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U.S. conducted offensive cyber operations to counter state-sponsored cyberattacks, including new ‘Hunt Forward’ missions
The National Security Administration campus where U.S. Cyber Command is located in Fort Meade, Md. (Patrick Semansky/AP)
U.S. Cyber Command has begun to make routine use of offensive cyber actions to defend the nation, taking aim this fall at Russian and Iranian hackers before they had a chance to disrupt the midterm elections, according to three U.S. officials.
Cybercom disrupted Russian troll farm during 2018 midterm elections
This year, the command’s Cyber National Mission Force (CNMF) went after many of the same foreign entities, including those affiliated with the Russian and Iranian governments and their proxies, according to the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity.
In a media roundtable this month at Fort Meade, Md., Gen. Paul Nakasone, who heads both Cybercom and the National Security Agency, the world’s most powerful electronic spying agency, talked about how Cybercom went on the offense during the midterms, though he did not specify targets.
Cyber Command went after Iranian hackers who posed as far-right extremists in 2020 elections
“We did conduct operations persistently to make sure that our foreign adversaries couldn’t utilize infrastructure to impact us," said Nakasone. “We understood how foreign adversaries utilize infrastructure throughout the world. We had that mapped pretty well. And we wanted to make sure that we took it down at key times.”
Nakasone noted that Cybercom’s national mission force, aided by NSA, followed a “campaign plan" to deprive the hackers of their tools and networks. “Rest assured,” he said. “We were doing operations well before the midterms began, and we were doing operations likely on the day of the midterms.” And they continued until the elections were certified, he said.
“This is what ‘persistent engagement’ is,” he added. "This is the idea of understanding your foreign adversaries and operating outside the United States.”
In a joint statement, the two agencies said: “We do not comment on cyber operations, plans or activities and wouldn’t speculate where and who those cyber operations were directed towards.”
Maj. Gen. Joe Hartman, who leads the Cyber National Mission Force, in a news conference Monday sought to demystify offensive operations. “It is certainly one of the things we do on a daily basis," he said, explaining that his team targets the tools a hacker needs to conduct attacks: a computer, an internet connection, malware.
“We do everything we can to make it hard for our adversaries to use that ecosystem to threaten the U.S., allies and partners," he said, speaking at a ceremony to raise CNMF to the status of a “sub-unified” command, similar to Joint Special Operations Command.
Nakasone noted that although there were “plenty of foreign influence operations” in the midterms, compared to previous elections "there was a lessened degree of activity.” He did not elaborate on why that may be the case, for instance, whether it’s because Russia was occupied elsewhere or because of CNMF’s actions.
He did say, however, that he did not see new tactics or tools. “And I saw the same foreign adversaries that I’ve seen before, a lot of the same ones — the proxies and the elements of the Russian and Iranian governments that do this type of work,” he said.
One strategy that Nakasone has carried out is “hunting forward," or examining the computer systems of foreign partners, at their invitation, to look for malware and other tools that adversaries such as Russia use. “When we go to a foreign country, we want to see what adversaries are doing on other networks which might impact us," he explained.
Then Cybercom or NSA shares the malware with cybersecurity companies so they can help their clients in the broader private sector detect and remove it from their networks. “The exposure becomes an antidote,” he said. "I am trying to make it as costly for our adversaries to operate in terms of their time, money, and focus.”
CNMF carried out hunt forward operations in Ukraine at the beginning of the year before Russia’s February invasion, in Lithuania in the spring and Croatia in the summer, officials said. In total the force has deployed 38 times to 21 countries since 2018, officials said.
“Hunt Forward missions give you an ability to understand the importance and the fortitude of what your partner is dealing with," Nakasone said. "It also allows them to up their game with the security of their networks.”
Nakasone said CNMF told him in January that the cyberthreat to Ukraine was “really serious" and that at the team’s urging, the Ukrainians were moving to shore up defenses. “They’ve done a lot of work to look at the critical infrastructure and move data from inside Ukraine to cloud storage outside of the country,” he said.
Hartman said that since the invasion, CNMF and Ukraine’s cyber defenders have exchanged “thousands” of digital warning indicators to help Cybercom learn more about adversaries and Ukraine to thwart cyberattacks.
But the combination of better defense, enabled by heightened information sharing between Ukraine and its partners, as well as smart tactics like moving data to the cloud, helped Kyiv withstand Russia’s cyberattacks.
Not to say there’s no future risk.
“This is an adversary that is not through,” Nakasone said at the Reagan National Defense Forum earlier this month in California. “And we remain very, very vigilant.” | 2022-12-22T12:38:23Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Cybercom took aim at Russian, Iranian hackers throughout the midterms - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/12/22/cybercom-russia-iran-attacks/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/12/22/cybercom-russia-iran-attacks/ |
Commanders owner Daniel Snyder should face a reckoning
Washington Commanders owners Daniel Snyder, right, talks with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones on Oct. 2 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Tex. (John McDonnell/The Washington Post)
Washington Commanders owner Daniel Snyder is unfit to run a concession stand, let alone one of the region’s marquee professional sports teams. Virginia, Maryland and D.C. should not give the Commanders another dime in handouts so long as Mr. Snyder owns the team.
This conclusion is inescapable after reading through a House Committee on Oversight and Reform report that quotes former employees and executives alleging relentless sexual harassment in the workplace, including exploitation of cheerleaders, unwanted sexual advances and the hiring of prostitutes during work-related events.
Sadly, Mr. Snyder’s stonewalling prevented the committee from uncovering the full truth. He said he couldn’t recall key facts and events more than 100 times during a July deposition, which only happened after he traveled overseas trying to evade a subpoena, according to the committee. Mr. Snyder apparently sought to run down the clock in hopes that Republicans would take over the committee and drop the investigation.
He also refused to free former employees from nondisclosure agreements, constraining what several witnesses could say. The team paid a fired employee $1.6 million in 2009 to sign an NDA after she accused Mr. Snyder of sexually assaulting her during a flight on a team plane. Mr. Snyder, who has called the charges “meritless,” testified that the team informed the National Football League about this in 2009, but the league told Congress it didn’t learn of the specific nature of the allegation until 2020.
Instead of taking responsibility, Mr. Snyder has tried to scapegoat former team president Bruce Allen for a toxic workplace culture. Mr. Allen testified that an NFL lawyer told him the team selectively leaked his emails as part of a smear campaign. Republicans on the committee, bizarrely carrying water for Mr. Snyder, responded to the majority’s report by releasing 57 embarrassing messages that they said Mr. Allen exchanged with friends on his work account. These included nude pictures and garish jokes. They show the organization’s frat-house culture. They do not exonerate Mr. Snyder.
Mr. Snyder has had help in his stonewalling. The Oversight Committee launched its inquiry after the NFL refused to release detailed findings from attorney Beth Wilkinson’s investigation into the organization. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell requested that Ms. Wilkinson provide him an oral report in an apparent effort to minimize the paper trail. The league and the team had secretly signed a “common interest agreement” that allowed Mr. Snyder to subsequently block more than 40,000 documents gathered during the Wilkinson probe from being turned over to congressional investigators.
During his committee deposition, Mr. Snyder said, “We apologize for any workplace misconduct of the team,” though he has consistently denied any personal wrongdoing. Lawyers for the Commanders complain the committee was out to get Mr. Snyder from the beginning and that “the team is proud of the progress it has made in recent years in establishing a welcoming and inclusive workplace."
Fortunately, in part because of the committee’s effort, efforts to contain the scandal failed. Former cheerleader Tiffani Johnston alleged during one of the committee’s hearings in February that Mr. Snyder engaged in unwanted touching during a work-related dinner and tried to push her into his limo until Mr. Snyder’s attorney intervened. The NFL has hired former U.S. attorney Mary Jo White to look into these allegations, which Mr. Snyder calls “outright lies.” Her investigation is ongoing.
The Editorial Board on the Washington NFL team’s name
After speaking out against the name as early as 1992, The Post’s Editorial Board stopped using “Redskins” to describe Washington’s NFL franchise in 2014.
Calls for change continued to grow louder. In June 2020, the Editorial Board wrote an editorial headlined, “Change the name of the Washington NFL team. Now.”
One month later, as sponsors and investors threatened to pull financial support, the NFL franchise decided it would drop its controversial name.
The Editorial Board’s reaction to the change: “Now, a half-century late, Washington’s football team has decided to put itself on the right side of history, too.”
After nearly two years of research, the franchise dropped its temporary Washington Football Team moniker for its new name: the Washington Commanders.
The Editorial Board called the new name “indistinctive and lusterless” but progress nonetheless.
The committee also referred potential financial improprieties by the team to the Federal Trade Commission this spring. Maryland’s attorney general subsequently fined the team $250,000 over allegations that it improperly withheld security deposits from season-ticket holders, and D.C.’s attorney general filed two civil suits against the team. Meanwhile, investigators for the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Virginia have reportedly interviewed witnesses about allegations of financial improprieties involving the team.
This should just be the beginning of the reckoning. The NFL fined the team $10 million last year after the Wilkinson investigation, a slap on the wrist, and the House report says that half that money was paid directly to charitable organizations — meaning the team could claim a charitable deduction. The committee recommends prohibiting team owners from taking tax deductions on fines or penalties paid to charity as a result of workplace misconduct investigations. This is a good idea.
Partly because of Mr. Snyder’s odiousness, the Commanders’ attempt to secure public financing for a new stadium in Virginia stalled in June. But Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) proposes in his new budget to spend $500,000 in 2024 to “conduct planning” and “evaluate potential economic incentives” to get the team to build a stadium in the commonwealth.
The NFL benefits from an exemption to federal antitrust law and the use of tax-exempt municipal bonds to construct and renovate stadiums. It should not take these special breaks for granted. Mr. Snyder announced last month that he has hired an investment bank to consider a potential sale of the team, which he has owned since 1999 and is worth an estimated $5.6 billion. The team should get no further benefits from local governments until this sale is final.
The Editorial Board on the Washington Commanders
Opinion|From the Archives: Change the name of the Washington NFL team. Now.
Opinion|What the NBA did right on Sarver — and the NFL didn’t on Snyder | 2022-12-22T12:38:35Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Commanders owner Dan Snyder cannot duck a sexual harassment scandal - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/22/nfl-commanders-dan-snyder-harassment-report/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/22/nfl-commanders-dan-snyder-harassment-report/ |
Why are schools submitting disabled kids to this barbaric treatment?
By Brian Calley
(Jin Xia for The Washington Post)
Brian Calley, a former lieutenant governor of Michigan, is chief executive of the Small Business Association of Michigan and vice chair of the Autism Alliance of Michigan board of directors.
Imagine a child with a disability, unable to communicate needs, wants or fears. In frustration or fright, that child might overturn a desk or throw a book. Now, imagine a teacher secluding that child in a dark closet or pinning that child to the floor.
This year, thousands of U.S. schools are using these barbaric “restraint and seclusion” practices as go-to strategies to punish or segregate students with disabilities. Yet these techniques don’t resolve problematic or dangerous behaviors — they make things worse, escalating behaviors and potentially causing physical harm to children, emotional damage or even death.
“Restraint” refers to physical force or the use of a device such as ties or straps to hold a child down. “Seclusion” involves forced isolation — solitary confinement in a closed spaced such as a soundproof, padded room or a closet where an unsupervised child having a meltdown could be seriously injured.
I have a daughter with autism. When I first heard about this practice, I thought it must be rare. But it is shockingly common, having been used against tens of thousands of U.S. students in recent years.
In Michigan alone, where my family resides, restraint and seclusion was used in schools more than 94,000 times from 2017 to 2022. Because there are no penalties issued to schools for failing to report, this number is undoubtedly an undercount. An Education Department analysis covering the 2017-2018 school year (based on self-reporting) showed that more than 100,000 children across the United States had been subjected to these inhumane practices.
The use of restraint and seclusion also appears to be discriminatory. According to the Education Department, students with disabilities receiving special education and other services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) made up 13 percent of the student population, yet they accounted for 80 percent of the students subjected to physical restraint and 77 percent of those subjected to seclusion.
Each use of restraint and seclusion diminishes the future of any child subjected to it. Put yourself in the child’s shoes: What if you went five days a week to a school that regularly locked you up or physically held you down? Most of us would walk in ready for a fight, not to learn.
In 2015, as Michigan’s lieutenant governor, I went on a statewide special-education listening tour, speaking with educators, administrators, parents and students. I heard over and over from parents about the trauma their children faced with the regular use of restraint and seclusion, even as school administrators assured me that such tactics were used only in emergencies and, even then, rarely.
It was clear this was a major problem. So, my office developed a proposal to ban restraint and seclusion in non-emergency situations. In 2016, I signed legislation that did just that, and that required schools to report to parents and the Michigan Department of Education when the practice was used, so we could track its prevalence. The resulting data revealed a situation that was even worse than I feared.
Those who insist on using restraint and seclusion generally cite problematic or explosive behaviors as justification. Sometimes, in emergencies that present immediate danger to the student or others — a child running out into a roadway, or trying to physically harm another student — temporary physical restraint might be necessary as a last resort. But it should be limited to situations of imminent physical injury, never restrict a child’s breathing, and never persist longer than necessary to prevent harm.
There is another way. It starts with understanding that all behavior has a purpose; knowing the motivation behind a behavior is critical to building an effective plan to head it off. For example, if the problem behavior is attention-seeking, scolding or sending a student to the principal’s office might unintentionally reinforce and escalate the problem — because punishment is attention. In this case, a plan might call for the teacher to ignore certain behaviors, what is known in the behavioral-sciences world as “putting the behavior on extinction.”
Another approach says it’s not enough to simply prevent problem behaviors; we need to teach and reinforce favorable ones. In the above example, the plan wouldn’t only say to ignore, but also to heap positive attention on a child who exhibits desired behaviors.
A comprehensive plan might also call for frequent breaks. It might say, don’t discourage self-regulating behaviors such as hand flapping or spinning; do control for noise levels and lighting. Truly understanding the needs, desires and triggers of each child helps prevent and de-escalate the behaviors that can lead to restraint and seclusion.
This all necessitates significant training and specialized personnel. Ideally, every school would have a board-certified behavior analyst on-site and a teaching staff dedicated to learning and sticking to evidence-based plans — which costs money. But it also demands a strong will to change.
Here’s the thing: The federal government has the power to improve children’s lives now. IDEA is a beautifully written, comprehensive law that implicitly prohibits restraint and seclusion in non-emergency situations, in its provision that children be educated in the “least restrictive environment.” But there has been significant reluctance to use the act to its fullest extent.
IDEA has many reasonable requirements of schools and a formula to federally finance them. But since the 1970s, IDEA has never been fully funded. The federal government is supposed to cover 40 percent of the costs to states and local schools providing a “free and appropriate public education” to children with disabilities. Yet, as of 2021, the government was covering less than 16 percent of those costs. Thus restraint and seclusion becomes a cheap, short-term alternative for schools to deal with severe behavior problems.
Children with disabilities are among the most marginalized students in every state, and it is a shame that instead of supporting them, schools are traumatizing them. At its core, their mistreatment is a civil rights violation. It needs to be treated like the emergency it is. | 2022-12-22T12:38:41Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | ‘Restraint and seclusion’ harms kids. So why is it used in schools? - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/22/restraint-seclusion-disabled-children-schools/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/22/restraint-seclusion-disabled-children-schools/ |
America and Europe are targeting Russia’s oil profits
The oil price cap makes it harder for Russia to use oil money to buy weapons and pay soldiers
Analysis by Henry Farrell
Backlash by Agathe Demarais, Courtesy Columbia University Press (Columbia University Press)
The United States and Europe recently introduced the oil price cap — a new measure to make it harder for Russia to fund its war machine by making monster profits from oil exports. Agathe Demarais is the author of “Backfire: How Sanctions Reshape the World Against U.S. Interests” (Columbia University Press), a new book on the global ripple effects of U.S. sanctions, and global forecasting director at the Economist Intelligence Unit. I interviewed her by email, asking about the oil price cap as well as how U.S. and European efforts to coordinate on sanctions are faring. The interview has been edited for style.
Q: U.S., E.U. and other countries have introduced an oil price cap to stop Russia from making big profits on oil exports. Why have they opted for this, rather than more conventional economic sanctions?
A: Western countries have long known that targeting the Russian energy sector would weigh on Moscow’s financial ability to wage war in Ukraine. Oil and gas production represents one-third of Russia’s GDP, half of fiscal revenue, and 60 percent of export receipts. The dependence goes both ways: before the war started, 30 percent of globally traded oil and gas came from Russia.
U.S. policymakers have mulled imposing a ban on Russian oil exports since 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea. However, Washington faced two issues. First, the E.U. was previously opposed to this measure (reflecting Europe’s previous dependence on Russian oil). Second, abruptly taking Russian crude away from the global market would send oil prices to sky-high levels. This would fuel anti-Western resentment in emerging countries and possibly send the global economy in a recession.
The oil price cap is a smart fix for these issues. Implementing a price cap — instead of banning Russian oil exports — meant that global oil prices did not spike, averting fears that Western countries would be shooting themselves in the foot. In addition, lengthy negotiations to design the cap gave European firms time to switch suppliers (the E.U. has now implemented a ban on Russian oil imports).
The cap prevents Western shipping and insurance firms from transporting and insuring Russian oil shipments priced above $60 per barrel. This measure is a first step, but it is imperfect. At $60, the price cap does not imply a huge discount from the current price of Russian crude. In addition, India, China and many developing countries will not apply the price cap. As a result, Russia will reroute its oil shipments toward non-Western buyers and double down on efforts to build its own fleet of oil tankers.
Q:Your book describes the difficult sanctions relationship between the U.S. and E.U. over decades. Has this changed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine?
A: The U.S. and the E.U. have often been at loggerheads about sanctions, and in particular U.S. secondary sanctions. These measures force all firms around the world, American or foreign, to choose between doing business with the U.S. and doing business with targeted countries (such as Iran). Secondary sanctions put European firms in a tricky position after the U.S. exited the nuclear deal in 2018: E.U. governments were adamant that European firms could stay in Tehran, but the U.S. argued that if they did so, they would fall under U.S. secondary sanctions and need to exit the U.S. market.
Europeans welcomed the election of Joe Biden as U.S. president. The Biden team has proved far more understanding of Europe’s concerns regarding U.S. extraterritorial sanctions than previous administrations (both Democratic and Republican). Transatlantic unity on sanctions has been almost perfect since the start of the war in Ukraine. The only crack appeared after the U.S. hastily suggested a ban on Russian oil exports shortly after the invasion, prompting consternation across Europe. Washington quickly backpedaled for fear of undermining U.S.-E.U. cohesion.
This does not mean that all is well for transatlantic sanctions cooperation. As I explain in my book, “Backfire,” export controls will be the sanctions of tomorrow. This reflects the growing importance of technology for economic and military dominance. Washington has recently imposed stringent measures restricting China’s access to U.S. semiconductor know-how. America’s calls for European firms to comply with these rules are not met with enthusiasm in Europe: in a remake of secondary sanctions disputes, E.U. tech firms fear that the U.S. will try to make them ditch the Chinese market.
Q: Your book describes U.S. worries that the E.U. is not very good at enforcing sanctions. Is the E.U. getting better?
A: The U.S. has long accused Europe of being soft on sanctions enforcement. Washington has a point. In 2013 the U.S. uncovered a Greece-based scheme to bust Iran sanctions that the Greek authorities had never suspected. Greek companies had managed to buy eight mega tankers undetected and to smuggle oil from Iran at a time when both E.U. and U.S. sanctions forbade Tehran from exporting crude. In 2016, E.U. judges also lifted sanctions on a Russian oligarch, Arkady Rotenberg, arguing that they could not find evidence that he had anything to do with Russia’s annexation of Crimea. This was a surprising conclusion: Rotenberg’s company built the bridge connecting the Crimean peninsula to the Russian mainland.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the E.U. has prioritized strengthening sanctions enforcement and closing loopholes, in part to ensure smooth cooperation with the U.S. However, this will be easier said than done. The key problem is that E.U. sanctions are adopted at the European level, but implemented at the national level. Some European countries may therefore have different interpretations of sanctions legislation and be more lenient than others. To address this problem, the E.U. is keen to set up a European sanctions agency, similar to OFAC. However, this will not be a magic bullet to all enforcement issues.
Q: Is it risky for the E.U. to become more closely aligned with the U.S., say if a less Europe friendly U.S. president is elected in 2024?
A: The short answer is yes. Transatlantic tensions around sanctions predate the Trump era, but they undoubtedly peaked under his presidency. The election of a U.S. president who was less friendly toward Europe in 2024 might spell the end of U.S.-E.U. cooperation on Russia sanctions and the return to an “America First” policy that would irk Europe. This would be a terrible development for Ukraine and would likely benefit the Kremlin: Putin rejoices every time he sees cracks in the Western alliance. | 2022-12-22T12:39:00Z | www.washingtonpost.com | The oil price cap will damage Russia's war machine - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/22/america-europe-are-targeting-russias-oil-profits/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/22/america-europe-are-targeting-russias-oil-profits/ |
A Turkish court sentenced Erdogan’s rival to prison. That could backfire.
If the conviction stands, Istanbul’s popular mayor couldn’t run for president in 2023. But voters sometimes rebel against efforts to subvert democracy.
Analysis by Andrew O’Donohue
Cem Tecimer
Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu greets his supporters during a Dec. 15 rally to oppose his conviction and political ban. Imamoglu is a popular rival to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. (Dilara Senkaya/Reuters)
Last week, a Turkish court sentenced Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu to prison for “insulting” public officials. Imamoglu is a popular opposition figure who could plausibly beat President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey’s 2023 elections, opinion polls suggest. The mayor is appealing his conviction. But if the court’s ruling is upheld, Imamoglu would be removed from office and banned from running in elections that are to be held by June 2023.
Can Erdogan win reelection simply by excluding his most popular rivals? That’s risky, research suggests, for two reasons: Higher courts may not uphold Imamoglu’s conviction, and prosecuting opponents may set off voter backlash.
What this court case does (and doesn’t) mean
Despite the criminal court’s sentence, Imamoglu is still in office and has not yet been banned from politics.
It’s also unlikely that Imamoglu will go to prison. The sentence of two years, seven months and 15 days is below the threshold for mandatory prison time and can be converted to probation. However, if higher courts uphold the conviction, Imamoglu would be banned from holding or running for office during his sentence.
If both the regional court of appeals and Turkey’s Court of Cassation, the supreme court of appeals in this case, rule against Imamoglu before June 2023, he would be unable to run for president, and ineligible for reelection as Istanbul’s mayor in 2024. Furthermore, the Istanbul city council would select his replacement. Because Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) controls the city council, an Erdogan ally would almost certainly take charge of Turkey’s largest city.
But research on Turkey’s judiciary suggests that the higher courts may not rule that quickly.
A Turkish pop video went viral. Is it just a catchy song — or an anthem for the opposition?
Will Turkey’s higher courts go along?
Turkey’s opposition sees Imamoglu’s conviction as politically motivated. Imamoglu described the decision as “an attack on the will of millions of Istanbulites.” A judge who was previously assigned Imamoglu’s case reported that he was pressured to impose a political ban and was dismissed from the case.
Imamoglu will now appeal the verdict, which becomes final only after two higher courts uphold his conviction. Ordinarily, appeals take a year or longer to move through Turkey’s higher courts, leaving Imamoglu free to run for office for some time.
However, higher courts sometimes move more swiftly in politically salient cases. For instance, in 2018, an appeals court acted at an almost record-breaking pace, taking just weeks to uphold the conviction of Selahattin Demirtas, the former co-chair of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party and a two-time presidential candidate, for terrorist propaganda. That could certainly happen again this time. Imamoglu’s prosecutors have already appealed the decision, apparently hoping to get a quick and final ruling against Istanbul’s mayor.
