to work in unison as a board to accomplish the real work.” Slover questioned Bussey-Reeder’s eligibility to serve as chair after The Washington Post reported a year ago that she owed thousands of dollars in back taxes, a debt she subsequently paid.
Told of Donald’s and Bussey-Reeder’s remarks, Slover said, “Obviously, attack the critic, that’s the standard game plan. What I’m not hearing is the repudiation of the things I’m pointing out. Style is subject to interpretation. I’ve never felt I’ve been demeaning to anyone.”
He said the message conveyed by the mayor’s proposal to those serving on any D.C. board is “don’t open your mouth because we’re going to brand you as disruptive. That’s my job. I have a fiduciary responsibility to oversight. If I see something, I have to say something.”
“This is not a time to be passive,” he added. “Changing deep-rooted problems requires a lot of intense, sometimes uncomfortable reform.”
Slover, 56, who grew up in Potomac and attended the St. Albans School before graduating from Union College, is known among associates in real estate and D.C. government as a formidable and detail-oriented negotiator.
“We would say, ‘Bill is a curmudgeon but he’s our curmudgeon,’” said Robert Bobb, who owns a government consulting firm for which Slover was a principal for three years.
Slover could “sometimes be a little harsh” in negotiations,” said Bobb, who served as D.C.’s city administrator under former mayor Anthony Williams. But he added: “At the end of the day, in very difficult real estate transactions, he was the person I wanted at my side.”
Slover has displayed that same intensity as he and his Housing Authority board colleagues have managed a litany of challenges, including a historically large number of vacant units, a long and stagnant waiting list of people seeking to lease apartments, and the agency’s failure to meet a federal deadline for remediating asbestos hazards and staff departures.
Neil O. Albert, who Bowser appointed as board chair in 2017, resigned last year after it was revealed that he had failed to recuse himself on a vote to authorize a contract for a design firm owned by his romantic partner.
Before the vote, Slover asked if the firms applying for the contract had disclosed a conflict of interest. None had. By then, he said, people within the agency knew about Albert’s relationship with the firm’s owner, Paola Moya. “It was the worst-kept secret,” Slover said. “Everyone in the building knew.”
After Albert’s resignation, federal prosecutors subpoenaed the Housing Authority for documents pertaining to Moya’s contract.
The 72-page report issued by HUD found that the agency has the lowest occupancy rate of any major public housing authority in the country, and that it fails to provide “decent, safe, and sanitary” housing for its residents. It also found that the agency suffers from inadequate management and ineffective oversight, many of the same deficiencies that Slover has highlighted. HUD’s recommendations included that Donald and the board receive training in the role of executive director, procurement and financial management.
Slover is among 13 commissioners on the Housing Authority’s current board, six of whom were nominated by the mayor, who also selects the chair. A seventh commissioner, John Falcicchio, the deputy mayor for planning and economic development and Bowser’s chief of staff, serves as an ex officio member, giving Bowser control over a majority of the seats.
Three board seats are reserved for Housing Authority residents. In his second board stint, beginning in 2015, Slover was appointed by the D.C. Consortium of Legal Service Providers, which represents low-income Washingtonians.
Patty Fugere, who recently retired as executive director of the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, was involved in Slover’s selection to fill the seat. Fugere said she had been impressed by Slover’s willingness during his previous tenure on the board to question city contracts awarded to Fenty’s associates.
Fenty (D) had nominated Slover for the board and chose him as chair. After Slover questioned the contracts, a Fenty administration official removed him as chair, though Slover remained on the board. When asked at the time about Slover’s removal as chair, Fenty told reporters, “We don’t get into why people are promoted, why they are put into certain positions. Our job is to make sure we have the best board possible.”
Fugere said she was “impressed” that Slover “refused to do the bidding of the mayor and didn’t see himself as a political hack.”
During the 2010 mayoral race, Vincent C. Gray invoked the contracting issue and Slover’s dismissal as chair during his successful campaign to unseat Fenty. A dozen years later, Gray, now a council member representing Ward 7, praised Slover in a statement as a “fierce advocate” who has “been outspoken at times and along the way ruffled some feathers. That takes guts.” But he also said he would support the creation of a new board, even if it means losing Slover.
“By all accounts, there are dynamics at play within the existing board that inhibit the type of expedited decision-making required to rapidly correct a broad range of complex deficiencies,” he said. “Wholesale change in board members is the best solution at this time.”
Council member Elissa Silverman (I-At large), on the committee that oversees the Housing Authority, said it is “puzzling” that discussions about reforming the board have excluded Slover, whom she described as the city’s “strongest advocate” for “our lowest income families.”
Silverman, whose term is ending because she lost reelection, and Council member Brooke Pinto (D-Ward 2) plan to introduce their own legislation that would retain Slover’s seat. The lawmakers’ last meeting of the year is Tuesday, after which a new Council takes over.
“What he’s saying about the agency these days — if that’s grandstanding and bullying, we’re never going to reform that agency,” Silverman said. “He has been the commissioner ringing the alarm bells.”
Slover said he plans to continue ringing those alarms even if the council votes to eliminate his seat. He has the knowledge and contacts, he said, that will keep him tapped into the agency.
“Advocacy,” he said, “doesn’t begin or end with whether I’m on the board.” | 2022-12-18T11:13:50Z | www.washingtonpost.com | In D.C., housing board member and mayoral critic Bill Slover is on the outs - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/12/18/dc-housing-authority-bill-slover-bowser/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/12/18/dc-housing-authority-bill-slover-bowser/ |
Nearly 100 former students of Vincent Gibbs, a longtime teacher at Robert E. Peary High School, surprised him with carols and speeches outside of his Germantown home.
Former students of Vincent Gibbs, a retired teacher from the now-closed Robert E. Peary High School in Rockville, Md., gathered at his Germantown home on Dec. 17. Gibbs is undergoing cancer treatments. (Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post)
Usually, by this time of year, the gray house in the middle of this quiet Germantown street has been transformed into the twinkling embodiment of Christmastime.
The neighbors have come to expect the lights and elaborately constructed figurines, the trees — two of them — hauled into the house and the 100-year-old Nativity scene that takes up the entire living room. It’s what Vincent Gibbs, 82, has long been known for.
It’s why many of the residents of this quiet Maryland suburb know him, simply, as “Mr. Christmas.”
“He’s just been getting weaker and weaker fighting this thing,” said Paula Sweeney-Rothfuss, 68, a longtime friend and former student from the now-closed Robert E. Peary High School in Rockville, where Gibbs taught English literature and drama for more than 20 years.
On Saturday afternoon, nearly 100 adults — all former students of Peary High — climbed aboard a yellow Montgomery County school bus and set off for Gibbs’s house. They wore plush Santa hats and 50-year-old letterman jackets. Some carried posters from plays that Gibbs had led them to perform as teens, like “Man of La Mancha,” “Oliver!” and “A Long Day’s Journey into Night.”
They called out graduation years over gray vinyl seats and reunited with classmates across the narrow center aisle.
“I didn’t realize school buses had heat now!” bellowed a man toward the back of the bus.
“And seat belts!” came a woman’s voice.
“Oh my god,” said Beth Zeidman, class of 1970. “Look at those bell bottoms.”
This is how they remember him, several of his former students said. Full of life — and flair.
His impact, they added, was immeasurable. Gibbs taught them how to understand and appreciate the arts. Several went on to cultivate careers in theater and film.
“That’s because of him,” said Sweeney-Rothfuss, who spent more than two decades as an actor in New York, performing in productions including “Sweeney Todd” and “A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine.”
“There are some people in life that you meet and you will never know anyone else like them,” said Lee Zeidman. “That’s Mr. Gibbs … He didn’t just teach us literature and art, he lived it.”
As the crowd began to sing carols — “Joy to the World” then “Jingle Bells,” accompanied by the chime of actual bells — a small face appeared in the second-story window.
“Mr. Gibbs!” the crowd called. “We love you!”
A line of 11 former students organized themselves along the road, holding up handwritten notes on poster board for Gibbs to read.
“Dear Mr. Gibbs, You did what teachers hope to do: Make an impression, make a difference. You were not afraid to be yourself as a teacher … and as an individual,” the signs read. “That in itself is an inspiration. You shared what you loved, and passed it on to us, your students. Thank you!!”
Gibbs taught at Peary High School from the year it opened — 1960 — through its final semester in 1984.
Ever since his graduation in 1969, Fabiszewski said, the two remained close. They bonded over their love of theater and Turner Classic Movies. On Saturday, Fabiszewski, known by his schoolmates as “Joe Fab,” thanked the crowd for coming from near and far to stand in the December cold and sing carols to a man many had not seen in decades.
Though most attendees live in the D.C. area, some, like David Miller, came in from out of state. Miller, who lives in Denver, flew in just for this. He planned to fly home first thing Sunday morning.
“I just felt like I had to go and see him and wave at him and say, ‘Merry Christmas and thank you’” said Miller, who played the titular role of Romeo in Shakespeare’s classic “Romeo and Juliet” in high school.
The spirited display drew an even larger crowd as the afternoon continued. Neighbors poured out of houses and into the street. The postal worker slowed his truck to take in the scene.
One by one, former students took to the microphone to offer speeches and thank yous. They even had a trophy made — a small golden figure with a shooting star on top — to present to their former teacher.
As the group joined to sing “Silent Night,” several people began to cry.
Eventually, someone passed Gibbs a microphone.
“I’m so overwhelmed,” he said, his voice cracking. “I can’t believe so many people would show up. This is one of the most memorable occasions of my life.”
From his perch, Gibbs teased his former pupils about not loving him quite so much 50 years ago, as he passed out Bs and Cs instead of As or pushed them to memorize vocabulary words some contested they would never need in the real world.
Mr. Christmas, it seems, is back — and already planning a party.
“I’m gonna do it,” Gibbs told the crowd. “Unless I’m gone with the wind.” | 2022-12-18T11:13:50Z | www.washingtonpost.com | As ‘Mr. Christmas’ fights cancer, his former students bring the holiday to him - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/12/18/mr-christmas-gibbs-perry-high-students/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/12/18/mr-christmas-gibbs-perry-high-students/ |
Prices have crashed, investors are walking away, and Sam Bankman-Fried is in jail. It’s not clear if the industry can recover.
A year ago, the crypto world was booming, with prices for bitcoin and ethereum at all-time highs, celebrities stumbling over each other to promote expensive digital art, and logos from blockchain companies gracing sports stadiums and Super Bowl ads.
In the last year, cryptocurrency prices have fallen by more than half, trading volume has cratered, and several high-profile companies have collapsed in liquidity crises. The arrest last week in the Bahamas of Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of what until very recently was one of the biggest and best-respected cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, has only deepened the sense that the crypto bubble has definitively popped, taking with it billions of dollars of investments made by regular people, pension funds, venture capitalists and traditional companies.
Governments that had long demurred on regulation are suddenly pressing for more oversight, while federal regulators and law enforcement have rolled out multiple civil and criminal investigations.
The crypto industry is calling this moment its “crypto winter.” They say it’s cyclical, much like a bear market for Wall Street — something that has happened before and will eventually blow over.
But experts say the ferocity and scale of this downturn could end up leading to more of an ice age.
“Where we are is at a deeply existential point for the industry,” said Yesha Yadav, a law professor at Vanderbilt University who closely follows cryptocurrency regulation.
A major determining factor: “How deep is the rot?”
The spectacular rise and fall of the cryptocurrency markets has rocked its world of investors and boosters, who just a year ago were riding at the top of the market. Finance experts have compared the collapse to other major busted bubbles in the past — from the dot-com crash two decades ago, to a run on Florida property a century ago.
Crypto has crashed before, but this time it fell from a greater height — having gained mainstream acceptance in a way it hadn’t before, even finding itself in some 401(k)s and pension funds for retirees. It’s unclear whether it can recover.
Created a little over a decade ago and fueled by the global financial collapse, cryptocurrencies are computer-run digital assets intended to function outside established financial institutions, whether a bank or government.
The most popular cryptocurrency, bitcoin, was created in early 2009 as a way to sidestep the need for financial middlemen, revolutionize the global economic system and make it easier for people to do business directly with each other. It has gone through several boom and bust cycles — most notably in 2017 and 2018, when the price of bitcoin rapidly rose to around $20,000 before a series of high-profile scams and rumors of some countries planning to ban trading in cryptocurrencies led to it losing 80 percent of its value in just a few months.
The hangover from that crash persisted for some time, but the crypto world starting booming again amid the pandemic. Interest rate cuts made it cheaper for people to borrow money and invest in speculative assets. Stock trading apps and new easy-to-use crypto exchanges made the complicated process of buying and selling crypto coins easy and accessible for millions of people who until recently hadn’t heard of bitcoin. Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, used crypto technology to allow people to trade digital art — which also took off.
By November 2021, a Pew survey said that one in six Americans had invested in crypto. The same month, the total value of cryptocurrencies tracked by data company CoinGecko surpassed $3 trillion, roughly equal to the GDP of the United Kingdom.
Is crypto a house of cards?
A single bitcoin was worth nearly $68,000, nearly four times what it was worth at its previous peak in 2017. The NFT market approached $25 billion in 2021.
And a “crypto bank” called Celsius Network was offering double-digit interest rates to users who parked their digital coins in its accounts.
“The whole model was working fairly well as long as the line continued to go up,” said Molly White, a software engineer who became one of the most prominent skeptics of the crypto industry by cataloguing its scams, idiosyncrasies and failures in her blog. “We’re seeing what happens when that assumption no longer holds.”
A spectacular fall
One of the biggest winners of the crypto boom was Bankman-Fried, whose cryptocurrency exchange FTX made money by charging transaction fees every time someone used it to buy and sell crypto.
It won millions in investments from well-respected venture capital firms like Sequoia, and pension funds like the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan, who valued the company at $32 billion.
With his mop of curly brown hair, Bankman-Fried landed on the cover of Forbes and became one of the richest people in the world, his wealth valued at $22.5 billion. The Bahamas resident told the magazine, as he had told others, that he was not earning the money for himself. Instead, he said he’d eventually give it all away — an altruistic mission that he said brought him into the crypto world.
“My goal is to have impact,” he told the magazine.
Bankman-Fried gave millions to politicians, and was the second-largest political donor to Democrats in the 2022 midterm elections. He used his newfound influence to push for regulations which competitors said would give his own company an advantage.
Splashy advertisements featured celebrities like NFL star Tom Brady, tennis champion Naomi Osaka and NBA mainstay Stephen Curry, all of whom helped hawk the idea that FTX was the industry’s easy and reliable future.
“You in?” Brady asked his friends repeatedly in one TV commercial.
Many were. The company said it had over 1 million U.S. users and 5 million worldwide by the end of 2021.
But earlier this year, the crypto euphoria started to give way. Rising interest rates, inflation and concerns about a potential recession made investors risk averse. Tech stocks, which had long marched steadily upward in value, came crashing down, spooking both big financial industry investors and regular people who had gotten into stock and crypto trading, too.
The first major blow came in May when a digital coin called TerraUSD — a widely held “stablecoin” algorithmically designed to be pegged to the dollar — crashed. The surprise sell-off helped erase more than a quarter of the crypto market’s value.
In June, Celsius Network, the crypto bank and lender that offered double-digit interest rates, suddenly announced that it was halting withdrawals, sending cryptocurrency prices tumbling further. The bank, which had amassed some $20 billion in assets at its pinnacle, filed for bankruptcy in July.
Around the same time, a crypto-focused hedge fund defaulted on a $665 million loan taken from a crypto lender, Voyager Digital — eventually leading to both the hedge fund and Voyager to file for bankruptcy.
Meanwhile the prices of bitcoin, digital coin ethereum and other crypto assets plummeted.
“Crypto winter” was coming.
But Bankman-Fried and FTX so far appeared unscathed. The exchange had made successful bids to bail out rivals including Voyager — winning it praise. (Voyager pulled out of the deal when FTX filed for bankruptcy).
That changed in November, when crypto-focused news outlet CoinDesk ran a story reporting that much of the value of Bankman-Fried’s hedge fund, Alameda Research, was composed of a crypto token that FTX had created itself. The two companies were supposed to have clear divisions, and the story set off a wave of scrutiny.
Canadian-Singaporean entrepreneur Changpeng Zhao, the owner of FTX’s larger rival Binance, announced he would sell his roughly $500 million stake in FTX’s special token, sparking a broad sell-off and causing its value to plummet.
The company froze withdrawals, and began looking for emergency investments. Binance announced it would take over FTX but canceled the deal just a day later, after Zhao said the company had “mishandled customer funds.”
FTX, Alameda and dozens of other related entities run by Bankman-Fried filed for bankruptcy. He stepped down as CEO. Voyager is currently looking for a new buyer.
Douglas Campbell lost $27,000 on FTX’s U.S. exchange and “tens of thousands” of dollars on FTX’s international exchange. The 42-year-old said he was drawn in by Bankman-Fried’s pledges to share his wealth and his MIT pedigree.
“So this was kind of just devastating,” said Campbell, an economist living in Arlington, Va. “Now it’s just kind of like clear that most of crypto is a scam.”
Disappearing assets
On Monday night, just a day before Bankman-Fried was set to testify before a House committee, he was arrested at his home in the Bahamas, where he lived and where FTX was headquartered, at the request of the U.S. Justice Department. Federal prosecutors are seeking his extradition.
Bankman-Fried was indicted on eight charges, including fraud, conspiracy and money laundering. Federal prosecutors alleged that, among other crimes, Bankman-Fried had used billions of dollars of customer funds for personal investments and political contributions, and used the money to repay billions in loans to Alameda. The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed civil charges with similar allegations.
FTX owes its top 50 creditors $3 billion, according to the company, which is now being run by a bankruptcy expert whose sole job is to recover as much money as he can for investors and customers.
John J. Ray, the bankruptcy lawyer who took over as FTX’s chief executive, testified before the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday, alleging the company used QuickBooks, personal accounting software, for record-keeping.
Ray said that the allegations against Bankman-Fried were not sophisticated, but rather “plain old embezzlement,” and that many investors may not see all their money.
Bankman-Fried has not officially responded to the charges, but in numerous media interviews before he was arrested, he painted himself as a well-meaning founder who was in over his head. He insisted that if funds had been mixed between Alameda Research and FTX — a core part of the government’s charges against him — he didn’t do it knowingly.
Mark Botnick, a spokesman for Bankman-Fried, declined to comment.
“If this is happening at FTX, then where else?” said Yadav, the Vanderbilt professor. “That’s where the existential question comes from.”
Other cryptocurrency players — such as bank BlockFi and lender Genesis — have already fallen or are working to stave off bankruptcy. In the wake of Bankman-Fried’s arrest, rattled investors have withdrawn some $3 billion from Binance, though Zhao has downplayed the panic.
The total value of the world’s cryptocurrencies tracked by data company CoinMarketCap is now around $850 billion, down from $3 trillion a year ago. The average value of cryptocurrency trades per day has fallen from $131 billion in May to $57 billion in December — a drop of more than half, according to CoinGecko.
Bitcoin’s value has plummeted 65 percent this year, to around $17,500, although that’s still more than it was worth for the majority of its existence.
Many cryptocurrency proponents remain bullish — seeing the year’s collapse as just another convulsion in the technology’s lurch toward the future.
“In my view, crypto is just the next new technology, and every new technology has these rises and falls,” said Lou Kerner, the CEO of Blockchain Coinvestors Acquisition Corp. I, a cryptocurrency company.
The FTX collapse and other cryptocurrency failures over the past year have so far not imperiled other financial markets, said Matthew Slaughter, the Paul Danos Dean of the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. Cryptocurrency is a relatively nascent technology, he said, and it remains to be seen whether the world will have a use for digital currency beyond speculation.
“It speaks to the reality that cryptocurrencies are not very interconnected in broader capital markets in the broader global economy,” he said, adding that the absence of wider contagion can also be attributed to regulations aimed at ensuring bankruptcies do not spark all-out financial crises.
Darragh Grove-White, a digital marketing specialist from British Columbia, has been investing in cryptocurrency since 2018. Since then, the 37-year-old said, he’s been “rugged,” or scammed, a number of times.
He invested and lost money in Quadriga, a crypto exchange, which Canadian authorities in 2020 found resembled a Ponzi scheme. He also invested in Terra USD and Luna, as well as Celsius Network, and lost money during both collapses this year — and has several hundred dollars frozen on FTX.
His roughly $400,000 total crypto investment value sank to around $40,000. Still, he believes in the future of crypto, citing an “optimism bias.”
“It’s a strength in that you don’t let yourself get discouraged for too long,” he said. “But it’s a weakness in that you sometimes don’t know when to walk away.”
Jeremy B. Merrill contributed to this report. | 2022-12-18T11:26:56Z | www.washingtonpost.com | ‘Crypto winter’ has come. Will it become an ice age? - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/12/18/crypto-winter-ftx-collapse-bitcoin-prices/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/12/18/crypto-winter-ftx-collapse-bitcoin-prices/ |
By George Bass
The steamer Cap Arcona, shown ca. 1927, was used in the filming of "Titanic." It later sank, killing thousands. (Carl Muller/Ullstein Bild/Getty Images)
Twenty-five years ago Monday, the blockbuster film “Titanic” premiered in the United States, kicking off a historic run that would bring in a record $1.85 billion worldwide and win 11 Oscars.
But 54 years earlier, in 1943, another film titled "Titanic” hit cinemas. It made history in a different way — by spreading Nazi propaganda, costing the director his life and using a ship for filming that would itself sink and kill far more people than the actual Titanic disaster.
The story of the RMS Titanic has been told many times on-screen, from Roy Ward Baker’s relatively accurate “A Night to Remember” (1958), made with input from surviving Titanic passengers and crew, to the animated octopus heroics of “The Legend of the Titanic” (1999) and the horror-themed “Titanic 666” (2022).
The 1943 “Titanic,” made by the Nazis during the height of World War II to show off the Germans’ superior morals and moviemaking skills, was actually the country’s third take on the disaster, following “In Nacht und Eis (Shipwrecked in Icebergs)” (1912) and “Atlantic” (1929). With this latest retelling, the filmmakers sought to frame the ship’s sinking as the fault of imperialist Western arrogance.
The movie doesn’t make this point subtly. Joseph Bruce Ismay, the English chairman of the White Star Line, which owned the Titanic, is played with evil relish by E.F. Fürbringer, made up to look like a villain from a Western. At the ship’s banquet, all the wealthy guests are announced alongside their net worth. Ismay’s business buddies look on and cackle about jewels, power and profits.
It’s this single-minded obsession with stock markets that causes the liner to speed dangerously through Iceberg Alley, as Ismay seeks to break transatlantic crossing records so that his shares in the company rocket in value.
But it seems the Nazis were equally money-minded, as documented by Robert P. Watson in his 2016 book “The Nazi Titanic: The Incredible Untold Story of a Doomed Ship in World War II.” With a 4 million reichsmark budget — the equivalent of roughly $180 million today — the German “Titanic” was one of the most expensive films of the 20th century, though it’s not obvious from the results on-screen. The ship, for example, is alternately tilted and level after the collision, and censorship by Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels, who commissioned the film, may be responsible for some of the awkward dialogue.
Location shooting began in May 1942 in a German-occupied Baltic Sea port and onboard the SS Cap Arcona, a former ocean liner requisitioned by the German navy. From the outset, there were signs of trouble. The movie’s director, the veteran Herbert Selpin, fell afoul of German navy officials by requesting more technically complex sets, a move seen as siphoning off funds from the war economy. Serving soldiers were removed from front line fighting to work as extras — and proceeded to hassle the actresses.
Meanwhile, fog reduced visibility in the Baltic Sea; Goebbels ordered a central character to be rewritten; and German officials expressed concern that the heavily lit nighttime shots presented a bombing risk during Allied air raids.
The film took significant liberties with the truth, most notably the insertion of a fictional German first officer, the heroic Petersen, played by Hans Nielsen. During the sinking, he and his German ex-companion Sigrid Olinsky (played by Sybille Schmitz), are the only composed passengers, with Olinsky calmly rebuffing English cads and Petersen rescuing several children, including a girl left to drown by her money-mad parents, who have absconded with suitcases of cash.
The movie’s twisting of facts to suit the Nazis’ agenda meant major creative differences behind the scenes. Selpin, frustrated with the interference of military officials on set and the fact each day’s rushes had to be sent to Berlin for approval, made remarks critical of the Nazi regime. He was denounced by the film’s screenwriter to the authorities, arrested, interrogated by Goebbels, and found hanged in his prison cell the next morning.
The film had to be completed by an uncredited director, Werner Klinger. On the night before its scheduled premiere, the British Royal Air Force bombed the theater that was housing the movie’s answer print.
“Titanic” eventually made its public debut in November 1943. But its most important critic — Goebbels — was distinctly unimpressed. He’d seen the film in December 1942 and ordered it banned in Germany; it premiered in Prague instead.