But will Turkey’s higher courts go along? Appeals courts have panels of judges, making them less susceptible to political influence than the single judge who convicted Imamoglu. Judges on Turkey’s higher courts, especially the Constitutional Court, are “not fully obedient,” as law professor Bertil Emrah Oder’s research shows. If the higher courts consider Imamoglu’s case at a normal pace — or even drag their feet to strategically prolong the appeals process — Imamoglu would be able to run in 2023.
Ultimately, Erdogan’s own popularity may shape how judges behave. Even when judges aren’t fully independent from political pressure, they often rule against the government when the incumbent is likely to lose the upcoming elections, political scientist Gretchen Helmke’s research has found. Turkey’s inflation is galloping at more than 80 percent a year. If Erdogan’s popularity continues to sag, judges may become more willing to rule in the opposition’s favor.
See all TMC analysis of Turkey's politics here.
But inflation’s not the only danger Erdogan faces: This court case could come back to bite him in next year’s elections. To be sure, Erdogan’s ability to use state institutions against opponents tilts the political playing field heavily in his favor. But as political scientist Milan Svolik argues, voters sometimes rebel against efforts to subvert democracy.
The elections that brought Imamoglu to power are the perfect example of how illiberal leaders can miscalculate. After Erdogan’s handpicked candidate for mayor of Istanbul narrowly lost to Imamoglu in March 2019, Erdogan and his party alleged irregularities and called for a rerun election. In that rerun, Imamoglu’s margin of victory soared from less than 14,000 votes to a landslide of more than 800,000.
As Svolik’s research finds, the government’s attempt to overturn the first election fueled Imamoglu’s victory in three ways. More pro-opposition voters came out to vote. Fewer pro-government voters went to the polls. And most surprisingly, even though Turkey is one of the most polarized countries worldwide, some voters switched sides.
Ironically, Erdogan’s own ascent shows how violations of democratic norms can galvanize voters. After Erdogan won the 1994 election for mayor of Istanbul, Turkey’s secularist political establishment had him charged with inciting hatred for reciting a poem, leading to a prison sentence and a ban from politics. Far from ending Erdogan’s career, the case generated a perception of injustice that “maximized Erdogan’s popularity,” as writer Kaya Genc puts it.
Already, observers have called Imamoglu’s conviction a “game changer” because it helped unite Turkey’s opposition coalition, a group of six parties known as the “Table of Six” that have agreed to nominate a joint presidential candidate. The six parties immediately organized a rally in Imamoglu’s defense, attracting thousands of supporters and key opposition leaders.
Standing beside Imamoglu on the night of the verdict, opposition politician Meral Aksener stated, “It’s when [governments] are afraid that they oppress and carry out injustices.” Only Turkey’s 2023 elections — and the legal battles preceding it — will tell whether the conviction of Istanbul’s mayor was a sign of Erdogan’s strength or a gross miscalculation.
Andrew O’Donohue is a PhD candidate in Harvard University’s department of government and a National Science Foundation graduate research fellow.
Cem Tecimer is a doctoral candidate in law (SJD) at Harvard Law School. | 2022-12-22T12:39:06Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Will Istanbul's mayor go to jail? - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/22/erdogan-imamoglu-turkey-2023-election/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/22/erdogan-imamoglu-turkey-2023-election/ |
San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel is carted off the field during a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. (Jed Jacobsohn/AP)
The game sometimes halts. The stadium fills with momentary quiet. A motorized cart, the kind that might otherwise be deployed for groundskeeping or golf, steers onto the field as a gurney, toward one man in dire pain. Two swarms of large men who had been inflicting bodily harm on one another kneel. One of their colleagues, perhaps one of their best friends, is loaded onto the vehicle and driven away.
“They had their opportunity, and now you ain’t available for them,” Graham said. “This league is unforgiving on that part.”
Mixed reactions in Cleveland to Deshaun Watson's home debut
After Cleveland Browns guard Wyatt Teller prays for an injured player, he starts to ask himself questions meant to regain focus: What’s the opponents’ defense? Is there a substitution package? Who’s in their huddle?
In Leno’s first NFL start, back in 2015 with the Chicago Bears, he was assigned a tandem block with center Will Montgomery. He would cut-block the nose tackle as Montgomery pulled toward him. But Leno and Montgomery each took a small step the wrong way, and rather than hitting the defender, Leno dove into Montgomery’s knee. Montgomery’s fibula snapped; in one fractional false move, Leno had broken his teammate’s leg.
Shaken, Leno tried to apologize to Montgomery as he sat on the cart. Montgomery brushed him off and insisted he refocus. “It’s football,” Leno recalled Montgomery telling him. “This s--- happens. Get back to it.” Back in the huddle, as the cart drove toward the tunnel, a fellow offensive lineman told Leno, “We got a job to do.”
“That was one that messed with me,” Zeitler said. “... The game was over. We had already lost. We were just trying to run the ball to run the clock out. That was bad. That was a gut punch.”
Some players attempt to channel their emotions back into the game. “If it’s a guy on your team, it’s like, ‘Let’s play hard for him,’ ” Fuller said. “It never gets to that mentality like, ‘I don’t know if I want to do this.’
“F---ing coaches blow a whistle, move up five, 10 yards and just run another f---ing play,” Johnson said.
“Let us figure out if he’s all right first,” Graham said. “But I do understand: We got a time that we got to get this practice done. We’ll find out if he’s all right later. It is messed up, man, when you think about it. It is. But you’ve been groomed so long for it — next-man-up mentality. You keep hearing that, [and] you don’t really feel as bad because you’ve just been so groomed. We’ve been groomed since we were kids: ‘Next man up, next man up.’ ”
“A lot of it is just about enduring,” Johnson said. “Especially at the O-line position, there ain’t a whole lot to look forward to. You just got to take s--- and f---ing keep going.”
“I don’t know if it’s a loss of humanity, but it is a little weird,” Teller said. “That’s the game. I guess it is a little bit of a loss of humanity.” | 2022-12-22T12:39:36Z | www.washingtonpost.com | NFL injuries bring quiet and the dreaded cart. Then teammates play on. - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/22/nfl-injuries-cart/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/22/nfl-injuries-cart/ |
By Ian McMahan
NFL Chief Medical Officer Dr. Allen Sills explains what takes place inside a sideline injury tent, right, during a health and safety tour at Mercedes-Benz Stadium for the NFL Super Bowl 53 football game in Atlanta. (David J. Phillip/AP)
Erik Lorig, a 36-year-old former fullback who played six seasons in the NFL, puts his injuries in categories. Some were serious and acute, others more minor. The acute injuries made for simpler decisions.
“I looked at the risk and reward of playing,” Lorig said. “At minimum, to play, I would have to be at 90 percent of my performance level. If not, I didn’t want to play and put bad tape out there.”
But the lesser injuries — a pulled hamstring or a broken toe — fell into a gray area. Lorig would sometimes consider playing through them, which is business as usual in the NFL, where pain and injury are daily companions. Every year, players share stories of the bumps, bruises and worse they’ve played through, everything from broken fingers to torn rotator cuffs.
Exercise science researchers have long known athletes tolerate the discomfort that comes with sports better than non-athletes do. But a recent article in the journal Sports Medicine, which reviewed literature on pain perception in contact sports athletes, adds a wrinkle: It suggests contact sport athletes, such as football players, have pain tolerances even higher than those of other athletes and can not only tolerate higher levels of physical pain, but also maintain performance and focus while in pain. That’s the opposite of the general population, where performance tends to drop with pain. According to research published in the Journal of Pain, experienced contact athletes might view pain as necessary and something to overcome, rather than a threat, using that to maintain performance and sometimes better it.
Vernon Davis, who played 14 seasons in the NFL, says pain most people would consider catastrophic, the typical athlete considers something that’s “just there.”
“I think the average person would have an eye-opening experience if they walked a day in the life, or two to three months, just experiencing what we have to go through as athletes to be in tip top shape,” he said, adding: “You can only go so far when it comes to pain. If you are hurting to the point you just can’t do it, can’t give your best, it’s probably in your best interest to not to go out and compete.”
But when does beating pain and performing well turn into the loss of something more valuable — like a career or mobility after football? And how can the NFL incorporate knowledge about pain into its approach to medical treatment of players?
In 2019, The NFL and NFL Players Association established a joint pain management committee, which regulates players’ use of prescription medications, among other missions. The committee has helped shape education, practice patterns and research into alternative forms of managing pain, and it has placed a pain clinician with every team to assist its efforts.
QB injuries that could shift the NFL playoff picture
Allen Sills, the NFL’s chief medical officer, said pain has become a point of discussion. “The proactive management of pain and all types of discomfort, from delayed-onset muscle soreness to strains and other things that we think of happening in athletics, that is really an aggressive part of the discussion,” he added.
Lorig, the retired fullback, said he was never pressured to ignore injury or play in pain, and he felt he had all the resources he needed — MRI results, trainers, doctors — to help him decide whether to play.
“I was a middle-class player in the NFL; I wasn’t a star,” he added. “Yet I still feel like all the control over whether to play was in the hands of the players.”
But pain is part of football. Tolerating it is deeply rooted in the culture of the game, and external pressure — from a coach or other team personnel — isn’t necessarily what pushes players to compete when hurt. Other factors enter that equation. For instance, without guaranteed contracts, players feel a lack of job security.
“It becomes extremely difficult to admit when you physically can’t perform, and a sense of guilt can also come into play,” Arthur Moats, a linebacker who played for the Bills, Steelers and Cardinals from 2010-18, said in a text message. “You feel as if you’re letting your teammates and coaches down because you may have played while being injured before, but this time it won’t allow it.”
And sometimes players aren’t even able to accurately sense or report how much pain they’re in.
“Playing contact sports definitely helps with your overall pain threshold,” Moats said. “I’m not saying it makes you superhuman, but it does help your body to become hardened, and mentally, you become familiar with the feeling of pain.”
From the Editorial Board: After Tagovailoa horror, the NFL is still unserious on concussions
“Our bodies evolve; we feel less pain,” Lorig said.
And the NFL’s means of managing pain have evolved, too.
Sills said things like recovery tubs, recovery chairs and sensory deprivation tanks were relatively unheard of a decade ago, and now they are “somewhat standard equipment in club facilities.” There is hope that continued advances in preparation, training and recovery can help players mitigate the long-term effects of playing through pain.
After all, Lorig said, less pain and better performance is in everyone’s best interest. But better, and more specific, knowledge about the long-term effects of playing through pain might also help players understand what that pain today could mean later.
“We get a lot of information about an injury and how that affects a practice or a game,” Lorig said, “but I don’t think players always know what problems that might lead to later.”
That football players can tolerate pain, and even excel despite it, is established. But can improved care and awareness allow players to make choices where the short-term gains aren’t outweighed by the long-term consequences?
Ian McMahan is a freelance writer and full-time certified athletic trainer. He has a master’s degree in exercise physiology from the University of Maryland and has experience working for Major League Soccer, the Women’s World Cup and the San Francisco 49ers. Find him on Twitter @IanMcMahan. | 2022-12-22T12:39:42Z | www.washingtonpost.com | NFL players have higher pain tolerance than general population - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/22/nfl-pain-tolerance/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/22/nfl-pain-tolerance/ |
With just three weeks left in the regular season, the Philadelphia Eagles are dealing with the uncertainty of quarterback Jalen Hurts’s shoulder injury. (Charles Rex Arbogast/AP)
After a wild Week 15, things in the NFL got a little wilder this week when the Philadelphia Eagles’ sashay toward the NFC’s No. 1 playoff seed hit a bump in the form of an injury to Jalen Hurts.
Falcons (5-9) at Ravens (9-5), 1 p.m.: Baltimore has fallen out of first place in the AFC North, and it’s a measure of how things are going that even kicker Justin Tucker hit a rough patch this past Saturday, missing two field goals in a game for the first time since Week 16 in 2018. After getting to 4-4, Atlanta has lost five of its past six games but remains only a game out of first place in the NFC South.
Giants (8-5-1) at Vikings (11-3), 1 p.m.: The Vikings, the NFC North champions, continue to make every game an adventure, but they’re 10-0 in one-score games and are a game ahead of San Francisco for the No. 2 seed in the NFC. In the Vikings’ historic comeback against Indianapolis last week, Kirk Cousins passed for 460 yards (417 after halftime!) and four touchdowns (plus two interceptions). Justin Jefferson, who leads the NFL with 1,623 receiving yards, is within reach of Calvin Johnson’s single-season record of 1,964 with games remaining against the Packers and Bears after this one.
NFL best bets for Week 16: The Giants won't get that lucky again
Packers (6-8) at Dolphins (8-6), 1 p.m., Fox: Miami has lost three games in a row for the second time this season, and like Green Bay it is hoping for a strong finish and a wild-card berth. That might be a taller order for the Packers, who have a 12.2 percent chance of making the playoffs entering the week, according to ESPN, and whose final three opponents have a combined 26-16 record. | 2022-12-22T12:39:48Z | www.washingtonpost.com | NFL Week 16 schedule, matchups and five-minute guide - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/22/nfl-week-16-schedule/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/22/nfl-week-16-schedule/ |
Major boosts for Pentagon spending — and everything from election reform to a TikTok ban — are part of the sweeping package known as the omnibus
The sun sets on Capitol Hill. Congress is poised to pass a $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill to fund the government through Sept. 30, 2023, and head off a possible year-end shutdown. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
Biden’s agenda
Ukraine and natural disaster relief
Medicaid rules
Pandemic readiness
Counting electoral votes
Congressional lawmakers hope on Thursday to finalize a bipartisan, roughly $1.7 trillion bill that boosts domestic and defense spending through most of 2023, funding the government and averting a catastrophic shutdown in the waning hours of the year.
The compilation of long-stalled appropriations bills, known as an omnibus, would provide nearly $773 billion for domestic programs and more than $850 billion for the military, covering expenses through the 2023 fiscal year, which concludes at the end of September.
Lawmakers also added about $45 billion in emergency aid to Ukraine, while using the must-pass measure as a vehicle to advance a slew of additional proposals — including an overhaul of how the country counts electoral votes in presidential elections.
A trio of negotiators — Sens. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) and Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.) and Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro (D-Conn.) — released the 4,155-page omnibus in the early hours Tuesday morning after months of bipartisan talks. House Republicans largely sat out of those discussions, arguing that their counterparts in the Senate should not have negotiated with Democrats until next year, when the GOP assumes control of the House.
Prospects for swift passage dimmed late Wednesday night, after Republicans demanded a vote to extend a controversial Trump-era immigration policy. Lawmakers have until the end of Friday to fund the government or key federal agencies and programs are set to shut down.
The omnibus includes nearly $773 billion for a vast array of federal health-care, environment, labor, education and economic programs. Democrats say this domestic spending is $68 billion, or about 9 percent, more than they approved last year. It’s still less than what some Democrats wanted, but nonetheless, it’s the “highest level for nondefense funding ever,” according to the House Appropriations Committee.
The bill raises by $500 the maximum Pell Grant, an award for lower-income college students. It includes the first budget increase for the National Labor Relations Board, a labor watchdog, in more than a decade. It provides $800 million for shelter and other emergency services for migrants at the Department of Homeland Security, with additional sums meant to improve refugee processing. And it boosts funding for arts programs, tech and antitrust watchdogs, and security for members of Congress.
The Food and Drug Administration received $3.5 billion, an increase of nearly a quarter-billion dollars, as lawmakers sought to address supply chain and safety issues that caused a baby formula shortage earlier this year. The Department of Veterans Affairs received more than $134 billion, which includes significant new money for former servicemembers’ health care. And the Justice Department received nearly $39 billion, a $3.5 billion increase from the 2022 fiscal year, which funds more federal grants to state and local law enforcement and new work at the FBI to investigate violent extremism and domestic terrorism.
Earlier this month, Congress adopted an approximately $850 billion law authorizing key Pentagon programs. But that measure, the National Defense Authorization Act, essentially set funding levels — it didn’t write the check. That’s part of the appropriations process, and Democrats and Republicans agreed to fully fund defense as part of the omnibus.
Shelby, the top GOP lawmaker on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said it amounted to a 10 percent increase in defense funding from the previous year. That satisfied Republicans’ leading demand in talks.
The money covers a wide array of new spending areas and initiatives, including a 4.6 percent pay raise for servicemembers. There’s money to build 11 Navy ships, restore 19 joint strike fighters and repair a full roster of other aircraft. The Defense Department also would see what Republicans described as the largest-ever research and development budget — $139.7 billion, which would fund work on new war-fighting technologies, such as hypersonic missiles.
Scattered throughout the omnibus are pockets of money that fund key elements of the president’s recent legislative accomplishments.
Lawmakers agreed to spend more than $58.7 billion to carry out work to implement the $1.2 trillion infrastructure law, a bipartisan measure adopted last year that aims to improve the nation’s roads, bridges, pipes, ports and internet connections. That includes, for example, more than $10 billion to improve the nation’s water, a $347 million increase from the previous year.
There’s an additional, roughly $1.8 billion to carry out key elements of the Chips and Science Act of 2022, much of which would flow through the Defense Department. The bill, approved this year, aims to boost the domestic manufacturing of tiny yet powerful computer chips, known as semiconductors.
The bill includes a raft of fresh emergency aid, starting with about $44.9 billion in military, economic and humanitarian assistance related to Ukraine, more than the Biden administration had requested. Lawmakers delivered the aid the same week Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed Congress.
Some of the money would support Washington’s policy work around the Russian invasion, while replenishing U.S. stocks of equipment provided to Ukraine. But significant swaths of the funds — channeled through the Defense and State departments — provide direct help to the country’s military, while responding to humanitarian needs, including refugee and food security support.
Domestically, lawmakers secured $27 billion to respond to recent natural disasters, including Hurricane Fiona, which made landfall in Puerto Rico, and Hurricane Ian, which devastated Florida. The money also supports federal responses to other extreme weather — with $1.8 billion to address flood resilience, for example, and $1.45 billion in response to recent wildfires in New Mexico.
But Congress didn’t deliver on one of Biden’s top requests: More than $9 billion in the fight against the coronavirus. For more than a year, the administration has pleaded for more money to boost testing, treatments and vaccines, only to be stymied by GOP opposition, as Republican lawmakers insist that the money is not necessary.
The sweeping government funding package sets in motion a plan to wind down pandemic-era Medicaid rules, which have prevented states from kicking people off the safety-net program providing health insurance to low-income Americans.
State officials can begin reevaluating who is still eligible for Medicaid starting in April — a priority for Republicans — with some guardrails over the process. But that’s coupled with long-sought Democratic priorities, like allowing states to permanently extend Medicaid coverage to new moms for 12 months and prohibiting children from getting kicked off Medicaid or Children’s Health Insurance Program coverage for a continuous 12 months, even if their family’s income fluctuates.
Lawmakers also clinched a deal to avert a lapse in critical dollars for Medicaid programs for U.S. territories. The agreement continues the rate the federal government has been paying to match Puerto Rico’s Medicaid dollars for five years, and permanently extends that rate for the other U.S. territories — a key measure to bring funding certainty to the fragile programs.
Congress is beefing up efforts to prepare for the next pandemic. The legislation includes efforts to improve disease data collection, bolster the nation’s stockpile of medical and protective supplies, and require the Senate to confirm the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention starting in 2025.
But a proposal from Sens. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Richard Burr (R-N.C.) for an independent task force to probe the origins of covid-19 and the resulting pandemic response didn’t make the final bill.
The bill provides $10 billion for the Environmental Protection Agency, a $576 million increase from current funding levels. It also allots $46.5 billion to the Energy Department, an approximately $1.7 billion increase but less than House and Senate appropriators wanted.
It also makes some policy changes. The Maine congressional delegation, for example, secured provisions to help lobstermen by delaying the release of stricter rules aimed at preventing whales from getting entangled in fishing lines. But environmentalists warn that could push the critically endangered North Atlantic right whales to the brink of extinction.
The spending deal also includes a version of a bipartisan bill that seeks to help farmers store planet-warming carbon emissions on their land. The Growing Climate Solutions Act passed the Senate last year by a 92-to-8 vote but stalled in the House.
The omnibus includes a critical change to election laws that Democrats and Republicans drafted after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, which saw supporters of President Donald Trump seek to stop the process certifying Joe Biden as the winner of the election. This week, the House panel investigating the attack recommended criminal charges against Trump.
The measure is the Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act, chiefly authored by Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.). It changes the way presidential electoral votes are counted, making it harder for lawmakers to object to a state’s electors.
The bill would require most businesses to enroll employees automatically in 401(k) retirement savings plans, increasing contributions annually until workers were saving at least 10 percent of their pay. Workers making less than $71,000 a year would get a 50 percent federally funded match for up to their first $2,000 in savings. Companies could allow employees to link an emergency savings account to their retirement plans. And the age for mandatory withdrawals from retirement plans, currently 72, would increase to 73 and, eventually, 75.
Government-owned phones would be barred from installing the video app TikTok under the bill, thanks to a provision crafted by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.). Hawley and other Republicans have lambasted TikTok — and its Chinese-based parent company ByteDance — for what he says are security and privacy practices that risk allowing user data to fall into Beijing’s hands.
Democrats wanted to expand the child tax credit, after an enhanced version of the program — which paid monthly sums to lower-income families — expired at the end of last year. Republicans wanted to extend tax breaks that benefit businesses and boost research and development, a key element of the party’s 2017 tax overhaul.
Neither party was willing to accept one without the other, and the two sides could not find common ground on what would have been an expensive, sweeping year-end tax policy deal. That fight now awaits lawmakers in the new year, when partisan tensions are sure to run even higher.
Rachel Roubein, Maxine Joselow and Julian Mark contributed to this report. | 2022-12-22T12:40:19Z | www.washingtonpost.com | What’s in and what’s out of the $1.7 trillion government spending bill - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2022/12/22/spending-bill-omnibus-congress/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2022/12/22/spending-bill-omnibus-congress/ |
Winter storm live updates Extreme cold blasting south ahead of developing blizzard
The country is virtually covered in weather alerts
Bitter cold front blasting east with record temperature drops
10 cities in the path of this week’s blizzard
Looking east toward Iowa from Nebraska, emergency crews closed I-80 in both directions after winter weather caused several accidents on Wednesday in Omaha. (Chris Machian/Omaha World-Herald via AP)
Dangerously cold Arctic air is blasting to the southeast across the central states ahead of the development of an intense winter storm poised to unleash blizzard conditions in portions of the Midwest, Great Lakes and interior Northeast. Temperatures are plummeting as the Arctic front plunges south, by as much as 40 degrees in an hour.
Cities that could deal with blizzard conditions — at least for a short interval — include Kansas City, Mo., St. Louis, Des Moines, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Chicago, Indianapolis, Detroit and Buffalo.
On Wednesday evening, Denver’s temperature dropped about 50 degrees in three hours — from the mid-40s to several degrees below zero. By Friday, about 75 percent of the country will have freezing temperatures with wind chills below zero as far south as northern Georgia. See here where temperatures will fall fastest and farthest.
Here are a few things you can do to prepare yourself and your home for extreme cold.
The national weather map looks like someone spilled a bucket of paint on it, and there’s a good reason for that — the developing winter storm over the Great Lakes will bring a slew of collateral impacts, including strong to damaging winds, blizzard conditions and a blast of Siberian air all the way to the Gulf Coast.
Wind chill advisories and warnings span from the Canadian border to the Mexican border and Gulf, while winter storm and blizzard warnings cover much of the northern Plains, Corn Belt and Great Lakes. The remainder of the Great Lakes are within a winter storm warning zone, while the Northeast is bracing for strong winds and flooding.