The propaganda minister believed the film’s scenes of panic, drowning and death wouldn’t sit well with an audience living through regular bombing raids. He also feared that a film about a doomed vessel captained by incompetents might send the wrong message about the German war effort, which by 1943 was struggling. Goebbels’s compatriots further objected to Petersen’s recklessness, which flew in the face of the Nazis’ “Führerprinzip,” a requirement to obey orders.
“Titanic” was a commercial disaster that wouldn’t be released in Germany for almost 50 years, though due to its anti-capitalist sentiments, it was dubbed into Russian after the war and screened in parts of the Eastern Bloc.
But the worst crisis came after the film was completed, and it had nothing to do with artistic choices.
‘Casablanca’ had a rocky start. Its stars never expected it to become a classic.
After shooting wrapped, the boat that stood in for the Titanic, the Cap Arcona, was briefly used to move troops around the Baltic before being reclassified as a prison ship and docked in the Bay of Lübeck.
On May 3, 1945, three days after Adolf Hitler’s suicide, it was holding a reported 6,000 prisoners from the Neuengamme concentration camp, driven there by Nazis anxious to conceal their atrocities from the advancing Allies. (Some estimates put the number of prisoners as high as 7,000.)
Western intelligence had discovered that SS leaders were amassing in the German harbor city of Flensburg, plotting a potential sea escape to Norway. Believing the Cap Arcona to be filled with fleeing Nazi military elite, the British Royal Air Force bombed the ship, which capsized and sank. Pilots then shot at survivors in the water.
The death toll from the ship that had once masqueraded as the Titanic is estimated to be between 4,500 and 7,000 lives. The real Titanic claimed 1,517.
In a final twist worthy of James Cameron’s romanticized 1997 film, star-crossed lovers were united at the height of the tragedy. One of the 350 survivors of the Cap Arcona tragedy was German communist prisoner Willi Neurath. His wife, who was stationed nearby as a navy assistant at Neustadt submarine school, found her husband on the beach by sheer luck, exhausted but alive. Unable to swim, he’d survived by remaining on the burning ship, and was rescued by a British reconnaissance regiment once the Royal Air Force had learned the fatal error of its attack. | 2022-12-18T12:23:44Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Germany's disastrous 'Titanic' film spread Nazi propaganda, cost lives - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2022/12/18/germany-titanic-film-disaster/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2022/12/18/germany-titanic-film-disaster/ |
Vaccines saved lives. DeSantis threatens that progress.
Covid-19 and flu vaccines files seen in Lynwood, Calif., on Oct. 28. (Mark J. Terrill/AP)
Vaccines saved millions of lives in the pandemic, and the mRNA technology was rolled out in record time. It counts as a massive success and might help fight other diseases, too. Nonetheless, populist Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) last week demanded a grand jury investigate “criminal or wrongful activity in Florida” involving the “development, promotion and distribution” of coronavirus vaccines. As public opinion shows vaccine hesitancy is growing, Mr. DeSantis’s move is not only absurd but also dangerous.
Vaccines work. A mathematical model, based on country-level data, found they directly saved some 15.5 million lives worldwide in the first year they were available, and millions more indirectly. The speed with which mRNA vaccines reached people was a spectacular scientific achievement, given the history of vaccine development. Three decades of research has yet to produce a viable vaccine to prevent or treat HIV/AIDS.
The coronavirus vaccine had some drawbacks. Over time, effectiveness waned from the initial clinical trial results of more than 90 percent efficacy. Hence the need for boosters — although vaccines remain a bulwark against severe illness, hospitalization and death. Adults who received the latest booster shots cut their risk of having to visit an emergency room or being hospitalized by 50 percent or more, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Dec. 16.
Mr. DeSantis, who is positioning himself to seek the 2024 Republican presidential nomination — and by one recent poll is running ahead of former president Donald Trump — has not been shy about politicizing public health measures, attacking lockdowns and mask and vaccine mandates. Now he has taken it a step further with a petition to the Florida Supreme Court seeking empanelment of a statewide grand jury — which in Florida can carry out broader investigations of government — on vaccines. In a crude appeal to the anti-vaccine movement, Mr. DeSantis’s petition darkly implies that public reassurances of vaccine efficacy were driven by “financial gain.”
The vaccine hesitancy that has spread during the pandemic carries real-world impact. Professor Peter Hotez, who co-led development of a vaccine for low- and middle-income countries at the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, has pointed out that some 200,000 Americans “needlessly lost their lives in the last half of 2021 and into early 2022 because they refused a coronavirus vaccine during our terrible delta wave.” Even now, booster uptake is low. Meanwhile, the Kaiser Family Foundation reports that support for the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine requirement for healthy children to attend public school has declined from 82 percent in October 2019 to 71 percent today. Twenty-eight percent of those polled “now say that parents should be able to decide not to vaccinate their school-age children, even if this creates health risks for others,” up from 16 percent in 2019. Want to see life without vaccines? Just look at the way measles spread like wildfire among unvaccinated children in Columbus, Ohio, recently.
A scientific achievement so overwhelmingly beneficial to humanity ought not be forsaken in the interest of scoring political points. The truth is as simple as this: Vaccines save lives.
Opinion|The booster isn’t perfect, but still can help against covid | 2022-12-18T12:24:02Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Ron DeSantis threatens vaccine progress - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/18/ron-desantis-vaccine-covid-threaten-progress/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/18/ron-desantis-vaccine-covid-threaten-progress/ |
The legacy of the Troubles lingers. But this legislation won’t work.
A British soldier drags a Catholic protester during the Jan. 30, 1972 "Bloody Sunday" killings in Derry, Northern Ireland. (Photo by THOMPSON/AFP/Getty Images)
“The Troubles,” three decades of sectarian strife in Northern Ireland, left behind questions about historical truth, reconciliation, justice and accountability that have lingered since the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement. They deserve to be addressed, but legislation now making its way through the British Parliament seems unlikely to bring closure.
The conflict, which lasted from 1968 to 1998, set Catholics and groups opposed to British rule, including the paramilitary Irish Republican Army, against Protestants and pro-British forces, including loyalist militant groups. More than 3,500 people were killed. Many of the homicides remain unsolved.
In 2014, the British and Irish governments and Northern Ireland parties negotiated the Stormont House Agreement, which set out mechanisms for reconciliation and rule of law. But last year, the British government declared “the current system for dealing with the legacy of the Troubles is not meeting the needs of anybody and reform is required.” The government pointed to the large backlog of criminal investigations and said it wanted to move away from a “lengthy pursuit of retributive justice.” As of May, the Police Service of Northern Ireland had a load of more than 900 cases involving nearly 1,200 deaths. Families of victims have waited decades for truth and justice, while aging British veterans complain they have been demonized.
In 2019, Boris Johnson, campaigning for the Tory leadership, promised to end “unfair” prosecutions of those who served as soldiers. In 2021, his government proposed a blanket amnesty, in the form of a statute of limitations to apply to “all Troubles-related incidents.” It sparked outrage in Northern Ireland and was subsequently scrapped. This year, the British government introduced the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill, which would establish a new body, the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery, with three to five commissioners to oversee a five-year effort to come to terms with the past by conducting reviews of individual cases and creating a historical record.
The most disturbing aspect of the new approach is a proposed grant of immunity from prosecution, on a case-by-case basis, to those who committed serious offenses during the Troubles, on condition they give testimony that “is true to the best of [their] knowledge and belief.” This is not blanket amnesty, and requires the applicant to cooperate with the commission’s fact-finding. Such an approach was tried in South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which received 7,112 amnesty applications, but granted only about 12 percent of them.
The British proposal sets a disturbingly low bar for immunity, according to the commissioner for human rights of the Council of Europe, Dunja Mijatović. She expressed concern that granting immunity could “embolden perpetrators, who would be able to publicly present their version of the facts and to shape the narrative of any violations they were involved in, without offering victims the chance to challenge any statements made.” In June, the House of Commons kept the immunity provision in the bill by a vote of 273-205. The bill has passed a second reading and is now at the committee stage in the House of Lords, where amendments can be considered.
Under the bill, not all cases would be granted immunity; some could be referred for prosecution. But the process seems likely to keep stirring controversy rather than reconciliation. Immunity from prosecution “could reward appalling conduct, with no recognition of the harm it has done,” says the Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law.
Just as concerning, the legislation would close other avenues for accountability. With some exceptions, it would prohibit future police investigations, civil claims and inquests stemming from the Troubles. The logic is a trade-off: in exchange for truth and a full historical accounting, the threat of future punishment is removed. For such a bargain to work, the mechanism must be above reproach, but there has been an outpouring of criticism of the proposed commission. A joint British parliamentary committee on human rights expressed doubts the commission would undertake investigations which are “independent, effective, reasonably prompt and expeditious, subject to public scrutiny, and involve the next-of-kin.” The joint committee questioned whether the new commission could impartially investigate cases that implicate the British government, and said it had serious doubts the legislation would meet the basic standards of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission called for a “reassessment” of the bill. Ms. Mijatović said the government should consider withdrawing the legislation. Victims’ groups have also spoken out in opposition.
Truth and reconciliation are worthy goals that require arduous work. In the case of Northern Ireland, they demand a credible mechanism that will earn the confidence of all. This legislation ought to be scrapped and a new attempt made with an eye toward accountability and a historical record that will stand the test of time. | 2022-12-18T12:24:08Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | This bill to reckon with 'The Troubles' in Northern Ireland won't work - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/18/the-troubles-northern-ireland-reconciliation-bill-doomed/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/18/the-troubles-northern-ireland-reconciliation-bill-doomed/ |
One aim is to organize content-sharing between supporters and their friends on digital platforms, including TikTok and WhatsApp, where political advertising is not allowed
President Biden makes his way to the Oval Office during his arrival on the South Lawn of the White House on Friday. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post)
President Biden’s political advisers are preparing a strategy for his likely 2024 reelection campaign that would dramatically expand efforts to organize content-sharing between supporters and their friends on digital platforms, including TikTok and WhatsApp, where political advertising is not allowed, according to people involved in the effort.
The new plans, which build upon lessons from the 2020 campaign, are just one part of an expansive research effort funded by the Democratic National Committee to prepare for Biden’s expected campaign launch next year. Top advisers have been testing ways to reactivate volunteers and donors, and they completed a review this summer of the shifts in how voters consumed political information over the last two years.
The review found phone-based apps and streaming television have grabbed an increasing share of attention from voters, which offer fewer opportunities for direct advertising, according to multiple people involved in the effort, including some who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private deliberations. Local television news continues to be popular, as does the use of search engines to ferret out political information.
But much of the focus of party strategists has been on groups of voters who are increasingly spending time consuming information in private digital environments, mostly through their phones, or on public platforms where paid political advertising is not available, including chat threads and other smaller communities built around nonpolitical interests, like fitness. Democratic strategists have concluded that in many cases, volunteers can have more impact by creating or distributing content to their digital communities than by spending their time on more traditional canvassing operations.
Biden quietly but clearly prepares for 2024 reelection bid
“The idea is not just to meet people where they are, but it’s to meet people everywhere they are,” said Jen O’Malley Dillon, a senior Biden adviser, speaking about the shifting media environment. “And that’s complicated and hard.”
As a result, the Biden team has been reviewing an ongoing series of experiments quietly run by the national party and Democratic senate campaigns involving once-obscure organizing strategies, which became more common in the 2022 midterms. The options include paying social media influencers to produce and share supportive content and encouraging volunteers or paid organizers to directly push messages to targeted voters in their phone contacts. There are also technologies that the party has been reviewing that make it easier for volunteers to share campaign content on their networks.
Biden advisers emphasize that the new techniques will not replace traditional field programs. Investments in door-to-door canvassing, for example, are expected to increase over what past Democratic campaigns did before the coronavirus pandemic.
“The places where people get information and the places where people communicate with each other about politics continue to fragment,” said Anita Dunn, another senior adviser to Biden who has also been reviewing the landscape. “As you think about how to communicate with this country, it is an additive process.”
Biden has not yet made a final decision on whether to run for reelection, though he has said that is his “intention,” with a formal decision expected in the first three months of next year. His senior staff, in the meantime, is moving forward with preparations, with a small group of senior advisers meeting regularly with him and first lady Jill Biden at the White House residence since September.
The parallel research and planning process echo similar quadrennial efforts over the last two decades by both parties in the off years, a symptom of the rapid pace of technological changes in how Americans consume political information. The historic practice of relying on 30-second television spots and free media in major national news organizations to communicate during the campaign increasingly leaves out whole communities of potential voters.
The early conversations have involved O’Malley Dillon, Dunn, the White House director of digital strategy Rob Flaherty, DNC executive director Sam Cornale and Jose Nunez, the national party’s organizing director. A number of outside consultants have also been involved, including Addisu Demissie, who ran Sen. Cory Booker’s 2020 presidential campaign, Dewey Square’s Minyon Moore and Precision Strategies’ Teddy Goff, who helped run digital campaign operations for both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Flaherty is expected to take a senior digital role in the Biden reelection campaign next year, according to a person familiar with the planning.
Democratic strategists are aiming to take advantage of a chaotic Republican presidential primary next year to build a large network of volunteers and donors for the reelection campaign, under the assumption that Biden will not face a serious challenge for his party’s nomination. Presidential reelection campaigns, which tend to be well funded and have long lead times, historically benefit from building larger operations earlier in the cycle.
“They are going to be beating each other up for a year,” one Democrat involved in the process said about Republicans. “We are taking the biggest distributed organizing operation that has ever been built and figuring out how do we add in the content part of this.”
When Barack Obama first ran for president in 2008, pioneering new ways of email fundraising and organizing thousands of house parties through his campaign website, the smartphone and social media platforms like Twitter, were novelties. By his 2012 reelect, Facebook had become a major news source, and the campaign built an iPhone app to power its door-knocking operation.
Email and text messages remain the basic building block of grass roots fundraising. But the rise of social media has made digital communication between individual voters more important. One person involved in the planning said there is a focus on creating new metrics for the sharing and absorption of organic digital content on social media and inside digital friend groups.
The challenge of TikTok, a Chinese-owned platform which is banned from White House staff phones for national security reasons, has also been a topic of discussion. Because of the platform’s popularity among younger voters and its habit of recommending new content to users, Biden’s aides see it as a particularly potent tool in the 2024 campaign. Flaherty has taken to monitoring the social network through a personal iPod Touch that is disconnected from any of his government accounts, according to a person familiar with the arrangement.
Democrats are also focused on finding ways to encourage supporters to take part in private online communities — whether it is Facebook groups or Fantasy Football text message chains — to reach voters, including many younger voters who don’t consume much traditional news coverage. Other ideas have revolved around building new online communities around particular political interests, a practice that has become common in larger campaigns in recent years. Over the last two years, the DNC, which inherited Biden’s list of 200,000 volunteers from the 2020 campaign, mobilized and trained about 1,000 supporters to share and distribute content, a party spokesperson said.
“It is a long bet on relational organizing,” said another Democratic strategist involved in the effort, who also emphasized the increased investments planned for door knocking. “It is a long bet on a content-centric model to get volunteers to leverage their platforms to be evangelists for the campaign.”
The successful Pennsylvania Senate campaign of John Fetterman demonstrated some of the emerging options available to Biden’s team this year. Sophie Ota, the campaign’s digital director, oversaw an operation that created and nurtured private Facebook groups, as well as large direct message chats on Twitter and Instagram, where campaign organizers could feed supporters digital content about Fetterman to share on their social networks. The campaign recruited New Jersey celebrities, like Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi of MTV’s Jersey Shore and the musician Steven Van Zandt, to record viral content mocking Fetterman’s opponent, Mehmet Oz, for his roots in the neighboring state.
In a separate program, the Fetterman team provided supporters with an app, called Rally, that allowed them to connect their friend group to the campaign’s voter file. The supporters were then prompted to send the targeted voter specific messages about voting or requesting absentee ballots, Ota said. A separate webpage, Fettermemes.com, offered supporters tools to clip and share embarrassing videos of Oz.
“People don’t just read the political news in the newspaper. You have to actually get them engaged in other ways,” Fetterman’s campaign consultant Rebecca Katz, a partner at New Deal Strategies, said. “There has always been a space for earned media and paid media but rarely have we talked about the merging of the two and being a bit more creative.”
Another model was used in the Georgia Senate race runoff, where Rally was deployed by an independent expenditure group as a tool to activate communities that are more disinterested in voting. The group hired 1,481 “community ambassadors” who were paid $200 to spend about five hours contacting their friends who were identified by the voting file to encourage them to vote, according to people involved in the effort. More than 67,000 voters were contacted to support Sen. Raphael G. Warnock (D-Ga.) before the runoff.
“We’ve learned that relational can scale, and that relational — paid relational in particular — is powerful for reaching voters campaigns can’t otherwise reach,” said Davis Leonard, the CEO of Rally, in a statement. “And we’ve seen the ecosystem shift towards understanding that Democrats need to embrace relational to expand the electorate and win.”
The DNC has explored using another app called Greenfly, which provides organizations with a platform for distributing content to their supporters to instantly share in their social media platforms. Those involved said decisions about exactly what technologies would be employed by a Biden reelection campaign had not been made.
But the president’s team is clearly planning to build out an approach that has not existed before, in terms of scale and ambition, for distributing digital content with organizers.
“The nature of news consumption and information absorption has radically decentralized,” said another strategist involved in the planning effort. “We have got to be able to engage in an information war.” | 2022-12-18T12:24:14Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Biden team planning a dramatically expanded digital strategy for 2024 - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/18/biden-digital-2024-campaign/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/18/biden-digital-2024-campaign/ |
Hoping to connect for holidays? Try a game that asks you to open up.
Games around the holiday dinner table can promote sharing and strengthen connections. (Gary Burchell/Getty Images)
As family and friends gather during the holidays this year, it’s hard to escape how much has been written about how polarized we are, how many families are struggling to make ends meet and how a mental health epidemic is spiraling out of control. There’s too much pain, loss and fear. Vanessa Inn, best known for her workshops on finding what she refers to as one’s “essence,” has said, “we’re afraid of being judged, ridiculed, kicked out of the pack, and abandoned.” The result too often, Inn added. “We are further and further disconnected [from others] and feeling kind of empty, and then more and more afraid to show who we really are.”
“I’ll never forget being bullied by …”
“The best gift I have ever received …”
“The last time I felt free …”
“It’s hard for me to say no to …”
How a game can build a connection
I thought about Brené Brown, the best-selling author whose TEDx Talk has been viewed by more than 60 million people. She pointedly reminded people that “there is no intimacy without vulnerability.” To experience connection, we need to become vulnerable with one another. As my turn drew near, I became more nervous, realizing I was being called to open up.
When it was time, I looked at the question on my card: “The last time I cried was …” At first, I didn’t know if I had an answer because I’m not really a crier. Then I remembered watching the latest Downton Abbey movie a few days earlier; this is the one where the beloved, deliciously sharp-tongued Dowager Countess (Maggie Smith) dies in bed surrounded by her loved ones. It’s a tear-jerker by design — and sappy as it was, I succumbed. I used that as my story, but immediately I realized I had missed the heart of the game. | 2022-12-18T12:24:50Z | www.washingtonpost.com | The right game can foster human connection and friendship - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2022/12/18/board-game-connection-friendship/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2022/12/18/board-game-connection-friendship/ |
A compromise on the military covid vaccine mandate
Staff Sgt. Travis Snyder, left, receives the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state on Dec. 16, 2020. (Ted S. Warren/AP)
Many readers vehemently disagreed with my recent column in favor of ending the coronavirus vaccine mandate for the military. As they argue, there is a key difference between the military and everyone else: Force readiness is a matter of national security, and even a small reduction in infection or severe disease is worth a mandate.
This is an excellent point and has led me to partially reconsider my position. There might be a compromise: Keep the mandate in place but create an opt-out for those who have already contracted covid-19.
In a way, this debate is somewhat moot. On Thursday, the Senate voted 83-11 in favor of reauthorizing the defense budget, which includes repealing the vaccine mandate. So whether the Pentagon likes it or not, it is almost certainly going away.
Nevertheless, I hope my proposed compromise might change how people think about coronavirus vaccines. It’s crucial to discuss immunity from infection, because abundant research shows natural immunity conveys excellent protection against covid. One Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study found that vaccinated people who never had covid were at least three times as likely to be infected as unvaccinated people with prior infection. And a Lancet study found that those who were vaccinated but never had covid were four times as likely to have severe illness resulting in hospitalization or death compared to the unvaccinated who recovered from it.
Which is most of the unvaccinated. According to a CDC analysis, more than 90 percent of adolescents have contracted the virus. Of the estimated 8,000 troops who have been discharged for not being vaccinated against covid, the vast majority probably have recovered from the coronavirus and have better protection than those never infected and received the two required inoculations, but who are allowed to continue serving.
To be clear, vaccination is still a much safer way to develop immunity. I would never encourage “chickenpox parties” for covid. (In fact, I’ve explicitly warned against people intentionally exposing themselves.) But that doesn’t mean we should deny the existence of natural immunity. If the goal is to ensure a high level of protection among troops, then test for prior infection. There is precedent for this; recruits can be exempt from getting chickenpox and measles vaccines if a blood test demonstrates they have recovered from those illnesses.
Still, some critics will ask, why there should be an opt-out? What’s the downside of requiring everyone to be vaccinated? And while we’re at it, if boosters provide some temporary protection against infection, why not do as some readers suggested and boost all the troops every three months?
Besides the logistical difficulty of such frequent inoculations, we need to be upfront that nearly every intervention has some risk, and the coronavirus vaccine is no different. The most significant risk is myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle, which is most common in young men. The CDC cites a rate of 39 myocarditis cases per 1 million second doses given in males 18 to 24. Some studies found a much higher rate; a large Canadian database reported that among men ages 18 to 29 who received the second dose of the Moderna vaccine, the rate of myocarditis was 22 for every 100,000 doses.
While most cases of vaccine-associated myocarditis resolve without long-term consequences, some individuals become very ill and require intensive care. In mild cases, the heart muscle can take months to heal. Those arguing in favor of mandates because they keep the military operational must acknowledge that coronavirus vaccine side effects can sideline service members, too.
That’s why, at this point in the pandemic, the coronavirus vaccination should not be a one-size-fits-all recommendation. There are those, such as the elderly, who are clearly better protected with regular boosters. Young, generally healthy people who have never been infected with covid would probably benefit from the first two shots. For this group, I could understand a requirement for the military.
But for those who with documented prior infection, I’m not convinced that the mandate makes them — or others around them — any safer. And that’s why, despite all the anger from both sides, repealing the mandate would make little difference in the battle against covid or the force readiness of our troops. | 2022-12-18T13:51:32Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | A compromise on the military covid vaccine mandate - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/18/military-vaccine-mandate-covid-natural-immunity/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/18/military-vaccine-mandate-covid-natural-immunity/ |
Analysis by Niall Ferguson | Bloomberg
Monetary policy is more like the World Cup than it is like mathematics or great literature. As we have seen repeatedly in Qatar this year, the difference between victory and defeat can be a matter of very fine judgments and sheer luck. And when a manager changes his team’s tactics, it can operate with immediate effect — or with a mystifying lag.
Brazil ought to have beaten Croatia in the quarterfinals, but Brazil’s defenders lost concentration in extra time and Bruno Petkovic equalized, opening the way to a penalty shoot-out, his team’s specialty. Yet in the semifinals, Argentina, inspired by their talismanic maestro Lionel Messi, swept the same Croats aside 3-0.
As I write, I cannot tell if Argentina will win their third World Cup today. Perhaps Messi will fulfill his and his country’s dream. Or perhaps a single moment of blistering acceleration by Kylian Mbappé will decide the game in France’s favor.
In much the same way, I cannot tell if Jay Powell, the Federal Reserve chairman, will heroically win his fight against inflation in 2023, or ignominiously lose it.
Last week’s inflation data encouraged his supporters to scent victory. In a conversation with my hirsute friend David Zervos of Jefferies LLC, I detected mounting excitement that Powell might pull off the mythical soft landing: a rapid decline in inflation without a recession. But on the same day I also discussed the issue with former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, who dismissed a soft landing as the economic equivalent of Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger landing US Airways Flight 1549 on the Hudson River after bird strikes took out both engines.
With Wednesday’s half-a-percentage-point hike, the Fed has raised its policy rate (the federal funds target rate) by 425 basis points in the space of nine months, or an average of 47.2 basis points per month. This is the second-fastest hiking cycle since World War II. The only faster rise in rates occurred under Chairman Paul Volcker in late 1980 and 1981, when the Fed hiked the discount rate by 50 basis points per month for a cumulative 400 points over eight months. We’ve all heard Powell say Volcker is his role model. Here’s the proof.
It is also easy to imagine reasons why the Fed might want to ease monetary policy next year. Ever since the UK gilts market seized up in September, forcing Bank of England intervention, other central banks have been worrying that their monetary policy tightening could trigger a financial crisis in one corner or another of the global financial system.
There was a flurry of concern last month when Blackstone Inc. said it would limit the amount of money investors could withdraw from its $69 billion flagship real-estate fund, following a surge in redemption requests, one of a number of signs that investors are fretting about US real estate. As well they might. The economists Nick Bloom, Steve Davis and co-authors point out that working from home is proving remarkably persistent, even if the Covid-19 pandemic has long since ceased to be our No.1 preoccupation (apart from in China). The percentage of paid full days worked from home by Americans has risen sixfold, from 5% before the pandemic to 30%, where it has held pretty steady for the past two years.
Another relevant economics paper is Akinci et al. on “the financial stability interest rate” (which they call r**, not to be confused with r*, the neutral interest rate) — the threshold interest rate above which the central bank triggers a problem of financial stability.
“Persistently low real rates induce an increase in financial vulnerabilities and a consequent decline in the level of r**,” the authors write. “As the banking sector becomes more leveraged, the financial stability interest rate becomes lower. This has implications for monetary policy, in that even relatively low levels of the real interest rate could trigger financial instability.”
It’s always tempting to try to spot the precise location of the next financial crisis. Did quantitative easing inadvertently create a safe-asset shortage in the Eurozone? Is the US Treasury market dangerously illiquid? Could Japan’s bond market crash when the departure of Governor Haruhiko Kuroda from the Bank of Japan brings the end of yield-curve control? Alternatively, you can worry about illiquid bonds and loans in the private markets, or the “huge, missing and growing” pile of dollar-denominated debt being held by non-US institutions via currency derivatives, which disquiets the Bank for International Settlements.
The problem with all this is that, during the last inflationary period — the 1970s — the Fed’s behavior was characterized as much by “false dawns” as by pivots from hiking to cutting. In September 1973, when Arthur Burns was chair, the Fed paused hiking for seven months. Financial markets anticipated that a cut would come next, with the 1-year nominal Treasury bond yield rallying from 8.8% in August 1973 to 6.9% in February 1974. However, instead of cutting, the Fed hiked again on April 25, 1974, taking the discount rate to 8%. This caused a reset in rate expectations, sending the 1-year yield to 9.4% by August 1974.
There was a similar sequence in 1979, when a Fed pause and declining 1-year yields were followed by the appointment of Volcker, a series of hikes, and steep losses for fixed-income investors.
According to a number of economic journalists, for example Matthew Klein, the problem for the Fed is the labor market, which remains very tight. The number of workers quitting their jobs for better opportunities elsewhere remains elevated. Payrolls are growing at annual rate of 7%, well ahead of output. And let’s not forget the supply constraints on the labor market: the persistence of Covid as a deterrent to older people who might otherwise rejoin the labor force; or the complete breakdown of our system of legal immigration.
However, I know plenty of economists (at the San Francisco Fed, for example) who doubt that the labor market really is a driver of inflation, as opposed to its being driven by rising inflation expectations. I don’t think it will be the labor market that spoils Powell’s monetary landing on the Hudson.
Let’s take a closer look at what happened in the 1970s. Remember, the “great inflation” of that decade happened in three waves, each bigger than the one before. The first peaked in February 1970 (consumer price inflation 6.4%); the second peaked in November 1974 (12.2%); the third peaked in March 1980 (14.6%). Between the first and second peaks there was an attempt — at first apparently successful — at bringing down inflation. It simply failed. And the same happened again between the second and third peaks. Why?
In his classic history of the Federal Reserve, the late Allan Meltzer offered the best answer. In part, the Fed (and government economists more generally) wrongly assumed that full employment meant an unemployment rate of around 4% and wrongly expected a return to the higher productivity growth of the immediate postwar years. In addition, “policymakers erred in treating the output loss following the 1973 and 1979 oil shocks wholly as evidence of recession, instead of partly a one-time transfer to the oil producers that permanently reduced the level of output. This contributed to the mismeasurement of the output gap and the desire to raise output by monetary expansion.”
No sooner had the Fed hit pause than war broke out. Egypt and Syria attacked Israel on Oct. 6, 1973. The price of oil had already begun rising before the war, from $3.56 to $4.31 a barrel in August. But the oil embargo imposed by the Arab members of OPEC more than doubled the price to $10.11 by January 1974. The combination of higher interest rates and higher oil prices caused the worst US recession since the 1930s, which lasted from November 1973 until March 1975. Real output fell 4.9%, industrial production 15%. The S&P index plunged 40%, wiping out all the nominal gains investors had made since 1963. It did not regain its January 1973 level until 1980.
The onset of such a severe recession, you might think, was the cue for the Fed to ease. Certainly, the Boston Fed repeatedly requested a lower discount rate. But the Federal Reserve Board rejected each of its requests. Instead, with only one vote against, the board opted to raise rates in order to (as they put it) “foster financial conditions conducive to resisting inflationary pressures.” On April 25, 1974, the board approved a half percentage-point increase in the discount rate to 8%. The federal funds rate rose from an average of 8.97% in February to 12.92% in July. Yet inflation ended 1974 at a peacetime high of more than 12%.
Now there are some years in history when nothing bad happens. One of my favorite book titles is Ray Huang’s 1587: A Year of No Significance (about the decline of the Ming Empire). But how likely is 2023 to be such a year?
However, these protests are dwindling in the face of brutal repression. According to Iranian opposition groups, more than 15,000 demonstrators have been arrested and over 300 killed. The regime’s security forces remain large, highly indoctrinated and well prepared. They have shown no sign of splintering since the protests began.
Paradoxically, the protests’ primary significance may be to expand the power of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s praetorian guard, and hence to radicalize the regime still further. Publications close to the supreme leader have criticized demands to ease religious law and calls for a new nuclear deal with the West, describing supporters of such policies “ignorant, oblivious traitors” and “instruments of the Zionists and Americans.” The IRGC is also taking the opportunity to push for a “response” to Saudi Arabia’s alleged funding of Iranian opposition media.
Back in June, Saudi Arabia reached a cease-fire with the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen and launched talks to restore diplomatic ties with Tehran. Both the cease-fire and the talks have since collapsed. Iranian state media have blamed the protests on a “Zionist-Al-Saud media alliance.” So grave did the threat seem last month that on Nov. 1 the Saudis warned the Joe Biden administration of an “imminent” attack, leading US Central Command to scramble fighters in anticipation of a drone strike.
Saudi oil infrastructure is better defended today than it was in 2019, when Houthi suicide drones destroyed a major refinery. However, the Houthis are adept at multilayered attacks that use both drones and ballistic missiles to overwhelm air defenses. Saudi Aramco’s refinery in Jizan, which is close to the Yemeni border and processes 400,000 barrels of oil a day, is especially vulnerable.
I am not alone in seeing parallels between the 2020s and the 1970s. My old friend Ken Rogoff recently warned that “the world may very well be entering an extended period in which elevated and volatile inflation is likely to be persistent, not in the double digits but significantly above 2%,” as geopolitically driven supply shocks combine with Keynesian policies of demand stimulus.
As with the World Cup, the tiniest of margins may prove to be decisive. A matter of inches makes the difference between scoring and hitting the post. In the same way, 25 basis points too many or too few can make the difference between a nasty recession and an inflationary spiral. We shall learn today who is the king of the round ball. How far Powell deserves the title of monetary maestro may not be known for years.
• Nobody Knows How Long Inflation Will Last. That’s Life: Niall Ferguson
• The Dangerous Wisdom of Chinese Crowds: Niall Ferguson
• Trends Are Bad, Events Are Worse, But ‘Trevents’ May Surprise Us: Niall Ferguson
Niall Ferguson is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. The Milbank Family Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and the founder of Greenmantle, an advisory firm, he is author, most recently, of “Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe.” | 2022-12-18T15:26:50Z | www.washingtonpost.com | For the Fed, a Red Card From the Seventies - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/energy/for-the-fed-a-red-card-from-the-seventies/2022/12/18/0d9718be-7ee4-11ed-8738-ed7217de2775_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/energy/for-the-fed-a-red-card-from-the-seventies/2022/12/18/0d9718be-7ee4-11ed-8738-ed7217de2775_story.html |
More of these, please, except smaller. (Photographer: Bloomberg/Bloomberg)
Nuclear power is always good for starting an argument on the internet. In real life, however, it’s something the leaders of both parties largely agree on. Unfortunately, neither Democrats nor Republicans seem to have told the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Under former President Donald Trump, the US Energy Department actually made a side show touting its top 11 accomplishments in nuclear power. They include $170 million in research funding, the siting of America’s first small modular reactor in Idaho, and “looking into multiple options to provide small amounts of high assay low-enriched uranium” for testing and demonstration projects. Under President Joe Biden, these initiatives have only intensified. The Inflation Reduction Act features a 15-fold increase in funding for low-enriched uranium, makes nuclear power eligible for clean-energy tax credits and appropriates $150 million for the Idaho project and related activities.
There are a range of companies exploring small-reactor technologies, as my Bloomberg Opinion colleague Liam Denning has noted, but they all have a broadly similar strategy: They want to build reactors that are small enough to make in factories and then assemble onsite. Mass production is a concept that’s proven its worth time and again at lowering costs relative to bespoke operations.
Perhaps more important, there’s the question of safety.
In January 2019, Trump signed the Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act (NEIMA), which was spearheaded by Republican Senator John Barrasso and cosponsored by more than half a dozen Democrats. The bill passed the Senate on a voice vote and cleared the House by an overwhelming margin of 361-10.
Among the law’s provisions is one that directs the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to create a feasible path for licensing modular reactors. As Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse said at the time, the intention was to “give our nuclear regulator the flexibility it needs to bring new, safe reactors online to produce carbon-free energy.”
Fast forward almost four years later — and the NRC still hasn’t done anything. Instead of generating a new, simpler rule that will make reactor construction possible, on Sept. 30 it released a gargantuan, 1,252-page draft rule that experts say is more burdensome than the older regulations. As the Breakthrough Institute explains, the NRC essentially copied and pasted the older prescriptive rules and then added new ones. In particular, it stuck with the “as low as reasonably achievable” standard for radiation, which makes it economically impossible for nuclear to compete with fossil fuels.
What’s wrong with aiming for lower radiation risk? Nothing, in principle.
Nuclear is not in that cost-benefit framework: It simply requires more health protection regardless of cost. In practice, that results not in the construction of expensive but super-safe nuclear plants, but in the use of less-regulated fossil-fuel plants. The public-health outcomes, never mind the climate impact, are worse.
This is contrary to the stated policies of the federal government. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm went to the Idaho National Lab in August to tout the facility’s small modular reactor research and tout the advantages of nuclear power in helping fight climate change. Climate envoy John Kerry echoed her in late October, proudly announcing a nuclear technology-sharing deal with Poland with a tweet proclaiming that “nuclear energy is clean energy.” The Biden administration is even providing financial assistance to a modular reactor construction project in Romania.
But these aspirations aren’t going to come to anything unless the NRC gets onboard with the country’s objectives. That means the commission’s political appointees need to do their job, which in this case will require overruling the staff and asking the NRC to come back with a better rule — one that will lead to the construction of actual reactors.
• Nuclear Power Has One Last Chance to Flourish in the US: Liam Denning
• Nuclear Is The Future. Tiger and Bill Gates Know It: Anjani Trivedi
• Can Japan Learn to Love Nuclear Power Again?: Gearoid Reidy | 2022-12-18T15:26:56Z | www.washingtonpost.com | More Nuclear Power Is What Both Parties Want - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/energy/more-nuclear-power-is-what-both-parties-want/2022/12/18/de2136a4-7edf-11ed-8738-ed7217de2775_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/energy/more-nuclear-power-is-what-both-parties-want/2022/12/18/de2136a4-7edf-11ed-8738-ed7217de2775_story.html |
You calling me bald? A haircut is just one of the things that can inspire nicknames. (American Eagle Foundation)
Prospective parents spend hours — days, weeks, months — fretting over what to name their children. Nicknames are often invented in a matter of seconds.
Take Phil Battey, for example. On his first day as a freshman at Georgetown University in D.C. in 1970, he was assigned a room far down the hallway from the dorm’s communal shower.
“Having gotten up before dawn, I decided after unpacking my things to take a shower before going to lunch,” wrote Phil, of Alexandria.
Phil was the living embodiment of 1970 male youth: shoulder-length hair, a drooping mustache and glasses with wide metal frames.
“I did not have a robe, but I did have a raincoat,” he wrote. “Dressed in raincoat and flip flops — and nothing else — I walked down the hall.”
As Phil passed the mother of a dorm mate, she said: “My, he looks shifty.”
Wrote Phil: “By midnight, I was known as Shifty to all my new dorm mates. By the end of the week, I was Shifty to all the other students I knew and a couple of my professors.”
In 1989, after turning 40, Linda Sue Pessagno of Falls Church, Va., joined a senior women’s softball league called the Golden Girls. In one game, she was on first base when a teammate drove a ball into the outfield.
“I made it all the way around to home plate and scored,” Linda Sue wrote. “Someone in the dugout yelled ‘Way to go, Legs!’ and it stuck.”
Thirty-three years later, she still goes by that spur-of-the-moment nickname in the Golden Girls’ world.
“I am not sure if some of the women even know my ‘real’ name,” wrote Linda Sue. “I personally believe that nicknames are an endearment and I feel special having mine!”
Shortly after World War II, Chuck Burchard’s father, Charles, started a new job with the local telephone company. On his first day at work, one of the old-timers looked at the new guy and asked, “Who na hell zat?”
“A friend of my father overheard the question and, being fond of nicknames, latched onto the first two syllables and dubbed my father ‘Whoona,’” wrote Chuck, who lives in Erie, Pa.
That became Charles’s nickname at work. And at home, Charles called Chuck “Little Whoona,” which soon morphed into “L’il Whoona.”
Wrote Chuck: “I had a rapper-style nickname by age 3!”
Falls Church’s Nancy Bolin had a royal-style nickname. Her name sounds enough like the unfortunate second wife of Henry VIII that ever since high school, she’s been Nan Boleyn to her friends.
Wrote Nancy: “So far, I still have my head and I produced three sons and a daughter for my husband, so he can’t complain I never produced an heir.”
When he was growing up, Marshall Truslow constantly corrected his two older brothers about the rules and regulations of the sports they played together.
“My brothers would always say, ‘Okay, Dictionary, we know you know it all,’” wrote Marshall, of Annandale. “Soon, all my friends started calling me Dictionary, and after several years it was shortened to Dick.
“From then on, except in business matters, I have always been known as ‘Dick’ Truslow.”
George Miller’s father, George Sr., grew up in the 1930s. After an extreme buzz cut at the barber’s, George Sr. got the nickname Baldy from his friends.
“The name stuck throughout his entire life,” wrote George Jr., of Warrenton. “Fortunately, he lost his hair in his mid-20s so the nickname worked.”
But it wasn’t all good. When George’s parents were out together, his mother, Frances, would call out “Baldy” to get her husband’s attention. “Some would give her dirty looks while others would accuse her of being mean,” wrote George Jr. “But he loved the nickname and never wanted to be called anything else.”
Richard Blakeslee of Portland, Ore., had a similar experience. When he was about 12, he got his summer crew cut.
“My neighbor, ‘Bud’ Bach, said I was as bald as an eagle, so within a day or so my nickname became ‘Eag’ and lasted for years,” Richard wrote.
The District’s Ben Stearn was born Benjamin Franklin Stearn III. While his father, Benjamin Franklin Stearn Jr., was alive, the family couldn’t have two Bens in the house.
So, taking the initials of his first two names, Ben became BF, pronounced “Biff.”
That, he wrote, “was all well and good until I graduated from medical school and thought that nobody would respect a Dr. Biff Stearn, so Dr. Ben I became.”
Gary Moffat of Auburn, Calif., just turned what he calls “a dour 72.”
But apparently when he was a baby, he was a very happy baby, indeed, so happy that his father called him “Giggles,” which was ultimately shortened to “Gig.”
Wrote Gary: “The name never stuck with others, but my dad used it affectionately for the rest of his life, even on his deathbed. Speaking so very softly the last time we talked, he started by asking, ‘Hey Gig, how’s your car running?’”
For many people, this will be a week of frantic last-minute shopping. Things we’ve been meaning to do can get lost in the shuffle. Don’t let The Washington Post Helping Hand be one of those things. We’ve partnered with three D.C.-based charities — Bread for the City, Friendship Place and Miriam’s Kitchen — and made it easy to donate to them. | 2022-12-18T15:27:14Z | www.washingtonpost.com | When it comes to nicknames, inspiration takes many forms - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/12/18/instant-nicknames/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/12/18/instant-nicknames/ |
Servings:6 (makes 12 cups)
Dan Buettner has a knack for distilling complex ideas into something digestible — and even memorable. For example, in a recent Instagram Reel, the author and researcher behind the Blue Zones books addresses a common question he gets: What about supplements? Buettner’s project celebrates the behaviors, lifestyles and diets of people who live to be centenarians without disease, and he says, “They’re not taking supplements or hormones or energy drinks. They are, however, taking this.”
I knew where he might be going. Sure enough, he holds up a single black bean and says, “They take about 125 of these every single day.”
Buettner’s Blue Zones work aims to help the rest of us learn simple ways of improving our health, too, even if we’re not picking wild greens in Ikaria, Greece; or getting up and down from the floor dozens of times a day in Okinawa, Japan. Now, after focusing on recipes from the original five Blue Zones (which also include communities in Italy, California and Costa Rica), Buettner is back with “The Blue Zones American Kitchen,” a book that spotlights what he calls “an alternate standard American diet.”
The word “alternate” carries a lot of weight in that previous sentence, because the definition of a standard American diet is something that, as the National Cancer Institute reported in 2010, falls far short of the recommendations for consumption of nutrient-rich vegetables and whole grains, among other problems. But Buettner suspected that he might be able to find more inspiring examples, especially if he looked at culinary traditions less touched by industrial advancements.
Using research that dates to 1887, he found that the traditional diets of African Americans, Asian Americans, Latin Americans and Native Americans hew closely to Blue Zones principles: They’re primarily plant-based, with a focus on legumes, greens, tubers, grains, nuts and seeds.
I’ve followed Buettner’s work for more than a decade — frankly, it has influenced my own bean evangelism, among other things — so I knew I’d be on board with the latest iteration of his attempts to make learning to live longer not a chore, but a delicious pursuit.
This sweet potato and black-eyed pea soup, from “The Blue Zones American Kitchen,” fits right into his message. It’s by Serigne Mbaye, a Senegalese American chef based in New Orleans who designed it as part of a project to reclaim and redefine the “last meal” that his enslaved ancestors were fed by traders who needed to fatten them up for the journey by ship to America.
In Mbaye’s hands, the combination of black-eyed peas and palm oil turns into a beautiful pureed soup that adds sweet potatoes, aromatics and spices. A touch of cayenne creates a wonderful heat that builds a little at the back of your throat without overpowering any of the other flavors.
The recipe works nicely, but I felt compelled to make one small adjustment: I reserved some of the solids — cooked sweet potato cubes, black-eyed peas and more — before pureeing, and then used them to garnish the soup. The appeal is textural, of course, but also visual. Because if you’re cooking and serving a dish that spreads the word about how to eat like a centenarian, you don’t want to hide the most nutrient-dense, life-giving ingredients. You want to showcase them.
Storage: Refrigerate for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 3 months.
Calories: 370; Total Fat: 16 g; Saturated Fat: 4 g; Cholesterol: 0 mg; Sodium: 296 mg; Carbohydrates: 55 g; Dietary Fiber: 13 g; Sugar: 11 g; Protein: 10 g
Adapted from chef Serigne Mbaye’s recipe in “The Blue Zones American Kitchen” by Dan Buettner (National Geographic, 2022). | 2022-12-18T15:27:20Z | www.washingtonpost.com | A sweet potato and black-eyed pea soup recipe for flavor and longevity - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2022/12/18/sweet-potato-black-eyed-pea-soup-recipe/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2022/12/18/sweet-potato-black-eyed-pea-soup-recipe/ |
By Paula Phounsavath, The News-Virginian | AP
AMHERST, Va. — With the holidays quickly approaching, a handful of migrant workers from Mexico are eager to return to their loved ones.
One of them was Francisco “Paco” Resendiz, a shy, 27-year-old friendly worker who came to Nelson County from Hidalgo, Mexico. He enjoys watching soccer, singing and playing the drums when he is not operating the fields. He’s been staying in the United States for two years, or as the workers call it, “two seasons.”
“It’s easier to be here to save up some money, so I can maybe invest in something in Mexico,” Resendiz said in Spanish. “It’s so hard to be without a family or to have somebody to talk to sometimes. We might not always like it, but it’s better to be here.”
Although most of the men are back with their families in Mexico, Resendiz stayed in Virginia during the off-season months to prune the branches.
More than 600 men from Mexico come to this area of Virginia via work visas to operate apple and peach orchard fields, either maintaining the fields or harvesting or processing the crops. The migrant workers wake up early, eat breakfast and get ready for work. The crew leaders pick the workers up on the bus and the workers would operate the fields for eight long hours, with only a few breaks throughout the day. After their shift, the workers return home, shower and help make dinner. They often talk to their families over the phone if they have time.
The workers live in communal housing, usually next to the rolling fields.
“These guys are sort of de facto members of our community,” she said. “They live here more than they live in Mexico. They come back year after year once their contract is renewed.”
Resendiz lives in a one-story cinder-block home facing the orchards and Blue Ridge Mountains, which he shares with other workers. His housing has a communal kitchen and living space, with dormitory-style rooms fitting around three or four workers. | 2022-12-18T15:27:39Z | www.washingtonpost.com | As off-season starts, migrant workers head back to Mexico - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/as-off-season-starts-migrant-workers-head-back-to-mexico/2022/12/18/862afb72-7edc-11ed-8738-ed7217de2775_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/as-off-season-starts-migrant-workers-head-back-to-mexico/2022/12/18/862afb72-7edc-11ed-8738-ed7217de2775_story.html |
Solution to Evan Birnholz’s Dec. 18 crossword, “Themeless No. 21”
I recently celebrated a work anniversary. As of Dec. 6, I’ve been writing crosswords for The Washington Post for seven years. I would be lying, however, if I said it was the happiest work anniversary, given that The Washington Post announced on Nov. 30 that it is shutting down The Post Magazine after next week’s final issue. As I mentioned last week, though, you will be able find my crossword in the Arts & Style section of the newspaper beginning Jan. 1. To the extent that it’s possible, I’d recommend getting a print copy of The Magazine on Dec. 25, not just for the puzzle’s sake (there’s more about that at the end of the post) but as a collector’s item.
I’d written last August that I included a pair of 18-letter answers for “Themeless No. 18,” a 19-letter answer for “Themeless No. 19,” and a pair of 20-letter answers for “Themeless No. 20.” So, what do we have for today’s “Themeless No. 21”? Six interlocking, grid-spanning 21-letter answers:
23A: [“Stranger Things,” e.g.] is NETFLIX ORIGINAL SERIES.
66A: [“Obviously!”] is “THAT GOES WITHOUT SAYING.”
109A: [Labour organiser, at times] is LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION.
3D: [Like gory films among those who are squeamish, say] is NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART.
9D: [“Look, this is the best we’re gonna get”] is “BEGGARS CAN’T BE CHOOSERS.”
16D: [Group in between the Bushes] is CLINTON ADMINISTRATION.
I can’t keep up the trend of using matching-length answers for each successive themeless puzzle forever, so I don’t expect “Themeless No. 22” will have a 22-letter answer. That means that the 22-letter phrase THEMELESS SUNDAY PUZZLES will likely not see the light of day in one my crosswords. But if I find a really good 22-letter phrase and come up with what I think is a killer clue for it … who knows?
Working with six grid-spanning answers like this constrains what you can do with the rest of the grid, but here are some other answers and clues of note:
27A: [Animals that were domesticated around 8000 B.C. in what is now western Iran] is GOATS. I learned that from this New Scientist article from June 2021.
31A: [Language introduced in L. L. Zamenhof’s 1887 book “Unua Libro”] is ESPERANTO. I hadn’t known until now that it’s been around for over 130 years. I also didn’t know until now that you can learn it on Duolingo.
34A and the next Across answer at 35A have the same clue: [“The Addams Family” character who speaks using seemingly unintelligible sounds]. That would be ITT and LURCH, respectively.
53A: [Where some soldiers are stationed?] is ANT FARM. I’m picturing that these ants take part in little military parades, with tiny drums and fifes. Admit it: So are you.
72A: [Flash point?] is STROBE. My favorite clue today.
94A: [Nice words?] is FRENCH. Using the city of Nice as a misdirect for a French word is an old standby for crosswords.
100A: [Ocean-surveying images obtained by reflecting sound waves] is ECHOGRAMS. File this under “thing I didn’t know existed until I wrote this puzzle.”