The leading edge of Siberian air responsible for plunging much of the nation into a bitter deep freeze pushed east through the High Plains and Rockies overnight, bringing an abrupt drop in temperatures of 40 degrees or more.
In Denver, the temperature plummeted 37 degrees in an hour, marking the biggest single-hour temperature drop at the airport since the sensor was installed in 1974. At 4 a.m. local time, the temperature was minus-13 degrees with light snow falling. It was 50 degrees at 2 p.m. Wednesday.
The frigid and stormy weather system delivering subzero wind chills and blizzard conditions to parts of the United States this week is forecast to strengthen so quickly that it will earn an ominous meteorological distinction: “bomb cyclone.”
If that sounds menacing, it’s because it is supposed to. The term was designed to convey a degree of intensity and danger that is typically associated with hurricanes, but that even winter storms can carry.
The definition is clear-cut and technical: A bomb cyclone is a mid-latitude storm with central air pressure that falls at a rate of one millibar per hour for at least 24 hours.
Only days after the last major winter storm left the United States, an even more powerful cyclone is set to explosively develop over the central U.S. and into the Great Lakes during the lead-up to Christmas.
Here are the forecasts for 10 cities — including Minneapolis, Des Moines, St. Louis and Chicago — that could see some of the worst of the storm’s effects.
These winter essentials can help if your car gets stuck in the snow | 2022-12-22T12:40:25Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Extreme cold blasting south ahead of developing blizzard - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2022/12/22/winter-storm-forecast-midwest-great-lakes-live-updates/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2022/12/22/winter-storm-forecast-midwest-great-lakes-live-updates/ |
Thinking for pleasure can have many benefits such as helping us tolerate uncomfortable situations, and making us feel calm and peaceful
George Wylesol/Illustration for The Washington Post
Our minds can conjure up incredible daydreams, fond memories and extended reveries, and studies show that this kind of thinking for pleasure is good for us.
“If we’re not the only species, we’re one of the very few species that has these kinds of internal extended lines of thought, not just about things that have happened or things that might happen, but also things that will never happen, or that could have happened,” said Erin Westgate, a social psychologist at the University of Florida.
But “just thinking” seems difficult, and many people struggle with being alone with the person they are with the most: themselves. When asked to spend time alone thinking, most people find it challenging and not all that satisfying, studies show.
Even Henry David Thoreau, famed for contemplating his thoughts alone at Walden Pond, “spent a suspiciously large amount of his ‘solitary’ retreat in town visiting his neighbors,” Westgate and her colleagues noted in a study last year.
When asked to rate how enjoyable thinking for pleasure is, the experience tends to fall in the middle, about the equivalent of brushing teeth, Westgate said. “It’s not torture, but it’s not the best thing in the world,” she said.
Studies show that people have a consistent preference for doing over thinking, even if the alternative activity is something that seems unappealing, such as proofreading or even giving themselves electric shocks.
As with other challenging cognitive tasks, spending time alone with our thoughts can be good for us — and we can learn to be better at it.
The benefits of solitude and thinking for pleasure
Solitude is not inherently good or bad, but “just one of the many normal experiences that we have in our life,” said Thuy-vy Nguyen, a social psychologist researching solitude at the University of Durham.
Nguyen and her colleagues, however, found that spending time alone for just 15 minutes has a deactivating effect on our mood. Participants had reduced arousal, and high-energy emotions, both positive and negative, such as anxiety, anger and excitement. Participants felt calmer and more peaceful.
“I think the key benefit of solitude is through dampening arousal and allowing us opportunities for rest and relaxation,” Nguyen said.
Being able to think for pleasure could help us tolerate uncomfortable situations, Westgate said. Research has found that people who engage in pleasant fantasy are better at keeping their hands in cold water longer, suggesting that the practice can increase pain tolerance.
More importantly, thinking for pleasure may be more meaningful than what we normally do during our downtime.
In one study, Westgate and her colleagues asked over 170 students to think for pleasure during their downtime or go about their day as usual. Those who were asked to think for pleasure found it both as enjoyable and more meaningful than time spent normally, which, like for many people, turned out to be “mindlessly scrolling on the phone,” Westgate said.
When given the choice and done with intention, time spent alone with our thoughts, though difficult, can increase our engagement with life and its meaning.
How to make thinking easier, more enjoyable and meaningful
Enjoying our thoughts is not a uniquely American challenge.
In one 2019 study, over 2,500 participants from 11 countries of different cultural and economic backgrounds were assigned to do something or think for pleasure. There were some differences, but whether someone was from Belgium, Korea, Turkey or Costa Rica, on average, people enjoyed doing something in solitude to thinking.
These results can feel disappointing — even though humans have this unique ability to think for fun, we don’t seem especially good at it.
But from another perspective, this is encouraging because it suggests that “rather than something we’re born with, this is a skill that any of us can learn and get better at,” Westgate said. “Everyone gets better at it when we give them some support to make it easier.”
In a review of 36 studies encompassing over 10,000 participants, Westgate and her colleagues found that when we set a goal of enjoying our thoughts, we end up enjoying them.
The key is making the thoughts personally meaningful and easier to think about.
Think when it is easy to. We are most likely to engage in thinking for pleasure during downtime such as when we are in transit or engaged in personal care such as showering. These routine and automatic thoughts do not require our attention or additional brain power.
As “meaning-making beings,” we can reframe these moments of solitude as beneficial and normalize it as a way of self-regulating our experiences, Nguyen said.
Write down the topics and keep them on hand. Writing lists of topics to think about in advance can offload some of the cognitive burden.
Westgate’s research shows that “thinking aids” such as screen notes or index cards make thinking for pleasure easier and, as a result, more pleasurable; she keeps a note in her phone about things to daydream about.
Make the topics both meaningful and enjoyable. In one 2021 study, Westgate and her colleagues instructed over 250 undergraduate students to think “meaningful” thoughts or gave them specific meaningful topics such as their first kiss, an upcoming vacation or fantasy wedding day.
Participants who were given specific examples found their thinking period to be more enjoyable and meaningful than those who were asked to entertain themselves with their thoughts without any guidance.
Pleasurable thoughts are not inherently meaningful, and meaningful thoughts are not inherently enjoyable. Preselecting topics that are both can help improve the experience of those thoughts, which may make the task of being alone with your thoughts easier in the future.
“It can be this tool in the tool kit to increase engagement and increase meaning that is free,” Westgate said. | 2022-12-22T12:40:31Z | www.washingtonpost.com | How to be alone with your thoughts - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2022/12/22/how-to-be-alone-with-thoughts/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2022/12/22/how-to-be-alone-with-thoughts/ |
Brock Purdy's 49ers are a throwback Super Bowl contender. (Jeff Lewis/AP)
SEATTLE — Brock Purdy is the charming underdog on a team that doesn’t really do cute. For the most part, the San Francisco 49ers are a pulverizing bunch, a repurposed throwback that combines football traits once seen on black-and-white television with cutting-edge creativity and elite speed. When they win, they don’t just beat teams. They pummel them with this fierce blend of physicality and athleticism. They’re a constant problem, even though they’re rarely healthy.
The surprise emergence of Purdy makes the 49ers seem like something fanciful, but the rookie quarterback wouldn’t be able to thrive if they weren’t built in such a thorough and practical manner. How is San Francisco on a seven-game winning streak despite injuries forcing the 49ers to go to their third-string quarterback? Why has Purdy, the 262nd and final pick of the 2022 draft, been such a seamless fit? It’s because the 49ers have created the coziest pocket around the quarterback.
For all the resources they’ve put into finding the right quarterback — trading for Jimmy Garoppolo and signing him to a $137.5 million deal in 2018; trading up to draft Trey Lance third in 2021 — the 49ers have devoted just as much energy to building around their signal caller. The league’s best defense anchors them, with pass rusher Nick Bosa and middle linebacker Fred Warner leading the unit. Left tackle Trent Williams commands a potent offensive line. The run game, a staple of Coach Kyle Shanahan’s offensive system, continues to be very good, and San Francisco acquired Christian McCaffrey at midseason to add star power and versatility at running back. When the 49ers do need to throw, they’ve been among the league’s most efficient in the passing game even though they’ve shuffled through Lance, Garoppolo and Purdy.
In nearly every facet of the game, the 49ers play with force and feature a game-changing talent. It streamlines the quarterback’s responsibilities and enhances his effectiveness. Many times during his six seasons in charge, Shanahan has faced misfortune and watched his quarterback-friendly system get tested. It has never been sturdier than this season. As a team, San Francisco is that good. As a guru, Shanahan is too in tune with what’s needed from the position to be denied.
Jason La Canfora: Doug Pederson has unlocked Trevor Lawrence, and the Jags are a threat
Purdy is the beneficiary of it all. On his own, he’s better than advertised, and with the right team, he’s playing the best football of his life. At 6-foot-1, the former Iowa State quarterback isn’t big. He doesn’t have a strong arm. He was a streaky college player. But early in a Week 13 victory over the Miami Dolphins, Purdy took control after Garoppolo suffered a broken foot. Three victories and three solid performances later, he’s the biggest story on the hottest team in the NFL. He hasn’t lost perspective, though.
“It’s special and everything,” Purdy said last week after a 21-13 victory over the Seattle Seahawks. “But honestly, I’m just another component, another piece to this team, in terms of a guy coming in and doing what he’s asked. I’m the quarterback. I have to make decisions. I trust how the coaches are teaching me each week. I just try to get the balls out to the guys on time.”
Purdy makes it sound easy. Sometimes he makes it look even easier. But what he’s doing is remarkable. And what the 49ers are doing is abnormal.
Many teams attempt to survive without an ideal quarterback situation. Most are too reliant on a savior and too sloppy to string together solid decisions in pursuit of a complete team. General Manager John Lynch has made the most of the 49ers’ opportunities. And when they’ve gotten lucky, they’ve capitalized, such as when an injury-riddled 2018 season resulted in the No. 2 pick of the 2019 draft. They used the selection to add Bosa to an already loaded defensive line, and the move propelled them to a Super Bowl appearance his rookie season. Three years later, Bosa is a leading candidate to be the defensive player of the year.
It’s hard not to look at San Francisco and think about Washington, its opponent Saturday. Taylor Heinicke is another undersized and undervalued quarterback energizing his team after a starter’s injury. The Commanders also have spent an inordinate amount of draft capital on the defensive line. Like Bosa, Chase Young is a former Ohio State defensive end taken second overall. Perhaps Young bounces back from his knee injury, reaches his Bosa-level potential and lifts the defense from good to great by next season. Still, Washington would have work to do.
The Commanders are the typical team trying to figure out how to elevate without a star quarterback. Every roster mistake seems glaring. Heinicke has done his part, but in big games, they’re left to hope he can play at an unrealistically high level. The difference between San Francisco’s 10-4 record and Washington’s 7-6-1 mark is about three impact players, a little more depth and an offensive mind like Shanahan’s to compensate for any holes.
“A coach gets into a rhythm with his players,” said Shanahan, who still calls the offensive plays. “As a play caller, when your players are in rhythm, that gives you a chance to get in rhythm. Sometimes, you can help and get a lucky one. But our guys have been playing well, and when they’re like that, especially the way Brock’s been playing, it’s really fun to call plays for them.”
Purdy was pressed into action against the Dolphins and needed to counter their prolific offense. The defense dominated, and at the end, Purdy and Co. blew the game open in a 33-17 win. Then, in his first career start, he faced Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. San Francisco rolled, 35-7. Last week, he started a game on the road for the first time, at boisterous Lumen Field in Seattle, and while playing with rib and oblique muscle injuries, completed his first 11 passes.
He was shaky the rest of the way, going just 6 for 15 after the hot start, but when the moment demanded a big play or simply a prudent decision, he did the job. That perseverance provided the strongest indicator to date that Purdy can drive a championship-caliber machine.
“I had a lot of respect for him before the game,” Shanahan said, “but a lot more now.”
Sally Jenkins: Kyle Shanahan’s next trick: Pursuing the playoffs with Mr. Irrelevant
When thinking about all the young quarterbacks he has groomed in his career, Shanahan said of Purdy: “He’s definitely the most poised rookie I’ve ever had. He’s been like that since he’s gotten here.”
Of course, Shanahan was the offensive coordinator in Washington in 2012, when Robert Griffin III blazed into fleeting stardom. But he wasn’t slighting Griffin’s dynamic rookie season. He was praising Purdy’s rare self-possession. His assignment is not to carry the team. It is to reflect a roster that has weapons all around him.
Opposing defenses will determine more ways to make Purdy uncomfortable, but San Francisco is good enough to withstand a little slippage from its quarterback. In today’s NFL, it is rare for a team with so much quarterback instability to be a legitimate Super Bowl contender. The 49ers are just built different.
“I don’t know if it’s unusual,” defensive lineman Arik Armstead said. “I’ve been here eight years, so I’ve seen the culture that Kyle and John [Lynch] have built here, and I think it’s been like this for a while. We love playing with one another. We have a lot of fun. Everybody’s happy for each other’s success, and we really don’t bring in a lot of guys who are the opposite of that.
“It’s not unusual because I’ve been here. I don’t know what it’s like other places.”
It’s not like this. Not even close. | 2022-12-22T13:15:44Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Throwback 49ers don't need a franchise quarterback to win - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/22/49ers-contender-brock-purdy/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/22/49ers-contender-brock-purdy/ |
Josh Allen and the Bills can clinch the AFC East crown this weekend. (Joshua Bessex/AP)
Several NFL teams can clinch home-field advantage, division titles or playoff berths in Week 16. Here’s a look at where things stand as the regular season winds down.
The Eagles will clinch the NFC East with a win or tie against the Dallas Cowboys. Philadelphia will clinch the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs with a win over the Cowboys, or a tie combined with a Minnesota Vikings loss/tie against the New York Giants.
The Giants will clinch a playoff berth with a win over the Vikings combined with losses by the Washington Commanders and Detroit Lions; or a win combined with losses by the Commanders and Seattle Seahawks; or a win combined with losses by the Lions and Seahawks.
The Bills will clinch the AFC East with a win/tie against the Chicago Bears, or with a Miami Dolphins loss/tie against the Green Bay Packers.
The Bengals will clinch a playoff berth with a win/tie against the New England Patriots, or with a New York Jets loss/tie against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Ravens will clinch a playoff berth most easily with a win over the Atlanta Falcons combined with losses/ties by the Patriots and Jets; or a win combined with losses/ties by the Patriots and Dolphins; or a win combined by losses/ties by the Jets and Dolphins. There also are playoff-clinching scenarios involving a Baltimore tie, and the Ravens also will clinch a playoff berth if the Jets, Patriots, Cleveland Browns, Las Vegas Raiders and Tennessee Titans all lose and the Los Angeles Chargers win.
The Chargers will clinch a playoff berth most easily with a win over the Indianapolis Colts combined with losses by the Raiders, Jets and Patriots.
Still in contention: Seattle Seahawks (7-7), Detroit Lions (7-7), Green Bay Packers (6-8), Carolina Panthers (5-9), New Orleans Saints (5-9), Atlanta Falcons (5-9)
Eliminated: Arizona Cardinals (4-10), Los Angeles Rams (4-10), Chicago Bears (3-11)
x-1. Buffalo Bills (11-3, hold tiebreaker over Kansas City via head-to-head win).
6. Los Angeles Chargers (8-6, hold tiebreaker over Miami via head-to-head win)
Still in contention: New England Patriots (7-7), New York Jets (7-7), Jacksonville Jaguars (6-8), Las Vegas Raiders (6-8), Cleveland Browns (6-8), Pittsburgh Steelers (6-8), Indianapolis Colts (4-9-1) | 2022-12-22T13:15:51Z | www.washingtonpost.com | NFL playoff clinching scenarios for Week 16 - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/22/nfl-playoff-picture/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/22/nfl-playoff-picture/ |
Pelé is hoisted on the shoulders of his teammates after Brazil won the 1970 World Cup soccer final against Italy, 4-1, in Mexico City's Estadio Azteca. (AP)
Brazilian soccer icon Pelé’s health condition is worsening and he will remain in a hospital in Sao Paulo over the holidays, according to the hospital and his family.
He is being treated at the Albert Einstein hospital in Sao Paulo, which said in a statement Wednesday that his cancer had advanced, forcing them to put the sportsman under “elevated care” related to “kidney and cardiac dysfunctions,” the Associated Press reported.
Known globally as Pelé, he was born Edson Arantes do Nascimento and swiftly became a household name for soccer fans playing as a teenager in Latin America and in his first World Cup in 1958 in Sweden.
Pelé also congratulated the Morocco soccer team for making history reaching the semifinals and finishing in fourth place. “It’s great to see Africa shine,” he wrote. | 2022-12-22T13:15:57Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Brazilian soccer star Pelé's cancer has advanced, hospital says - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/22/pele-brazil-cancer-football-world-cup/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/22/pele-brazil-cancer-football-world-cup/ |
Top NBA awards will be a hat tip to some of league’s greatest players
Michael Jordan’s name will go on the MVP award. Other awards will be named for players kids might not know.
The National Basketball Association's most valuable player award is now called the Michael Jordan Trophy, to honor the Chicago Bulls' legendary Jordan, shown in 1992. (John Swart/AP)
Hakeem Olajuwon Trophy for defensive player of the year: Olajuwon (1984-2002), who was born in Nigeria, was one of the first NBA superstars born outside the United States. The 7-foot-tall center was a terrific scorer and rebounder but also a fierce defender. He made the All-Defensive team nine times and holds the NBA career record for blocked shots.
John Havlicek Trophy for “sixth man” of the year: Boston Celtics Coach Red Auerbach pioneered the idea of bringing a terrific player (the sixth man) off the bench to spark his team. Havlicek (1962-1978) was not the first sixth man, but he was the best. “Hondo,” as he was called, was a 13-time all-star who was a key part of eight Boston Celtics championships. | 2022-12-22T13:20:06Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Top NBA awards will be a hat tip to some of league’s greatest players - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/kidspost/2022/12/22/top-nba-awards-will-be-hat-tip-some-leagues-greatest-players/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/kidspost/2022/12/22/top-nba-awards-will-be-hat-tip-some-leagues-greatest-players/ |
Just looking at something on another website can trigger a flood of marketing spam from marketers
By Dawn Fallik
Schoonover, a receptionist and fiction writer from Danbury, Conn., said the deluge has been intense this holiday shopping season — and much worse than in years past. The Wednesday before Black Friday, she got 86 promotional emails during her 25-minute commute to work.
She has stopped buying from certain companies because of their constant emails. She turned off notifications from Bath and Body Works, which did not return calls and emails seeking comment for this story.
Email spam is breaking through again. Here’s what you can do to minimize it.
According to HubSpot, a provider of sales and marketing software, 33 percent of marketers are sending weekly emails, and 26 percent send emails multiple times a month. And it could get worse: Career planning site Zippia concluded that an average of more than 333.2 billion emails were being sent and received daily in 2022 by businesses and consumers. Zippia’s researchers project an increase to 347.3 billion in 2023 and more than 376 billion by 2025.
Promotional emails don’t just come from past purchases. Now people get tapped just from visiting a website and looking at an item, said Richard C. Hanna, co-author of “Email Marketing In A Digital World,” and a marketing professor at Babson College.
Michigan business owner Adam Helfman said he recently started getting emails from a toothbrush company although he’d never bought any of its products. But he visited the website through a Facebook ad, and that triggered emails, he said.
Helfman, 54, is used to getting a lot of email at his company, a contractor recommendation site based in Bloomfield Hills, a suburb of Detroit. He typically receives about 200 emails a day, but about two weeks before Thanksgiving, that number exploded to more than 700 messages daily, mostly marketing spam.
The worst email offender, Helfman said, was a company called True Classics, a men’s activewear company. Between 1 Nov. 26 and Dec. 1, he had received at least 17 emails from them.
“It’s created an animosity between me and some companies where I just will not buy from them at all anymore,” he said. “There’s another company where I liked the brand but there were so many emails all day long, and they show up in your social media feeds and in online ads and it’s everywhere.”
A writer for The Washington Post reached out to True Classics and received promotional emails less than five minutes after simply visiting the site to obtain the media contact. The company initially offered to respond, but ultimately declined to comment to The Post.
The magic number of “touchpoints” that triggers a purchase or pushes a customer to unsubscribe from emails will be different for each person, marketing experts said. So companies try to track customers as much as possible.
Because it’s so cheap to send automatic emails, companies are willing to risk alienating customers for as little as a 1 percent increase in total purchases, Hanna said. Even if the customer unsubscribes from a marketing list, they are back on it immediately if they visit the retailer’s website or order again.
Pandemic fueled marketing spam
To a certain extent, retailers’ interest in reaching the consumer has always been intense, said Robert Passikoff, president of Brand Keys, a consultant specializing in consumer loyalty. But the pandemic exacerbated the push for app and email notifications as more people moved to online shopping, Passikoff said, adding that technology also made it easier than ever to reach customers.
Brand Keys this year surveyed 2,208 consumers ages 16 to 55, and asked them to rank the companies who contacted them the most. A similar survey was completed in 2018. Amazon ranked No. 1 both times. Macy’s was in second place this year, up from ninth in 2018. Groupon was No. 3 this time, dropping one spot.
Although Amazon sent the most emails, customers said they engaged with them more because they were personalized and often offered good news, Brand Keys found. For example, they might send an email refunding the customer 71 cents because the price of an item they bought went down, Passikoff said.
Under U.S. federal law, companies that send marketing emails must give consumers the option to opt-out of receiving them, and they must honor that request within 10 business days. Respondents to this year’s Brand Keys survey said many companies have made it easier to unsubscribe these days, with the link clearly at the top of the email. In previous years, people complained that the link to leave was often at the very bottom in tiny letters and in colors that made it hard to see, but Google’s popular Gmail service often automatically puts “Unsubscribe” links at the top of marketing emails these days.
Passikoff ordered a wallet last year as a Christmas gift for his wife, and the result made him “terrifically happy.” The next day he got a survey, under the company president’s signature, asking how he found out about the business — a common technique for customer mining, Passikoff said.
If the company had then followed up with a marketing email once a week, that would be okay, Passikoff said. But he has received two emails from the company every day since, and now he’s mad.
Schoonover, the receptionist from Danbury, said she picked up a dress she ordered from Kohl’s. She got an email from Kohl’s confirming that she picked up the dress before she left the store. She got another asking how she liked it before she got home.
“I want to know that you got my order and you sent my order,” she said of Kohl’s, which did not return messages seeking comment for this story. “I don’t need seven emails telling me a dude walked across the street to get the materials for the dress, and now you’ve got the box, and you’re putting it in the box.”
During the 15-minute conversation with The Washington Post, another 12 promotional emails from various companies arrived in Schoonover’s inbox. | 2022-12-22T14:08:05Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Marketing spam explodes as retailers send a flood of email messages - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/12/22/marketing-email-spam/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/12/22/marketing-email-spam/ |
After Trump, Republicans Need to Rediscover Honor
MESA, ARIZONA - OCTOBER 09: Former U.S. President Donald Trump gestures to the crowd as he arrives at the podium for a campaign rally at Legacy Sports USA on October 09, 2022 in Mesa, Arizona. Trump was stumping for Arizona GOP candidates, including gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake, ahead of the midterm election on November 8. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images) (Photographer: Mario Tama/Getty Images North America)
The Jan. 6 committee report promises to be a monument that will outlast every Confederate statue still standing in an American square. The Republican Party remains ill-equipped, morally or politically, to rebuild itself from the ruins depicted by the report, which is scheduled to be released today. But the building blocks are there if only Republicans can muster the honesty to see them.
In June, at the committee’s first public hearing detailing Donald Trump’s efforts to prevent his democratically elected successor from taking office, Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming labeled Trump a menace. But she also condemned her fellow Republicans who had enabled Trump’s attacks on the rule of law, democracy and the republic itself.
“I say this to my Republican colleagues who are defending the indefensible,” she said. “There will come a day when Donald Trump is gone. But your dishonor will remain.”
The concept of honor is central to self-government. Without honor and justice informing power, there can be no democratic legitimacy. Political parties, more than most institutions, advertise their devotion to such values. That’s why the GOP calls itself the “Party of Lincoln.” It seeks to bask in the reflected glory of the Great Emancipator, who was both a wartime leader and national healer. That’s why the Democratic Party hearkens back to Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal, which elevated everyday Americans, and to John Kennedy, who set out to achieve great things not because they were easy, but because they were hard.
In difficult eras, when parties are plagued by failure, or have trouble finding their way, such tethers afford more than a link to the past: They carry the DNA of honor.
Cheney, immersed in politics from childhood, understands that parties require a higher calling, even if they often fail to answer it. Ronald Reagan was a complicated president with an ugly history of race-baiting. But Republicans are not wrong to herald him for staring down the despotism of the Soviet Union. Like all such feats, Reagan’s triumph over the Soviets has elements of myth — but myth can be useful, even enriching, to political parties as much as nations. Danger arises when myth displaces reality.
In the Trumpist GOP, the lie triumphed. Over nearly six months of public hearings, Cheney proved to be a precise and eloquent narrator of that disgrace. The word she used that night in June — “dishonor” — was no doubt carefully chosen. Unlike criminality, dishonor extends far beyond the letters of the law. And unlike incitement or assault, witness tampering or perjury, dishonor is not an act. It’s a state of being.
Watergate was a scandal of the presidency. Trump’s effort to overthrow the republic was also based in the White House. But it spread to every corner of the party, which was so morally degraded and intellectually enfeebled by years of defending the indefensible that it failed to resist. Thousands of Republicans in positions of power repeated Trump’s falsehoods and mimicked his corruption. Many still do. The GOP is too broken to resist.
Cheney and others of her ilk offer an escape. She has sacrificed much for the truth. And her intelligence shines against the dull and crumbling wall of her party. Other Republicans likewise point the way to a better future. Rusty Bowers, the soon-to-be former Speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives, is one. He repeatedly asked Trump’s lackeys for evidence of fraud, and performed his duty when the evidence never arrived. He, too, was cast out of the party.
Thugs such as Trump will be prosecuted — or not. Either way, the future of the party depends less on the miscreants than on the bystanders, those who cheered the parade of scoundrels seeking to subvert the rule of law and democracy. From Maricopa County in Arizona to small towns in Michigan and Pennsylvania, many Republican office holders have performed with integrity. But the party still chooses to honor and elevate grifters, liars and criminals. Dishonor is a choice. Until Republicans make a better one, the party remains a risk. | 2022-12-22T14:08:19Z | www.washingtonpost.com | After Trump, Republicans Need to Rediscover Honor - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/after-trump-republicans-need-to-rediscover-honor/2022/12/22/2b251f0c-81f5-11ed-8738-ed7217de2775_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/after-trump-republicans-need-to-rediscover-honor/2022/12/22/2b251f0c-81f5-11ed-8738-ed7217de2775_story.html |
Commuters ride a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) train in Oakland, California, U.S., on Friday, March 4, 2022. Remote-work policies have taken a toll on San Francisco, which is struggling with the nations weakest office occupancies, stubbornly low transit ridership and one of the country’s slowest job recoveries. (Photographer: Bloomberg/Bloomberg)
• I Can’t Be the Only One Who Doesn’t Want to WFH: Paul J. Davies
• Office Markets Are the Real Estate Crash We Need to Worry About: Conor Sen
• Workers Are Winning the Return-to-Office War Because They’re Right: Adrian Wooldridge | 2022-12-22T14:08:52Z | www.washingtonpost.com | What We Learned About Hybrid Work in 2022 - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/what-we-learned-about-hybrid-work-in-2022/2022/12/22/5cff6a42-81f9-11ed-8738-ed7217de2775_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/what-we-learned-about-hybrid-work-in-2022/2022/12/22/5cff6a42-81f9-11ed-8738-ed7217de2775_story.html |
Biden has more reason for economic optimism than critics contend
President Biden speaks at the White House on Dec. 13. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)
President Biden’s optimism about our economic trajectory might be more realistic than many skeptics imagined.
When he took office, unemployment was at 6.4 percent. The United States had no green energy strategy and had pulled out of the 2016 Paris Accords. It had no infrastructure plan (though plenty of infrastructure weeks!). And it had no cost-containment strategy for prescription drugs. Meanwhile, scores of the country’s richest companies were getting away with not paying a dime in federal taxes.
Today’s economy is inarguably better on all of these fronts. Unemployment is at 3.7 percent. The economy has created more than 10 million jobs (including more than 750,000 manufacturing jobs) since Biden became president. The annual federal deficit has also fallen, from $3.1 trillion for fiscal 2020 to $1.4 trillion for fiscal 2022.
There is also good news regarding consumer spending, which amounts to about 70 percent of gross domestic product. On Wednesday, survey data from the Conference Board showed an increase in the consumer confidence index. As Jared Bernstein, a longtime Biden adviser and member of the Council of Economic Advisers, explained in a recent interview, consumers and businesses have benefited from the savings accrued during the pandemic. This has resulted in fewer bankruptcies and fewer loan delinquencies. Moreover, the recent decline in gas prices in the past year has given consumers more breathing room.
The elephant in the room is inflation, which remains more than 7 percent compared with the year prior. It’s certainly true that Biden underestimated inflation (as did many others). But the administration’s effort to bolster economic and job growth coupled with its attention to supply chains and a successful vaccination plan helped return the economy to a more normal situation.
Most critically, the Federal Reserve is taking inflation seriously. Jerome H. Powell, whom Biden kept as Fed chair, has steadily increased interest rates. That has helped to cool rising prices, although the risk of recession has not vanished.
As Lawrence H. Summers, the most prominent inflation hawk and a Post contributor, recently wrote: “The Fed is seeking to balance the risk of stagflation caused by entrenched inflation expectations with the risk of dangerous downturn. It is being supported by the administration, which is doing an exemplary job of respecting the Fed’s independence.”
Moreover, Bernstein argues the “data flow” over the last five months is favorable. In November 2021, the economy gained 640,000 jobs; this November the number was 263,000. That is the sort of steady, sustainable job growth the administration wants to see. Though Bernstein acknowledges “prices are still too high,” other factors are exerting downward pressure, in addition to the Fed’s interest rate hikes.
Reduced gas prices are a significant help. While the global market sets prices, Bernstein argues that good policy can affect prices “at the margins.” The administration’s release of more than 100 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve helped pad the U.S. market, and a new international agreement to cap the purchase price of Russian oil will preserve that supply — helping to keep prices in check while limiting the revenue that Russia can accrue from its exports.
The administration’s focus on supply chains will also help. Its efforts extend beyond pandemic-related demand issues; Bernstein says Biden is overseeing a “transformational shift” that includes developing the production of high-tech goods at home while investing in infrastructure. Ideally, the goal is robust trade without overdependence on foreign suppliers — a tricky balance.
If Biden has an economic mantra, it is building the economy “from the bottom up, from the middle out.” Essentially, this is a recognition of the widening inequality gap and the failure of lower-wage workers to fully benefit from productivity gains. Biden’s plan to correct that problem has taken three prongs.
First, the administration and Congress passed a slew of bills that will improve the economy in the long term, including the infrastructure plan, the CHIPS and Science Act, a huge commitment to green energy and cost containment for some drugs under Medicare. The hope is that rising labor participation and wages continue as prices stabilize. (News reports suggest Biden will look to increase labor participation with such measures as affordable child care.)
Second, the administration has take a more friendly posture to unions, which are making a strong comeback. In Biden’s mind, increasing workers’ bargaining power is critical to building up the middle class.
And third, Biden has made no bones about the need for a more progressive tax code. He has insisted that no one making less than $400,000 will see their taxes raised. Instead, the emphasis has been on forcing big corporations to pay something and increasing funding for the IRS to make sure the wealthy are paying what they owe.
Still, there are challenges ahead. Even if the United States can tamp down inflation without a major downturn (and that is a big if), Biden will have to implement his pro-growth achievements without excessive waste, fraud and abuse. And he will have to navigate Republican threats to use a default on the federal debt as a bargaining chip.
Plus, given the coming divided Congress, expectations should remain low for any new legislation. Sick leave, further prescription drug cost reduction and other domestic programs will be hard to pass.
But the administration has avenues for further progress: It can aggressively enforce antitrust laws, especially in the high-tech industry, to combat excess market concentration that reduces consumer choice. It can seek compromises with Republicans to achieve tax simplification and close tax shelters. And it can continue to build a "new playbook on China that serves our interests,” as U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai put it.
The administration can also turn its attention to the U.S. immigration system, which remains a mess. While House Republicans will certainly resist any help for “dreamers,” it’s worth pursuing a combination of border security and revamped legal immigration, which could help alleviate inflation by adding to the workforce and increasing innovation.
The United States isn’t out of the woods yet. But after nearly two years in office, Biden can claim credit for a stronger and moderately fairer economy. | 2022-12-22T14:09:10Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Biden has more reason for economic optimism than critics contend - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/22/biden-economy-progress-optimism/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/22/biden-economy-progress-optimism/ |
Alaska Native group protects land coveted by Pebble Mine developers
Good morning and welcome to The Climate 202! This is our last newsletter of 2022, since we’re taking next week off. 🌴 We hope everyone has a happy and restful holiday season, and we’ll be back in your inbox on Jan. 3. But first:
Exclusive: Alaska Native group finalizes protections for its land, dealing blow to Pebble Mine
An Alaska Native group on Thursday will announce that more than 44,000 acres of land near Bristol Bay, the site of the world’s largest wild salmon fishery, are off limits to future development, according to details shared exclusively with The Climate 202.
The move will make it harder for the developers of the proposed Pebble Mine to build a road across the land, posing another setback for the controversial gold and copper mine that the Environmental Protection Agency is already considering blocking.
The details: Pedro Bay Corp., an Alaska Native group that owns land near Bristol Bay, announced last year that nearly 90 percent of its shareholders voted to let the Conservation Fund, an environmental nonprofit organization, buy conservation easements on more than 44,000 acres.
The corporation will reveal on Thursday that a successful $20 million, 18-month fundraising effort enabled the Conservation Fund to purchase three conservation easements on the land. The new protections cover a portion of the proposed mining road, which would be used to transport ore.
The protections also cover the most productive spawning and rearing habitats for sockeye salmon within the Iliamna Lake watersheds.
Half of the funding was provided by the Wyss Foundation, Patagonia’s Holdfast Collective and Alaska Venture Fund. (The specific dollar amounts of the individual contributions were not disclosed.)
“Protecting this last great stronghold for salmon is critically important for the health of the marine resources, the land, and the people who live in the Bristol Bay region,” Larry Selzer, president and chief executive of the Conservation Fund, told The Climate 202.
The fate of Bristol Bay has been contested for more than a decade. While many of Alaska’s elected officials have supported mining there, an unusual coalition of environmentalists, Republicans, fishermen and Alaska Natives helped persuade the Trump administration to deny a key permit for the Pebble Mine in 2020.
Pebble Limited Partnership, the U.S. subsidiary of the Canadian company behind the Pebble Mine, has argued that the project would provide economic benefits for the region and the state.
Asked for comment, Pebble Limited Partnership spokesman Mike Heatwole said in an email: “We respect the rights of Alaska Native corporation shareholders to make decisions about what to do on their lands and hope the Biden Administration will do the same for other Alaska Native corporation shareholders who may have differing views about what they would like do on their lands, especially regarding the Pebble Project.”
EPA’s potential veto
The Pebble Mine faces another potential challenge from the Biden administration. Casey Sixkiller, the EPA’s Region 10 administrator, announced Dec. 1 that he sent a recommendation to the agency’s headquarters to protect the Bristol Bay watershed by vetoing the project.
“This action would help protect salmon fishery areas that support world-class commercial and recreational fisheries, and that have sustained Alaska Native communities for thousands of years,” Sixkiller said in a statement.
Radhika Fox, who leads the EPA’s Office of Water, has 60 days to consider the recommendation. She could issue the veto, modify it, or reject it entirely.
“Hopefully these easements send a message that the local people who live here do not want this [mine] and it encourages the EPA to follow through with what they’ve been trying to do for well over a decade,” said Tim Troll, executive director of the Bristol Bay Heritage Land Trust.
Maria Michalos, an EPA spokeswoman, confirmed in an email that the agency expects to make a final decision by Jan. 30.
Patagonia’s role
The new protections were made possible, in part, by Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard’s unconventional approach to capitalism.
In September, Chouinard announced that he was giving away the outdoor apparel maker, valued at about $3 billion, and declared that “Earth is now our only shareholder.”
Chouinard and his family transferred their ownership of Patagonia to a specially designed trust as well as the Holdfast Collective, a nonprofit organization dedicated to combating climate change and environmental destruction.
As one of its first grants, the Holdfast Collective contributed to the fundraising effort that enabled the new protections near Bristol Bay.
Patagonia spokeswoman Corley Kenna noted that the company, which has a long history of environmental activism, has supported groups working to protect the region since 2006.
“Stopping any further development in Bristol Bay is exactly the kind of thing that we want to do because it gets at the roots of both the climate and ecological crises,” Kenna said.
Exclusive: Democrats call on consumer safety board to regulate gas stove pollution
Twenty congressional Democrats are calling on the Consumer Product Safety Commission to crack down on indoor air pollution emitted by gas stoves, according to a letter sent to CPSC Chair Alexander Hoehn-Saric on Wednesday that was shared exclusively with The Climate 202.
Led by Sen. Cory Booker (N.J.) and Rep. Don Beyer (Va.), the Democrats argued that pollution from gas stoves poses a growing threat to the climate and public health, especially in disadvantaged communities.
“As you know, the CPSC has broad authority under the Consumer Product Safety Act to regulate consumer products that pose an unreasonable risk of injury,” the lawmakers wrote. “We ask the CPSC to explicitly evaluate the disparate health outcomes that occur from the coupling of gas stoves with the material realities to which the most vulnerable Americans are subjected.”
The letter comes after Commissioner Richard Trumka Jr. announced last week that the board will solicit information from the public on the potential dangers of gas stoves and possible solutions.
Research has shown that gas stoves can emit significant amounts of nitrogen dioxide, a pollutant that can trigger asthma and other respiratory conditions, as well as methane, a potent greenhouse gas.
The Democrats urged the commission to consider taking the following actions:
Issuing mandatory performance standards for gas stoves.
Requiring gas stoves to be sold with efficient range hoods that help with ventilation.
Mandating labels on gas stoves that educate consumers about their exposure risks.
The government spending bill includes just a fraction of the funding that President Biden has promised to deliver to developing countries on the front lines of the climate crisis, The Washington Post’s Timothy Puko reports.
Biden has pledged to provide $11.4 billion annually to help poorer nations transition to clean energy and adapt to the ravages of climate change. But the government spending bill released this week, known as an omnibus, only authorizes about $1 billion for these efforts.
If approved, the measure could undermine the administration’s international reputation on climate change, especially as it aims to separate itself from previous administrations that had failed to deliver on promises to provide more money for the developing world.
Democrats were only able to secure $1 billion this year despite controlling both chambers of Congress. Administration officials emphasized that they are committed to securing more international climate aid a year from now, for the next fiscal year, even though Republicans will take control of the House in January.
Residents of neighborhoods with little to no cellphone service face heightened risks during weather disasters, when the lack of connectivity can prevent them from receiving emergency alerts, Brianna Sacks reports for The Post.
About 25 million homes and small businesses across the country have little to no cell service, according to the broadband consulting firm CostQuest, hindering their access to potentially lifesaving information and making it harder for them to contact authorities.
The consequences of the nation’s digital divide have become clearer as climate-change-fueled disasters have become more common. In August, for example, some Northern California residents said they were never warned that they were in the direct path of a massive wildfire, despite having signed up for the notifications.
The federal government has launched several initiatives to improve access to reliable cell service, especially for Americans in rural areas and low-income communities.
No conclusive evidence Russia is behind Nord Stream attack — Shane Harris, John Hudson, Missy Ryan and Michael Birnbaum for The Post
When temperature begin to freeze, iguanas will fall from trees — Kasha Patel for The Post
As climate change threats grow, textbooks aren’t keeping up, study says — Caroline Preston for The Post
Insurance industry pushes back on US climate risk data demand — The Financial Times
Clean energy quest pits Google against utilities — Peter Eavis for the New York Times
Big cat safety law ends ‘Tiger King’-style attractions — Michael Doyle for E&E News | 2022-12-22T14:09:16Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Alaska Native group protects land coveted by Pebble Mine developers - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/22/alaska-native-group-protects-land-coveted-by-pebble-mine-developers/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/22/alaska-native-group-protects-land-coveted-by-pebble-mine-developers/ |
FILE - Italy’s Giorgio Minisi and Lucrezia Ruggiero compete during the mixed duet technical final of the artistic swimming at the 19th FINA World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, on June 20, 2022. Men can compete in Olympic artistic swimming for the first time at the 2024 Paris Games, the World Aquatics governing body said Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Anna Szilagyi, File) | 2022-12-22T14:09:52Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Men can compete in artistic swimming at Paris Olympics - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/men-can-compete-in-artistic-swimming-at-paris-olympics/2022/12/22/7b5b4e14-81f6-11ed-8738-ed7217de2775_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/men-can-compete-in-artistic-swimming-at-paris-olympics/2022/12/22/7b5b4e14-81f6-11ed-8738-ed7217de2775_story.html |
Ask Sahaj: My family didn’t show love. How do I change for my boyfriend?
Dear Sahaj: My boyfriend and I constantly argue about the same thing: how I don’t show any love, physical or emotional, and that whenever I promise to change, I make small changes and then go right back to being distant.
I wasn’t raised to be an affectionate person. My South Asian parents were distant; my mom never expressed her emotions and my father’s emotions were always larger than life. My dad also had a tendency to be emotionally abusive so I grew up trying to protect myself by becoming emotionally numb.
It is very difficult for me to feel safe and trust another person in any relationship so I don’t enjoy sharing my emotions and struggle to be affectionate. I try to accommodate my boyfriend but he thinks my efforts are insincere. I love him very much in my own way but he doesn’t get it.
Now, my parents are urging us to get married and while my boyfriend is doing all the right things, we still haven’t met his family. Sometimes I think he is ashamed of me. I want to be the woman he wants and needs but I’m afraid that I can’t be. What should I do?
— Not Enough
Not Enough: This question hurt my heart because of the way you talked about this struggle. I am sensing that fear drives your behaviors — the fear of losing this relationship and a fear of not being enough.
There’s nothing wrong with not being overly affectionate, but since this seems to extend to an inability to process emotions, emotional numbness, and struggles to feel safe, then it’s time to pursue professional help. A therapist can help you unpack these fears and issues in a safe space while also teaching you how to unlearn some of the beliefs you‘ve internalized about yourself.
Growing up, your parents didn’t model healthy emotional expression, so it may be hard for you to believe that you deserve to have your needs met, too. You talk about wanting to be what he wants, but what do you want? What type of a partner do you want to be, and what type of partner do you want in return? How do you want to grow and exist in the world and in your relationships?
It’s okay for you and your boyfriend to be different. It will be important, though, to recognize what the common ground is and if you’re both able to be satisfied with it. I do wonder if you two are trying to make things work when you’re not compatible. Think about your current relationship, behaviors, and needs together. What do you both need from the other, explicitly, to feel loved? How do you both naturally show your love to one another? What are the issues you both experience within the relationship? What are the positives you both experience with this relationship?
Wanting to change for your boyfriend, or out of fear of losing him, won’t be enough to lead to sustainable change. This is because your reasons for changing are dependent on things that are not in your control. Sustainable change is rooted in internal motivation and expectations. Basically, you want to get clarity on why you want to change for you, as well as how you want to change. You need to be honest with yourself about what is realistic and what isn’t.
Have an honest and vulnerable conversation with your boyfriend about where you both stand with your relationship as it is and if each of you can meet the other person’s needs. Waiting for your relationship to become something different may lead to resentment and regret. This may also be an opportunity to ask more about why he hasn’t taken you home to meet his family.
Struggles and disagreements are normal in relationships, but it should always feel like it’s both of you against the issue rather than you against him. If you and your boyfriend are seriously considering marriage (and I mean, you two, not your parents), consider couples therapy to navigate this issue together.
It’s not healthy for either of you to think that you just have to get to a certain place, or become certain people, for the relationship to work. The destination isn’t the goal. To some degree, everyone can benefit from working on themselves to be healthier and more mature people, but you shouldn’t feel shame for where you are on your journey nor need to contort yourself to keep your boyfriend happy.
Your relationship should give you a safe place to come home to — not a minefield that keeps you on edge, especially when you are navigating painful truths about yourself or your experiences. If you’re constantly arguing about the same thing now, then it’s likely you will constantly argue about this in the future. Something has to shift. | 2022-12-22T14:25:32Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Ask Sahaj: My family didn't show love. How do I change for my boyfriend? - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/advice/2022/12/22/ask-sahaj-affection-boyfriend-family/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/advice/2022/12/22/ask-sahaj-affection-boyfriend-family/ |
French serial killer Charles Sobhraj leaves Kathmandu district court after his hearing in Kathmandu May 31, 2011. (Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)
Charles Sobhraj, the notorious 78-year-old French murderer convicted of killing backpackers touring Asia’s “hippie trail” in the 1970s, is to be freed from prison in Nepal after serving 19 years of a murder sentence, the country’s Supreme Court ruled Wednesday.
Sobhraj had almost completed a 20-year prison sentence in Nepal, where he was convicted of the 1975 murders of American tourist Connie Jo Bronzich and her Canadian companion Laurent Carriere.
The convicted killer, who some called “the Serpent” given his frequent evasions of police and use of disguises, has been accused of more than a dozen killings, but has only been found guilty of the two in Nepal.
Judges ordered Sobhraj’s release within days on the basis of his old age, good conduct, and the length of prison term already served, according to a ruling issued by Nepal’s Supreme Court. The judges noted that the convicted murderer also suffered from heart ailments expected to require open heart surgery.
“His continuous imprisonment violates the standard human rights of the prisoners,” the court ruled, adding: “If it is not required to detain him in any other case, he should be released from the prison today and necessary arrangements should be made to send him back to his country within 15 days.”
Lokbhakta Rana, Sobhraj’s lawyer, told The Washington Post Thursday that he commended the judges for their “very bold decision” to order his immediate release.
“I actually really did not expect it. But this is the correct decision,” Rana added. “Nobody wanted to free him.”
“He has been tried according to the law, he has been imprisoned according to the law, and he has been released according to the law.”
Rana said he expects his client to be released from prison in Nepal within a two weeks and to return to France, where his lawyer says he holds citizenship.
Sobhraj spent 21 years imprisoned in India from 1976 after being convicted of theft. Following an escape attempt in 1986, just as his original sentence was due to end, Sobhraj was recaptured and returned to prison where he faced an extended sentence.
According to an Associated Press report from that year, Sobhraj was wanted at the time of his recapture in Nepal, Singapore, Greece, Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Turkey and Iran for crimes ranging from car theft to drugging, robbing and killing young couples whom he had befriended.
The extension of Sobhraj’s sentence due to his escape attempt meant by the time of his eventual 1997 release from prison, an extradition request from Thailand, where he was wanted for 14 murders and faced the death penalty, had expired due to a 20-year statute of limitations, an AP report noted at the time.