120A: [Childish but truthful reply to “I went to Mars for vacation!”] is “DID NOT.” The “childish reply” category of answer is a bane for many solvers and constructors, probably in part because there are so many of them (like AM SO, IS TOO, IS NOT, etc.) and they’re almost always clued the same way. I thought it might be fun to spruce up this answer by imagining a conversation that two kids might have on the playground where one of them might say DID NOT.
12D: [Images of Belle and Sebastian, e.g.] is CELS. This is about the Disney characters, not the band.
36D: [Star’s output] is HEAT. I was tempted to give it a Miami Heat clue since it’s nearby BRON at 29A: [NBA star James, informally].
61D: [Occasional Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year, oddly] is PHRASE. I guess Words of the Year doesn’t come off right even when it’s a two-word phrase. This year the winner was “goblin mode.”
97D: [Early 20th-century senator Reed who becomes pointless to debate if you remove the first letter?] is SMOOT, who becomes the word MOOT if you delete the S. It’s odd how just last week I had another senator from yesteryear in STENNIS and I went to a wordplay angle with him, too.
A pair of World Cup-related clues at 111D: [Cry one may hear after “¡Goooooooooooool!”] which is OLÉ and at 114D: [World Cup target] which is NET. Who are you predicting to win today’s final match? I’m rooting for Lionel Messi to win in what may be his final World Cup, but France has looked very, very good (arguably a better team than Argentina thus far) and it wouldn’t surprise me if Kylian Mbappé takes home the Golden Boot trophy. (And no, FRENCH being in the grid at 94A was not my way of making a prediction.)
Finally, here’s a heads-up about next week’s year-ending puzzle: It is not going to be a regular crossword. If you remember last year’s “Haunted House” meta suite — which featured some smaller, nonstandard puzzle formats — it’s going to be like that, but spread out over one page rather than two. I had been hoping to write another meta suite for a while, but didn’t find the hook I’d wanted until around Thanksgiving. Go big or go home, as they say, and since it’s the final issue of The Post Magazine, it felt extra crucial to go big. Good luck and I hope you will enjoy it. | 2022-12-18T15:27:51Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Solution to Evan Birnholz’s Dec. 18 crossword, “Themeless No. 21” - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/2022/12/18/solution-evan-birnholzs-dec-18-crossword-themeless-no-21/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/2022/12/18/solution-evan-birnholzs-dec-18-crossword-themeless-no-21/ |
Pushing back against hate does matter
A marble bust of Roger B. Taney at the U.S. Capitol. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)
The United States is awash in hate crimes and rising antisemitism. It’s enough to make one despair.
But we have also seen both substantive and symbolic steps recently that push back against intolerance, hate and violence. They are worth celebrating.
Consider, for example, the passage of a bill last week to replace the statue of Chief Justice Roger B. Taney in the U.S. Capitol with one of Justice Thurgood Marshall. The symbolism could not be more striking.
Taney not only wrote the court’s Dred Scott decision, which held that a slaveowner could reclaim a slave who resided in a free state, but affirmed in that ruling that Blacks had been permanently shut out of citizenship. They were non-people in the eyes of the court. As Taney wrote, “they were at that time [of America’s founding] considered as a subordinate and inferior class of beings who had been subjugated by the dominant race, and, whether emancipated or not, yet remained subject to their authority, and had no rights or privileges but such as those who held the power and the Government might choose to grant them.”
Post-Civil War constitutional amendments overturned the holding. But it was Marshall, first as chief counsel for the NAACP in bringing landmark cases to the court, including Brown v. Board of Education, and then as the first Black Supreme Court justice, who helped shred the legacy of Dred Scott and later Plessy v. Ferguson. Marshall’s life and work were a rebuttal to Taney, a confirmation that “we the people” includes all Americans born or naturalized here.
For some, it might be amazing to learn that Taney’s statue lasted so long in the Capitol. Then again, it has only been in the past few years that statues of Confederate generals have started to come down across the country. (Richmond just took down its final major Confederate memorial last week.)
Clearly, there has been a welcome shift in most Americans’ attitudes. They agree that Americans not only need to learn history but also to honor those who embody our better angels. To honor Taney is to repudiate our Constitution (as amended); to honor Marshall is to pay homage to our ability to move forward from America’s original sin.
Also last week, President Biden made an important statement in the wake of the explosion of vicious antisemitism on Twitter and elsewhere. The White House announced, “The President is establishing an inter-agency group led by Domestic Policy Council staff and National Security Council staff to increase and better coordinate U.S. Government efforts to counter antisemitism, Islamophobia, and related forms of bias and discrimination within the United States.” The goal, according to the announcement, is to develop a strategy that will "raise understanding about antisemitism and the threat it poses to the Jewish community and all Americans, address antisemitic harassment and abuse both online and offline, seek to prevent antisemitic attacks and incidents, and encourage whole-of-society efforts to counter antisemitism and build a more inclusive nation.”
Jewish organizations warmly received the news. The Anti-Defamation League endorsed the move, and the American Jewish Congress was effusive in its praise:
Our communities can no longer afford a method of “wait and see.” Instead, action is required to safeguard Jewish Americans — and the establishment of this new White House entity is a fundamental step in that direction. At this particular moment, it is also essential to recognize how antisemitism is perpetrated today, as it has often taken shape in the arena of social media, differing from how it has before. Furthermore, this group can serve as a direct supporting entity to assist local and state-wide law enforcement efforts, in their fight to ensure that the fires of antisemitism are extinguished with haste.
President Biden’s commitment to defending the Jewish People is and has always been profound, and the creation of this group is a further testament to that fact.
Whether this move results in increased law enforcement or improved data collection remains to be seen. But simply elevating the issue and countering hateful rhetoric can help prevent the normalization of antisemitism. Left alone, antisemitism will metastasize, as history shows.
The White House last week also held a ceremony — more like a joyous festival — for the signing of the Respect for Marriage Act. The act itself, necessitated by concern that gay marriage has joined the endangered list of constitutional rights under the radical right-wing Supreme Court, codified protections for same-sex and interracial marriage. Though Republican support was minimal, it did attract enough GOP support (12 Republicans) to survive a filibuster in the Senate.
Biden made a big deal of the signing to show that his White House was one where all married folks are welcome. Mere tolerance is insufficient; this was about acceptance. As Biden said, he wanted to mark the day as one in which “America takes a vital step toward equality, toward liberty and justice, not just for some, but for everyone." Counteracting hate and violence against the LGBTQ community requires more than laws; it requires a change of heart. In modeling the largeness of his heart, Biden made those seeking to ostracize LGBTQ people look small.
The notion that none of this matters — that the hearts and minds of the most embittered haters are unchangeable — is morally obtuse. These actions are intended to align the country with its deepest-held values and to persuade the persuadable of the real meaning of American democracy. In that regard, all these steps matter. | 2022-12-18T15:28:09Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Congress's vote to remove a Roger B. Taney statue stands against hate - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/18/steps-against-hate-antisemitism-gay-marriage/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/18/steps-against-hate-antisemitism-gay-marriage/ |
World Cup live updates Argentina leads France 1-0 after Lionel Messi converts penalty
Argentina takes 1-0 lead on Lionel Messi’s penalty kick
GOAL: A penalty kick by — who else...
Argentina continues to control play and negate the...
France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris was in a great...
France, despite its experience, has looked uncharacteristically unsettled...
Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé, Paris Saint-Germain teammates,...
The World Cup final — Argentina vs. France,...
Lionel Messi (who else?) captains an Argentina squad...
Well before kickoff, the streets of Buenos Aires...
Who has more to prove: Lionel Messi, who...
The size and sound of the Argentina contingent...
Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé make their teams go. Here’s how they do it.
Long lines of soccer fans formed outside Parisian...
Argentina’s viral dancing World Cup lucky charm
Lionel Messi and Argentina are facing France in the World Cup final. (Lee Smith/Reuters)
After nearly a month of twists and turns, the World Cup concludes Sunday with France and Argentina playing for the championship in a star-studded final. France, led by transcendent forward Kylian Mbappé, has overcome injuries to several key players and can become the first repeat champion since Brazil in 1958 and 1962. Argentina, led by the unparalleled Lionel Messi, is looking to send its star out on top with its first title since 1986. Follow along for live updates and highlights from the game.
France has been the tournament’s most consistent team, losing only when it was resting many of its key players in the group stage finale. Les Bleus are looking for their third world title after wins in 2018 and 1998.
Argentina has won five straight games since its shocking opening loss against Saudi Arabia in the group stage. La Albiceleste’s previous titles came in 1978 and 1986, when it was led by another generational talent, Diego Maradona.
Mbappé and Messi have been the two best players in the tournament, and the Golden Boot will be decided Sunday along with the championship. Both players entered the final with a tournament-high five goals. Argentina’s Julián Álvarez and France’s Olivier Giroud each have four.
Lionel Messi scored his World Cup-leading sixth goal, converting from the penalty spot in the 23rd minute to put Argentina up 1-0 over France. The superstar easily beat French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.
Ángel Di María drew the penalty after being taken down from behind by Ousmane Dembélé.
GOAL: A penalty kick by — who else — Lionel Messi goes past Hugo Lloris for a 1-0 Argentina lead in the 23rd minute. The penalty came after Ousmane Dembélé’s egregious foul.
Argentina continues to control play and negate the presence of Kylian Mbappé defensively. Argentina, sharper on the attack, is generating pressure and it feels as if a breakthrough could be coming even though a recent shot by Ángel Di Maria sailed over the goal.
Di María is going to want another look at that one 👀
Argentina with another big chance in the first half 🇦🇷 pic.twitter.com/0sdRB5WP1p
France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris was in a great deal of pain after his Tottenham Hotspur teammate Christian Romero was pushed into him during a flurry of activity in front of the goal. Lloris is continuing to play.
France, despite its experience, has looked uncharacteristically unsettled over the first five minutes and Argentina has capitalized with two half-chances, one on a play that was ruled offside.
Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé, Paris Saint-Germain teammates, are tied in the running for the Golden Boot with five goals each. Argentina’s Julián Álvarez and Olivier Giroud each are one goal back. Will a star break through in the final to claim the individual honor?
🐐🐐
Messi and Mbappé meet in the tunnel one last time before kickoff pic.twitter.com/XK1RFBnGwr
The World Cup final — Argentina vs. France, or Lionel Messi vs. Kylian Mbappé, depending on your point of view — is underway at Lusail Stadium in Qatar.
Lionel Messi (who else?) captains an Argentina squad looking for its first World Cup championship since Diego Maradona’s legendary run in 1986.
Local politics reporter covering Arlington and Alexandria
Well before kickoff, the streets of Buenos Aires were filled with honking cars and crowds of people singing “Muchachos, ahora nos volvimos a ilusionar.” The chant — which translates to “Guys, we’re getting our hopes up again” — has become a mantra this year for a country rallying around Lionel Messi as it deals with inflation and bitter political divides.
Who has more to prove: Lionel Messi, who has never won a World Cup, or Kylian Mbappé, the 23-year-old superstar who led France to the championship in 2018? That year, he joined Pelé as the only teen to score in a World Cup final. It’s different now as he prepares to face the team led by his Paris Saint-Germain teammate.
Reporter covering national college football, college basketball, tennis, golf and international sports
The size and sound of the Argentina contingent in the stadium for the final is staggering, 8,275.24 miles from Buenos Aires (and it’s that extra 0.24 that really gets to you). That’s even as whatever percentage resides in Europe, South Asia, North America...
Argentina fans are bringing the energy 🇦🇷 pic.twitter.com/HWdJKqFMNS
Paris correspondent covering France
Long lines of soccer fans formed outside Parisian bars Sunday. Many cities — including Paris — are boycotting the tournament and have refused to set up public viewing areas. As a result, many bars and restaurants in Paris are expected to be even busier today than they were when France won the World Cup four years ago.
The latest: After nearly a month of twists and turns, the World Cup concludes Sunday with France and Argentina playing for the championship in a star-studded final. Follow our live coverage for the latest news, analysis and highlights. | 2022-12-18T15:28:22Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Lionel Messi, Argentina lead France 1-0: World Cup live updates - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/18/france-vs-argentina-world-cup-final/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/18/france-vs-argentina-world-cup-final/ |
Atlanta Braves' Dansby Swanson hits a two-run home run during the fifth inning in Game 6 of baseball's World Series between the Houston Astros and the Atlanta Braves Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021, in Houston. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
In the years since the Chicago Cubs won their long-awaited World Series title in 2017, their offseasons have been defined more by departures than arrivals. Little by little, piece by piece, the Cubs watched homegrown stars go elsewhere, chipping away at a once-talented roster that sunk steadily into mediocrity.
But Saturday night, for the first time since they signed Jason Heyward for $188 million in 2016, the Cubs committed more than $100 million to an established position player when they reportedly agreed to pay shortstop Dansby Swanson $177 million over seven years, a deal first reported by ESPN.
Swanson has played his whole major league career with the Atlanta Braves and led them to a World Series title in 2021. He is an elite defensive shortstop who last season compiled a career year offensively. He is the kind of player who stabilizes a roster but doesn’t transform it. Yet to these Cubs, a big-market team whose stinginess in recent winters has frustrated fans who do not understand it, the splurge on Swanson signals a change in approach. What is not clear is how much the results will change because of it.
The Cubs infield will be better. Swanson will pair with Nico Hoerner up the middle to give the Cubs one of the better defensive middle infields in baseball. He brings recent playoff experience and a history of winning. And if he can produce the way he did in 2022, he should chip in somewhere around 20 homers and a .270 batting average. Again, the kind of hitter that bolsters a lineup, but likely will not carry it.
The Cubs had already lost one of their more formidable hitters in catcher Willson Contreras, who signed with the St. Louis Cardinals earlier this month. They took a chance on former NL MVP Cody Bellinger when they signed him to a one-year deal worth $17.5 million in the hopes that he can regain his old offensive form in an outfield that also includes the prize of last year’s winter, Seiya Suzuki. Both will need to bounce back to help the Cubs offense move forward. But a change of scenery for Bellinger and the fact that Suzuki has played a full major league season suggest that, at the very least, resurgence is possible for one or both of them.
Their rotation is deeper now than it was at season’s end, too. Earlier this month, the Cubs agreed to a four-year deal with right-hander Jameson Taillon. The 31-year-old was one of the more reliable innings-eaters on this year’s starting pitching market and pitched to a 4.08 ERA while averaging 160-plus innings over the last two seasons with the New York Yankees. He, like Swanson, is helpful but not transformative. He pairs with wily Kyle Hendricks and fellow righty Marcus Stroman to give the Cubs an experienced and steady rotation core.
Outside factors appear to be working in Chicago’s favor, too. The Milwaukee Brewers have offloaded Hunter Renfroe and Kolten Wong already this offseason, and their ace, Corbin Burnes, continues to appear in trade rumors, for whatever those are worth. If the Brewers decide Burnes is available, the righty would likely be the most coveted starter available via trade this offseason — and traditionally aggressive teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers could use another starter.
But the trouble with the Cubs, even after the Swanson signing, is that they could not keep up with the division-winning Cardinals last year. Now, the Cardinals have poached their catcher, one of the best offensive backstops in baseball. St. Louis is still powered by two of the biggest stars in the sport, Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado. They still have promising starting pitching in Miles Mikolas and Jack Flaherty and a fireballing bullpen. So despite a relative splurge, the Cubs remain firmly in pursuit.
The impact of the Swanson deal will also be felt in Atlanta, where the hometown star had emerged as a fan favorite alongside Freddie Freeman, then became one of the few young Braves players the team did not lock down long-term. Atlanta seems to have a natural succession plan in place in 21-year-old Vaughn Grissom, a young middle infielder who has reportedly impressed Atlanta infield guru Ron Washington this offseason. And the rest of their infield, including just-acquired catcher Sean Murphy, is all-star caliber.
Swanson’s departure is more noteworthy in part because when Atlanta General Manager Alex Anthopoulos has wanted to sign stars long-term, he has had no trouble doing so. But when Freeman, who like Swanson is represented by Excel, hit free agency last year, he and the Braves endured a messy parting that loomed over his first season with the Dodgers. Now Swanson, the hometown Georgia kid and World Series hero, is headed to Chicago, where his wife, professional soccer player Mallory Pugh, plays in the National Women’s Soccer League. Anthopoulos, it seems, is as comfortable letting sentimental favorites go as he is betting on young players before most other executives would feel comfortable doing so.
At times this winter, Swanson seemed like he might fit alongside Freeman with the Dodgers, who lost their shortstop Trea Turner to the Philadelphia Phillies. If things hold, they will now likely rely on Gavin Lux to hold down that position. Then again, the Dodgers are not known for sitting still. In fact, they made their biggest addition of a conspicuously quiet offseason Saturday evening in the wake of the Swanson deal when they agreed to a one-year deal with designated hitter J.D. Martinez, per a person familiar with the deal. Martinez has been an all-star in four of the last five seasons. Since the start of the 2018 season, only 12 hitters in baseball have a higher OPS. | 2022-12-18T16:02:03Z | www.washingtonpost.com | The Cubs got Dansby Swanson. How much better does that make them? - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/18/cubs-dansby-swanson/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/18/cubs-dansby-swanson/ |
Arlington has an opportunity to help preserve the American Dream
Jane Green, president of the YIMBY’s of Northern Virginia, hands out a yard sign Nov. 12 at a farmers market after a county board meeting where she and other citizens demanded more affordable housing in Arlington. (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post)
Arlington has an important opportunity at hand. Yet, as reported in the Dec. 11 Metro article “Fight over new zoning starts with its name,” there seems to be more concern about finding a descriptive term for the zoning change to allow more affordable housing than to agree that Arlington has an actual problem to solve. The article reported that the median price of a home in Arlington was $650,000 — and $1.17 million for a single-family house. Retired real estate agent Diane Duston maintained, “I don’t think there’s a missing middle … for younger people with realistic expectations, there are plenty of attainable options on the market.” So where exactly are these “attainable options”?
In the 1930s, and later during the years following World War II, one architect was determined to find a solution to what he saw as a major residential problem: the need for good, moderately priced housing. Frank Lloyd Wright applied his principles of organic architecture to the development of the Usonian house. As early as 1894, Wright wrote, “Home means more than money and the smaller means sometimes show the best results.” One creative example — his Pope-Leighey house — can be seen in nearby Mount Vernon, on the grounds of Woodlawn Plantation. By 1954 he still believed “the house of moderate cost is not only America’s major architectural problem but the problem most difficult for her major architects.”
Just across the Potomac from our halls of democratic freedom, is Arlington housing truthfully priced to deprive certain people from owning it?
Pat Page, Westminster, Md. | 2022-12-18T18:30:19Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | For Arlington, affordable housing is a freedom issue - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/18/arlington-missing-middle-freedom/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/18/arlington-missing-middle-freedom/ |
The ‘asylum’ sham means we’ll see a continued mess at the border
Migrants who have just been deported from the United States enter a processing center on March 31 in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. (Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post)
Regarding the Dec. 11 editorial “How to respond to an expected surge at the border”:
To qualify for asylum, individuals must demonstrate that they have suffered or fear that they will suffer persecution because of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion. Clearly, the overwhelming majority of those arriving at the southern border do not meet any of these criteria. Yet, year after year, under our current immigration policy, thousands upon thousands of “asylum seekers” are admitted to the United States, processed and sent on their way, with only the understanding that they must “appear” at some distant date for a hearing at which their claim for asylum will almost certainly be denied. Any incentive to make such an appearance is thus virtually nonexistent. The result is, in effect, an “open border” — a perception shared throughout Central and South America, as well as elsewhere.
The United States is under no moral or international or domestic legal obligation to admit and shelter those who seek to circumvent the established immigration system by simply engaging in the demonstrated charade of declaring that they seek “asylum.” Moreover, the expenditure of millions of dollars for additional border facilities and asylum hearing officers will offer no meaningful solution to this ongoing national crisis. It is the asylum process itself that must be restructured. Toward this end, the issuance of a U.S. statement of policy indicating that those who seek asylum in the United States must apply for this status at a U.S. Embassy or consulates within their country of citizenship merits serious consideration.
David E. Graham, Charlottesville | 2022-12-18T18:30:25Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | The ‘asylum’ sham means a continued mess at the Southern border - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/18/asylum-sham-means-continued-mess-southern-border/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/18/asylum-sham-means-continued-mess-southern-border/ |
Supreme Court justices must avoid even the appearance of impropriety
The Supreme Court. (Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post)
In her Dec. 14 op-ed, “Where the justices appear speaks volumes,” Ruth Marcus deftly exposed the contradiction between the required appearance of judicial impartiality and the propensity of Supreme Court justices to participate in events hosted by groups or organizations wedded to their interpretive philosophies. The law must be above suspicion to command public confidence. But suspicion is awakened when the public sees justices befriend their ideological favorites, whose stature and donations are boosted by sharing the justices’ enormous prestige and fame.
As the English proverb teaches, “Birds of a feather flock together.” The justices should be cognizant of the Supreme Court’s gospel in Offutt v. United States in accepting out-of-court engagements: “Justice must satisfy the appearance of justice.”
Bruce Fein, Washington
The writer was an associate deputy attorney general under President Ronald Reagan. | 2022-12-18T18:30:43Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Supreme Court justices must avoid even the appearance of impropriety - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/18/supreme-court-justices-avoid-appearance-impropriety/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/18/supreme-court-justices-avoid-appearance-impropriety/ |
Unhappiness ran in both directions and loomed over the Arizona senator’s political future
By Yvonne Wingett Sanchez
Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Kyrsten Sinema, then a Democrat and now an independent from Arizona, arrive at a news conference after the Senate passed the Respect for Marriage Act on Nov. 29. (Elizabeth Frantz for The Washington Post)
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema caught many by surprise earlier this month when she announced she was leaving the Democratic Party and registering as an independent, saying in a slickly produced video that the change is “a reflection of who I’ve always been.”
But the decision was months in the making, according to current and former aides and allies close to the senator from Arizona, and it reflected Sinema’s longtime dissatisfaction with the Democratic Party. Her consternation deepened in recent years, said these people, who, like others interviewed for this article, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
The unhappiness has run in both directions and loomed over Sinema’s political future, prompting some critics to see a calculated ploy for survival in Sinema’s announcement. She is unpopular with Democrats back home following some high-profile party-line defections. Polls also suggested she could lose a Democratic primary if she sought reelection in 2024 — a hurdle she would no longer need to clear as an independent.
Now Sinema, 46, has caused what many see as the first big potential political earthquake in the battle for the Senate in 2024. Her shift is the latest of several reinventions throughout her career, as she has climbed the ladder from Green Party activist to state and eventually federal lawmaker with far less liberal positions. Although she has not said whether she will run for a second term, Sinema’s most recent conversion carries significant ramifications in a key battleground.
“There are certainly some who have wanted me to fit into one box or the other,” Sinema said in an interview. “But I have never wanted to do that.”
Sinema had been weighing a departure from the Democratic Party for months, people familiar with the timing said. By the fall, planning was underway, even before she appeared in late September at the University of Louisville McConnell Center, where she defended her centrist brand of politics — and further enraged some liberals — with the Republican Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, looking on.
McConnell advises Sinema frequently, according to a person familiar with their relationship, and the two spoke about her decision to defend the legislative filibuster and other matters. “She and I talk all the time,” McConnell told reporters Tuesday.
High-ranking Democrats said they remained in the dark until just before she pulled the trigger. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) learned she would be leaving the party the day before she announced it, he said recently. White House aides have declined to say whether President Biden received a heads up, or how he reacted when he was told she would not be joining him on Air Force One for his visit to Arizona a few days before she broke the news. (Biden said at the time that Sinema needed to stay in Washington to work on legislation, calling her a “tremendous advocate” for Arizona.)
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) declined to say whether Sinema warned him that she was leaving the party and, like most Democrats, did not answer a question about whether he would support her if she runs for reelection as an independent. “You are getting into hypotheticals,” he said last Monday. “But I have worked very closely with her for a long period of time.”
A marathon runner and triathlete who has broken the mold of the typical senator, Sinema often eschewed Democratic events and meetings, frequently setting up her own bipartisan negotiations with Republicans and centrists on legislation. The first openly bisexual person to serve in the Senate, her latest negotiation resulted in federal legislation to protect same-sex couples that attracted 12 Republican votes in the Senate.
“She’s always been an independent thinker,” said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn). “This seems like this changes the letter next to her name and not much else.”
Where some have seen a maverick streak in line with Arizona’s history of rewarding political independence, others have seen a betrayal in her disconnect from local party officials and activists who supported her election as a Democrat as she sought her Senate seat.
“There has been zero engagement since she got elected,” Stephen Slugocki, a former chair of the Maricopa County Democratic Party, said of the senator and her team. “No relationship. They haven’t been involved in anything — they’ve lost all communication. People feel disappointed that they worked hard to elect her and this is what they’ve got in return.”
For her part, Sinema has said that her decision is not political and that she has not yet made a decision about whether she will seek reelection, even as she has filed paperwork to run. She declined to pinpoint a specific moment when she decided to change her party ID.
“I’ve always been independent,” Sinema said. “I can’t point you to any specific instance because there isn’t one.”