For reasons that remain unclear, Sobhraj then returned to Nepal, where he was wanted by police for murder. In 2003 he was spotted in a Kathmandu casino by a reporter with The Himalayan Times, arrested, and ultimately sentenced to 20 years in prison.
His life has been the subject of multiple dramatizations — including “The Serpent,” a 2021 multipart drama by Netflix and the BBC. | 2022-12-22T14:51:43Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Charles Sobhraj, murderer known as the Serpent, to be released from prison - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/12/22/charles-sobhraj-serpent-killer-murder-nepal/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/12/22/charles-sobhraj-serpent-killer-murder-nepal/ |
Groups controlled by Charlie Kirk received $1.25 million for buses to take people to Washington and for rally promotion
Beth Reinhard
Julie Fancelli is a daughter of the founder of the Publix grocery store chain. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)
Fancelli, who keeps a low public profile, did not respond to a request for comment. Asked in the interview whether she intended the rally on Jan. 6 to be anything but peaceful, Fancelli responded, “No.”
The transcript was among 34 released Wednesday by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Transcripts of interviews with Kirk, Jones and Stone — all of whom invoked their Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination — also were released. The committee’s full report is expected Thursday.
The Washington Post previously reported that the Publix heiress was the largest publicly known donor to the rally — and had wired $650,000 to numerous groups behind the “Stop the Steal” organizing. But the interview transcript, which cites wire transfers as well as text messages and other communications involving Fancelli, shows her role was greater than previously known. When a Trump aide learned that Fancelli had offered a budget of $3 million, he wrote in a text message, “rich people are so odd.”
The documents also provide greater insight into Fancelli’s motivation for financing the activities, including personal devotion to Jones and Stone — about whom she repeatedly inquired, wanting to hear them speak on Jan. 6 — as well as faith in Kirk’s organizing capacities. “Where are Roger and Alex speaking?” she texted Caroline Wren, a veteran GOP fundraiser who facilitated the donations from her, according to the interview transcript. Wren declined to comment.
Text messages cited by the committee show Wren praised Kirk to Fancelli, saying he was successfully mobilizing people for the protest. “Charlie Kirk is my hero,” she wrote.
After initially directing $1 million to Kirk’s groups — $250,000 to Turning Point USA and $750,000 to its political arm, Turning Point Action — Fancelli urgently instructed her assistant on Jan. 4, 2021, to send him more money.
“I need you to send $250,000 to Charlie Kirk ASAP,” she wrote, according to an email presented to her by a committee investigator.
She added, “It is for busing in more people.”
Kirk tweeted on Jan. 4 — but later deleted — a promise that his organization was sending 80 buses to “fight for this president.” On the morning of Jan. 3, a website publicizing the rally listed Turning Point Action as a “coalition partner,” along with numerous other groups supported by Fancelli, including the nonprofit arm of the Republican Attorneys General Association and Women for America First.
Turning Point representatives subsequently said the group’s involvement in the rally included sending only seven buses with about 350 people to Washington. Emails cited by the committee suggest there may have been only five buses, and that people traveling on them were asked to download Telegram, the secure messaging app that makes it easy to purge messages, to stay apprised of logistics.
Kirk personally avoided the rally on Jan. 6, saying in a text message cited by the committee when he appeared under subpoena, “I am not speaking at the event.” Additional evidence cited in his interview before the committee suggests the involvement of his groups came about suddenly.
In late December, he told Wren his plans included “nothing” for Jan. 6. But messages included in his interview show that when asked how he could put Fancelli’s money to use, he replied, “An investment of $1,250,000 for TPA will allow us to deploy social media influencers to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, produce high-quality … video content that will educate millions about the significance of Jan. 6, mobilize students to fight against voter fraud, as well [as] help expand Turning Point Action’s campus army toward the President’s America first goals/objectives.”
Turning Point used $60,000 of Fancelli’s money to cover a speaking fee for Kimberly Guilfoyle, Donald Trump Jr.’s fiancee, who briefly addressed the crowd gathered at the White House Ellipse on Jan. 6. The payment was issued despite Fancelli and her associate removing a line item in the budget for speaking fees, according to the transcript.
Communications cited in Fancelli’s interview indicate that Guilfoyle later became concerned about her perceived role in rally organizing. A committee investigator presented a message from Fancelli in which the Publix heiress alerted staffers in October 2021 that Guilfoyle had called her and asked her to “release a statement that she didn’t ask for funds for Jan. 6, which isn’t true!”
Documents produced by Fancelli’s family office — and cited in the interview — indicate she paid for a private jet transporting Stone, the longtime Trump consigliere, from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to Washington on Jan. 5, 2021. An email from one of Fancelli’s associates states that Jones, the far-right media figure who spread conspiracy theories about the Sandy Hook school shooting, was to use $50,000 of his allotted $200,000 for the “rally operating budget.”
Fancelli, who appeared before the committee under subpoena, declined to answer most questions, repeatedly citing the Fifth Amendment’s protection against self-incrimination. She did state, however, that she was not in Washington for the rally, instead learning about the event from her home in Lakeland, Fla., as the pro-Trump mob breached the Capitol.
“Who were the people that ‘stormed’ the chamber? Antifa?” Fancelli asked Wren, referring to far-left political activists falsely blamed for the violence. Wren responded by texting a video of people swarming the Capitol grounds, according to the transcript.
Fancelli’s fortune comes from the Publix supermarket chain, which has sought to distance itself from her support for the pro-Trump rally. Based in her hometown of Lakeland, Publix touts its reputation for customer service with a decades-old “where shopping is a pleasure” slogan. Last year, in response to inquiries from The Post, the company said it “cannot control the actions of individual stockholders” and issued an unusual rebuke of a member of the founder’s family.
“We are deeply troubled by Ms. Fancelli’s involvement in the events that led to the tragic attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6,” the company said in a statement at the time. | 2022-12-22T15:13:32Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Publix heiress Julie Fancelli was willing to spend $3 million on Jan. 6 rally, documents show - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/22/publix-heiress-jan-6-financing/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/22/publix-heiress-jan-6-financing/ |
Ronnie Hillman, the leading rusher on the Denver Broncos team that won the Super Bowl after the 2015 season, has died, his family announced early Thursday on Instagram. On Wednesday, Hillman’s family announced that he had been battling a rare form of kidney cancer called renal medullary carcinoma, which mainly affects people with sickle cell trait.
Hillman was 31 years old.
Frank Mazzotta, Hillman’s coach at La Habra High in California, posted a remembrance on Twitter.
Tonight we lost a great Highlander, such a pleasure to coach. So many great memories of you. You could light up the room with your bright smile. As incredible as you were on the field you were even better off it. Loved by so many, too young. Rest in paradise next to Big Ronnie! pic.twitter.com/3jGAE8ANIK
Former Broncos teammate Omar Bolden also posted his thoughts on Hillman’s death:
I lost a brother and a friend…. I am so hurt and heartbroken. Ronnie, I LOVE YOU BRO, YOU WILL ALWAYS BE MY LIL BROTHER!!! May your soul rest in peace. Until we meet again my brotha 💔😥🙏🏾 #RIPRONNIEHILLMAN #PositiveLiving pic.twitter.com/cQUtLXNwSX
— Omar C. Bolden (@OmarBolden) December 22, 2022
Drafted by Denver at the age of 20 in the third round of the 2012 NFL draft after a standout career at San Diego State, Hillman spent four of his five NFL seasons with the Broncos. He was a backup over his first two years before earning his first start in 2014, rushing for 100 yards against the New York Jets.
In 2015, Hillman became the team’s starter again after rushing for 111 yards in a Week 6 win over the Cleveland Browns. He had four 100-yard games over the course of the regular season and finished with a career-high 863 rushing yards and seven touchdowns. In Super Bowl 50, Hillman had only five carries for zero yards as the Broncos gave the majority of their carries to C.J. Anderson.
A free agent after the Super Bowl, Hillman re-signed with the Broncos but was released in final roster cuts days before the 2016 regular season began. The Minnesota Vikings signed Hillman early in the season after Adrian Peterson suffered a knee injury, but he rushed for only 50 yards in five games before the Vikings released him. The San Diego Chargers picked him up off waivers, and Hillman rushed for 81 yards over the final three games of his NFL career. | 2022-12-22T15:17:54Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Ronnie Hillman, former Broncos running back, dies of cancer - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/22/ronnie-hillman-death/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/22/ronnie-hillman-death/ |
In Texas, temperatures were expected to quickly plummet Thursday, but state leaders promised there wouldn’t be a repeat of the February 2021 storm that overwhelmed the state's power grid and was blamed for hundreds of deaths.
In famously snowy Buffalo, New York, forecasters predicted a “once-in-a-generation storm” because of heavy lake-effect snow, wind gusts as high as 65 mph (105 kph), whiteouts and the potential for extensive power outages. The NHL postponed the Buffalo Sabres' home game against the Tampa Bay Lightning and rescheduled it for March 4. | 2022-12-22T15:40:03Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Temperatures fall far and fast as winter storm threatens US - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/temperatures-fall-far-and-fast-as-winter-storm-threatens-us/2022/12/22/75454730-8202-11ed-8738-ed7217de2775_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/temperatures-fall-far-and-fast-as-winter-storm-threatens-us/2022/12/22/75454730-8202-11ed-8738-ed7217de2775_story.html |
The Kennedy Center’s annual All-Star Christmas Day Jazz Jam, led by vibraphonist Chuck Redd (right), offers a fun and free way to spend Dec. 25. (Kennedy Center)
Mormon Temple Festival of Lights: After operating as a drive-through in 2020 and taking 2021 off, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints temple in Kensington is welcoming visitors back to its annual Festival of Lights. More than 400,000 lights decorate the grounds, the church says, and displays include 84 crèches from around the world. Live entertainment is featured each night: On Thursday, it’s the swinging sound of the Northern Lights Dance Orchestra. Friday features the Olney Big Band. On Christmas Eve, an early (4 p.m.) performance includes dances from Pacific islands such as Samoa, Tonga and New Zealand. Christmas Day brings a program of carols at 7 p.m. The displays and music continue nightly into the new year. Open from dusk to 9 p.m.; most concerts begin at 7:30 p.m. Free.
‘BAD Singalong’ at H Street Country Club: First things first: The name isn’t a description of the quality at this party at H Street Country Club’s bar, but an acronym for “Broadway and Disney.” For three hours, the soundtrack is nonstop musical favorites, with lyrics shown on screens. All you have to do is join in. It’s not karaoke — there’s no stage or microphone. Just singing along. For this holiday edition, the crowd will be belting out tracks that were among the most requested at 2022’s four previous events. 9 p.m. to midnight. Free.
‘Jack Frost’ at DC9: There are plenty of chances to watch heartwarming movies in the days before Christmas. And then there’s “Jack Frost.” Not to be confused with the 1998 comedy that finds Michael Keaton reincarnated as a snowman, the plot of this low-budget 1997 slasher flick features a serial killer who turns into a murderous snowman after a traffic accident involving a truck carrying genetic material from a lab. It screens at DC9 as part of the rock club’s holiday movie series. 7 p.m. Free.
‘Messiah’ Sing-Along at the Kennedy Center: One of the season’s most boisterous — well, boisterous and joyful — events is the Kennedy Center’s “Messiah” singalong evening, which finds members of the Washington National Opera Orchestra; guest soloists; and a 150-strong chorus with members of the Congressional Chorus, the Northern Virginia Chorale and other local singing groups performing a free concert in the Concert Hall. While a limited number of advance tickets “sold out” for the performance, other seats are available to those in line on a first-come, first-served basis, beginning at 5:45 p.m. 6 p.m. Free.
Last-minute shopping ideas: It’s Dec. 23. If you still need to shop for gifts for a loved one — well, let’s save that discussion until after the holidays. But there are solutions, and not the kind that require spending way too much money on express shipping. The Downtown Holiday Market, which has taken over two blocks of F Street NW in front of the National Portrait Gallery, closes after Friday, but there’s still time to browse 62 vendors selling a wide variety of merchandise while snacking on mini-doughnuts or bratwurst and listening to jazz, klezmer and DJs. (Noon to 8 p.m. Free.) The 30th edition of the BZB Shop Til Ya Drop holiday market at the Shiloh Family Life Center in Shaw on Friday and Saturday features dozens of Black-owned businesses, some of which come from Atlanta or Africa to set up at the show. Look for art, fashions, home decor, dolls and other gifts. (10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Free.) And while it seems retro to go to a mall to hunt for the perfect present, that’s exactly what you’ll find at Tysons Corner Center. The Creative Collective Pop-Up features gifts from more than 40 local businesses and makers — prints, housewares, ornaments, jewelry — in the spacious former Arhaus Furniture location. (Open mall hours Friday and Saturday. Free.)
Festivus Miracles at the Improv: Five stand-up comedians take to the stage at D.C.’s best-known club to air grievances and perform feats of strength, providing some much-needed laughter at a busy time of year. (Thankfully, the Improv has a bar, so no hip flasks are needed.) Rallo Boykins, Matty Litwack, Dewayne White, Cerrome Russell and D. Lo perform two shows. 7:30 and 9:45 p.m. $20; tables $60-$100.
‘Elf’ Toys for Tots Fundraiser at Arlington Cinema and Drafthouse: As “Elf” prepares to turn 20 next year, it has secured its place among the most-loved holiday movies, shown at the American Film Institute as well as neighborhood multiplexes. (Don’t tell Pulitzer-winning Washington Post film critic Stephen Hunter, whose 2003 review called “Elf” “utterly misbegotten” and “a clumsy, tedious ride.”) If you’re looking to spread some Christmas cheer, head to the Arlington Cinema and Drafthouse, which is hosting a screening and ugly sweater party with all proceeds benefiting Toys for Tots. The ugliest sweaters win prizes such as $100 gift certificates from Arlington bars and tickets for stand-up comedy nights. 7 p.m. $15.
Kuzy 777 Release Party at Juicy Brewing: Move over, Craig Laughlin. The Washington Capitals broadcast legend has helped produce a number of local craft beers in recent years, but now Caps center Evgeny Kuznetsov has his own. Kuznetsov worked with the brewers at Juicy, which opened in the original Aslin space in Herndon earlier this year, to produce a dry-hopped Vienna lager with fruity Strata hops. “Our whole team is immensely proud to have a beer made together with and in honor of Kuzy,” Juicy owner Anton Sagan said in a press release. Get a taste when the Capitals take on the Winnipeg Jets on Friday night, as Juicy is hosting the first of a series of Capitals viewing parties in its taproom. For those who have other plans, 16-ounce cans — complete with an outline of Kuznetsov doing his trademark bird celly — will be available to go, beginning at noon. 7 p.m. Free admission.
Christmas (and not-so-Christmas) drag shows: Nellie’s Sports Bar’s Saturday drag brunch comes with a festive twist this week. This Christmas Eve, grab a bite at the all-you-can-eat brunch buffet and enjoy a first mimosa or bloody mary on the house while singing along to Mariah-worthy performances by drag queens. (Saturday at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. $50.) But if the festivities aren’t your thing (or if you’ve finally tired of the now-months-long holiday season), check out Jane Saw and Dabatha Christie’s anti-Christmas Christmas show on the night before the night before Christmas at Slash Run. (Friday at 9 p.m. $15.)
Bagel Ball vs. MatzoBall: Two dance parties targeted at Jewish singles are facing off across Connecticut Avenue on Christmas Eve. On one side, at Decades, you’ve got the MatzoBall, a party that began in Boston in 1987 and, it boasts, now attracts thousands of revelers at parties from New York to Los Angeles to Boca Raton and was once described in Cosmo as “Tinder IRL.” Beyond regular admission, there’s a cut-the-line ticket, as well as VIP tables with minimum spends ranging from $600 to $2,000. (9:30 p.m. $40.) Over at Public Bar, the Bagel Ball seems a bit more low-key, with DJs, drink specials, “heavy snacks (including bagels)” and a dreidel-spinning competition. Arrive before 10 p.m. for a free drink. (9 p.m. $25.)
Holiday movies at the Runaway: Christmas Eve can be a bit of a dead zone for bars, especially those that regularly feature live music. Instead of a band, the Runaway offers a doubleheader of 1980s holiday classics: “A Christmas Story” at 4 p.m. and “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” at 6. Order a burger and a beer and settle in. Doors open at 11 a.m. Free.
All-Star Christmas Day Jazz Jam at the Kennedy Center: On a day when much of Washington comes to a halt — Smithsonian museums closed, clubs and theaters dark — the Kennedy Center offers entertainment to perk up the evening. Since the late ’90s, the performing arts citadel has offered a Christmas Day Jazz Jam, once hosted by legendary bassist Keter Betts and now led by brothers Chuck (vibraphone) and Robert (piano) Redd. Join the Redds and a team of musicians, including vocalist Lori Williams, for a free evening of seasonal favorites and chestnuts in the Concert Hall. The concert will also be live-streamed, if you’d rather watch from home after dinner instead of making the trek to Foggy Bottom. A limited number of free tickets are available in advance through the Kennedy Center website, and these tickets must be picked up by 5:45 p.m. on the day of the performance. All other seats are available on a first-come, first-served basis. 6 p.m. Free.
Our By the Way colleague Gabe Hiatt put together a solid list of places to spend a secular Christmas in D.C., with restaurant, bar, movie and sightseeing recommendations. Here are a few more:
Movies: There’s nothing wrong with going to see “Avatar: The Way of Water” or “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” at the local multiplex, but if you want to get in the spirit of the season, AFI Silver Theatre is showing “The Muppet Christmas Carol” (11:30 a.m.) and “Miracle on 34th Street” (11:45 a.m.) as part of its Holiday Classics series. $10; $5 for children 12 and younger.
Christmas Day Brunch at the Fairmont: Keep the Christmas festivities going after an early morning of celebration with a meal at the Georgetown hotel. Wear your Christmas pajamas — or don’t bother changing before you head to M Street NW — and enjoy a traditional all-you-can-eat brunch with upscale additions, like charcuterie platters and a seafood station by chef Jordi Gallardo, in the hotel’s festively decorated Colonnade restaurant. 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. $159; $59 for children ages 5 to 12; free for children under 5.
Some other ideas: The NFL doesn’t stop for the holiday, so Crystal City Sports Pub is open at 8 a.m. for pre-gaming needs. In Bethesda, Caddies on Cordell opens at 11:30 a.m. for football viewing. Lyman’s Tavern opens at 11 a.m., and while the kitchen is closed all day, the bar traditionally orders a large spread of Chinese from the nearby Johnny’s carryout, which is available from 6 p.m. until it runs out. (Free.) As You Are Bar on Barracks Row opens at noon for a “Coffee and Conversation” mixer hosted by Go Gay D.C., and the regular Sunday night karaoke with KJ Amanda Vox at 7 p.m. (Free.) Grab a spot at the zinc bar at Bistrot du Coin for a glass of red wine, beginning at 4 p.m. Trade opens at 5 p.m., and happy hour runs until 8. Bloomingdale’s Showtime opens at 8 p.m. for beer-and-a-shot combos. This list will be updated.
The Premier League returns: If you got used to waking up early to go to a bar and watch soccer during the World Cup, you might as well keep doing it throughout the holidays. The English Premier League returns from its month-long break with a slate of seven games. The featured match is a London derby between West Ham and league leaders Arsenal at 3 p.m. Watch with the West Ham fans at Across the Pond or the Arsenal fans at Lou’s City Bar. Other viewing parties include Everton at Across the Pond to watch their match with Wolves at 10 a.m.; Newcastle at Hawk and Griffin in Vienna at 10 a.m. to watch the match against Leicester; and Liverpool fans at the Queen Vic and Crystal City Sports Pub for their 12:30 p.m. kickoff against Aston Villa. (Per the D.C. Spurs group, the Irish Channel is not opening for their 7:30 a.m. derby against Brentford.)
Tuesday brings more matches featuring Chelsea (the Irish Channel), Manchester United (Solace Outpost Navy Yard) and Nottingham Forest (Across the Pond), before the round wraps up with Manchester City (the Ugly Mug) and Leeds (somehow no local supporters club) on Wednesday. | 2022-12-22T15:40:15Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Christmas Day concerts, holiday markets and events in the D.C. area - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/12/22/best-things-do-dc-area-week-dec-23-28/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/12/22/best-things-do-dc-area-week-dec-23-28/ |
By Francesca L. Beaudoin
Tiffany Patino, who has struggled with long covid symptoms, rests in bed in Rockville, Md., on Dec. 2, 2021. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)
Francesca L. Beaudoin is director of the Long Covid Initiative at Brown University.
We are nearly three years into the covid-19 pandemic, and the debate about the need for health measures such as vaccine and mask mandates is as hot as ever. One big reason for that: long covid.
For some, long covid is overemphasized. For others, it has been dismissed or ignored. The trouble with this debate is that there is just simply so much we still don’t know.
I am hoping that by highlighting the open questions we still need to answer, we can lower the temperature for our policy discussions. Here are five things we still don’t know about this curious illness:
What even is “long covid”? Broadly speaking, the condition refers to any symptoms persisting weeks to months after an initial covid infection. But dozens of symptoms have been attributed to long covid — some mild or annoying, such as persistent loss of taste or smell, and others more severe, such as extreme fatigue or cognitive dysfunction (or “brain fog”). As a result, health agencies still do not have a uniform definition, and doctors lack clear guidance for diagnosing it. It would not be surprising to eventually find out that we have been lumping multiple distinct post-covid syndromes under one umbrella.
How many people are suffering from long covid? At the individual level, patients have struggled to get a diagnosis of long covid, since the condition has a lot of lookalikes. And at the population level, it is nearly impossible to get an accurate count of how many long covid cases there are. It is estimated that 18 million American adults (more than 1 in 20 adults) report at least one lingering symptom after having covid-19, but this figure might not match public perception of the problem and thus generates skepticism. To be clear, there are most certainly people suffering severe and persistent consequences of covid, and even a small fraction of 18 million affected would still be a big deal.
In what ways is long covid exacerbating or precipitating other health conditions? A recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention made waves by suggesting that long covid has killed thousands of Americans since the start of the pandemic. But the study was more complicated than headlines suggest. While it found that thousands of people died with long covid listed as contributing cause on their death certificates, nearly one-third of those cases recorded another cause of death, such as cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and even unintentional injury. It’s also important to note that the age-adjusted death rate for long covid in this study was only 6.3 per 1 million persons. By comparison, the death rate for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) a rare but fatal disease better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is about 17 per 1 million persons.
This does not mean that long covid is not a problem, though, as evidenced by the thousands of testimonies from people who suffer from it. In fact, the CDC’s study highlights an overlooked issue: the impact long covid is having on other chronic health conditions. This deserves more scientific research.
How can we treat long covid? The uncertainty of the disease understandably produces anxiety, despair and at times a willingness to take a chance on unproven therapies despite potential risks. Fortunately, the National Institutes of Health earmarked in excess of $1 billion for its four-year Recover initiative, which will research long covid. Recover had a slow start but is picking up steam, and there is research outside this initiative as well.
In a preliminary search of a federal registry of clinical trials, there were about 600 studies examining different interventions for long covid. The vast majority of these trials don’t have results yet, but new information is emerging, as is our ability to offer patients evidence-based treatment. Sometimes, studies investigate new drugs or a new purpose for an old drug, such as naltrexone, a medication typically used to treat opioid addiction. As with most medical treatments, there likely won’t be a one-size-fits-all approach. Overall, we need larger, well-conducted studies to understand which therapies work and for whom they work best. Hopefully, the Recover initiative can fill that void.