‘She told us who she was going to be’
A former social worker, Sinema entered politics not as a Democrat, but as a member of the Green Party, where she worked as a spokesperson and organized antiwar protests.
Records obtained by The Washington Post show that after losing a bid for city council, she registered as an independent voter, joining the growing ranks of Arizonans without a political home. She then pursued a seat in the state legislature as an independent affiliated with the Green Party, but lost.
By 2004, she had registered as a Democrat, won a seat in the state House and displayed a liberal streak in a legislature dominated by Republicans. Over time, she moved to the center and forged relationships across the spectrum.
“My first legislative session was a bust,” she wrote in her 2009 book, “Unite and Conquer: How to Build Coalitions That Win and Last.”
She continued, “I’d spent all my time being a crusader for justice, a patron saint for lost causes, and I’d missed out on the opportunity to form meaningful relationships.”
Republicans, she wrote, were a “discipline machine” on messaging their priorities while liberals were too “free-flowing,” to their detriment. “This is not home decorating — you do not need a flourish,” she wrote, adding, “winning is the best flourish of all.”
She adhered to that approach after clinching a toss-up seat in the U.S. House in 2012, where she was known as one of the chamber’s most moderate Democrats, and again during a bitter campaign in 2018 for an open U.S. Senate seat. Sinema rarely described herself as a Democrat. Instead, she told voters, her focus would be to “get stuff done.”
But her first few years in Washington were a disappointment to many Democrats, even though she rarely strayed from the party line. She voted to confirm William P. Barr as attorney general and David Bernhardt as interior secretary during Donald Trump’s presidency, earning her condemnation from party activists.
In an evenly-divided Senate, Sinema, along with Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va), torpedoed Democrats’ $3.5 trillion climate and social spending “Build Back Better” plan, objecting to its price tag. (She eventually supported a $1.7 trillion version, after demanding changes to a proposed tax for private equity executives that angered some liberals.)
“I don’t think she went there thinking she was going to be a traditional Washington Democrat,” said Kirk Adams, a Republican and Sinema friend and former chief of staff to Gov. Doug Ducey (R). “She told us who she was going to be.”
Sinema has largely shunned the Arizona Democratic Party and its apparatus. She routinely skipped party conventions and fundraising dinners, an approach some liberal activists hoped would change after they helped elect her to the Senate.
By early 2021, anger with Sinema among Democrats boiled over after her vote to keep an increase in the federal minimum wage out of a pandemic relief package — which she cast with a conspicuous thumbs down motion — and her continued opposition to eliminating the Senate’s legislative filibuster, which requires 60 votes for most legislation to pass.
She posted a photo of herself on social media last year drinking sangria and wearing a ring she bought from a local boutique that read “F--- off.”
Fury at Sinema was reflected at the very top of the state party. Brianna Westbrook, an official with the party, tweeted that Sinema was a “villain that is opposed to democracy” last year when she opposed getting rid of the filibuster, and encouraged her staff to quit their jobs. Other party officials amplified criticism of her online.
Angry protesters confronted her at Arizona State University last year over her Build Back Better objections, following her into a bathroom while recording her on a phone. She was also confronted on a plane and at airports. Previously unguarded, she began traveling with security guards. Campaign finance records show her campaign has spent thousands of dollars for security that extends to her Phoenix home.
Former staffers and associates, many of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations or offer candid assessments, said the confrontations frustrated her. One Sinema ally vented that party leadership — including the White House — could have done more to head it off.
Biden sometimes vented his frustration with Sinema’s opposition to Build Back Better. “I was able to close the deal with 99 percent of my party,” he said last year. He held up two fingers: “Two. Two people.” Asked about recent protests targeting Sinema and Manchin, which included the bathroom confrontation, he called them not appropriate but said “it happens to everybody.”
Sinema downplayed the significance of the relative silence from Democrats as she faced blowback. “I’m not sure it’s particularly relevant to me or to my thinking,” she said in the interview. “I’m perfectly capable of standing up for myself.”
Yet those close to Sinema have complained to allies that she has not gotten credit for her legislative accomplishments — including those her Democratic colleagues ran on during the midterm elections, such as the bipartisan $1.2 trillion infrastructure plan and gun control legislation that she played a key role in negotiating.
John LaBombard, Sinema’s former spokesperson, said partisan pressure was “pulling the Democratic Party and its leadership closer to the extremes in a way that was undermining her work to get bipartisan, lasting things done.”
Though Sinema is friendly with her Democratic colleagues, many of her warmest relationships in the Senate are with Republicans, such as outgoing Sen. Rob Portman (Ohio) whom she called “one of my closest friends in the world” in a recent speech, and Sen. Thom Tillis (N.C.).
During the height of the blowback Sinema received back home, Tillis wrote an op-ed defending her and comparing her to former Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). “While I may have fielded some angry messages from constituents a few years ago, Sinema has been on the receiving end of a full-on assault from activists across the country,” he wrote.
‘The Mount Rushmore of Arizona politicos’
Allies in Arizona have long suspected that Sinema would cut ties with the Democratic Party, but even they were surprised by her timing.
“I know her pretty well, and certainly I thought she might [leave] someday, but I didn’t think she would do it now,” said John Graham, a Republican businessman.
Many Democrats said they believe Sinema saw the writing on the wall: Polls showing a low approval rating for her among Democrats, and some limited surveys suggesting Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), who has said he’s been preparing to run for her Senate seat, could best her in a Democratic primary.
Sinema’s decision left Democrats and Republicans scrambling to size up potential 2024 primary campaigns that could evolve into chaotic, crowded contests. Sinema, meanwhile, has filed paperwork for a 2024 bid as a politically unaffiliated candidate and has an $8 million war chest.
Some Democrats believe that if she runs for reelection as an independent, she’s effectively daring the Democratic Party to field a candidate against her and risk splitting the liberal vote, boosting a Republican candidate to victory. Such an outcome would represent a final stick in the eye to those who’ve resented her unapologetic flouting of some Democratic priorities.
“Is she willing to be the spoiler?,” asked Sacha Haworth, who briefly worked for Sinema during her 2018 Senate bid and is now advising a political action committee seeking to defeat her. “Is she the one who is going to be willing to hand the seat over to a Republican?”
Sinema’s path to victory would be a difficult one, observers said.
“Even if she’s an underdog as an independent — which I think she probably is — she looks at it as, ‘Well, if I fail, I’m supposed to fail as an independent and at least I tried,’” theorized Democratic consultant Adam Kinsey, who did not claim any insight into her thinking. “‘But if I succeed and actually get elected as an independent United States senator from Arizona, I will have blazed a trail for every elected official who wants to run outside of the two-party system in Arizona.”
He added: “She would be on the Mount Rushmore of Arizona politicos if that happened. Will it happen? Probably not.” | 2022-12-18T18:30:55Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Sinema’s switch was months in making. Now it poses a challenge for Democrats. - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/18/sinema-switch-democrat-independent-senate/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/18/sinema-switch-democrat-independent-senate/ |
NEW ORLEANS — Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator Dean Pees was run into by a New Orleans Saints player who was trying to field a punted ball during warmups and was taken off the field on a stretcher less than an hour before kickoff of the Falcons game at New Orleans. | 2022-12-18T18:31:14Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Falcons defensive coordinator Pees injured during warmups - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nfl/falcons-defensive-coordinator-pees-injured-during-warmups/2022/12/18/bd7fc398-7efd-11ed-8738-ed7217de2775_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nfl/falcons-defensive-coordinator-pees-injured-during-warmups/2022/12/18/bd7fc398-7efd-11ed-8738-ed7217de2775_story.html |
Capitals’ T.J. Oshie day-to-day with an upper-body injury
Washington Capitals right wing T.J. Oshie is day-to-day with an upper-body injury. (John McDonnell/The Washington Post)
Washington Capitals forward T.J. Oshie missed Sunday’s practice with an upper-body injury and is listed as day-to-day. Oshie was injured in Washington’s 5-2 win Saturday over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Oshie, 35, suffered what appeared to be a noncontact upper-body injury midway through the second period while skating on the backcheck. He pulled up in clear discomfort, skated to the bench and had to stand up as he leaned on his stick grimacing in pain.
During the TV timeout, Oshie used the boards to help himself slowly get to the other end of the bench and exit down the tunnel with assistance. Oshie was previously hurt Oct. 29 against Nashville and missed 11 games before returning Nov. 23. That injury also appeared to be noncontact injury, and Washington designated it as a “lower-body” injury, adding then that he would be out “indefinitely.”
Capitals Coach Peter Laviolette said Saturday night that he was unsure if Oshie’s injury was the same ailment that forced the veteran forward to sit out for nearly a month. Oshie recorded three goals and three assists in 13 games since returning from injury.
Washington’s (16-13-4) next game is Monday against Detroit. The Capitals have won six of their last seven games.
“Just the way he left, he’s got some sort of upper body injury and we will go back and assess it and see how he is,” said Laviolette, who did not speak to media on Sunday. “I don’t know if it is identical or exact, but I think just because of the history you are just a little bit more concerned about that.”
Oshie’s injury history is long. He had core surgery this summer after having 25 points in only 44 regular season games last season. His numerous injuries last year included a broken foot, a back injury and an undisclosed upper body injury. | 2022-12-18T19:13:34Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Capitals’ T.J. Oshie day-to-day with an upper-body injury - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/18/capitals-tj-oshie-upper-body-injury/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/18/capitals-tj-oshie-upper-body-injury/ |
Frank Pavone was also censured for his ‘persistent disobedience of the lawful instructions of his diocesan bishop,’ according to a letter from a Vatican representative
Frank Pavone was stripped of his priesthood by the Catholic Church. He is the national director of the group Priests for Life and is a religious adviser to former president Donald Trump. (Greg Kahn/AP)
The Vatican has stripped high-profile Catholic leader and antiabortion activist Frank Pavone of the priesthood, spurring further discord within the antiabortion movement in the wake of the Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade.
Pavone, the national director of the group Priests for Life, has addressed the crowds at the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., and sits on the board of directors for the National Association of Christian Lawmakers (NACL). He also is a religious adviser to former president Donald Trump and has publicly questioned the results of the 2020 election.
Ahead of the 2023 state legislative sessions, the antiabortion movement is divided on where to go next. Some conservative Republicans are eager to backtrack on abortion restrictions after voters overwhelmingly supported abortion rights in several key states in November. Others are looking to further crack down on the procedure by limiting access to abortion pills.
Conservatives seek jail time for pill 'trafficking'
Pavone’s dismissal from the priesthood has added to the frustrations felt by many of the most fervent antiabortion advocates, with some questioning why church leadership would choose to punish someone so fiercely committed to what they see as a core Catholic value.
“Father Frank Pavone has been nothing but honest, courageous and faithful to the ProLife cause from my perspective,” the NACL’s president, Jason Rapert, wrote in a message to The Post. “By what legitimate authority does the Vatican attempt to strip this man of his ministry anyway?”
Kristan Hawkins, president of the antiabortion group Students for Life of America, said in a message that Pavone has “counseled and encouraged” her consistently over the years.
“To see the Vatican take this extreme step while there are priests who are in open defiance with the Church’s teachings breaks my heart,” she said, adding that “it sounds like a few leaders within the church have an ax to grind.”
“Instead of supporting and encouraging the pro-life work of the Church, some of these men try to obstruct and hinder it, and abuse their authority to try to intimidate priests and laity who make ending abortion the top priority of our lives,” Pavone writes. “... Cancel culture is alive and well in the Catholic Church.”
Among Pavone’s most controversial videos was one in 2016 in which he put an aborted fetus on what appeared to be an alter, prompting the Diocese of Amarillo to open an investigation into his actions. | 2022-12-18T19:26:39Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Vatican removes antiabortion activist Frank Pavone from the priesthood - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/18/frank-pavone-antiabortion-priesthood-vatican/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/18/frank-pavone-antiabortion-priesthood-vatican/ |
On historically diverse Montgomery council, tensions over transparency
Montgomery County Council members celebrate after being sworn into office during at The Music Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda on Dec. 5. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post)
Following a historic election in Maryland and across much of the nation, the Montgomery County Council welcomed its most diverse group of incoming members ever this month. At the council’s inauguration, speaker after speaker hailed the history-making slate of council members, who have said they are excited to work with one another, especially on issues that affect marginalized communities in the county.
But by the next morning at the all-Democratic new council’s opening session, disputes over equitable representation, transparency and who gets to control policymaking discussions had already emerged, inflamed by backroom disagreements about leadership that ultimately left the council’s two Black members with little structural power.
“It’s not enough to just talk about equity, inclusion, diversity and celebrate it kind of on its face,” returning council member Will Jawando (At Large), one of those Black members, told The Washington Post in an interview. “You have to practice it.”
The public airing of those grievances at the first council meeting, even after a unanimous vote to install returning members Evan Glass (At Large) and Andrew Friedson (District 1) as president and vice president, signals a cultural shift for the body overseeing Maryland’s most populous county. While the last council had historically hashed out differences behind closed doors, members of a growing progressive wing said in interviews that they plan to be outspoken in pursuit of the policies they ran on enacting.
At stake, they said, is an ability to set the agenda on issues with minority support, like rent control and other affordable housing measures that have failed to get traction with the more moderate majority of the council.
Glass and his allies say the leadership assignments reflect the consensus of the most diverse council ever, with the seven committee chairs including two newly elected women, two Latinos, a Black member and the first openly LGBTQ chair.
Glass added a seventh committee that did not exist in recent years so that two of the new members — all women — could have leadership positions, he said, noting that the number of available committee positions was limited because of five returning members in line for leadership roles.
“Seniority is a natural part of political bodies at all levels,” he said. “The fact is, there were only two open committee chairs and six new council members to vie for them all.”
Six newly elected women created a female majority on the council, which boasts several “firsts,” including the first Asian American member and the first openly LGBTQ president. It is also the first council to have 11 members after voters approved the creation of two new districts intended to give Black and Latino residents stronger representation in local government — an effort Glass said he advocated for during his last term.
Equitable representation has been a key focus in the increasingly diverse county, which is now about 42 percent White, 20 percent Black, 20 percent Latino and 16 percent Asian, according to census data.
Despite the public celebration of diversity, several council members voiced discontent over the maneuvering that took place behind closed doors to justify leadership picks. They say the decisions consolidated power between two White men and missed an early opportunity to give more influence to historically underrepresented communities.
“I want the public to be more aware of this process and be able to voice opinions and concerns prior to internal deliberations,” said Laurie-Anne Sayles (D), a Black woman freshly elected to one of the council’s at-large seats.
In addition to the top two leadership spots, Glass and Friedson will also chair two committees widely regarded as among the council’s most important: Planning, Housing and Parks; and Transportation and Environment. Meanwhile, the two Black council members said they did not get any of their top committee assignments.
Montgomery County draws up new district map that reflects surge in racial diversity
Deliberations about who should lead the council take place largely out of the public eye — and that is by design, several returning council members told The Post. According to county code, the council president and vice president need a majority vote at the council table, but council members said internal jockeying for those positions takes place behind closed doors. Then, the presumptive president — who has not yet been elected by a majority of new council members during the opening session — chooses who will chair committees.
Glass said he determined that his proposal for distributing leadership roles had support of a majority of members after talking to them privately and taking straw polls.
“These are all decisions made by consensus, which is good for democracy,” he said.
Sayles, who received neither a committee chair nor her top-choice committees, said she felt blindsided. Jawando said he accepted his third choice, to chair Education and Culture.
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The assignments are: Economic Development (chaired by Natali Fani-González, of District 6); Education and Culture (chaired by Jawando); Government Operations and Fiscal Policy (chaired by Kate Stewart, of District 4); Health and Human Services (chaired by Gabe Albornoz, at-large); Planning, Housing and Parks (chaired by Friedson); Public Safety (chaired by Sidney Katz, of District 3); and Transportation and Environment (chaired by Glass).
The Montgomery County Black Collective wrote a letter on the eve of the opening session urging Glass to offer important leadership roles to both Sayles and Jawando to ensure that the roughly 1 in 5 county residents who are Black receive meaningful representation.
“While we look forward to your continued partnership in issues of equity, particularly in business development, there remains the issue of diversity in the leadership of officers,” the collective’s executive director, Kim Jones, wrote in a second letter to Glass after the assignments were finalized.
She added that the council would have benefited from having a member of a historically underrepresented group — such as Jawando, who had similar experience as Friedson on the last council — in the vice president position.
“In the future, consideration should be given to the optics of white, male leadership for both of the top positions,” Jones wrote. (Glass does not select the vice president; a majority of the council elects the vice president.)
After the committee assignments were finalized, Glass also received letters from the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Latino Health Steering Committee thanking him for putting Latino council members at the helm of the Economic Development and HHS committees.
The dispute over representation also reflects a political schism. In deep-blue Montgomery County, every elected official is a Democrat, but some lean further left than others.
Jawando has a reputation as a progressive policymaker who has pushed for sometimes-controversial proposals on police reform and rent control. He said he had hoped to foster more robust discussions about the county’s approach to affordable housing if he chaired the Planning, Housing and Parks Committee — including conversations about minority opinions that had been sidelined in the last council.
Friedson, meanwhile, has a well-documented history of opposing rent stabilization bills in favor of building more units to ensure that new residents have access to reasonably priced homes.
Both Glass and Friedson challenged the idea that losing out on the Planning Committee chair would stymie Jawando’s housing priorities, in part because there is a process for individual members to bring bills before the entire council without going through committee. To introduce such a bill, a member would need support from at least six colleagues — a majority that would be large enough to pass the legislation.
“One of the great things about the council is every council member has tremendous power as an individual,” Friedson told The Post. “Every decision we make is based on the will of the majority of the body. It’s set up to base decisions on consensus, and I think that’s important.”
Just before the Dec. 6 vote, Sayles texted the outgoing president to ask if she could speak. He missed the message, she said.
Only after the 11-0 vote did Sayles, Jawando and Kristin Mink (District 5) get to say their piece. When Sayles was eventually called on to speak, she said that the council’s “new leadership doesn’t reflect the diversity of our community” and called for greater transparency moving forward.
Jawando told The Post he is working on a set of proposals to bring more public scrutiny to the council’s internal deliberations. His ideas include rolling back a requirement that special appropriations have three sponsors, adding public input to the process by which the council selects candidates to interview for appointments, and creating a less onerous procedure for introducing a bill without approval of a committee chair.
Though he stands behind his committee structure, even Glass said he is open to considering changes that would add transparency to how the council conducts its business.
“There’s always an opportunity to reform and improve internal procedures,” he told The Post. | 2022-12-18T20:01:44Z | www.washingtonpost.com | On historically diverse Montgomery Council, tensions over transparency - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/12/18/montgomery-council-diversity-power/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/12/18/montgomery-council-diversity-power/ |
‘Argentina endures’: In Buenos Aries, emotional celebrations of a World Cup...
‘Argentina endures’: In Buenos Aries, emotional celebrations of a World Cup victory
Fans of Argentina gather at the Obelisk in Buenos Aires to celebrate winning the 2022 World Cup against France on Sunday. (Luis Robayo/AFP/Getty Images)
BUENOS AIRES — There were going to be tears either way.
But on Sunday afternoon, after a three-hour rollercoaster of a World Cup final match that saw Argentina scrape by a win, they were tears of joy.
Thousands, if not millions, streamed into the streets of this capital city as soon as La Albiceleste beat France on penalty kicks, an emotional start to what promised to become a boisterous early-summer celebration — honking horns, hugging strangers, and yes, crying.
On the pavement in the Colegiales neighborhood, speech therapist Angeles Usovich erupted into tears after the final penalty kick, falling to her knees as she called her father to celebrate.
“Aguante Argentina,” she shouted into the phone. “Argentina endures.”
Indeed, many in this South American nation of 47 million have said they badly needed something to celebrate lately. Inflation of 100% has meant hard economic times, forcing middle-class Argentines to forgo vacations and beef for their famed asados. The recent conviction and sentencing of Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner on corruption charges has further polarized a bitter political climate.
But on Sunday afternoon, none of that seemed to matter: La Albiceleste had taken home its third World Cup — a crowning berth for Lionel Messi, the 35-year-old forward and team captain.
Widely considered one of the best to ever play the game, Messi had long been missing the biggest title in international soccer. That absence on his résumé had strained an already complicated relationship between Messi and his home country, which he left for Spain at the age of 13.
Some Argentines had criticized him for failing to bring them back a World Cup trophy, saying he was more European than Argentinean. They placed him second to Diego Maradona, the brash, bold figure who led the selección to its most recent World Cup victory in 1986.
No more. After Messi opened up the scoring in the first half with a soaring penalty kick over French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, several thousand people watching on giant screens in Buenos Aires’s Plaza Intendente Seeber could not stop cheering.
“Leo,” one person from the crowd shouted, “we love you!”
Still, that penalty kick was not enough to put the team over France. Les Bleus equalized the score late in the second half with two quick-succession goals from Kylian Mpbappé, making it 2-2 and dragging the game to extra time. After Messi scored another stunner of a goal in the 108th minute, Mbappé again tied the game and forced the match to penalties (of which Messi scored one).
“I’m just totally overwhelmed. It’s incredible,” 37-year-old Carina Molina said minutes after those penalties. (She was crying, too.)
Born in 1985, she was alive for but not old enough to remember Argentina’s most recent World Cup victory, and played soccer for most of her childhood, long admiring the national team.
“It was time,” Molina added, noting that the anxious, up-then-down rhythm to the game — up 2-0 in the first half, then 3-2 in extra time, then finally eking out a win in penalties — could not have better captured a national sense of pessimism.
“We always try to get ahead, but there’s something that keeps up back,” she said. “We did it, though. My heart is about to explode out of my chest.”
Some of the homegrown criticism of Messi has faded this tournament as he shows a bit more attitude and Argentines praise him in what is expected to be his final World Cup. But whatever little animosity was left evaporated Sunday, as crowds filled Avenida 9 de Julio downtown, raising fake trophies cheering his name.
They also screamed Argentine fans’ preferred soccer chant for this year, “Muchachos, ahora nos volvimos a ilusionar” (“Guys, we’re getting our hopes up again”). It has become a kind of national mantra in recent weeks, one that places both Messi and Maradona in equal regard.
The song’s lyrics end like this:
Guys, now we’re getting our hopes up again
I want to win the third one, I want to be a World Champion
And from the sky we can see Diego and his parents
Back at the plaza, an Argentine flag hanging on a railing had a message etched out in paint: “We deserve beautiful miracles,” it said in Spanish, “and they will happen.”
On Sunday, it seems, they did. | 2022-12-18T20:19:11Z | www.washingtonpost.com | In Buenos Aires, fans celebrate Argentina's World Cup victory - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/12/18/argentina-world-cup-win-celebration/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/12/18/argentina-world-cup-win-celebration/ |
Bootleg websites streaming World Cup matches seized by authorities
By Allison Klein
Fans outside Lusail Stadium in Qatar on Sunday before the World Cup final match between Argentina and France. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
About two dozen bootleg websites were seized Friday by federal authorities for live-streaming World Cup matches, a move that came two days before a dramatic final game Sunday in which Argentina beat France in nail-biting penalty kicks.
The Maryland U.S. attorney’s office announced the seizure of 23 domain names, saying the illegal sites infringed on the copyright of the soccer federation FIFA.
Viewers who try to go to the sites will now see a message that they have been seized by the federal government.
Additionally, another 55 illegal websites showing the World Cup were seized on Dec. 10, announced the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s office.
According to an affidavit filed by federal prosecutors, FIFA holds the exclusive rights to “sanction and stage” the FIFA World Cup 2022, which was hosted in multiple cities in Qatar in November and December.
In September, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security got information from a FIFA representative about various sites planning to air the games without FIFA’s authorization, authorities said.
The sites attract “heavy viewing traffic” and host advertisements, making it a lucrative venture, according to the affidavit.
“While many may believe that such websites do not constitute serious threats, the infringement upon rights holders of any intellectual property is a growing threat to our economic viability,” Special Agent in Charge James C. Harris III of Homeland Security Investigations - Baltimore said in a statement. “The impact can be felt across multiple industries, and it can be the conduit to other forms of criminal activity.”
After the initial round of seizures on Dec. 10, Homeland Security investigators saw messages and social media posts about additional sites streaming World Cup matches, leading to investigations to shut them down, the affidavit says.
“By seizing the subject domain names, the government prevents third parties from acquiring the name and using it to commit additional crimes, or from continuing to access the websites in their present forms,” the U.S. attorney’s office said in a news release. | 2022-12-18T21:33:17Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Bootleg websites streaming World Cup matches seized by US authorities - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/12/18/world-cup-livestream-bootleg-websites/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/12/18/world-cup-livestream-bootleg-websites/ |
The inside story of how Trump transplanted the chaos and norm flouting of his White House into his post-presidential life, leading to a criminal investigation into his handling of classified documents that presents potential legal peril
By Rosalind S. Helderman
Former president Donald Trump speaks at a political rally in Warren, Mich., on Oct. 1. (Sarah Rice for The Washington Post)
PALM BEACH, Fla. — When Donald Trump invited the rapper formerly known as Kanye West and white supremacist Nick Fuentes to join him for dinner on the patio of his Florida club last month, the former president had no chief of staff or senior aide at his side.
There was no scheduler, either, nor a press aide. Only one person staffed Trump at the gathering with antisemites that drew days of denunciations: Walt Nauta, a cook and military valet in the Trump White House who is now employed as an all-purpose gofer for the former president and who ushered the group to the table before leaving them alone to talk. Nauta has continued to serve Trump loyally at Mar-a-Lago, even as he has emerged as a key witness in the Justice Department’s investigation of whether Trump purposely hid classified documents stored at the club from authorities.
The Nov. 22 dinner, described by three people familiar with the event, neatly encapsulates Trump’s post-presidential life — a reminder of how a former president who worked steadily to dismantle the government guardrails imposed by his elected office is now almost entirely without restraint.
From almost the instant it became clear he had lost the 2020 election, Trump refused to accept the results, creating a disorganized transition process during which he rebuffed efforts to prepare for his post-presidency.
In the two years since he left office, Trump has re-created the conditions of his own freewheeling White House — with all of its chaos, norm flouting and catering to his ego — with little regard for the law. With this behavior, Trump prompted a criminal investigation into his post-presidential handling of classified documents to compound the ongoing one into his and his allies’ efforts to overturn the 2020 election results — which presents potential legal peril and risks hobbling his nascent bid to be elected president again in 2024.
Even as he works to convince supporters that the documents probe is the result of an overblown paperwork dispute, and that the FBI’s Aug. 8 search of his Mar-a-Lago Club was an abuse of power, the investigation is in fact a product of how Trump has approached post-presidential life.
Though few rules guide the life of a former president, Trump has exhibited a characteristic disinterest in following any of them. These days, he is served almost exclusively by sycophants, having replaced successive rounds of loyal yet inexperienced aides with staffers even more beholden and novice.
Multiple Trump advisers said there is no senior aide living in Florida full time, with advisers flying in and out as needed. “He needs someone there to say, ‘Here’s a really bad idea, and this is why.’ I don’t think he has that kind of crowd around him right now. Nor does the president want anybody like that,” said David Urban, a longtime Trump adviser turned critic.
Like he did as president, Trump has looked for ways to turn a profit with his new arrangement: Trump’s staff tried, unsuccessfully, to get the General Services Administration to pay rent at Mar-a-Lago — potentially for his lifetime — for the office space he has created for himself above the club’s ballroom.
This behind-the-scenes account of Trump’s post-presidential life is based on interviews with 23 people, some of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to disclose private details about Trump and his orbit, many of which have not been previously reported.
Trump spokesman Steven Cheung responded to questions about this reporting with a statement that said Trump “spent the last two years continuing to build up the MAGA movement and helping elect America First candidates across the country, to the tune of a 98.6% endorsement record in primary elections.”
“There is nobody who has worked harder to advance the conservative movement. After years of biased media coverage and Big Tech meddling in an election to help Joe Biden and the Democrats, President Trump continues to be the single, most dominant force in politics and people— especially unnamed sources who purport to be close to him— should never doubt his ability to win in a decisive and commanding fashion,” he added.
Observers and some Trump allies alike believe that after years of investigations into Trump’s conduct, it is his behavior since leaving office that may be most likely to lead to his criminal indictment — for mishandling classified documents and obstructing the work of federal investigators hunting for those records.
“I think it’s pretty obvious, when there was no around to tell you that, ‘No, Mr. President, you cannot do that,’ it just leads inevitably to this kind of problem,” said Chris Whipple, author of “The Gatekeepers,” a history of White House chiefs of staff.
“In a way it looks almost like the Trump Presidency 2.0,” he said. “Just no guard rails, on steroids.”
‘Opportunities for messing up’
Trump is hardly the first ex-president to struggle with life as a private citizen after the heady experience of holding the world’s most powerful job. Bill Clinton, for instance, filled hours in his first months after leaving office holed up at home in Chappaqua, N.Y., bingeing TV shows and movies he had missed as president on a TiVo gifted to him by the Hollywood director Steven Spielberg.
Most former presidents have compensated for the boredom by throwing themselves into the task of crafting a new kind of public life, pursuing charitable goals and managing their legacies through books and the building of a presidential library.
But not Trump. Unwilling to accept the reality of his November 2020 election loss to President Biden, Trump resisted efforts to plan for his post-presidential life, according to people close to him. The result was a delayed, chaotic and little-thought-out process that many around Trump believe set the stage for troubles to come.
In his final weeks in office, White House staffers interested in working for Trump after he stepped down were required to engage in a strange dance in which they competed for post-presidential jobs without admitting there would be no second Trump term — a concession that risked angering the outgoing president and thereby eliminating them from consideration. It was all “cloak and daggers,” said one person familiar with the dynamic.
By law, presidents and vice presidents leaving office are together provided up to $2.6 million in public funds to “wind down” their offices, pay staff salaries, rent office space and buy supplies like copy paper and pens. Once requested, the money can be accessed for 30 days prior to leaving office and up to six months after.
Documents released by GSA show that Trump’s White House chief of staff Mark Meadows did not sign a formal agreement requesting the money until Jan. 11, five days after the attack on the U.S. Capitol and several weeks after funding would have otherwise been available by law.
The delay impacted aides to Vice President Mike Pence, too, who could only then begin to tap the funds and start looking for office space to locate transition offices. Over the frantic days that followed, they selected the 12th floor of a generic-looking office tower managed by the GSA in Crystal City, near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Northern Virginia. Not long after, Trump aides contacted Pence’s team, according to a person familiar with the discussions. Though many around Pence believed Trump had endangered the life of his vice president during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack, now Trump’s team asked: Could they use the Crystal City space for transition offices as well?
While Meadows signed the GSA document, the work of transitioning Trump to life in Florida actually fell to lower level staffers — including operations aide William “Beau” Harrison, body man Nick Luna and his personal assistant Michael — who held less sway with the outgoing president and knew less about government functions, people familiar with the transition said. Harrison, Luna and Michael declined to comment about their roles in the transition.
All administration documents, which represent the public historical record of a president’s time in office, are required by law to be sent to the National Archives and Records Administration at the end of the term for safekeeping. Gifts given to the president are also supposed to go to the Archives no later than Inauguration Day, unless the president pays the government an amount equivalent to the item’s appraised value.
Archives officials had been working with a military team since December 2020 to pack up and ship documents and gifts from the White House offices to storage in Maryland, with trucks going back and forth on a nearly daily basis until Trump left office on Jan. 20, 2021. But as his remaining days ticked down, they became concerned about boxes of documents that Trump had taken back to the White House residence. Meanwhile, a Jan. 11 email from Harrison to GSA officials shows he anticipated as many as 100 boxes of presidential gifts would be stored at the Crystal City office after Trump left the White House.
In Trump White House, classified records routinely mishandled, aides say
People around Trump said they believe the chaotic transition played a key role in Trump’s ability to carry off thousands of government documents to his Florida club. It also meant that the Crystal City office was crammed with leftover stuff from the Trump White House with no apparent organization and little knowledge of what was even there.
The emails were released by the GSA on the agency’s website in response to a public records request from Bloomberg News. They track a chaotic effort to move the leftovers of Trump’s concluded term to Florida and frequent confusion over what was owned by the American people and what was owned by Trump.
In April 2021, a Trump aide emailed a GSA official to ask if the agency’s transition funds could be used to ship an enormous portrait of Trump to Florida. The painting, she explained, weighed 300 pounds and measured 6 by 8 feet in its crate.
“I am so sorry to ask — this is a weird one!” wrote Trump aide Desiree Thompson Sayle. After several days, the GSA official responded that the agency’s lawyers had nixed the request. “Since this is personal property, GSA Transition funds cannot be used for this shipping,” GSA official Kathy Geisler responded. In July, Sayle followed up to explain the team’s resolution for the painting, which was apparently given to Trump after the presidency ended: “We are loading the large portrait received after the 21st on a Penske truck to transport to my house so I can put it on my moving van.” Neither Sayle nor Geisler responded to requests for comment.
Max Stier, the president of the Partnership for Public Service, which assists with transitions, said the process for winding down a presidency can be challenging. But, he added, “it’s a lot harder if you start from the proposition that [the trappings of office] belong to you, than if you start with the proposition that it belongs to the office and to the country.”
“In a complicated process, if you don’t have the right underlying ethos, the opportunities for messing up are much larger,” he said.
As July 2021 drew to a close and Trump staff were losing access to transition funds, the emails show they raced to close down the Crystal City office and ship the remaining items to Florida, where Trump had now established his primary base of operations at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach. He was now a Floridian, having changed his voter registration from New York to Florida. Emails show GSA officials rented an 8-by-10-foot storage unit in July 2021 for the former president at a private facility in nearby West Palm Beach and then arranged to ship more than 3,000 pounds of boxes from Virginia to the unit, as well as another nearly 1,500 pounds of boxes to Mar-a-Lago in September.
The documents show one employee who was listed as a contact for the shipment to the storage unit was Kitty Gubello, a longtime employee of Mar-a-Lago — an example of how thoroughly Trump intermingled his public and private lives. (Asked for comment, Gubello wrote in a text message: “My allegiance is to the club and the family. You will get nothing out of me.”)
Lawyers for Trump found two items with classification markings during a recent search of the storage unit, The Washington Post has reported. The discovery meant the items had likely followed a circuitous path since Trump left office, moving from the White House to Crystal City to the West Palm Beach unit, spending nearly two years in facilities that lacked security features required for the storage of classified materials.
One person familiar the Virginia office called it “not especially secure” — the 12th floor of a high rise, where people came and went. Meanwhile, the storage facility, located off a busy interstate in West Palm Beach, lacks visible security guards near the rear entrance. People come and go there as well. Inside are hundreds of numbered storage units with locked metal garage doors. Representatives of the facility did not respond to a request to comment about security measures.
Trump advisers who helped oversee moving the boxes to Mar-a-Lago and the storage facility said there was no cataloguing system or organizational structure to track what ended up where — and the storage room was initially packed.
After transition funding lapses, former presidents are still by law afforded some financial support for the remainder of their lives, including funding for “suitable office space,” as determined by the GSA.
For Trump’s personal use, his young aides spent months redecorating office space located above the 20,000 square foot ballroom at his Florida club. The former president personally directed the process, choosing the furniture, rugs and paintings, and designating which mementos of his time in office would be displayed. Even so, people familiar with the process said aides fretted he would deem the redesigned space insufficient after four years in the Oval Office.
At some point, his aides requested that GSA formally lease the space from Mar-a-Lago for his use as a post-presidential office — an arrangement that would have directed a stream of taxpayer money back to Trump, potentially for the remainder of his life — a person familiar with the request said. GSA declined, instead leasing office space in West Palm Beach.
A GSA spokesperson said the agency discussed “a variety of lease options” for Trump’s permanent use, “including the possibility of a lease at Mar-a-Lago.” The spokesperson said the conversations were “preliminary,” did not result in a deal and the agency currently pays no money to Trump-owned properties.
‘There are no protocols’
Trump took time to readjust to his post-presidential life. He was surprised by how much his Secret Service detail and motorcade had shrunk. He no longer had use of a major aircraft; Air Force One was unavailable to him, and his company’s TRUMP-emblazoned Boeing 757 was in the shop — repairs that took years, with delays that infuriated him. His living spaces were far smaller than the White House. And he was annoyed that his statements to the press were not getting much attention, four advisers said.
At one point in early 2021, Trump asked a team of advisers if he could summon a press pool — like the contingent of reporters, photographers and videographers who travel with the president — for an event at his Florida club. But there was no pool on call because he was no longer president.
Instead, they gathered the few reporters who happened to be reporting in Palm Beach, two people familiar with the matter said.
He was routinely angry, advisers said, about being removed from social media, particularly his beloved Twitter, where his account was suspended two days after Jan. 6, 2021, for risking further violence with his false tweets. His mood was foul for months, as he paid attention to little else than the lost election, conspiracy theories to explain away the Jan. 6 attack and mounting legal bills from a rotating cast of attorneys he spoke to daily.
People who know Trump said the need for attention that has been a driving force throughout his life has not dwindled since he left the office that shone on him the world’s brightest spotlight. That has pushed him to seek adulation from a court of supplicants who pay for access to Trump at his Mar-a-Lago and Bedminster, N.J., clubs, where he has spent most of his time.
“The appetite for attention hasn’t waned, but that’s where he gets it now,” a Trump confidant said. “The networks don’t carry his rallies. He doesn’t get interviews anymore. He can’t stand under the wing of Air Force One and gaggle [with reporters] for an hour.”
Trump rarely agrees to interviews these days with independent journalists that could become confrontational; several advisers noted he recently granted an interview with NewsNation’s Markie Martin, the sister of his longtime press aide, Margo Martin.
On a typical day since leaving office, advisers said, Trump gets up early, makes phone calls, watches television and reads some newspapers. Then, six days a week, he plays 18 or sometimes 27 holes of golf at one of his courses. After lunch, he changes into a suit from his golf shirt and slacks and shows up in the office above the Mar-a-Lago ballroom or, when he is in New Jersey, a similar office in a cottage near the Bedminster club’s pool.
At times, Trump makes unannounced visits at weddings, gala benefits and other events being hosted by paying customers in Mar-a-Lago’s ballroom, basking as attendees mob him for selfies. He has also attended fundraisers there; many Republican candidates have paid Trump to use his club as a venue at which to raise campaign funds.
“There are no protocols. He plays golf. He meets with people in the afternoon. He really doesn’t do a lot of consequence most days,” one person in his orbit said.
At times, advisers said, he becomes absorbed in his role as the de facto leader of the Republican Party, bringing about $150 million into his main fundraising vehicle and doling out endorsements to reward supporters and punish critics. At others, he appears aimless and rooted in the past, obsessing about an election two years ago and petty slights.
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Harp, who has worked for Trump since the spring, offered a different view, writing in an email that the former president is “constantly busy and working.”
“In fact, I can’t believe how much work he is able to get done,” she wrote.
As a private citizen, Trump is far more isolated than he was as president. He makes virtually no public appearances outside of political rallies where he is surrounded by even larger crowds of screaming fans. (Despite declaring his reelection campaign in the Mar-a-Lago ballroom on Nov. 15, he has not emerged from his cocoon for a rally out in the country since then.) He takes no vacations to properties he does not own. He almost never encounters people willing to challenge his behavior — much less true political opponents.
Several people close to Trump said there are only a few people who are willing to deliver bad news left in his orbit, political adviser Susan Wiles chief among them. His circle has shrunken considerably, with many of his longtime allies attempting to avoid dinner invites — and some even weighing roles with other 2024 candidates.
“No one wants to confront him because he can be a beast,” one adviser said. After the dinner with Fuentes and West, who now goes by the name Ye, advisers to Trump were flooded with calls from allies, lawmakers and others questioning the decision and urging him to apologize. Trump received few of them himself, however, people familiar with the matter said.
Some longtime aides are particularly distressed by the influence of Harp, 31, who is rarely absent from his side. She is said to cater attentively to his need for constant praise. While other advisers have urged Trump to vet his statements to the social media platform Truth Social, Harp has been willing to post whatever Trump wants without review. She often perches herself right outside his office, two advisers said, and follows Trump around all day, including on the golf course.
“She is indicative of the people around him who just love him,” the adviser said. “Love him too much.”
“Like other staffers, I do spend time with him,” Harp wrote, adding that she has “a great respect” for Trump.
“He is extremely popular with the people,” she wrote. “I see that by being with him.”
Cheung, the Trump spokesman, defended Harp: “Among many other talented members of the team, Natalie is dedicated and loyal and has been invaluable.”
Michael, 30, was also known for her loyalty — both in the White House, where she served as an assistant posted immediately outside the Oval Office, and at Mar-a-Lago in the post-presidency. She had a reputation in the White House for always being ready with the answer Trump wanted or the piece of paper he needed. “She just understands how Trump wanted things,” said one former colleague.
Michael left Trump’s employ late this summer, after being questioned by investigators about how Trump handled documents.
One of the only aides who worked for Trump in the White House and still spends significant time in his presence is Nauta, people close to Trump said. A native of Guam, Nauta enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 2001 and was promoted from the White House mess to serve as the president’s valet not long after Trump took office. In that role, he spent all day in and out of the Oval Office, bringing the president glasses of Diet Coke, fetching his coat and moving documents from room to room — duties not unlike those he performs for Trump now that he is out of office. In Trump’s world, where rivalries are common, Nauta is widely liked and perceived as a genuinely nice guy.
Prosecutors have been seeking to secure cooperation from Nauta in the investigation of classified documents stored at Mar-a-Lago, people familiar with the case have said. When first questioned by the FBI, they said he denied any knowledge or awareness of sensitive documents at Mar-a-Lago. When questioned a second time, however, he told investigators he moved boxes at Trump’s direction after a grand jury subpoena in May was delivered demanding the return of any documents with classified markings. Nauta is one of several potentially key witnesses whose lawyers’ fees are being paid through Trump’s political action committee, Save America. Some experts have said the arrangement could influence Nauta’s testimony.
Even when Trump was president, former White House chief of staff John F. Kelly said senior staff dreaded the time the president spent at the 17-acre club in Palm Beach because he would often return to Washington brimming with off-the-wall ideas planted by Mar-a-Lago members.
“So many of the members knew exactly how to get what they wanted from him. It was all about his vanity,” Kelly said. “It was never good when he was there for long periods of time.”
Now that he is away from the security of the White House, people close to Trump say more random figures around the country have his personal cellphone number and can easily get access to him, particularly if they play to his obsession with false theories that the 2020 election was stolen. As a confidant put it, “Some guy from Arizona is calling and saying, ‘You won’t believe the fraud we saw.’”
Since the November dinner with Ye and Fuentes, advisers have attempted to install a bit more structure, trying to keep a top aide with him at all times and saying they plan to hire more Florida-based staff next year for the campaign. But one former aide said recent events show how security and political protocols have fallen away from Trump, starting in the White House and accelerating in the two years since.
“At first it was: how did Omarosa get in here?” said the former aide said, referring to the former reality show star who caused a stir when she briefly was able to secure a White House job early in Trump’s tenure.
“Then it was: What is Sidney Powell doing here?” the former aide said, describing the moment in December 2020 when a group including the lawyer was able to talk their way into an Oval Office meeting with Trump to discuss overturning the election.
“Now it is: What was Nick Fuentes doing having dinner with Trump?” the former aide concluded.
‘What happened to the rest of the boxes?’
The May 2021 email from a top official at the National Archives did not initially set off alarm bells for Trump’s team. In the email, the official flagged that some high-profile documents from Trump’s time in office appeared to be missing from the records his team had turned over as he was leaving the White House. “It is absolutely necessary that we obtain and account for all presidential records,” the Archives official wrote.
But for months, Trump resisted the Archives’ request that he return the documents, informing staffers that boxes at Mar-a-Lago contained only news clippings, golf clothes, gifts and nonsensitive documents. What’s more, he argued that anything from his time as president was his to keep. Told by one aide in October 2021 that Archives officials had made a determination that missing records belonged to the American people and needed to be returned to the government, Trump responded, “It’s a bunch of crap,” according to one of his advisers.
Trump’s secrets: How a records dispute led the FBI to search Mar-a-Lago
Trump agreed to return some of the boxes only after the Archives threatened to notify Congress or the Justice Department. Trump packed the boxes himself, Michael told others. Those offering to help were warned by one of Trump’s lawyers, Alex Cannon, that doing so could put them in jeopardy, the adviser said.
Finally in December 2021, Trump aides informed the Archives that some notable documents had been located, including correspondence with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that Trump had once touted as “love letters.”
The following month, Trump returned 15 boxes to the National Archives. Some of his aides were immediately worried. They knew there had been more than 15 boxes stashed in a storage room in a basement area beneath the public areas of Mar-a-Lago. “What happened to the rest of the boxes?” one lawyer asked others, according to the Trump adviser.
In February, Trump told his team to release a public statement that all materials had been returned, and inform the Archives of the same. His spokesman and lawyer declined, people familiar with the matter said.
FBI’s Mar-a-Lago search followed months of resistance, delay by Trump
The lawyers working on the case — Cannon, former deputy White House counsel Pat Philbin and others — were soon replaced by a coterie of lawyers who told Trump what he wanted to hear. That group formally included Boris Epshteyn and Evan Corcoran, as well as Tom Fitton of Judicial Watch, who played an informal role. Fitton argued to other lawyers that presidents are allowed to deem their records personal, a claim Trump echoed to his lawyers. Fitton declined to comment on his role.
When Archives officials opened the boxes they received from Florida, they soon discovered that some documents inside had markings indicating they were classified at the highest levels. They contacted the FBI. By May, after interviewing Trump aides, authorities were convinced that additional classified records might still be held at Mar-a-Lago and sent a grand jury subpoena seeking their return.
In June, two Trump lawyers met with Justice Department officials and turned over a taped up folder containing 38 documents with classification markings. One of the lawyers, Christina Bobb, also provided a signed statement saying she had been told boxes sent to Florida from the White House had been diligently searched and no other documents with markings were in Trump’s possession.
But when the FBI returned in August, this time with a court authorized search warrant, they gathered 103 classified documents, and took an additional 13,000 documents after examining a storage area in the byzantine lower levels of the club and Trump’s office and residence at the club.
Deep inside busy Mar-a-Lago, a storage room where secrets were stashed
The Ye dinner just before Thanksgiving reinforced questions that had already been raised about storing highly sensitive material at the club, which hosts regular public events and where some guests and employees are foreign nationals. National security experts and even some former Trump staff have called the club a counterintelligence headache.
In 2019, for instance, a Chinese national was arrested carrying phones and other electronic devices after getting past a reception area by saying she was headed to the pool. People who have visited the club since Trump left office have said security is even more lax now, with guests often able to access the property without even showing an identification.
Karen Giorno, the former Trump adviser who brought Ye and Fuentes to the club, has told others that she had forgotten her driver’s license when she arrived for dinner and was able to access the property by showing a security guard a bank card with her name on it.
While Trump continues to receive Secret Service protection as a former president, the detail is there to guard him, not provide broader security to the club. When one aide recommended the club subject visitors to more thorough vetting, Trump replied, “The members need to be able to come and go,” according to someone familiar with the exchange. He has told advisers that security is not a problem since everyone visiting the club loves him.
The club, meanwhile, is bordered by residential streets, including one to the north which ends at a gate with only a small sign to warn away trespassers.
Helderman, Dawsey and Parker reported from Washington and Alemany from Palm Beach. Alice Crites and Devlin Barrett in Washington contributed to this report | 2022-12-18T21:33:23Z | www.washingtonpost.com | How Trump's life at Mar-a-Lago post-presidency prompted legal peril - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/12/18/trump-life-after-presidency/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/12/18/trump-life-after-presidency/ |
The Democratic mayor of El Paso declared a state of emergency ahead of the expiration of Title 42, the pandemic-era policy that allowed border agents to expel migrants
Ariana Eunjung Cha
A shelter at the Sacred Heart Church in El Paso, Tex. The city fears a surge of asylum seekers will begin crossing the border with the court-ordered end of Title 42 on Wednesday. (John Moore/Getty Images)
“I said from the beginning that I would call [a state of emergency] when I felt that either our asylum seekers or our community was not safe, and I really believe that today our asylum seekers are not safe,” Leeser said during a news conference Saturday.
However, officials from both parties have warned that immigration centers that process migrants could soon be even more overwhelmed. Last week, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) visited an immigration center along the border, and said it was “a federal government issue” that similar immigration sites were already at capacity.
Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) defended the removal of Title 42, saying it was not intended to be immigration policy, but public health policy.
But on CBS’s “Face the Nation” Sunday, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) — as well as Reps. Tony Gonzales (R-Tex.) and Henry Cuellar (D-Tex.), who represent parts of Texas along Mexican border — argued that the Biden administration was not prepared to lift Title 42.
“We have a crisis of the border. Everyone can see that,” Manchin said. “I think everyone realizes that something has to be done. [Title 42] needs to be extended until we can get a really, truly immigration reform. Immigration reform will not happen in our country until we all come on both sides of the aisle.”
“There’s one bathroom. The odor is terrible and there’s eight pods in there,” Gonzales said. “What I saw shocked me, and I wanted to share that with the world. It’s not about politics. It’s not about, you know, trying to create this image that isn’t there. This is the reality.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said last week the Biden administration was prepared to lift Title 42 “in a safe and humane way” — having secured funding, placed 23,000 agents at the border and launched an anti-smuggling initiative. She also urged Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform.
“Maybe with this new Republican House and Democratic Senate, we finally get serious about immigration reform and quit demagoguing this issue by pointing fingers and saying that the disaster is about to happen,” Brown said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “I think that the [Biden] administration will figure this out short term, but it’s clear we’ve got to get serious as a body, and it’s going to take both parties.”