Finally, will we learn how to respond to post-viral conditions for the next pandemic? Post-viral symptoms are not a new phenomenon (think polio or mononucleosis). In fact, prolonged periods of convalescence were well-documented during the 1918 flu pandemic. Yet, somehow, covid caught us off guard. We find ourselves behind in data collection, research and, consequently, treatments. As part of our evolving surveillance and systems responses, we must leverage the vast amount of data that is at our fingertips to measure the ongoing burden of illness when outbreaks arise, not scrambling to unearth it after the fact.
Even after the pandemic ends, thousands of people are likely to deal with post-viral symptoms without knowing when their condition will improve. This will cause damage to one’s physical and mental health, and in some cases, will force people to withdraw from daily life. Answering these crucial questions about long covid is essential to bringing these folks much-needed relief. | 2022-12-22T15:40:40Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | What we still don't know about long covid - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/22/long-covid-pandemic-big-questions/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/22/long-covid-pandemic-big-questions/ |
She went from pandemic pickup games with family to U-Conn. hoops commit
Bishop McNamara’s Qadence Samuels worked her way into becoming a top recruit
Bishop McNamara’s Qadence Samuels, left, committed to Connecticut in June. (Katherine Frey/The Washington Post)
Six years before she committed to the most famous women’s basketball program on the planet, Qadence Samuels felt disqualified by her ability.
She was 11 years old and facing her first day of training for a sport she had recently decided to take more seriously. But, having entered a youth basketball world where most start specializing years earlier, Samuels did not think she was good enough to compete. Her parents, also basketball players, watched as their quiet child stood to the side and shot baskets by herself, working up the nerve to join the group.
“I was so nervous,” Samuels recalled. “It took me a few days to settle in and realize I could play with them.”
When she finally joined in, Samuels began a basketball journey that has landed her in an enviable position. She is a senior star for Bishop McNamara, one of the best high school programs in the D.C. area despite a 2-4 start this year against a brutal schedule. At 6-foot-2, she is a versatile and skilled player, the kind of positionless, tireless prospect coaches dream of. And she is destined for Storrs as part of Connecticut’s 2023 recruiting class.
“She’s the type of player that makes it all look effortless,” McNamara Coach Frank Oliver said. “But it took a lot of work.”
Samuels is the second oldest of seven children, all of whom play basketball. Her older brother, Qwanzi, also played in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (at St. John’s) and is now on the team at George Washington. Qadence started playing at a young age, but it took her a while to see the sport as a passion. In the bleachers watching her brothers and sisters, she was more of a bored sibling than a student of the game.
“She was always around basketball but really didn’t take to it until she was around 11,” her dad, Qwanzi, said. “It wasn’t until then that we knew she loved it.”
In Qadence’s memory, that shift in mind-set happened in part because she realized she had potential, just as her father told her. After conquering her nerves and getting involved in more full-time training, she became a sought-after middle school recruit.
She joined a McNamara team that was loaded with Division I talent, and she carved out a small role her freshman year as the Mustangs marched to their first WCAC title in more than a decade. But any momentum that had been built that winter by Samuels or her team was halted in the spring by the coronavirus pandemic. Samuels, like so many high school athletes, suddenly had an empty calendar.
She used that free time to take her game to the next level. Samuels and her siblings would train two or three times per day, doing everything from distance running to dribbling drills. Working with a trainer and her parents, she spent hours outside the family home transforming herself from a scrappy forward to a more versatile player.
“We were trying to find the worst outdoor courts to shoot on, with the double rims and everything,” her father said. “And we would challenge [the kids] to make shots without hitting the rim. I think from that point on, [Qadence] really recognized how to put the ball in the basket. A lightbulb really went on for her.”
With seven siblings, two parents and a trainer, the Samuels family had the perfect number of bodies for games of five-on-five. Now, two years later, Qadence laughs at the memory of those contests — her brothers, sisters and parents trying their best to win a meaningless game of family pickup.
“We loved it,” her mom, Shanda, said. “Everybody was home. We would be all together outside playing our own little five-on-five games. … And I think that time is when [Qadence] really turned a corner.”
Qadence’s parents said she always has had a motor, but they were especially surprised to see her passion during those pandemic months. Qadence said it stemmed from the same place as a lot of her hardest work: the idea that she committed to basketball late and has to catch up to the very best.
“I always felt like I had to outwork everybody,” she said.
With basketball back in full swing for her junior year, Samuels — ranked the No. 41 player in the Class of 2023 by ESPN — saw her recruitment pick up. In a season in which she averaged 17.6 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.1 steals for a McNamara team that went undefeated in the WCAC regular season and made the tournament championship game, Samuels attracted interest from the highest levels of the college game. She took several unofficial visits, including trips to North Carolina, Tennessee and Maryland.
“Qadence is a homebody,” her dad said. “So we really wanted an environment that is truly going to be an extension of our family in terms of values and expectations.”
But Samuels’s first official visit was to U-Conn., and it didn’t take long for her to realize Storrs was the place she wanted to be. She announced her commitment to the Huskies on June 25.
“I wanted a family culture. I wanted winning. I wanted a good education. And I wanted a really great coach,” she said. “That’s what U-Conn. offered.”
When she heads north, Samuels will be met with a roster full of talent and a new set of sky-high expectations. Those who know her best know just how she will react.
“She knows what it takes,” Oliver said. “She knows she’ll have to work, but that’s all she’s done since she’s been here: work.” | 2022-12-22T15:41:04Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Qadence Samuels of Bishop McNamara became a U-Conn. basketball commit - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/22/qadence-samuels-uconn/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/22/qadence-samuels-uconn/ |
The bill would avert a shutdown and increase spending on domestic programs and the military
Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) walks through the Capitol on Tuesday, one of his last days as a lawmaker. Leahy, who is retiring at the end of this session of Congress, was one of the lead negotiators on the $1.7 trillion bill to fund the government through Sept. 30, 2023, known as the omnibus.
The Senate on Thursday raced to adopt a sprawling, roughly $1.7 trillion bill that would fund the government through most of 2023, as Democrats and Republicans resolved a last-minute standoff over immigration in a bid to avert a shutdown in the final days of the year.
The compilation of long-stalled appropriations bills, known as an omnibus, would provide nearly $773 billion for domestic programs and more than $850 billion for the military, covering expenses through the 2023 fiscal year, which concludes at the end of September. Republicans had insisted on robust Pentagon funding in months-long talks with Democrats, who secured some — but not all — of the health, education, labor and economic spending they wanted.
The must-pass nature of the bill — the final major piece of legislation before Congress resets in the new year — also has offered a window for lawmakers to advance other long-stalled priorities. The sweeping omnibus is filled with provisions that would expand some Medicaid benefits, help Americans save for retirement, reform the presidential electoral vote-counting process and ban TikTok on government devices.
“I hope we can finish the omnibus today, there’s no reason why we can’t,” said Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Wednesday, as he pleaded with lawmakers to vote on the bill before a winter “bomb cyclone” snarled travel entering the holiday weekend. “The bill is so important to get done because it will be good for families, for veterans, for national security, even for the health of our democratic institutions.”
But the debate, raucous and delayed at times, also has revealed a more difficult political truth about the year to come. A handful of Republicans — anticipating the party’s takeover of the House on Jan. 3 — have opposed the bill and threatened their own leaders for even negotiating with Democrats over spending. Their staunch, public resistance seemed to foreshadow tougher spending battles on the horizon in a Capitol that often legislates from the precipice of a fiscal cliff.
Senate begins debate on $1.7 trillion deal to fund government, avert shutdown
Late Wednesday night, Lee held up passage of the omnibus as he tried to force a vote on a proposal that would extend a controversial immigration policy implemented during the Trump administration. Senate leaders ultimately worked out an arrangement to hold a series of amendment votes on the policy known as Title 42, paving the way for the chamber to proceed Thursday morning.
The expected Senate vote on passage marks a culmination of months of talks between three top appropriators — Sens. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) and Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.), and Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro (D-Conn.) — who unveiled their 4,155-page omnibus in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Leahy and Shelby had been fiercely committed to striking such a deal, as the two senior leaders of the Senate Appropriations Committee prepare to retire at the end of the session of Congress.
House Republicans formally sat out of those discussions, as Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Texas) — who is vying to be speaker next year — argued for weeks that lawmakers should hold off on brokering a long-term funding agreement until the GOP assumes control of the House. Republicans felt that postponing the talks would have given them leverage to extract spending cuts and other policy concessions from the Biden administration.
In the end, though, Republicans in the Senate supplied more than the necessary votes to help Democrats begin debate on the $1.7 trillion package in the chamber. Their cooperation came despite new threats from conservative lawmakers in the House, including Reps. Chip Roy (Tex.), Scott Perry (Pa.), Andy Biggs (Ariz.), who pledged this week to exact political revenge — scuttling any legislation offered by Senate Republicans who supported the omnibus. McCarthy himself later endorsed that approach.
For Republicans, the chief concern was defense, as they looked to fully fund the Pentagon after approving a roughly $850 billion measure authorizing its key programs earlier this month. The total amounted to a 10 percent increase from the prior fiscal year, which funds a pay increase for military service members along with new weapons, aircraft and warships. | 2022-12-22T15:41:23Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Omnibus bill nears Senate passage - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2022/12/22/omnibus-bill-senate/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2022/12/22/omnibus-bill-senate/ |
Sean Hannity waits to hear Vice President Mike Pence speak on the third day of the Republican National Convention in August 2020. (Andrew Harnik/AP)
Objective observers should have dismissed the credibility of attorney Sidney Powell within moments of her taking the microphone at a news conference held shortly after the 2020 election.
This was the news conference centered on President Donald Trump’s crumbling effort to retain power at which Rudy Giuliani’s hair leaked, a cramped, bizarre affair held at the national headquarters of the Republican Party in D.C. And despite the stratospheric bizarreness of Giuliani’s unstable claims about the security of the presidential election two weeks before, Powell managed to rocket right past him.
What had happened, see, was that voting machines were corrupted by [insert a mishmash of claims looping in the internet, dead Venezuelan dictators, various other communists, “algorithms” and a cabal of Democratic actors]. It was so ludicrous that when someone in the audience asked Powell if a server had been seized in Germany — a newly emergent claim based on one tweet and picked up by One America News — Powell sagely confirmed the report, adding that she didn’t know “whether good guys got it or bad guys got it.” Sure.
That was on Nov. 19, 2020. By the end of the day, Powell was entirely discredited.
Fox News host Tucker Carlson reached out to Powell to invite her on his show. Sure, he told viewers, he was skeptical, but “we don’t dismiss anything anymore, particularly when it’s related to technology.” He noted that his show had covered UFOs, mostly because other shows wouldn’t. “There’s evidence that a lot of things that responsible people use to dismiss out of hand as ridiculous are in fact real,” he said.
So he offered an interview to Powell, asking that she provide evidence of her claims. Which, of course, she didn’t. Carlson and his team pressed — politely, he said — leading Powell to eventually end the conversation in a snit. So Carlson called her out: They asked for evidence; she didn’t have any.
“Why are we telling you this?” he concluded. “We’re telling you this because it’s true. And in the end, that’s all that matters. The truth. It’s our only hope. It’s our best defense. And it’s how we’re different from them.”
The extent to which Carlson himself cares about the accuracy of his claims is certainly debatable. But here he was clearly right: Powell had nothing and her claims weren’t worth treating seriously. Within days, the Trump campaign publicly disowned her.
But a week later, Powell got a Fox News interview anyway. The host wasn’t Carlson but Sean Hannity, whose obsequious treatment of his pal Trump was only amplified by Trump’s reelection loss.
The ostensible predicate for Powell’s appearance was that she was acting as a lawyer for Mike Flynn, Trump’s onetime national security adviser who had pleaded guilty to misleading federal investigators. Halfway through the interview, though, Hannity turned the discussion to Powell’s claims about voting machines.
He noted that he’d discussed the issue with her on his radio show, asking her why the people she claimed had observed the election being stolen hadn’t signed affidavits to that effect. She indicated that some were government employees worried about repercussions. One of Powell’s sources, we later learned, was a guy she’d presented as having served in military intelligence but who, instead, had been a trainee in one program, dropping out before it was completed.
But Hannity was apparently satisfied with that answer. He asked if anyone had examined the machines for evidence of this activity; Powell promised that such analysis was imminent. Hannity, realizing he’d left a rhetorical slam-dunk on the table, jumped back in: wait, didn’t Democrats like whistleblowers? Why weren’t they pushing to hear from these witnesses? Powell offered that “they only like liars who claim to be whistleblowers.”
Hannity wrapped up. Everyone thinks these machines are bad, he said, and when the whistleblowers were safe, he welcomed them onto his show. He then changed subjects — suggesting that voting in Georgia was compromised and calling for that state’s governor, Brian Kemp, to step in.
None of this is particularly surprising, of course. Fox News is explicit that Hannity’s is an opinion show, arguing that viewers understand he’s merely offering his take on things. That despite the program having all of the trappings of a news program, down to the omnipresent “Fox News” logo in the corner.
But it is consequential. Dominion Voting Systems, the company whose machines were identified by Powell as facilitating massive fraud in the presidential election, sued her and Fox News (and others) for defamation. In a deposition taken as part of the suit, Hannity reportedly admitted that he offered Powell a platform despite her lack of credibility.
“I did not believe it for one second,” he said, according to an attorney for Dominion.
Perhaps the Fox News host thinks this makes him look better; he wasn’t hoodwinked by this obvious nonsense! But, of course, he put Powell on the air anyway. He broached the subject of voting machines. He failed to push on her claims of secret evidence, treating them as though he believed them, even if he more recently claims he didn’t.
In 2020, Hannity’s show was the most watched on cable news, as it had been the previous three years. Millions tuned in every night, including on Nov. 30, 2020, when Hannity allowed Powell to make baseless claims that Tucker Carlson had debunked more than a week earlier because those claims boosted Trump’s political efforts.
Hannity has long been and continues to be the most explicitly partisan host on Fox News, if not on cable news broadly. Over the course of the midterms, he spent hours interviewing Republican Senate candidates, including multiple Nerf-ball hour-long “town hall” meetings with candidates in close races. He endorsed Trump before 2016. It’s all unsubtle.
But that is different than promoting baseless nonsense about the election being stolen. Fox News’s audience is disproportionately partisan, with Republicans relying on it for information far more than Democrats or independents rely on any individual channel or outlet. That’s part of the reason Hannity kept winning in the ratings: the network has far less competition for its core audience than other traditional media outlets.
In the weeks after the election — and in the weeks before the violent attack at the Capitol by people convinced the election was stolen — Hannity was offering a platform to a conspiracy theorist who his own network and Trump himself had dismissed as unreliable.
Hannity’s assertion that he didn’t believe Powell won’t help Fox win that defamation lawsuit. Neither will Carlson’s dismissal of her claims. Earlier this year, a judge used Carlson’s debunking against Fox News’s efforts to dismiss the suit.
But we also can’t lose sight of the fact that Hannity prioritized carrying Trump’s water over informing his audience. That, apparently by his own admission, he offered up an opinion on his opinion show in which he had no confidence. That the most-watched show on cable was actively misinforming its heavily partisan viewers.
We can’t draw a line from Hannity’s interview of Powell directly to Jan. 6. There’s no way, though, in which elevating her claims helped. Except, of course, in boosting Hannity’s ratings. | 2022-12-22T16:27:44Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Why Sean Hannity’s dishonesty matters - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/22/fox-news-hannity-trump-2020-election/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/22/fox-news-hannity-trump-2020-election/ |
Air Force probably will run early and often against Baylor. (David Zalubowski/AP)
Thursday gives us one bowl game. Here’s a look at the matchup from a betting perspective.
In Fort Worth
Baylor (-3.5) vs. Air Force
Baylor (6-6) lost three straight to end the regular season and fired defensive coordinator Ron Roberts after the Bears allowed 26.6 points per game, up quite a bit from the 18.3 allowed by the Big 12 championship team of 2021. To the surprise of no one, Air Force (9-3) led the nation in rushing yards per game (330.9) and was one of only two Football Bowl Subdivision teams to run the ball more than 700 times. Air Force won five of six to end the regular season, and its defense hasn’t allowed more than 19 points in a game since an Oct. 8 loss at Utah State.
Key personnel losses: Baylor’s biggest loss was safety Devin Neal, who started seven games and had two interceptions. Air Force has no departures of note.
Pick: Air Force +3.5. Service academies are 13-3 against the spread in bowl games over the past 10 years and 5-1 ATS as underdogs, with three outright wins, and Baylor’s defense is susceptible to the run (No. 82 in expected points allowed per rush).
Perspective|A painter went to Paris and dreamed of music
Perspective|This photographer explores Appalachian folk tales through vividly poetic images | 2022-12-22T16:53:55Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Armed Forces Bowl betting preview: Air Force vs. Baylor - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/22/armed-forces-bowl-betting-preview/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/22/armed-forces-bowl-betting-preview/ |
Frustrated with International Olympic Boxing Association president Umar Kremlev, the International Olympic Committee is considering dropping boxing from the Paris Olympics. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
“It has also become clear again, that IBA wants to distract from its own grave governance issues by pointing to the past, which has been addressed by the IOC already in 2019,” the IOC statement read, in part. “ … The IOC will have to take all this into consideration when it takes further decisions, which may — after these latest developments — have to include the cancellation of boxing for the Olympic Games Paris 2024.”
Kremlev, who had been elected in 2020, has been accused of centralizing the IBA’s power in his native Russia, spending heavily on marketing that appears to promote himself and depending too heavily on the IBA’s lone sponsor, the Russian energy company Gazprom. He has, at times, suggested moving away from the Games, saying Olympic leaders have “no real interest in the sport of boxing and the boxers but is only interested in its own power.”
Earlier this year, the IOC said it would run the boxing competition in Paris as it did in Tokyo following a report on the fixed fights in Rio. Two weeks ago it even laid out a schedule of boxing qualifying events. Thursday’s statement is the first time the IOC has suggested it might drop the sport from the 2024 program. A decision would have to be made before qualifying events begin next summer.
Since taking over the IBA, Kremlev has promised reforms, but questions about judging at IBA-run events have persisted because of his refusal to have an outside system of referees and judges. His reelection earlier this year was plagued with problems after his primary opponent., Dutch boxing heard Boris van der Vorst, was disqualified a day before the vote. The Court of Arbitration for Sport later forced a second election, which never happened after the IBA voted not to hold one.
Despite persistent problems with boxing, the IOC has been hesitant to give up on the sport whose inclusion dates from the 1904 Games because it brings the kind of economic, racial, cultural and geographic diversity the IOC wants. But because the IOC does not want to run boxing’s Olympic competitions in perpetuity, the current standoff with Kremlev suggests that the sport’s future in the Games may be in jeopardy, unless new leadership, or a new organization, were to take control. | 2022-12-22T16:53:57Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Boxing could be out of Paris Olympics amid conflict with Umar Kremlev - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2022/12/22/boxing-olympic-future-umar-kremlev/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2022/12/22/boxing-olympic-future-umar-kremlev/ |
What’s Boosting Nuclear Power? War and Climate Change
Cooling towers release water vapor at the Nogent nuclear power plant, operated by Electricite de France SA (EDF), in Nogent-sur-Seine, France, on Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2021. The French government asked Electricite de France SA to restart some nuclear reactors earlier than planned in order to help with a winter energy crunch across Europe. (Bloomberg)
After a steady decline, from generating 18% of the world’s electricity in the mid-1990s to 10% today, nuclear power is showing signs of revival. China and India have consistently expanded use of the technology, but until recently safety concerns had led many Western countries to move in the opposite direction. Now, concern about global warming and secure energy supplies amid Russia’s war in Ukraine has sparked renewed interest.
1. How are Western countries reinvesting in nuclear energy?
Some are committing to build new, large nuclear power plants. More are spending money to extend the lifetime of existing facilities. Many of the reactors in wealthy countries are approaching the end of their original design life span, which is usually 40 years. A reactor’s longevity can be extended, but only with significant investment in refurbishment. A number of countries are also investing in so-called small modular reactors, though it will be at least several years before they are commercialized. The idea is that standardized parts would be built in factories and shipped for assembly on site, thereby reducing the cost of reactors.
2. Who’s taking action?
• In the West, the UK and France lead the pack. The UK, where reactors currently generate about 15% of electricity, wants to boost that figure to 25% by 2050, in part by building as many as eight large reactors. France, which already generates 70% of its electricity with nuclear power, plans to build six new units while also extending the life span of existing reactors where it’s safe to do so.
• Japan and Germany reconsidered nuclear power after backing off in the wake of the 2011 disaster at Japan’s Fukushima plant, where meltdowns at three units following an earthquake and tsunami forced more than 100,000 people to relocate. A Japanese advisory panel in December approved plans to extend the lifespans of the country’s nuclear reactors and replace decommissioned units. Germany decided after Fukushima to close all 17 of its reactors. But in the wake of the Ukraine war and reduced flows of Russian gas, the government — a coalition including the Green Party, which opposes nuclear power — said it would keep three units operating beyond the end-2022 deadline to limit the threat of winter blackouts.
• Elsewhere, the US government is making $6 billion available over four years to subsidize nuclear power plants at risk of closing prematurely for economic reasons. South Korea announced the construction of four more reactors by 2030 and the extension of 10 older units. Belgium asked Engie SA to extend the life of its Tihange 2 nuclear plant to ensure energy supplies. The Czech Republic, Hungary and the Netherlands have plans to build large new reactors, and Poland for the first time has committed to constructing three units.
• European Union lawmakers in mid-2022 voted to allow nuclear energy projects to be labeled as green investments. If the move survives legal challenges, it would remove a key barrier to funding from investors targeting such initiatives.
3. What are China and India doing?
Hungry for energy, China has rapidly accelerated its use of nuclear energy. The government wants to expand capacity by almost a third within the next three years and has more than 20 reactors under construction. India expects to start building 10 more reactors between 2023 and 2025.
4. What are the arguments against nuclear power?
Opponents say Fukushima was only the most recent accident to demonstrate that nuclear power is too dangerous. Calamities also released radiation at Three Mile Island in the US in 1979 and Chernobyl in Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union, seven years later. There’s also the expense and environmental risks of disposing of reactor waste, which can remain dangerously radioactive for thousands of years. Critics cite large cost overruns that have plagued new reactor projects in the US and Europe. Construction of large new plants requires at least a decade, which won’t be fast enough for many countries that have committed to cutting greenhouse gas pollution by half by 2030. Opponents argue that cleaner and safer forms of energy, such as solar and wind power backed up by batteries, can be deployed more quickly.
5. What are the arguments for nuclear power?
Proponents say that accidents are rare and that fossil fuels kill more people annually via accidents and pollution. Nuclear advocates also insist that the smaller, advanced reactors of the future will be even safer. The choice, they argue, isn’t between nuclear energy and renewables but rather between the two working in tandem and a failure to avert the worst outcomes of climate change. Low-carbon sources provided about 40% of the world’s electricity supply in 2021 — only about 4 percentage points more than 20 years earlier. That’s because while renewable energy scaled up, nuclear power scaled down. | 2022-12-22T17:11:34Z | www.washingtonpost.com | What’s Boosting Nuclear Power? War and Climate Change - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/energy/whats-boosting-nuclear-power-war-and-climate-change/2022/12/22/78eb3f1a-8212-11ed-8738-ed7217de2775_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/energy/whats-boosting-nuclear-power-war-and-climate-change/2022/12/22/78eb3f1a-8212-11ed-8738-ed7217de2775_story.html |
The massive storm is also taking a toll on trains, buses and roads
Michael Laris
Travelers at Reagan Washington National Airport on Thursday morning. (John McDonnell/The Washington Post)
Air travelers found little relief Thursday as flight cancellations that began Wednesday stretched another day and probably into the holiday weekend amid a fierce winter storm sweeping the United States and causing widespread disruptions.