Maria Sacchetti and Arelis R. Hernández contributed to this report. | 2022-12-18T21:33:35Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Republicans, Democrats warn the U.S.-Mexico border is ill prepared for lifting of Title 42 - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/18/title42-border-migrants/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/18/title42-border-migrants/ |
By Sammy Westfall | Dec 18, 2022
The World Cup final was always going to be an emotional affair. After four weeks of games, in which 30 nations were eliminated, the match in Qatar brought together soccer giants France and Argentina.
Fans were ready — or so they thought. Perhaps no one was truly prepared for how turbulent the game would be.
Fans celebrate near the Obelisk in Buenos Aires.
You could see it on the faces of Argentina’s fans. At minute 23, excitement. Argentina’s star captain, Lionel Messi, had scored. Then, when his team controlled the first half, netting another goal: comfort. And maybe even a little celebration.
Messi had confirmed earlier in the week that this would be his last-ever World Cup game — and a victory Sunday would give him his first-ever World Cup title. All of that only compounded the emotions.
Argentina's soccer fans celebrate their team's second goal in Buenos Aires.
Argentine fans react to the game action in Buenos Aires.
Pilar Olivares/Reuters
But in the second half, unstoppable striker Kylian Mbappé came up with France’s first goal. Then, less than two minutes later, he scored another.
Mbappé and Messi are global stars, Paris Saint-Germain teammates, and a joy to watch on the pitch.
For Argentina’s fans? Torment.
The whistle is blown. Game on. It moves to extra time — two 15-minute halves.
Supporters of France react next to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
When Messi nets Argentina’s third goal, one that was kicked back out of the net by an opposing player but had clearly crossed the goal line, there’s elation. But it quickly gives way to panic.
At minute 118 in extra time, Mbappé scores another equalizer and marks a hat trick: three goals in a single game.
Fans at the former house of late football star Diego Maradona in Buenos Aires.
France fans react on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.
France supporters react in a bar in Paris.
So, the match moved to a penalty shootout. Some fans held their breath, shut their eyes or turned their backs in unease. The crowd goes silent.
Argentina’s players step up and score — then kept scoring. France’s team, on the other hand, falters.
A general view shows France's football fans who gathered near the Arc de Triomphe.
Romain Perrocheau/AFP/Getty Images
With France scoring only two penalties, Argentina’s Gonzalo Montiel makes his nation’s fourth and final penalty goal: Relief. Argentina wins.
Argentina's soccer fans react as they watch the match on big screens in Buenos Aires.
Fans react while watching the live broadcast in Buenos Aires.
Some are calling it the greatest World Cup final ever.
Fans in Paris watch the game.
People gather at the former house of late football star Diego Maradona to watch the live broadcast of the match in Buenos Aires.
Argentina’s fans cried, embraced, and danced. So did the players. Together, they celebrated alongside one of the greatest soccer players of all time.
“Argentina endures,” one tearful fan said as she celebrated in Buenos Aires.
People react while watching the live broadcast of the game in Buenos Aires.
Argentina forward Lionel Messi holds aloft the World Cup trophy after defeating France.
Photo editing and production by Kenneth Dickerman | 2022-12-18T21:35:27Z | www.washingtonpost.com | In photos: Fans watch Argentina v. France World Cup final game - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2022/photos-argentina-world-cup-france-fans/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2022/photos-argentina-world-cup-france-fans/ |
About 450 composers, musicians and arts leaders sign letter asking the music school to address new reports of sexual harassment and misconduct
By Michael Andor Brodeur
The Juilliard School, a private performing arts conservatory, located on Broadway at Lincoln Center Plaza in Manhattan. (iStock)
“Though we recognize and appreciate the need for due process,” the letter reads, “the volume of allegations, testimony, and supporting evidence of Beaser’s misconduct are undeniably unsettling. Until the investigation is resolved, Beaser’s presence in the Juilliard composition department could jeopardize the emotional well-being of students and inhibit a safe and healthy learning environment.”
Although the VAN report was unable to confirm whether complaints from two students lodged against Beaser in 2018 ever led to Juilliard officials launching Title IX investigations, Contreras confirmed that internal investigations took place at the school “in the late ’90s as well as in 2017/18” but did not elaborate on their findings.
Students contacted for VAN’s report characterized Beaser’s conduct as being well beyond an “open secret,” and paint a picture of the overall climate for women enrolled at the prestigious music school as stubbornly toxic.
She is also quick to point out that the scourge of sexual harassment within composition programs extends far beyond one school; it’s embedded deep into the culture of classical music education, she says. As a student, Snider had her own run-ins with sexual harassment at the hands of a powerful professor (whom she declines to identify) that she says continue to be “painful and traumatic.”
“They are the masters, and they are infallible, and they can make you or break you,” a male conservatory professor of composition who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of professional retribution wrote to Snider in a text message shown to The Post. “Gatekeeping doesn’t even cover it.”
Snider encountered particular trepidation from men in the music community, hesitant to sign for fear of retribution. Though sympathetic, the dissonance wasn’t lost.
By the signing deadline of 3 p.m. Friday, Snider says 90 percent of the men who had been on the fence came through at the last minute with signatures. | 2022-12-18T21:59:27Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Amid allegations at Juilliard, classical music leaders demand change - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2022/12/18/composers-open-letter-juilliard/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2022/12/18/composers-open-letter-juilliard/ |
Allison Klein
The National Menorah at the Ellipse near the White House on Sunday. (Tom Brenner/Reuters)
In recent days, the words “Jews Not Welcome” defaced an entrance sign at Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, and a swastika was painted at a bus-stop bench at Montgomery Mall, which is four miles from the school.
Last month, police investigated antisemitic messages, including swastikas, hangmen and white supremacist language, all found in Bethesda. Other antisemitic symbols were found on the Bethesda Trolley Trail in August.
“We’re ridiculed constantly,” she said, describing. for instance, people making fun of a Jewish person’s nose or casually mentioning that they are glad not to be Jewish. “It’s socially acceptable to be antisemitic.”
Other efforts were also underway to draw attention to the surge in incidents. An annual parade of lights put on by the Glen Echo Fire Department and Chabad of Bethesda changed its route in response to the graffiti found at Walt Whitman and will end with a rally at the school.
The arrival of Hanukkah also brought joy, with its mix of fried foods — potato latkes and doughnuts — plus candles, gifts and the spinning-top game dreidel. For eight nights, Jews celebrate what is said to be a miracle — a story that Jews fighting persecution (and assimilation) had only enough oil for one night, but it burned for eight, allowing them to rededicate the temple in Jerusalem.
Hanukkah’s darker origins feel more relevant in time of rising antisemitism
Hanukkah received a ceremonial kickoff on a frigid Sunday afternoon at the Ellipse. With the White House and a giant menorah behind him, Attorney General Merrick Garland told the crowd that members of his family perished in the Holocaust and were it not for the protection of the United States, his grandmother would also have died at the Nazis’ hands. He vowed to fight hate-fueled violence and said all Americans have a moral obligation to do the same.
“Together we must stand up against the disturbing rise in antisemitism and together we must stand up against bigotry in any of its forms,” he said. “May we never stop working to ensure that Americans will always be able to gather to light the menorah.”
An audit released in April by the Anti-Defamation League found 2,717 antisemitic incidents reported to the organization in 2021, a 34 percent increase from 2020 and the highest total since the ADL began tracking the statistic in 1979.
Federal officials recently said it was driven, in part, by a rise in hate speech and disinformation about Jews on Twitter and other social media.
In perhaps the most high-profile incident, the rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, recently tweeted an image of a swastika blended with a star of David, and praised Adolf Hitler and Nazis in an interview with far-right provocateur Alex Jones. That came after he dined with former president Donald Trump alongside white supremacist and antisemite Nick Fuentes last month.
“I like Hitler,” Ye told Jones. He later added, “I love Jewish people, but I also love Nazis.”
Overt U.S. antisemitism returns with Trump, Kanye West
Ahead of Sunday’s menorah lighting, Levi Shemtov of the American Friends of Lubavitch, the event’s sponsor, said he recently was among Jewish leaders that met with White House officials to discuss the rising threat, and said “some very good ideas” were discussed.
“I hope they will be implemented, and those forces of evil that work even in our dear United States will be alerted to the fact that everyone is watching, and that more and more of those who are watching are becoming activated to respond,” he said.
Among those on the Ellipse was Alexandria resident Ami Francisco. She recalled that a few months ago, a Twitter user said she deserved to burn in an oven — an apparent reference to the Nazi gas chambers.
“You know after the Holocaust we always say ‘never forget,’ and I feel like we are forgetting,” she said.
For others, the event at the Ellipse offered an opportunity to learn.
Rosie Chamberlain and Matthew Sheard, visiting D.C. from North Carolina, decided to attend the menorah lighting after going to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum on Saturday. Neither is Jewish, and they said the trip gave them a chance to see life through a new lens.
They noted that on Sunday in Moore County, N.C. — about an hour from their home in Raleigh — police reported that a large sign with images of swastikas and other antisemitic symbols was hung on a bridge in the area.
“I think it’s important to have solidarity at this time,” Sheard said.
In Montgomery County, leaders were alarmed by the rising number of incidents, even in a politically liberal place with a substantial Jewish population.
“Ultimately, we need our residents to call it out and say that hate has no home here,” said Montgomery County Council President Evan Glass, who is Jewish. “Members of the Jewish faith and allies need to be seen. We are not shying away, we are not cowering, we are here.”
Guila Franklin Siegel had already been planning to talk with seventh and eighth graders about antisemitism on Sunday morning at Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation in Bethesda. Then she heard about the incident at Walt Whitman, and the lesson took on added urgency.
The conversation, she said, “was very much focused on positive energy,” said Franklin Siegel, associate director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington.
“We want kids to feel they are supported. We want kids to feel they are empowered,” she said. “We don’t want them to feel frightened or wary of expressing their Jewish identity. We want them to be proud Jews who feel they can be a part of the solution of working to combat antisemitism.”
Greg Harris, senior rabbi at Congregation Beth El in Bethesda, said in this difficult moment, his message to the community centers on “bringing light into the darkness.”
“We have to be clear to push the messages of hate back into the corners of society,” he said. “They’ve been allowed into the center, and we need to push them back to the corner.”
He suggested Jews put Hanukkah menorahs in their windows as a sign of solidarity, a long-standing custom but one that many have never taken up.
“This is the time to share your pride in your faith, to show we will not cower or hide,” he said. Lighting the Hanukkah menorah, he said, is not just an act of religion or tradition. It is “an act of pride, and maybe an act of defiance as well.” | 2022-12-19T00:32:06Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Hanukkah celebrations begin amid spike in antisemitism - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/12/18/hanukkah-antisemitism-bethesda-national-menorah/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/12/18/hanukkah-antisemitism-bethesda-national-menorah/ |
LUSAIL CITY, QATAR - DECEMBER 18: Lionel Messi of Argentina celebrates after scoring the team’s first goal via a penalty during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Final match between Argentina and France at Lusail Stadium on December 18, 2022 in Lusail City, Qatar. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images) (Getty Images via Bloomberg)
It has been in his sights for over a decade. When I interviewed him for a Time Magazine cover story at the start of 2012, his eyes were already fixed on the World Cup in Brazil two years ahead, but there was a certain fatalism in his tone. “I’m going [to Brazil] because I want to be a champion and share the World Cup with my national team,” he said. “But if it doesn’t turn out that way, I can’t do anything about it.” Argentina lost to Germany in a closely contested final.
• This Japan World Cup Team Does More Than Tidy Up: Gearoid Reidy | 2022-12-19T00:36:28Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Messi May Not Be Soccer’s GOAT for Long - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/messi-may-not-be-soccers-goat-for-long/2022/12/18/ae733296-7f33-11ed-8738-ed7217de2775_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/messi-may-not-be-soccers-goat-for-long/2022/12/18/ae733296-7f33-11ed-8738-ed7217de2775_story.html |
Biden and his family on Sunday marked the 50th anniversary of a car crash that killed his wife and daughter
President Biden and first lady Jill Biden followed by granddaughters Maisy Biden, carrying a wreath, Finnegan Biden and Natalie Biden, leave St. Joseph on the Brandywine Catholic Church in Wilmington on Sunday. (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP)
WILMINGTON, Del. — President Biden on Saturday visited a strip mall a few miles from his house, walking near a jewelry shop, dipping into stores that offer luxury outerwear, and browsing the aisles of menswear store Jos. A. Bank before emerging with a bag in hand. It was the kind of preholiday weekend days that most Americans can relate to — a festive morning of shopping.
About 24 hours later, Biden arrived at St. Joseph on the Brandywine Church for a memorial Mass and a day tinged with more than a little tragedy. It was 50 years ago on Sunday that Biden’s wife Neilia and 1-year-old daughter Naomi were killed in a car accident as they were out shopping for a Christmas tree.
The two events over two days were a reminder of how this time of year contains a mix of emotions for Biden and his large family, one that is marked with the somber and the celebratory. It is about bonding and being together. But it is also about remembering those who have been lost.
As Biden went into the memorial mass and emerged from the church, he was surrounded by his family. Those with him included his son Hunter — the only person in that 1972 car crash who is still living. Hunter and his brother, Beau, emerged from that crash injured and tightly bonded together, until the day Beau died of brain cancer in 2015, another tragedy in a family that has known plenty of them.
Joe Biden and the politics of grief
The crash, Hunter has written, is one of his earliest memories and most consequential of his life.
When Joe Biden was growing up, his family had a tradition of waiting until Christmas Eve to put up the tree. His father would make a mixture of Ivory Snow detergent and water, layering the tree to make it look like fresh-fallen snow.
“The point was to produce the maximum possible sensory overload on Christmas morning when the kids came downstairs to see what Santa had done overnight,” his sister, Valerie Biden Owens, wrote in a recent book.
It was Biden’s election to the Senate in 1972 that started to alter that tradition. His young family of five was planning to relocate for his new job in Washington and their lives were hectic enough that Neilia wanted to get the tree a week earlier than usual. They were about four miles from home, after picking out a large tree at a farm, when the accident occurred.
Biden that day was in Washington, the newly elected senator making arrangements for his new office and staff when the phone call came urging him to return home because something terrible had happened.
His wife and daughter were killed, his two surviving boys at the hospital, Beau with a broken leg and Hunter with a fractured skull.
After the crash, Biden’s brother Jimmy went to a nearby department store and, despite being told it wasn’t for sale, bought an artificial tree decorated in tinsel. He returned to the hospital and, despite being told it wasn’t allowed, pushed it through the revolving door and brought it into the hospital room of his nephews, according to an account in Owens’s book.
James Biden, presidential brother
“That is how Hunter and Beau wound up with a fully decorated, department store Christmas tree lighting up their hospital room,” she wrote. “It was the only source of light at that time.”
For a family with plenty of traditions, a new one emerged for this time of year.
Biden’s immediate family would now gather on Dec. 18 to remember the day of the crash. They would attend Mass at the nearby church, as they did on Sunday, and often head afterward to the house for coffee and bagels. A wreath with white flowers would be laid at the gravesites.
This Sunday, the family members with Biden also included first lady Jill Biden, whom he married about five years after the car crash and who tried to help repair a shattered family, and their daughter, Ashley.
They also included his grandchildren, among them Beau’s son Hunter and Hunter’s son Beau. Two of the grandchildren carried large green wreaths with white flowers, preparing to place them at the gravesites.
A family devastated by returning home with a Christmas tree now remembers by placing an evergreen wreath on a grave. Where the family was altered by tragedy, a larger family now gathers.
While Hunter and Beau spent that Christmas some 50 years ago in a hospital room — one lit by their uncle’s contraband tree — the family now tries to gather for a Christmas Eve dinner, one that this year will likely be spent at the White House.
In the early years, Hunter has said, those gatherings seemed designed mostly to help two boys heal from unimaginable tragedy.
“I grew up watching, without always fully appreciating, my entire family perform the most selfless deeds on our behalf, without any real benefit to themselves,” Hunter wrote in his memoir. “Everyone took a turn as a hero in our story; everyone performed a kind of magic act.”
Biden remains a proud Irish American and a professed respecter of fate, but insists he is still an optimist. “My dad,” Hunter wrote, “understood something rare, something truly genius: trauma gave us the gift of each other.” | 2022-12-19T00:36:44Z | www.washingtonpost.com | For Biden family, the holidays are both somber and celebratory - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/18/biden-observes-deadly-crash-christmas/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/18/biden-observes-deadly-crash-christmas/ |
UNCASVILLE, Conn. — Aaliyah Edwards scored a career-high 26 points, Lou Lopez Senechal added 23, and No. 9 UConn, which was missing head coach Geno Auriemma, beat Florida State 85-77 in the Basketball Hall of Fame Women’s Showcase on Sunday afternoon.
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Zia Cooke scored 16 points, Aliyah Boston had 10 points and 13 rebounds for her 67th career double-double and South Carolina steamrolled Charleston Southern 87-23. | 2022-12-19T00:37:36Z | www.washingtonpost.com | No. 9 UConn tops Florida St without head coach Auriemma - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/no-9-uconn-tops-florida-st-without-head-coach-auriemma/2022/12/18/f6eadd54-7f2d-11ed-8738-ed7217de2775_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/no-9-uconn-tops-florida-st-without-head-coach-auriemma/2022/12/18/f6eadd54-7f2d-11ed-8738-ed7217de2775_story.html |
Elon Musk blamed a Twitter account for a stalker. Police see no link.
The Twitter owner threatened legal action, changed the platform’s rules and suspended journalists’ accounts after a confrontation involving his security team at a gas station. But the incident’s timing and location cast doubt on a link to the @ElonJet account.
Elon Musk, the billionaire chief of Twitter and Tesla, in Germany in March. (Christian Marquardt — Pool/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES — A confrontation between a member of Elon Musk’s security team and an alleged stalker that Musk blamed on a Twitter account that tracked his jet took place at a gas station 26 miles from Los Angeles International Airport and 23 hours after the @ElonJet account had last located the jet’s whereabouts.
The timing and location of the confrontation cast doubt on Musk’s assertion that the account had posted real-time “assassination coordinates” that threatened his family and led to the confrontation. Police have said little about the incident but say they’ve yet to find a link between the confrontation and the jet-tracking account.
The incident last week triggered a major rewrite of Twitter’s rules and the suspensions of a half dozen journalists’ accounts, which were condemned by free-speech advocates. It also underscored how Musk’s personal concerns can influence his governance of a social media platform used by hundreds of millions of people around the world.
As the sole owner of Twitter, Musk can dictate policies as he chooses. Musk disbanded Twitter’s board of directors, which at other companies might have influenced the company’s reaction to the incident, as well as its long-standing “trust and safety” committee that had advised the social media platform on its policies. No executive at Twitter has the stature to balance Musk’s directives.
The incident, Post reporting shows, occurred in South Pasadena, a Los Angeles suburb, on Tuesday at about 9:45 p.m. South Pasadena police were called to the gas station, according to the business’s manager, but made no arrests. South Pasadena police have not responded to requests for comment.
The Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement Thursday that its Threat Management Unit was in contact with Musk’s representatives and security team but that no crime reports had been filed. Police did not respond to requests for updates on Sunday.
Using a video of the incident that Musk posted to Twitter, The Post identified the owner of the car involved and then the driver shown in the video, who had rented it through the car-sharing service Turo.
The car’s renter, Brandon Collado, confirmed in interviews with The Post that he was the person shown in the video. He also provided The Post with videos he shot of the Musk security guard that matched the one Musk had posted to Twitter.
However, in 2015 actress and singer Selena Gomez was forced to move out of her $4.5 million home due to a relentless stalker. Actress Sandra Bullock recently opened up about the trauma and PTSD she experienced after a stalker broke into her home in 2014. In 2012 a man accused of stalking actress Halle Berry was sentenced to over a year in jail.
Marc Madero, a Los Angeles police detective with the unit that investigates high-profile stalking cases, told The Post the unit has investigated a man who was accused of stalking Boucher. After the confrontation in the gas station, Musk’s security team alerted the police, who began investigating whether the man in the video was the same alleged stalker, Madero said. He said the unit had yet to make a determination and continues to investigate.
Madero said the video of the man suggested he had taken efforts to hide his identity, including wearing gloves and partially covering his face. But he said his unit had no evidence to suggest the man police were investigating had used the jet-tracking account. He noted that stalkers commonly use “open-source searches of a targeted individual,” adding, “Nothing would surprise me.”
Musk tweeted Thursday that journalists had been “aware of the violent stalker and yet still doxed the real-time location of my family.” He did not say which journalists he was referring to or provide evidence. The Post was unaware of the incident until Musk tweeted about it. A review of the internet found no news accounts about a stalker. A volunteer with the investigative journalism group Bellingcat used the video Musk posted to locate the incident to the gas station.
Musk’s jet landed in Los Angeles last Monday, Dec. 12, following a flight from Oakland, the @ElonJet account said, citing flight information, known as ADS-B data, that is legally and routinely gathered by aviation hobbyists and posted to public websites such as ADS-B Exchange.
Musk had been in San Francisco the previous night, getting booed onstage at Dave Chappelle’s comedy show. Three days earlier, he had posted another photo from San Francisco of his 2-year-old son, X Æ A-Xii, whom Musk refers to as “X.”
The indicident took place at the gas station on Tuesday, Dec. 13, approximately 15 minutes before the station closed, according to its manager, Daniel Santiago, who was working that night. Santiago said he was surprised when the car Collado was driving pulled into the Arco station and into the space next to Santiago’s car, which is not a normal location for a customer to park.
He said the incident was caught on the gas station’s security camera and that that footage had been turned over to the South Pasadena police on Thursday.
According to the video of the incident that Musk posted, the member of the Musk security team confronted Collado sitting in the car wearing gloves and a hood. “Yeah, pretty sure. Got you,” the Musk security team member can be heard saying on the video.
What took place between the two men before they arrived at the gas station is unknown. There’s no indication in videos shared with The Post that Musk’s children were present.
Collado claimed he was making Uber Eats deliveries and visiting a friend when he pulled into the gas station and said the Musk security worker then confronted him without reason. Collado said he believed that Musk was monitoring his real-time location.
Two videos of the altercation Collado shared with The Post show him exiting his rental car and standing in front of a Toyota driven by the Musk security worker.
Shortly after the incident, officers with the South Pasadena police arrived at the gas station, questioned Collado and told him they’d file a report, Collado said.
On Saturday, Collado tweeted at Musk, “I am the guy in this video … You have connections to me and have stalked me and my family for over a year.” Collado said he had not been contacted by the police since Tuesday night.
After the gas-station incident, Twitter changed its rules to ban the sharing of all “live location information,” including links to other websites that noted “travel routes, actual physical location or other identifying information that would reveal a person’s location, regardless if this information is publicly available.”
Twitter also suspended journalists from The Post, the New York Times, CNN and other news organizations who were covering the @ElonJet suspensions. Two former employees in contact with Twitter staff told The Post that the suspensions were at one time marked “direction of Elon.”
On Sunday, Musk posted videos showing he was attending the World Cup championship game in Qatar. When some in the stands shared photos showing Musk in attendance, Twitter users noted that the details could be classified as real-time location information, like the kind Musk had labeled “assassination coordinates,” and were no longer allowed. | 2022-12-19T01:46:14Z | www.washingtonpost.com | What happened in stalking incident Musk cited to ban @ElonJet - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/12/18/details-of-musk-stalking-incident/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/12/18/details-of-musk-stalking-incident/ |
This photo provided by the North Korean government, shows what it says a test of a rocket with the test satellite at the Sohae Satellite Launching Ground in North Korea Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: “KCNA” which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP) (Uncredited/KCNA via KNS) | 2022-12-19T02:08:03Z | www.washingtonpost.com | North Korea says rocket launch was test of 1st spy satellite - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/north-korea-says-rocket-launch-was-test-of-1st-spy-satellite/2022/12/18/eeb053d0-7f3c-11ed-8738-ed7217de2775_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/north-korea-says-rocket-launch-was-test-of-1st-spy-satellite/2022/12/18/eeb053d0-7f3c-11ed-8738-ed7217de2775_story.html |
Argentina forward Lionel Messi celebrates after Sunday’s final. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
There’s an old saying in sports that is usually directed at the Olympics: “Only the athletes save the games.”
It’s an accurate shot at the never-ending corruption of the International Olympic Committee, which is exposed time and time again with no end in sight.
The same can certainly be said about FIFA and the World Cup, which came to a dramatic end — that should have been even more dramatic — Sunday when Argentina beat France, 4-2 on penalty kicks, after they finished tied at 3 at the end of 120 minutes of breathless soccer.
Almost completely forgotten in the wake of the brilliant match and the play of superstars Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé were the events that took place in the years leading up to Qatar 2022.