By midmorning Thursday, the number of cancellations stood at more than 1,500 nationwide and was continuing to rise, according to FlightAware, a website that tracks commercial aviation. More cancellations and delays were expected Thursday and Friday, impacting major hubs in Chicago, Denver and New York. Nearly 600 flights were canceled Wednesday.
The Federal Aviation Administration said Thursday that major travel disruptions are expected in Chicago, Detroit and Minneapolis-St. Paul, citing forecasts of gusting wind and blowing snow. The agency said delays caused by low clouds are also possible in Atlanta, Boston and Denver.
About 20 percent of flights into and out of Chicago O’Hare International Airport are canceled Thursday.
O’Hare said early Thursday that airlines had proactively canceled 400 flights “in anticipation of winter weather arriving to the Chicagoland area later today” and asked passengers to check directly with the carriers for the most up-to-date flight information.
Nearby Chicago Midway International Airport has about 25 percent of flights canceled, according to FlightAware. The Denver hub had about 140 canceled outbound flights as of 8 a.m. Thursday.
Winter storm live updates: Extreme cold blasting across central states
The Transportation Security Administration expected Thursday to be one of the two busiest days of the season at U.S. airports, with traffic expected to be close to pre-pandemic levels. (Dec. 30 is the other day for the return home.)
The severe cold, snow and rain impacting the eastern two-thirds of the country is adding major complications — and safety risks — to the busy Christmas travel rush, with large numbers of Americans headed for gatherings with family or friends at the end of a third pandemic year.
“Many vehicles are failing in the subzero temperatures. In conditions like these, even minutes outside can be life-threatening,” according to a statement from the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office in Rapid City.
More than 100 vehicles were trapped Wednesday, and law enforcement helped transfer motorists to a local motel and shelter lined with cots.
“A few people have chosen to stay with their vehicles and have adequate fuel and supplies. We remain in contact with those people in case their situation changes,” the sheriff’s office said.
More than 112 million people were expected to travel more than 50 or more miles from home between Dec. 23 and Jan. 2, according to AAA. Most of them — nearly 102 million — will drive, according to AAA. More than 7 million are flying, while several million more will take the train or use other modes of transportation. According to AAA, 2022 is shaping up to be the third-busiest year for holiday travel since it began tracking the numbers in 2000.
Amtrak has suspended service on some trains through Sunday on multiple Midwest and cross-country routes. These actions, said the railroad, are taken “in an abundance of caution and in consultation with state transportation departments, host railroads, emergency managers, and weather forecasters.”
Service is canceled on long-distance routes that originate or end in Chicago, including the Empire Builder, the Cardinal, the Capitol Limited, the Southwest Chief and the Lake Shore Limited. Passengers are asked to check the status of their train before heading to the station. Amtrak said those affected will be able to rebook, and change and cancellation fees will be waived.
As of Thursday morning, railroad officials said service would continue as scheduled on the Northeast Corridor, the nation’s busiest rail line. But cancellations could be possible if conditions deteriorate in the corridor.
Bus operators were alerting passengers about potential cancellations and delays during what was expected to be one of the busiest weekends for intercity bus travel in years. More than 3.6 million people were expected to travel by bus, rail and cruise ship between Dec. 23 and Jan. 2, a 23 percent increase from last year, according to AAA.
Greyhound, the largest provider of intercity bus service in the United States, canceled service on more than 20 routes in the Midwest on Wednesday and Thursday. Many of the trips impacted are out of Denver, Kansas City, Mo., Minneapolis and Chicago.
President Biden spoke to reporters before a briefing about Winter Storm Elliot on Dec. 22. (Video: The Washington Post)
“The safety of our customers and our staff is our top priority, and we ask for patience during this time,” the company said.
Coach USA, which operates more than two dozens bus carriers, including Megabus, said it was notifying passengers affected by cancellations with instructions on how to reschedule their trip or request a refund.
“We are closely monitoring several upcoming storms as we do with all potential conditions,” spokeswoman Meghan O’Hare said Wednesday. “Safety is always our top priority and if poor driving conditions make it necessary to cancel trips for the safety of our customers, we will post service advisories with specific information on our website.”
Southwest Airlines said Wednesday afternoon that it had canceled about 500 flights Thursday, about 12 percent of its operations. The airline said it was reducing operations primarily in Denver and Chicago Midway.
American Airlines said late Wednesday that it was monitoring the storm and expecting impacts to airports in the Midwest, Northeast and East Coast. The airline on Thursday had canceled more than 75 flights, about 2 percent of its global operations.
The nation’s four biggest carriers — American, Delta, United and Southwest — have flexible change policies for travelers. | 2022-12-22T17:13:30Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Winter storm flight cancellations top 1,500 and disrupt holiday travel - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2022/12/22/winter-storm-flight-cancellations-delays/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2022/12/22/winter-storm-flight-cancellations-delays/ |
The most severe blizzards in U.S. history, explained
By Jacob Feuerstein
Early morning snow in Boston Common on Jan. 29 during a blizzard. (David Degner/For The Washington Post)
Packing fierce winds, bitter cold, and often heavy snow, the blizzard has earned a reputation as the most severe type of winter storm. A number have been powerful and deadly enough to become among the most memorable United States weather disasters.
The National Weather Service defines a blizzard as an event in which strong winds, exceeding 35 miles per hour, coincide with blowing or falling snow to reduce visibility below a quarter mile. This type of storm need not involve monumental snowfall: A so-called ground blizzard, in which already-fallen snow is blown about by strong winds, can happen beneath sunny skies.
Many storms that meet blizzard criteria, though, are powerful behemoths with very low pressure that pull in massive quantities of air. In these storms, the same jets of moving air that allow sustained 35 mile per hour wind also transport plentiful moisture from the south and frigid temperatures from the north. Where the two clash, there is often heavy snowfall, coinciding with bitter cold and howling wind.
Live updates: Extreme cold blasting south ahead of developing blizzard
In the Lower 48 states, blizzard conditions occur most frequently in the central and northern Plains. The flat landscape, just east of the Rockies, is ideal for powdery, windswept snow north of developing storms and along powerful cold fronts; a small handful of blizzards occur in this part of the country each year. The Northeast also typically sees a blizzard or two a year, particularly portions bordering the Atlantic Ocean. Here, intense nor’easters often foster heavy snow and powerful winds simultaneously.
The three coexisting hazards make blizzards uniquely dangerous, as people can find themselves stuck outside in cars or on foot in near-zero visibility and accumulating snow without the ability to find shelter. In these conditions, frigid wind chills can lead to frostbite and hypothermia. The storms also can lead to power outages, exposing even those within built structures to dangerous cold or, at the hands of faulty generators, the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. Low visibility can also lead to deadly car crashes.
The most severe blizzards in U.S. history have killed dozens, or even hundreds. Here are five of the worst and most infamous to have ever struck the country.
How to prepare your home before a blizzard and freezing temperatures
March 12-13, 1993: The Storm of the Century
Often known as the Storm of the Century, the 1993 blizzard saw a low pressure system strengthen rapidly while racing up the East Coast. The powerful storm dragged a massive shield of snow, accompanied by howling wind and followed by extreme cold, from the Florida panhandle to Maine. Roofs collapsed, ships sank, millions lost power, every major airport on the East Coast shut down, and hundreds of Appalachian hikers were stranded as portions of 15 states saw more than 20 inches of snow.
More than 270 people were killed across fourteen states, including 44 from an ocean surge and severe thunderstorms in Florida; the blizzard caused $11.3 billion of inflation-adjusted damage to become America’s costliest winter storm until the February 2021 cold wave.
Jan. 25-27, 1978: The Cleveland Superbomb
One of the strongest nontropical storm systems in U.S. history explosively intensified over eastern Michigan in 1978. The storm, which had the third lowest pressure recorded in the United States outside of a hurricane, pulled exceptionally cold air into the Midwest and the Ohio Valley with winds that gusted above 80 mph.
Punishing wind chills as low as minus-50 degrees and up to a foot of powdery snow overwhelmed the region; where the Great Lakes were near enough to add moisture to the air, as many as three feet of snow accumulated. Known as the Cleveland Superbomb, the epic storm killed more than 70 people and shut down infrastructure across the region.
Nov. 25-27, 1950: The Great Appalachian Storm
Aside from a small handful of hurricanes, no storm has ever proved as destructive in the Northeast, Great Lakes, and Ohio Valley regions as the so-called Great Appalachian Storm of 1950. An immense low pressure zone, powered by a massive dip in the jet stream and blocked from sliding out to sea, took an unusual east-to-west track across the Mid-Atlantic. Extreme cold air spilled toward the cyclone, with temperatures reported below zero as far south as Georgia and Arkansas.
A steep change in pressure over a relatively short distance, because of a high pressure zone over Southeast Canada, allowed extreme wind to develop, with gusts in excess of 100 mph in Newark, Hartford, and Concord, N.H. All that wind pulled plentiful moisture into the low, leading to flooding rain, destructive icing, and, along the spine of the Appalachians, more than 60 inches of snow. The storm also induced severe coastal flooding and erosion. West Virginia and Ohio set statewide single-storm snowfall records, as did the city of Pittsburgh. More than 350 people may have died, and the storm was the single costliest weather event in U.S. history at the time.
March 11-13, 1888: The Blizzard of 1888
New York and southern New England, hardly strangers to snow, saw their most severe blizzard of record in the late 19th century. A low pressure area intensified while sliding north along a stalled Mid Atlantic front, and sustained winds above 50 mph pulled frigid air into the cities of the Northeast. Heavy snow continued to fall for nearly two days as the storm stalled near Long Island. New York City was hit particularly hard; the temperature plummeted as low as 6 degrees, and up to three feet of snow fell amid roaring winds and near-zero visibility in the outer boroughs. In Upstate New York and portions of Connecticut, temperatures were even colder, and 45 to 60 inches of snow accumulated.
The March 1888 blizzard paralyzed the economy and infrastructure of New York City and killed an estimated 200 residents, mostly those caught without shelter as the temperature dropped. Another 100 people died in the Northeast, and 100 more aboard offshore boats, making the storm likely the deadliest blizzard in American history.
Jan. 12, 1888: The Schoolhouse Blizzard (or Children’s Blizzard)
Little snow fell during the first major blizzard of 1888, which struck exactly two months before the crippling March storm in the Northeast. But the few inches of fine, powdery snow that did accumulate were whipped by wind into one of America’s most infamous natural disasters, the so-called Schoolhouse Blizzard.
A powerful cold front roared across the U.S. Plains, accompanied by a brief period of snow that was quickly followed by powerful winds and temperatures as low as minus-30 degrees. Hundreds of children were trapped either at or commuting home from school, and died after becoming disoriented and lost in the blowing snow and frigid temperatures. More than 200 people were killed. | 2022-12-22T17:13:48Z | www.washingtonpost.com | What are the worst blizzards in U.S. history? Here are 5 of them. - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2022/12/22/worst-blizzards-us-history/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2022/12/22/worst-blizzards-us-history/ |
How Zelensky appealed to history, explained
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine addresses a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress on Wednesday. (Bill O’Leary/The Washington Post)
In the coarsest terms, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s surprise trip to the United States was predicated on securing political and military support for his country’s ongoing war against Russia. But to do so, Zelensky made explicit and implicit appeals to history, casting his country’s struggle not as a small nation trying to fend off a larger aggressor but as a continuation of a centuries-long fight between democracy and totalitarian or autocratic foes.
That this would appeal to President Biden is a given. He has framed his presidency around that same tension, playing host to a summit centered on democracy during his first year in office and elevating the conflict in his inaugural speech. This is clearly in part because of the ways in which American democracy itself has been infiltrated by autocratic sympathies, including by his immediate predecessor in office. It’s also because the world’s power centers — the United States and the European Union vs. Russia and China — generally fall neatly into two camps.
But Zelensky’s speech before a joint meeting of Congress sought to broaden that appeal generally. And to do so, he invoked past conflicts between freedom and oppression, both in his speech and in his appearance itself.
Mirroring Churchill in 1941
As The Washington Post’s Gillian Brockell wrote this year, a speech to Congress earlier by Zelensky, in which he appeared by video, mirrored that of another famous wartime leader: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in December 1941.
The Churchill speech came only weeks after the United States entered World War II following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Germany declared war on the United States on Dec. 11. Two weeks later, on the day after Christmas, Churchill appeared on Capitol Hill.
His nation had been at war with the Nazis for two years. In 1940, England had sustained repeated air raids by German attackers, an onslaught dubbed the Battle of Britain. In speaking to Congress, Churchill invoked his country’s own experience. Some of his words might as well have come from Zelensky, eight decades later.
“The United States, united as never before, has drawn the sword for freedom and cast away the scabbard,” Churchill said then. The subjugated people of Europe, he said, “have put aside forever the shameful temptation of resigning themselves to the conqueror’s will. Hope has returned to the hearts of scores of millions of men and women, and with that hope there burns the flame of anger against the brutal, corrupt invader.”
We need not remind you that the U.S.-U.K. alliance at that time proved successful in fending off its totalitarian opponents.
At the time Churchill spoke, though, that victory was by no means certain. The United States and its allies made slow progress against the combined forces of Germany, Italy and Japan. But by 1944, the tide had turned, and Allied forces, following their successful invasion of France that June, were forcing Germany to retreat to the east, with the Soviet Union — on which the Germans had declared war in June 1941 — pressing in from the other side.
In mid-December, however, Germany launched a counteroffensive, pushing the Allied line backward. Drawn on military maps, the effect was of a westward-pointing swell in the Allied line, giving the battle a name: the Battle of the Bulge.
This would prove to be Germany’s last gasp. The counteroffensive was crushed in January 1945 and, by spring of that year, Germany was defeated.
Zelensky’s speech on Wednesday drew an analogy between that fight and his own army’s winter struggle against Russia.
“They threw everything against us, similar to the other tyranny, which is in the Battle of the Bulge,” he said. Germany “threw everything it had against the free world, just like the brave American soldiers which held their lines and fought back Hitler’s forces during the Christmas of 1944. Brave Ukrainian soldiers are doing the same to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s forces this Christmas.”
The implication being that victory in this battle would lead inexorably to victory overall.
The Battle of Saratoga
Zelensky also made reference to the United States’ own struggle for independence against an anti-democratic oppressor: our war of independence against England.
That war began when colonists rebelled against the governance of King George III. The colonists were disadvantaged against well-trained and well-outfitted British regulars, but they quickly developed tactics and organizing techniques that allowed them to engage the British on more favorable terms.
In 1777, two years after the first shots of the war were fired, the British sought to invade the colonies from their Canadian provinces. British troops pushed down into New York, hoping to separate New England from the rest of the colonies. Colonists met them near Saratoga, N.Y., and stopped the British advance. The victory was total, helping to turn the tide of the war.
The Ukrainian president analogized that battle to the fighting near the city of Bakhmut, which he’d visited this week.
“To ensure Bakhmut is not just a stronghold that holds back the Russian Army, but for the Russian Army to completely pull out, more cannons and shells are needed,” Zelensky said. “If so, just like the Battle of Saratoga, the fight for Bakhmut will change the trajectory of our war for independence and for freedom.”
Then, referring to the U.S. promise to provide advanced air-defense batteries to his country, Zelensky made a pointed play on words.
“If your Patriots stop the Russian terror against our cities,” he said, “it will let Ukrainian patriots work to the full to defend our freedom.”
What Zelensky didn’t point out was that the Battle of Saratoga precipitated another key factor in the Revolutionary War: the arrival of the then-superpower France to aid the American effort.
Roosevelt’s speech after Pearl Harbor
As he neared his speech’s conclusion, Zelensky invoked another speech from 1941: President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s speech to the nation after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
“Always will our whole Nation remember the character of the onslaught against us,” Roosevelt said, then offering the words that Zelensky quoted: “No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.”
“The Ukrainian people will win, too, absolutely,” Zelensky said Wednesday night. “I know that everything depends on us, on Ukrainian armed forces,” he continued — “yet so much depends on the world. So much in the world depends on you,” meaning the United States and, specifically, those in Congress tasked with deploying the country’s resources.
It was, after all, a speech centered on securing the military assistance he needed to ensure that absolute victory. | 2022-12-22T17:54:59Z | www.washingtonpost.com | How Zelensky appealed to history, explained - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/22/zelensky-congress-speech-russia/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/22/zelensky-congress-speech-russia/ |
Officials at Roscosmos and NASA are determining if a Soyuz spacecraft that sprang a massive coolant leak last week is healthy enough to bring the crew home
From left: Roscosmos cosmonauts Dmitri Petelin, Sergey Prokopyev and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio wave to relatives before heading to the International Space Station. (Dmitri Lovetsky/AP)
Working with their counterparts at NASA, officials at Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, are trying to determine if the vehicle is sound enough to bring the crew home, Sergei Krikalev, the executive director of Roscosmos’s human spaceflight programs, said during a briefing Thursday. If not, the Russian agency would send up another Soyuz spacecraft, without any crew on board, to retrieve the crew.
That would happen sometime in February, a few weeks before the crew is set to return in March, officials said.
On Dec. 14, as a pair of cosmonauts were preparing to exit the station for a spacewalk, ground controllers at Roscosmos and NASA detected a leak of coolant gushing controllably from the Soyuz capsule.
Roscosmos quickly canceled the spacewalk. And after inspecting the vehicle with the station’s robotic arm, they determined the leak was from an external cooling line used to keep the capsule at a comfortable temperature as it transports crews through the atmosphere into the vacuum of space.
In a statement last week, NASA said that “none of the crew members aboard the station was in danger, and all conducted normal operations throughout the day.” It added that, “images and data are being analyzed by Roscosmos. The agency also is closely monitoring Soyuz spacecraft temperatures, which remain within acceptable limits. NASA and Roscosmos are continuing to work together on a course of action following the ongoing analysis.”
None of the coolant contaminated the space station, said Joel Montalbano, NASA’s space station manager, and the astronauts on the station continue to conduct science experiments, including growing tomatoes.
On Wednesday, NASA canceled a spacewalk to install an upgraded solar array because a piece of debris was expected to come within a quarter-mile of the station. Crews maneuvered the station to avoid the debris, and the spacewalk was rescheduled for Thursday. | 2022-12-22T18:25:32Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Russia may send new craft to replace leaking Soyuz capsule at space station - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/12/22/leak-soyuz-rescue-space-station/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/12/22/leak-soyuz-rescue-space-station/ |
The Russian private mercenary group now has 40,000 convicts in battle, taken directly from Russian prisons, U.S. officials say
A truck displaying the symbol “Z” in support of the Russian armed forces is parked outside the headquarters of the private mercenary Wagner group founded by Yevgeny Prigozhin, during the official opening of an office block in St. Petersburg on Nov. 4. (Igor Russak/Reuters) | 2022-12-22T18:43:02Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Russian mercenary group received North Korean missiles for use in Ukraine war - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/12/22/wagner-russia-north-korea-missiles-convicts/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/12/22/wagner-russia-north-korea-missiles-convicts/ |
FILE - This photo provided by the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in New York shows the three bronze panels at one of the entrances to Bartlett Hall, at West Point, that depicts the history of the United States. A commission created by Congress recommended that multiple historical reminders tied to Confederate officers during the Civil War be removed — many honoring Robert E. Lee, one of the academy’s most famous graduates. And in the coming days, the U.S. Military Academy will begin taking down memorials commemorating figures of the Confederacy. (U.S. Military Academy at West Point via AP, File) (Uncredited/U.S. Military Academy at West Point) | 2022-12-22T18:43:25Z | www.washingtonpost.com | West Point moves to vanquish Confederate symbols from campus - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/west-point-moves-to-vanquish-confederate-symbols-from-campus/2022/12/22/dfb6d464-821e-11ed-8738-ed7217de2775_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/west-point-moves-to-vanquish-confederate-symbols-from-campus/2022/12/22/dfb6d464-821e-11ed-8738-ed7217de2775_story.html |
How to navigate a ‘tripledemic’ over the holidays? Dr. Leana Wen answers yo...
Anthony Fauci works at his office at the National Institutes of Health on Dec. 19, 2017, in Bethesda, Md. (Carolyn Kaster/AP)
When Anthony S. Fauci leaves government service at the month’s end, he insists he won’t be retiring. Somehow this isn’t surprising — even though he is turning 82 years old. The infectious disease expert turned presidential adviser has proven over a career of more than half a century that he is nothing if not persistent.
Dr. Fauci has always said much of his most rewarding work has been hands-on with patients, or in the lab conducting seminal research. Certainly, his efforts there have been valuable. But what distinguishes him from plenty of other great doctors is that he’s also a great politician. Over the course of his 38-year tenure as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Fauci has managed to turn the public health community’s priorities into bipartisan priorities for the whole of government — making himself essential to every president since Ronald Reagan, a whopping seven in total.
This story starts with the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 1980s. Dr. Fauci took on a malady that the scientific community widely considered untouchable. LGBTQ activists, frustrated with the bigotry and the bureaucracy that forced them to wait around as they and their friends died without access to experimental treatments, called him an “incompetent idiot” and “a murderer”; the man in the Oval Office wouldn’t even say the name of the disease. Yet Dr. Fauci managed to liaise between these poles, defanging patients’ remonstrations by presenting them and their illness to his peers and to elected officials as purely matters of science — which, in the end, convinced them to allow infected people to have access to drugs still in the trial process.
This led to decades of similar successes. Dr. Fauci turned into the country’s family doctor, capable of persuading any given president of the correct course of action and then selling the nation on the president’s decision: on AIDS, on bioterrorism, on Ebola and, finally, on covid-19.
The novel coronavirus and President Donald Trump put the expert’s method under more pressure than ever before, and there were low points; the scientist stood on stage beside the president as he spread medical misinformation from the bully pulpit. Sometimes Dr. Fauci pushed back publicly, sometimes he pushed back behind the scenes — and his involvement, especially in helping push a nationwide shutdown in early 2020 to avoid further overwhelming hospitals, saved lives. But the question lingered: How does one stick up for science and play the game of politics when the most basic science has itself become political?
Though this tension lessened during the Biden administration, the trouble remains. Dr. Fauci will leave behind a legacy not only of doing important science but also of making science important to others. He was better at the job than anyone the United States has seen before, and the current climate suggests no one will be able to do it so well again. “The message is to stick with the science — the data, the evidence — and don’t get involved in politics,” he told one publication as a parting remark. Good luck to whoever tries to fill his shoes. | 2022-12-22T18:43:38Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Anthony Fauci’s retirement leaves massive shoes to fill - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/22/dr-fauci-retirement-legacy/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/22/dr-fauci-retirement-legacy/ |
Violent airline passenger incidents have surged. Time for a ‘no-fly’ list.
A passenger waits for a Delta Air Lines flight at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Feb. 18, 2021. (Charlie Riedel/AP). (Charlie Riedel/AP)
As a massive winter storm descends on much of the country this week during one of the busiest travel times of the year, travelers, flight crews and airport workers aren’t just worried about canceled flights — they’re also fearful about how violent some passengers might become.
They are right to worry. Consider these incidents last month: A United Airlines flight attendant had to be hospitalized after a passenger assault. A Frontier Airlines flight had to make an emergency landing in Atlanta after a passenger threatened to stab fellow passengers and crew members with a box cutter. A Southwest flight made an emergency landing in Little Rock after a passenger attempted to open a rear exit door during the flight and bit the thigh of another passenger.
More than 2,300 “unruly-passenger” incidents have been reported this year to the Federal Aviation Administration, with 823 so severe they triggered investigations. To put it another way, 2022 has been the second-most combative year for air travel since the FAA started tracking incidents in the mid-1990s. (The all-time worst year was 2021, with 1,099 investigations initiated.)
There was a mistaken belief that unruly-passenger problems would end after the airplane mask mandate was scrapped in April. Although the number of incidents reported since then has dropped, there has been an alarming continuation of violent threats and attacks, as November’s troubling episodes underscore.