It began with FIFA awarding the World Cup to a country with little soccer history, no stadiums and heat that would make playing in June and July — the normal time frame for a World Cup — entirely impossible.
No one believed Qatar won the bid on the basis of anything other than money — big money — changing hands.
During the 12-year lead-up to the World Cup, there were horrific reports of migrant workers dying as they built the tournament’s stadiums and of the Qatari government’s corruption — not to mention its treatment of members of the LGBTQ community and minorities. But, as late IOC president Avery Brundage declared after 11 Israelis were murdered by terrorists during the 1972 Munich Olympics, “The Games must go on!”
From November: Families of migrant workers who died in Qatar are waiting for answers
The games must always go on — there is too much money at stake for them not to.
Last month, my colleague Sally Jenkins wrote a superb column about FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who had angrily lectured the media for having the audacity to criticize FIFA in any way. FIFA and the World Cup were about love and the beautiful game, he insisted, his arm no doubt getting sore from patting himself on the back.
Jenkins essentially called Infantino a thug, which is exactly what he is. This came in the wake of threats from FIFA that led several teams from Europe to not have their captains wear rainbow-striped “One Love” armbands with their uniforms. The “One Love” program was launched in 2020 by the Dutch soccer federation to protest discrimination in all of its forms.
Initially, FIFA had told the European federations that a player was likely to be given a yellow card for wearing a “One Love” armband. This past weekend, the New York Times reported details of a meeting held on the day of the opening match between Ecuador and Qatar in which FIFA went a step further and suggested players could face suspension.
Jenkins: The beautiful game is fine. Suitcases full of cash are better.
The Europeans backed down, and Qatar and FIFA got their way. The World Cup began with Qatar, which automatically qualified for the 32-team field as the tournament host, losing to Ecuador, 2-0. Qatar would go on to score one goal in three matches while surrendering seven, a woeful performance.
Qatar spent billions to host the World Cup. But Qatar, much like Saudi Arabia in golf or Russia or China in anything, didn’t care how much it spent. It is an oil-rich country and clearly saw sportswashing as a way to distract the world from its never-ending list of human rights violations.
Guess what? It worked.
People will talk endlessly about the brilliance of Sunday’s final and about the brilliance of the players who appeared throughout this World Cup. They will be right, but they will miss the point.
If the United States is such a great defender of human rights, why was Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Qatar? It’s one thing to send a team to compete in places such as Qatar, Russia and China, but why should such a high-ranking member of the government endorse sportswashing by attending?
Taken a step further, should the United States be hosting in four years with Mexico and Canada? Will it be great fun, and will it enhance the chances of the Americans, who were beaten by the Netherlands in this year’s round of 16?
But does anyone think FIFA will clean up its act in the next four years and that Infantino or whoever succeeds him will be any better than Brundage? It was Brundage, it should be remembered, who removed two Jewish athletes from the U.S. 4x100-meter relay team in Berlin in 1936 so as not to insult Adolf Hitler. Infantino and his band of thugs have already proved they will do anything for a buck, and they will love collecting money in U.S. dollars. What’s more, does anyone think a discouraging word will be heard from U.S. TV partner Fox? That certainly wasn’t the case over the past few weeks.
Should the U.S. boycott the 2026 World Cup? No. That’s not fair to the athletes or to fans. But it doesn’t have to host. Heck, they could play the games in Qatar and people will watch, right?
As great as the World Cup is on the field, we again saw its fatal flaw Sunday. You cannot decide a championship in a sport without actually playing the sport. You don’t decide Game 7 of the World Series with a home run derby, the Super Bowl with a field goal kicking contest or a basketball title with a three-point contest. You play on until somebody wins.
Imagine the drama Sunday if Mbappé or Messi — or one of their teammates — had scored in the 140th minute to win the championship. The better team should win, not the team that’s better on penalty kicks. Yes, penalties are part of soccer, field goals are part of football, and three-pointers are part of basketball. And what if a team has to play 140 minutes — or more — in the round of 16, the quarterfinals or the semifinals? Tough. Win sooner. Or as one coach I knew in basketball said years ago, “Play better.”
I had no horse in Sunday’s race. I admire both teams and both superstars. But the game should not have ended with penalty kicks. If someone had scored the winning goal in super extra time, it would have been one of the most memorable moments in sports history. Great might have become greatest.
Regardless, the athletes saved the games again. Now it’s up to the rest of us to do something about the horrible humans who run this wonderful sport. | 2022-12-19T02:08:15Z | www.washingtonpost.com | World Cup was great, but penalty kicks and FIFA are not - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/18/world-cup-penalty-kicks-qatar/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/18/world-cup-penalty-kicks-qatar/ |
MINNEAPOLIS — Anthony Edwards had season highs with 37 points and 11 assists and Minnesota broke the franchise record for points in a game.
BOSTON — Paolo Banchero scored 31 points and Admiral Schofield had 11 of his 13 in the fourth quarter to help Orlando complete a sweep of consecutive games in Boston.
TORONTO — Jordan Poole scored a career-high 43 points, Klay Thompson had 17 and Golden State won for the first time in five tries this season without the injured Stephen Curry.
DETROIT — Kevin Durant scored 26 of his 43 points in the third quarter, helping Brooklyn overcome a 17-point halftime deficit. | 2022-12-19T03:40:21Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Brunson scores 30, Knicks beat Pacers for 7th straight win - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nba/brunson-scores-30-knicks-beat-pacers-for-7th-straight-win/2022/12/18/925bf9fe-7f41-11ed-8738-ed7217de2775_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nba/brunson-scores-30-knicks-beat-pacers-for-7th-straight-win/2022/12/18/925bf9fe-7f41-11ed-8738-ed7217de2775_story.html |
11 passengers and crew were seriously injured
Injured fliers were taken to The Queen's Medical Center in Honolulu after turbulence on a Hawaiian Airlines flight on Sunday. (Audrey Mcavoy/AP)
Dozens of people were injured Sunday, some seriously, when a Hawaiian Airlines flight from Phoenix to Honolulu hit “severe turbulence” about a half hour from landing.
According to a statement from Honolulu Emergency Medical Services, paramedics and emergency medical technicians treated 36 people, 20 of whom were taken to the hospital.
Passengers suffered injuries including cuts to the head, bruises and loss of consciousness, the emergency medical authorities said. Eleven people were in serious condition and nine others were stable at the hospital.
Kaylee Reyes, who was a passenger on the flight, told Hawaii News Now that her mother had just sat down and hadn’t yet buckled her seatbelt when turbulence hit. | 2022-12-19T03:40:57Z | www.washingtonpost.com | 36 injured during turbulence on Hawaiian Airlines flight - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2022/12/18/hawaii-airlines-turbulence/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2022/12/18/hawaii-airlines-turbulence/ |
Ask Amy: Celebrate the holidays by putting ‘A Book on Every Bed’
All literacy starts with a story, and the inspiring story behind this effort came to me from Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David McCullough, whose charmed and productive life was shaped by the sharing of books and stories, starting early in his childhood.
McCullough died in August at the age of 89, and many of the tributes to his life and work mentioned the effects his parents and grandparents had on his life and eventual vocation, by exposing him to literature, reading aloud and treasuring books in the household.
Every Christmas morning, starting in his very early childhood, McCullough and his three brothers would awaken to a wrapped book placed at the end of their bed. Santa had left the gift there, and it was the very first present unwrapped and enjoyed on Christmas morning.
It’s so simple! Family members can wrap a new book or share a favorite from their own childhood. The important thing is what happens next: sitting and reading together.
Over the years, fellow writers and literacy advocates have helped to promote and spread the Book on Every Bed idea by sharing their own literacy stories in this space. Jacqueline Woodson, Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden and literacy hero LeVar Burton have all generously lent their names to this effort. Each shared a story of a treasured book, and each wrote movingly about the indelible and lifelong effects of being introduced to books in childhood.
This year, I’ve turned to one of the most prolific and generous writers I know: Brad Meltzer.
Meltzer’s writing career is truly genre-spanning. He writes best-selling legal and history thrillers, and he’s the author of groundbreaking stories for DC Comics. Along with artist Chris Eliopoulos, Meltzer has created an important biography series for very young readers: Ordinary People Change the World.
Meltzer’s story:
“Growing up, my family didn’t have a ton of money. And we certainly didn’t have books. But my grandmother had one of the most powerful objects in existence: a library card. I still remember her taking me to the public library in Brooklyn. It was there that the local librarian pointed to the shelves of beautiful books and told me, ‘This is your section.’
“I almost fell over. I honestly thought she meant that all the books were mine (though, really, they were, weren’t they?). It was a day that made my world bigger and immeasurably better. And the best part were the new friends my librarian introduced me to, like Judy Blume and Agatha Christie. ‘Superfudge’ was the first book I ever coveted. But it was Blume’s ‘Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret’ that rocked my socks. Since I was a boy, no one understood why I was reading it. But I was a boy trying to figure out how girls worked.
“Today, those lessons I learned in the library inspire every children’s book I write: ‘I am Amelia Earhart,’ ‘I am Abraham Lincoln,’ ‘I am Rosa Parks,’ ‘I am Albert Einstein’ — and every other title in our Ordinary People Change the World series. Indeed, the series started because I wanted to give my own children heroes of kindness, compassion and perseverance, which is what Judy Blume and Agatha Christie gave to me.
Working with the Children’s Reading Connection (childrensreadingconnection.org), a national literacy campaign in Ithaca, N.Y., I received the thrill of my own career as a reader and writer by giving each child, teacher and staff member of my rural primary school books of their own to take home. Watching these children clutch their new books tightly was a joy and a reminder that literacy really starts with a human connection. | 2022-12-19T05:11:11Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Ask Amy: Celebrate the holidays by putting ‘A Book on Every Bed’ - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/advice/2022/12/19/ask-amy-book-every-bed/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/advice/2022/12/19/ask-amy-book-every-bed/ |
Commanders quarterback Taylor Heinicke reacts after fumbling the ball during the fourth quarter of the game against the New York Giants. (Katherine Frey/The Washington Post)
These games don’t come to FedEx Field very often. It’s the week before Christmas. The homestanding Washington Commanders were in playoff position and looking to strengthen that standing. The division-rival New York Giants were headed here, tied in the standings but reeling after getting waxed a week earlier.
So when Terry McLaurin, the star wide receiver, was the last player introduced before kickoff, he sprinted from the tunnel, through the phalanx of his teammates, and about skipped to the far end zone, firing up the crowd. “I expect it to be a playoff atmosphere,” McLaurin had said during the week, and he was going to help make it that way.
Prosperity, though, is not something with which this franchise — or, frankly, its fan base for a quarter century — is familiar. And when Taylor Heinicke followed what should have been his trademark, are-you-serious play of the night — a 61-yard, you-only-live-once deep ball to rookie Jahan Dotson — with a sack and a fumble, the tenor of the Commanders’ holiday season changed.
That play, which Giants defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence forced, solidified New York’s hold on what became a 20-12 victory, and running back Saquon Barkley seemingly salted it away with ridiculously tough yards on the Giants’ ensuing drive that led to a field goal.
Somehow, because Heinicke follows all things infuriating with something inspiring, the Commanders ended up in the final minute at the Giants’ 1 — where McLaurin was called for being in an illegal formation. That infraction erased Brian Robinson Jr.’s touchdown. That infraction moved the ball to the 6. That infraction meant, when Heinicke’s heave toward Curtis Samuel in the end zone fell to the ground, the game was over.
The Commanders are left clinging to the seventh and final seed in the playoff race, with a difficult Christmas Eve task in San Francisco just ahead.
There will rightly be much dissection of Heinicke’s role in that defeat, because his fourth-quarter fumble was his second of the night, and the first was returned for a first-half touchdown. We know who he is, which is someone who toggles between miraculous and maddening — sometimes in the same drive.
But Heinicke wasn’t the reason for this loss, just as he wasn’t the reason the team has gone 5-2-1 after he took over for the injured Carson Wentz. Sunday night’s result shared characteristics of that entire run. It was about the whole team, and it was razor-thin.
There seemed, strangely, to be a difference in urgency — and not from the players. It was from the coaches. On Washington’s first possession of the night, a sack of Heinicke left the Commanders facing fourth and 12 from the New York 34.
Here are the choices: Have Joey Slye attempt a 52-yard field goal. Go for it. Or punt.
Ron Rivera called for a punt. It’s an egregious error. Not just in the result — which, after a 23-yard punt return, was a net of four yards.
Slye, for one, has the leg. The wind may have seemed a factor, but it wasn’t brutal. Slye entered the game having made three of four attempts from 50 yards or longer — including a booming 58-yarder.
Don’t like the kicker in the conditions? Fine. Go for it. You fail, and the Giants get the ball at, say, their own 44. You trust your defense, right, Ron?
The flip side? With the Giants facing fourth and 9 at the Commanders’ 35 late in the second quarter, New York Coach Brian Daboll went for it. It wasn’t the right choice because of the result — an 11-yard completion that helped keep alive what became a 97-yard touchdown drive. It’s the right choice regardless of the result.
That helped the entire first half, from a Washington perspective, feel … odd. This was the biggest game at FedEx Field since — well, when? The final game of the 2016 season, in which Washington just needed to beat the playing-for-nothing Giants to advance to the playoffs — and failed? The regular-season finale in 2012, when RGIII and Co. beat Dallas to win the NFC East? Whatever. Pick one. These things don’t come around too often.
(Oh, and it’s worth pointing out, too, that given fourth and nine from the 33 in the fourth quarter — going in the opposite direction — Rivera called on Slye to boot a 51-yarder. He made it.)
(Oh, and it’s also worth pointing out that, when he needed to extend his lead, Daboll called on Graham Gano to crush a 50-yard attempt — in the direction Rivera had declined to send out Slye — and he made it. Why can’t Washington get players like that?)
While we’re here discussing the people who contributed — in either their play or their decision-making or both — on Sunday night, it’s worth mentioning someone who didn’t. Chase Young was the second player selected in the 2020 draft. Washington took him three spots ahead of Tua Tagovailoa and four ahead of Justin Herbert, two quarterbacks who have their teams in playoff position.
Young blew out his knee on Nov. 14, 2021. He was reinstated to the active roster on Nov. 21 — a month ago this coming Wednesday. He did not play — again — Sunday night.
Now, the defensive line has absolutely been the strength of this team, and whenever Young returns — if Young returns — it would be reasonable to expect him to be limited to a small number of snaps. This might not be the time and place to flesh this out, but it must be said that it’s not OK for the second pick of the draft to be, apparently, healthy — but not play. He has to be an impactful player. He is making no impact.
To pretend that isn’t having an effect on the franchise is folly. And it’s hard, while watching Heinicke get exposed in the first half while Young stood on the sidelines, to not think, “Why doesn’t Washington have its long-term solution at quarterback?”
Young’s absence didn’t determine the outcome Sunday — though it’s worth pointing out that the Commanders didn’t get a sack of Giants quarterback Daniel Jones.
What was presented Sunday night was an opportunity against a team the Commanders and their fans would like to think they’re better than. The scoreboard, and now the standings, would suggest they’re not. Who knows when the next chance like this will come about?
NFL live updates: Giants beat Commanders, 20-12 | 2022-12-19T05:11:52Z | www.washingtonpost.com | In a rare chance at prosperity, the Commanders fell short - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/18/commanders-giants-fell-short/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/18/commanders-giants-fell-short/ |
Taylor Heinicke had a pair of pivotal fumbles in Sunday night's loss. (Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post)
Out of the shotgun, Taylor Heinicke took the snap and faked a handoff to Brian Robinson Jr. before turning his eyes downfield, waiting, waiting, waiting and then launching a deep pass to the middle of the end zone, where not a Washington Commanders player was in sight.
As the ball sailed, rookie wide receiver Jahan Dotson sprinted into view on a slant route, gaining separation from his defender before jumping to catch the ball in stride.
His 19-yard touchdown catch capped a 91-yard drive in the third quarter and, like so many past games, seemed to signal the start of another Heinicke turnaround. The undrafted and undersized quarterback has made a habit of physics-defying comebacks. It’s why teammates love him and coaches need antacids when watching him.
But Sunday night, in a prime-time rematch with the New York Giants that had significant playoff implications, Heinicke’s magic ran dry when it mattered most. After he revived the offense in the second half, his mistakes cost Washington in a 20-12 loss and dropped their chance of making the playoffs to roughly 40 percent, per projection models.
Svrluga: In a rare chance at prosperity, the Commanders fell short
“We had our opportunities. We put ourselves down there. We missed opportunities, and we can’t do that,” Coach Ron Rivera said. “We talked about that when we were off last week, that the red zone was something we had to be better at — and we didn’t do that.”
Heinicke was sacked three times and fumbled on two of them. In the second quarter, Kayvon Thibodeaux strip-sacked the quarterback, then recovered the ball at the 1-yard line and ran it in for a score that put New York (8-5-1) up 7-3. Then in the fourth, Heinicke was sacked in New York’s red zone. Though he was initially ruled down by contact, the call was overturned after a review showed he lost possession of the ball before hitting the ground. The Giants went down the field and booted a 50-yard field goal to expand their lead to 20-12 just before the two-minute warning.
A last-gasp drive got Washington deep in New York territory, but an illegal formation penalty on Terry McLaurin that negated a Robinson touchdown run and a fourth-down pass intended for Curtis Samuel in the end zone was broken up under heavy coverage that could easily have been flagged for pass interference.
“Don’t ask me about the referee because I can’t answer the question,” Rivera said.
Takeaways and analysis from "Sunday Night Football"
Heinicke’s touchdown pass and 5-for-5 effort on the Commanders’ opening drive of the second half may have spared him a benching in favor of Carson Wentz. More significant: It spared Washington a more lopsided loss to a division rival in a pivotal game.
For the first two quarters, Washington’s passing offense struggled to muster much of anything. Heinicke was sacked twice and went 7 for 13 for 55 yards and a 64.6 passer rating in the first half. He finished 17 for 29 for 249 yards, one touchdown, zero interceptions and a solid 98.2 rating.
The list of baffling decisions by Washington grew throughout the first half. For starters, Rivera opted to punt from New York’s 34-yard line after Heinicke took a sack for a loss of three.
“Oh we got ’em pinned,” Rivera said of the Commanders’ thought process. “We figured from where we were, we got ’em pinned.”
Later in the first half, the Giants found themselves in a similar position — facing fourth and 9 from the 35-yard line — but converted on a 11-yard completion that set up a three-yard touchdown run by Saquon Barkley that put New York ahead 14-3.
Until that 97-yard drive by the Giants — the longest by a Washington opponent this year — the Commanders’ defense and special teams had to bail out the offense. The defense forced a three-and-out after the Commanders punted from the 34. The defense later stopped the Giants on third and six after the offense sputtered with back-to-back penalties and had to settle for a field goal. And when Heinicke threw into double coverage — twice — to kill a drive, Tress Way dropped a punt at the Giants’ 3-yard line.
Washington was 0 for 5 on third down in the first half. Its run game, led by Robinson, was its engine and accounted for 81 of its 124 net yards in that span. Robinson finished the game with 89 yards on 12 carries.
Giants quarterback Daniel Jones, who has a history of making light work of the Commanders’ defense, made the most of his depleted offense, guiding it on an 18-play scoring drive before the half and a 10-play drive in the third quarter that Graham Gano capped with a 50-yard field goal to expand the Giants’ lead to 17-9.
Heinicke, whose mobility played a significant role in Washington’s turnaround after a 1-4 start, had curiously been conservative on the ground in previous weeks. But Sunday, he picked up a first down on a run in the first quarter, then added another in the fourth when he ran for 14 yards.
But the drive sputtered when Antonio Gibson fumbled on second down and, after a recovery, Heinicke missed Dotson on third and nine. Joey Slye, who earlier missed an extra point after a two-point conversion catch was wiped out by a penalty, booted a 51-yard field goal to bring Washington within 17-12 early in the fourth quarter.
Darrick Forrest, Washington’s second-year safety whose big plays earned him a starting role, came up with another when he broke up a pass by Jones on third and eight, ushering Giants punter Jamie Gillan onto the field.
The stop set the stage for some Heinicke magic and, on cue, he launched a 61-yard rocket down the middle of the field as Dotson sprinted toe-to-toe with the Giants’ Jason Pinnock. As the ball neared, Dotson adjusted his body to catch it behind Pinnock, sparing a potential deflection or worse.
The drive seemed to have the momentum for a go-ahead score, but the Commanders’ red zone issues resurfaced as Heinicke was sacked on third and four and the ball came loose. Though he was initially ruled down by contact, a review showed Heinicke did not have possession as he hit the ground.
The Giants promptly worked down the field and Gano booted a 50-yard field goal to expand their lead to 20-12 just after the two-minute warning.
For a moment, the Commanders seemed out of it. But Gibson broke off a 43-yard kickoff return. Heinicke followed by again finding Dotson, this time for 14 yards on an out route, only to nearly throw a pick in the end zone.
After a timeout, Heinicke scrambled on second down and attempted one of his signature pylon-dive touchdowns but was stopped one yard shy, setting up third and goal.
Robinson ran it into the end zone, but McLaurin was flagged for an illegal formation, a call he adamantly fought. On NBC’s broadcast, McLaurin could be seen pointing to the sideline official twice to make sure he was at the line of scrimmage.
“I checked to see if I was good the first time and he was like, ‘Move up a little bit.’ So when I moved up, I checked to see if I was good, and he said I was good,” said McLaurin, who reiterated he heard the official tell him he was in the right spot. “I’m not trying to get fined. We had our other opportunities. For it to come down like that, that’s tough.”
Heinicke threw two incomplete passes to seal the Commanders’ frustrating loss. | 2022-12-19T05:11:58Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Commanders fall short in pivotal NFC East showdown with Giants - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/18/commanders-giants-sunday-night-football/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/18/commanders-giants-sunday-night-football/ |
11 passengers and crew were seriously hurt
Injured passengers and crew were taken to the Queen's Medical Center in Honolulu after turbulence on a Hawaiian Airlines flight on Sunday. (Audrey Mcavoy/AP)
Dozens of people were injured Sunday, some seriously, when a Hawaiian Airlines flight from Phoenix to Honolulu hit “severe turbulence” about a half-hour from landing.
According to a statement from Honolulu Emergency Medical Services, paramedics and emergency medical technicians treated 36 people, 20 of whom were taken to the hospital. Several people who were treated at the scene experienced nausea or vomiting but did not have injuries that required hospitalization, Jim Ireland, director of the Honolulu Emergency Services Department, said during a news conference.
Passengers suffered injuries including cuts to the head, bruises and loss of consciousness, the emergency medical authorities said. Eleven people were in serious condition and nine others were stable at the hospital. Officials said 13 people were taken to hospitals by ambulance and the rest by city bus, accompanied by paramedics and other medical staff.
The flight was full, with 278 passengers, eight flight attendants and two pilots, Hawaiian Airlines Chief Operating Officer Jon Snook said. The plane was flying at 36,000 feet when it hit the turbulence. He said he did not yet know how much altitude the plane lost and could only speculate at this point about how people were injured.
“Injuries occur because the aircraft goes down and if you don’t have your seat belt on, you stay where you are as the aircraft goes down,” he said during a news conference Sunday afternoon in Hawaii. Three of the people who were taken to the hospital were flight attendants, he said.
Kaylee Reyes, who was a passenger on the flight, told Hawaii News Now that her mother had just sat down and hadn’t yet buckled her seat belt when turbulence hit.
Snook said during the news conference that such an extreme case of turbulence was “relatively uncommon.”
“We haven’t experienced an incident of this nature in recent history for sure,” he said. He said there wasn’t any warning of the particular patch of air that caused the incident.
He said the seat belt sign was on at the time the plane hit the patch of air, but it wasn’t clear how many people were not buckled.
Snook said there was not a struggle in the cockpit to control the plane.
“These aircraft are designed to deal with this sort of level of turbulence and are designed to recover from it without issue,” he said. | 2022-12-19T05:12:30Z | www.washingtonpost.com | 36 injured during turbulence on Hawaiian Airlines flight - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2022/12/18/hawaiian-airlines-turbulence/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2022/12/18/hawaiian-airlines-turbulence/ |
Apple’s iPhone Needs a Shake-Up. A New Law Might Help.
An employee gives a demonstration of the Maps app on an Apple Inc. iPhone 14 smartphone at an Apple store in Sydney, Australia, on Friday, Sept. 16, 2022. The latest iPhone hits stores today, and Apple is counting on well-heeled shoppers to make the device a hit during a year of roaring inflation and shaky technology spending. (Photographer: Bloomberg/Bloomberg) | 2022-12-19T06:42:47Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Apple’s iPhone Needs a Shake-Up. A New Law Might Help. - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/apples-iphone-needs-a-shake-up-a-new-law-might-help/2022/12/19/3351b4d6-7f63-11ed-8738-ed7217de2775_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/apples-iphone-needs-a-shake-up-a-new-law-might-help/2022/12/19/3351b4d6-7f63-11ed-8738-ed7217de2775_story.html |
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