Airlines, the FAA and the Transportation Security Administration have tried to stop the surge. Unruly passengers face fines of up to $37,000. This year alone, the FAA has issued more than $8 million/ in unruly-passenger fines. Law enforcement agencies, including the Justice Department, have stepped up prosecutions. Some violent offenders have ended up with jail time. The TSA is revoking pre-check privileges for passengers who have been fined for bad behavior, saying those who are out of line will wait in line. Many airlines have aggressively banned passengers who act out. Flight attendants now get self-defense training. There has also been a major publicity campaign with memes of grandmas in cockpits saying, “Don’t embarrass me! I raised you better than to act that way.”
But dangerous outburst keep happening. Congress should enact a federal “no-fly” list for unruly passengers. Bipartisan legislation is in the works that would make this happen, and it has wide support from all facets of the airline industry. Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and Southwest all confirmed their ongoing support for a “no-fly” list administered by the TSA for passengers convicted of assaulting a crew member. The main holdouts appear to be United and Airlines for America, an industry group; both declined to say whether they supported this effort.
The unions representing pilots and flight attendants overwhelmingly want a “no-fly” list for unruly passengers to become reality. The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA says it is its No. 2 priority for 2023 — just behind the perennial issue of job security.
There are fair concerns about how a “no-fly” list would work — and how someone could get off it. A number of due-process issues have arisen with the terrorist no-fly list created after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. But this is different. It would take a conviction for an unruly passenger to get on this new list, and the Protection from Abusive Passengers Act would create an appeals process to get off. It would be far better to have one standardized process than what exists now: a hodgepodge of different rules and procedures at each airline.
Those who have been flying for decades will recall the spike in air-rage incidents in the 1990s. Public outcry led Congress in 2000 to increase fines and civil liabilities for passengers who assaulted or threatened to assault airline crew members or fellow travelers. The nation is once again facing bizarre and combative behavior on airplanes that has nothing to do with mask mandates that have been gone for months. It’s time for Congress to act again.
As many airlines have cut back on staff for flights and at the gate, there are fewer people to help subdue out-of-control passengers. But the truth is that no one should have to put up with violent attacks. A “no-fly” list would be a strong tool to deter the worst offenders and create safe flying conditions for all. | 2022-12-22T18:43:50Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Violent airline passenger incidents are up. Time for a 'no-fly' list. - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/22/violent-airline-passengers-no-fly-list/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/22/violent-airline-passengers-no-fly-list/ |
Jeremy Reaves is one of the Commanders' three Pro Bowl Games starters. (John McDonnell/The Washington Post)
Commanders General Manager Martin Mayhew received the list of the team’s Pro Bowl selections and alternates on Tuesday and promptly shared it with Coach Ron Rivera, who plotted to surprise his players and record their reactions. The result: an emotional video that went viral Wednesday evening after the NFL announced the rosters for the Pro Bowl Games.
Defensive tackle Jonathan Allen, punter Tress Way and special teams player Jeremy Reaves were voted as starters for the NFC, and wide receiver Terry McLaurin was selected as a reserve. Two other players — defensive linemen Daron Payne and Montez Sweat — were named alternates.
To avoid word getting out early, Rivera wanted to inform the players Wednesday afternoon, following team meetings. So, with the help of the in-house video team, a camera was placed in Rivera’s office, and as the players sauntered in, Rivera told them the camera was for another interview. He said he wanted to speak with them briefly first, though.
After leading the players to believe he had bad news to share, Rivera quickly pivoted to congratulating them on the Pro Bowl honors, surprising everyone but Allen, who said he’d suspected that was the reason for speaking to Rivera.
McLaurin perked up when Rivera informed him that Reaves, an undrafted safety out of South Alabama, made it too.
“He’s a difference-maker,” McLaurin told his coach.
Way teared up when he learned Reaves would join him at the Pro Bowl. The two have become close over the past year, even creating a unique handshake, and Way pleaded with Rivera to stay in his office while he shared the news with Reaves.
After Reaves walked in, Rivera acted as though he had bad news, then put out his hand and said: “Congratulations. You’re the Pro Bowl special teams guy. You’re the starter.”
After pausing in shock, Reaves broke down and hugged his coach, who told him he’d earned the honor and thanked him for trusting him.
“Always, Coach,” Reaves responded. “I told you I’d run through a brick wall for you.”
For the NFL, it’s out with the Pro Bowl — and in with the Pro Bowl Games
Reaves, a safety who went undrafted in 2018, has bounced on and off the Commanders’ practice squad since his rookie year and has become one of the most well-respected players in the locker room. He played sparingly on defense the past three seasons, typically joining the active roster late in the year when injuries depleted the secondary, but after an impressive showing in training camp in the summer, he made the final cut for the Commanders’ Week 1 active roster.
Almost all of his snaps have been on special teams. He is Way’s punt protector and has amassed 15 special-teams tackles, a league high.
“I think that’s been my approach since OTAs, just have a confidence about me,” Reaves said in August. “I know why I’m playing now, and my why is a lot bigger than it was before, and so [I’m] just having that with me and thinking of that every day I come out here and putting my best foot forward. It just feels a lot different.” | 2022-12-22T18:44:39Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Inside the Commanders’ emotional Pro Bowl announcement video - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/22/jeremy-reaves-pro-bowl-commanders/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/22/jeremy-reaves-pro-bowl-commanders/ |
As a fraught year on Broadway ends, a great actor rises
Stephen McKinley Henderson is sure to be celebrated in Stephen Adly Guirgis’s Pulitzer winner, “Between Riverside and Crazy”
The cast of “Between Riverside and Crazy”: from left, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Victor Almanzar, Elizabeth Canavan, Michael Rispoli, Liza Colón-Zayas, Rosal Colón and Common. (Joan Marcus)
NEW YORK — Stephen McKinley Henderson can convey more in one glance than some actors manage in a geyser of grins, grimaces and gesticulations. In Stephen Adly Guirgis’s compulsively absorbing “Between Riverside and Crazy,” Henderson plays a disabled New York City cop waging legal war with the NYPD after being shot off duty. The rage and guile he embodies so subtly and effortlessly keep a Broadway audience in his thrall.
In the spate of shows that ring out Broadway in 2022, Henderson and “Between Riverside and Crazy” provide the deepest satisfaction. Supported by a nimble cast that includes the rap star Common in a permeably emotional Broadway debut, Henderson immediately rises to the top of any list for awards-season consideration. He originated the role of Walter Washington — a.k.a. Pops — in the world premiere of this Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy-drama at Atlantic Theater Company in 2014, and the performance has mellowed rewardingly with practice, and time.
The quality of nonmusical theater on Broadway this fall has been exceptional. A look at the weekly box-office numbers, published by the trade group the Broadway League, reveals that some of these plays have been struggling to find an audience. Whether that is a side-effect of a pandemic that altered viewing habits or a deeper shift in the culture away from entertainment built on weightier issues, I can’t say. Perhaps both.
But in offerings such as “Topdog/Underdog,” “Death of a Salesman,” “The Piano Lesson,” “Leopoldstadt” and now “Between Riverside and Crazy” at the Helen Hayes Theater, Broadway is exercising its option to remain relevant as a platform for incisive, enlightening drama. (I look forward to attending another exciting play in the next week, the Broadway bow at 91 years young of playwright Adrienne Kennedy and her “Ohio State Murders” starring Audra McDonald.)
Two other shows I caught up with recently, one a musical adaptation of “Some Like It Hot,” the other a biographical drama, “The Collaboration,” are spottier diversions. The musical, premiering at the Shubert Theatre, is another Broadway take on Billy Wilder’s 1959 movie farce about a pair of male musicians disguised as members of an all-female band to escape the mob. It has cute moments: The leads, funny Christian Borle and sparkling J. Harrison Ghee, lift a production directed by Casey Nicholaw that too often reminds you of older, better musicals.
It’s all solidly professional, though also overly mechanical, with a vocally deft performance by Adrianna Hicks as temperamental rising star Sugar. (Actually, a prior musical based on the movie, “Sugar,” had a 505-performance Broadway run in 1972-1973.) Hicks, a vivacious alumna of last season’s hit, “Six,” radiates joy but not insouciance; you’re never quite convinced she’s the winsome backstage troublemaker she’s made out to be.
The score by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, who did the same honors, and fabulously, on “Hairspray,” is a nod to tunesmiths of yore. The second act begins with a number called “Let’s Be Bad” that is a first cousin to Cole Porter’s “Let’s Misbehave.”
There is nothing objectionable about “Some Like It Hot,” just as there’s nothing particularly special.
Playwright Anthony McCarten’s “The Collaboration,” at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, also boasts some polished portrayals, most noteworthily by Jeremy Pope as Jean-Michel Basquiat, the tempestuous American painter who died at 27 in 1988. The play is an account of Basquiat’s unlikely teaming up with Andy Warhol (Paul Bettany) on a joint series of paintings, and of the complex rivalry and friendship that ensued.
Like many biographical plays, this one, directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah, is more discursive than illuminating. Brought together by an agent, Bruno (a slyly manipulative Erik Jensen), the artists reveal their idiosyncratic needs for dominance and acclaim. Your quest for some deeper insight into their lives and times — or even how they make their art — remains unsatisfied, however. The experience is akin to being invited to inspect a canvas before it’s been completed.
The picture in “Between Riverside and Crazy,” on the other hand, is richly infused with nuance and meaning, from the first scene to the last. The seven characters are all liars and yet all are sympathetic: great writing (and directing, by Austin Pendleton) have a way of accomplishing that. Henderson’s Walter is himself a riddle, both generous and embittered, holding out for a payday from his lawsuit while giving shelter in his Riverside Drive apartment to a recovering junkie (the excellent Victor Almanzar) as well as his larcenous son (Common) and airhead of a girlfriend (a hilarious Rosal Colón).
Walter is a person of warring impulses, multidimensionally human, defiantly clear-eyed. He seems to intuit that when his former partner, Detective O’Connor (Elizabeth Canavan), shows up with her police-brass fiance (Michael Rispoli) and an offer to settle the suit, there is an agenda to their benefit, not his. Guirgis fills the play ingeniously with double-dealing characters like these, so that the story twists, and twists again, even as a seemingly benign Church Lady (the terrific Liza Colón-Zayas) turns up, to offer her own unique brand of comfort.
What exactly Walter wants is the linchpin mystery of “Between Riverside and Crazy,” one that Guirgis satisfyingly answers. It’s all staged on Walt Spangler’s marvelously realistic, revolving apartment set, a mechanism that operates much the way Henderson’s performance seems to: spinning our imaginations, joyfully.
Between Riverside and Crazy, by Stephen Adly Guirgis. Directed by Austin Pendleton. Set, Walt Spangler; costumes, Alexis Forte; lighting, Keith Parham; music and sound, Ryan Rumery. About 2 hours 15 minutes. At Helen Hayes Theater, 240 W. 44th St., N.Y. 2st.com.
Some Like It Hot, music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman and Shaiman, book by Matthew López and Amber Ruffin. Directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw. Sets, Scott Pask; costumes, Gregg Barnes; lighting, Natasha Katz; sound, Brian Ronan. With NaTasha Yvette Williams. About 2½ hours. At Shubert Theatre, 225 W. 44th St., N.Y. telecharge.com.
The Collaboration, by Anthony McCarten. Directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah. Sets and costumes, Anna Fleischle; lighting, Ben Stanton; sound, Emma Laxton; projections, Duncan McLean. With Krysta Rodriguez. About 2 hours 15 minutes. Through Jan. 29 at Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, 261 W. 47th St., N.Y. telecharge.com. | 2022-12-22T18:45:18Z | www.washingtonpost.com | As a fraught year on Broadway ends, a great actor rises - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/theater-dance/2022/12/22/riverside-crazy-some-like-hot/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/theater-dance/2022/12/22/riverside-crazy-some-like-hot/ |
Democrats’ probe of white violent extremism likely to stop under GOP
“The main lesson people need to draw is that violent white supremacy is the deadliest domestic terror threat facing the American people. Nothing else comes close,” says Rep. Jamie B. Raskin (D-Md.), shown here on Dec. 21. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)
When Rep. Jamie B. Raskin (D-Md.) opened a May 2019 congressional hearing to examine “the rise … of domestic terrorism, violent white supremacy,” he didn’t know what he was starting.
Raskin, chairman of the House Oversight subcommittee on civil rights, knew there would be more than one session, but said they “multiplied because there were so many different dimensions to the problem. … We wanted to try to get to the bottom of it as comprehensively as we could. You know, there are lots of parts of the country where fear of violent white supremacists is a part of daily life.”
The seventh and last hearing concluded last week, 43 months after the first, and just before Republicans, who have other priorities, take control of the House. Taken together, the sessions are a searing examination into a defining issue for the United States. They strengthen Raskin’s reputation for his dogged, methodical style of inquiry, which is more broadly recognized for his management of President Donald Trump’s second impeachment.
“The main lesson people need to draw is that violent white supremacy is the deadliest domestic terror threat facing the American people. Nothing else comes close,” Raskin said during a Tuesday interview. “We ignore its virulence at our own peril.”
Raskin credits the hearings with pushing “substantial progress in the federal government’s willingness to identify and confront domestic violent extremism.”
That change was demonstrated by President Biden. Just two days into his presidency he ordered federal officials to study the domestic violent extremism threat. That led to the June 2021 release of a “National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism.” In a veiled swipe at his predecessor, Biden’s preface to the strategy said, “We cannot ignore this threat or wish it away.”
Trump was president during the first four hearings. Raskin’s subcommittee characterized that period, in a statement before the June 2019 second hearing, as one of “significantly reduced resources and infrastructure” against “the increasing threat of white supremacist extremism.” During the fourth hearing in September 2020, Raskin said Trump’s team “decided to mislead the public by downplaying the problem,” despite Anti-Defamation League (ADL) data indicating 75 percent of all extremist-related murders in the past 10 years were by right-wing extremists.
Trump’s team did not respond to a request for comment.
An FBI statement said “Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremism,” as the agency calls it, was elevated to a “top threat” priority in 2019, meaning “more resources have been allocated to address the threat.” Most cases in this category, the FBI added, “involve those who advocate for the superiority of the white race.” A Department of Homeland Security emailed prediction to The Washington Post said “those who are racially or ethnically motivated, including white supremacists, likely will remain the most lethal threats.”
Nonetheless, Republican members of the panel and the witnesses they selected downplayed the problem with comparisons to other violence that compares little to that perpetrated by white extremists.
Mike Gonzalez, a senior fellow at the right-wing Heritage Foundation, complained, by email, that Raskin “did nothing to hold accountable those on the left who committed political violence.” Gonzalez testified at the fifth hearing in May 2021.
It’s a weak comparison. Those on the left, while culprits in some cases, did far less damage than those on the right.
“White supremacists killed more people in 2021 than any other type of extremist,” the Anti-Defamation League reported. Of the 29 people killed in 2021 by U.S. domestic extremists, 26 of the slayings — 90 percent — “were committed by right-wing extremists,” though not all right-wingers are white supremacists, according to ADL. Black nationalists were responsible for two, and one was by “an Islamist extremist — the latter being the first such killing since 2018.”
The hearings examined a range of topics beginning with the “consequences of inaction.” Other hearings, in chronological order, focused on the federal government’s response, the “transnational terrorist threat,” white supremacists’ “infiltration of local police departments, the “rise of militia extremism,” Biden’s counterterrorism strategy and the “ongoing threat to democracy.”
While the sessions exposed critical issues, they can’t stop the violence.
At the last hearing on Dec. 13, Oversight Committee Chairwoman Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.) warned that “hate is on the rise. That is why it is critical that Congress continue to shed light on this growing cancer and come up with substantive solutions to address hate and violence. We may disagree on politics, but there is no room in this country for discrimination, violence, and unbridled hate.”
But Republicans apparently disagree on the need to shed more light on white violent extremism. Neither Rep. James Comer (Ky.) nor Rep. Nancy Mace (S.C.), the Republican leaders on the committee and subcommittee, respectively, responded to questions about examining domestic terrorism under a GOP-controlled House. Comer takes over as chair of the full committee in January.
Republican attempts to minimize the impact of white violent extremism were apparent from comments at last week’s hearing that grossly misrepresented the admitted killer of 10 Black people at a Buffalo Tops grocery store in May. Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) claimed the suspected shooter, Payton Gendron, who pleaded guilty, was “an admitted socialist.” That comment earned “four Pinocchios,” indicating a “whopper” of a lie, from my Post colleague and fact-checker Glenn Kessler. He found Gendron, far from being a socialist, favored the “National Socialist German Workers’ Party. Gendron, in effect, was a neo-Nazi.”
Biggs’s claims also surprised hearing witness Oren Segal, vice president of ADL’s Center on Extremism. Gendron was “so clearly motivated by the ideology, the narratives of white supremacy,” said Segal, who is “very familiar” with Gendron’s manifesto and online presence. “I was shocked a little bit, that it was even … a point of debate,” he added by phone.
Lecia Brooks, the Southern Poverty Law Center’s chief of staff and culture, said by email that the hearings on “white supremacy and extremism were the most significant examination of domestic extremism, threats to national security, and threats to our democracy in decades.”
The threat isn’t over, but, apparently, the examination is. | 2022-12-22T19:09:10Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Democrats’ probe of white violent extremism likely to stop under GOP - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/22/jamie-raskin-white-extremism-hearings-conclude/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/22/jamie-raskin-white-extremism-hearings-conclude/ |
Vice President Harris at an Aug. 3 meeting on Capitol Hill. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post)
Vice President Harris walked into her ceremonial office at the White House with a broad smile and easy confidence when we sat down for an interview on the Monday before Christmas. And why shouldn’t she smile? President Biden’s electoral right-hand ma’am is finishing a banner year filled with domestic barnstorming and high-wire diplomacy.
Biden sent Harris to Germany on a critical mission at an important moment. In a Feb. 19 speech and in a private meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that same day, Harris warned of the looming threat to the rules-based international order posed by Russian troops massed for invasion. Harris sounded the alarm ahead of Russia’s assault on Ukraine that began on Feb. 24.
Another tent pole in Harris’s year is the U.S. delegation she led to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference in Thailand in November. North Korea made sure her third trip to the region was eventful by launching an intercontinental ballistic missile. Harris responded by coordinating the allied response to Kim Jong Un’s latest provocation.
Most notably, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Harris had a brief encounter on the sidelines of APEC. Harris told me the message she delivered echoed Biden’s comments to Xi days earlier in Bali. “We invite competition. We do not seek conflict. We do not seek confrontation,” she recalled telling the Chinese leader. For an Indo-Pacific region wary of China and concerned about the potential for war, the message of rivalry without violence was a huge relief.
To me, the third tent pole is the most important. After the leaked draft in May of what would later become the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision to end the constitutional right to abortion, the former California attorney general saw plainly the implications for other rights, such as marriage equality. She was eager to speak out, Harris told me, and instructed her staff: “I’m getting the bleep out of D.C.”
She traveled to 18 cities in 14 states, plus the District of Columbia, to host reproductive rights events. During those trips and at the White House, Harris met with 200 state legislators from 18 states, state attorneys general, students and clergy. All to build a coalition to push back against what was coming.
“This is about freedom and liberty,” the vice president recalled telling everyone she met. “Let’s take back the flag on this.”
She was never more confident in her role as vice president — nor in herself — than during her barnstorming on privacy rights. I’ve known and covered Harris for a decade. Whenever she talks about these issues, passion wells up and her most authentic self comes through.
I said as much to her, and Harris pushed back. “I’m always myself, Jonathan,” Harris said with a laugh before raising a broader point.
“There are things that I’ve done as vice president that fully demonstrate the strength of my leadership as vice president that have not received the kind of coverage that I think Dobbs did receive,” Harris said. She specifically mentioned her Munich speech. “What you’ve been able to see,” she admonished, is “based on what gets covered.”
Harris is right about that. Despite having a television and a print pool reporter at most of her public events, the vice president garners little attention. Sometimes the office is frustrating — as one of her predecessors famously put it, “not worth a bucket of warm,” um, spit.
I’m not saying that Kamala Harris walks on water. Her Chuck Taylors got plenty wet from the growing pains that come with adjusting to being a heartbeat away from the presidency. But the nation’s first Black woman and first South Asian vice president has also had to contend with the negative reactions and low expectations that come with shattering ossified notions of who should be in the position.
Harris has ably fulfilled the role Biden chose her to perform. She was an instrumental partner in helping to shepherd the first Black woman to the Supreme Court. Also, Harris cast one of her record 26 tiebreaking votes to confirm the first Black woman to the Federal Reserve. With Democrats and their independent caucus-mates holding 51 Senate seats in the next Congress, Harris will no longer be needed for tiebreaking duty. Before I could even finish my question on this topic, Harris blurted out, “Praise be to God!”
Not being tethered to Washington by the pandemic or the threat of razor-thin votes means Harris can travel in the coming months. She can hear directly from the American people, and they can hear directly from her. They can take the measure of her. And they can see what I saw on Monday: a vice president better than her portrayal in the media. | 2022-12-22T19:17:54Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Kamala Harris had an excellent 2022 - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/22/kamala-harris-diplomacy-domestic-policy-media/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/22/kamala-harris-diplomacy-domestic-policy-media/ |
Two Bankman-Fried colleagues plead guilty to fraud
The former crypto mogul will be under home confinement in Palo Alto, Calif., until his Jan. 3 arraignment
Shayna Jacobs
FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried is escorted out of the Magistrate's Court on Wednesday in Nassau, Bahamas. He made his first U.S. court appearance on Thursday, where he was granted release on $250 million bond to live in his parents' Palo Alto, Calif., home until his Jan. 3 arraignment. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
NEW YORK — Disgraced former cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman-Fried was granted release from law enforcement custody on Thursday after agreeing in his first U.S. court appearance to post a $250 million bond and remain confined to his parents’ home in Palo Alto, Calif.
The former chief executive of collapsed crypto exchange FTX is due back in Manhattan federal court on Jan. 3, where he may be asked to enter a plea to the eight criminal counts he is facing. Bankman-Fried declined to comment after the proceedings, as did his lawyers and parents, Joe Bankman and Susan Fried, both of whom are prominent professors at Stanford Law School.
The 30-year-old, clad in a charcoal suit and sporting stubble along with his trademark unkempt hair, came into the courtroom in leg shackles, as his parents looked on from the third row. He only spoke a few words during the hearing. When asked by the judge if he understood that if he broke any of the terms of his release, his parents will forfeit $250 million and he would be charged with bail jumping, he said, “Yes, I do.”
Bankman-Fried is accused of perpetrating one of the biggest financial frauds in American history. Federal prosecutors last week charged him with multiple crimes, including fraud, conspiracy, money laundering and campaign finance violations. They allege he defrauded investors and diverted billions of dollars in FTX customer money to his hedge fund, which he then tapped for huge real estate purchases, risky investments and political donations.
The Securities Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission have also brought civil charges against Bankman-Fried, alleging he orchestrated a years-long scheme to siphon off FTX customer funds he pledged to safeguard for personal use instead.
Bankman-Fried was taken into U.S. custody on Wednesday and flown to New York under FBI supervision after waiving his rights to formal extradition from the Bahamas, which had been his home-base. Bahamian authorities arrested the former multibillionaire last Monday at his luxury condo in Nassau, and he spent the next nine nights in the island nation’s only prison.
Bankman-Fried’s appearance comes as two of his closest former colleagues pleaded guilty to criminal fraud charges. The two associates — Caroline Ellison, the former chief executive of Alameda Research, Bankman-Fried’s hedge fund, and Gary Wang, co-founder of FTX and its former chief technology officer — are cooperating with federal prosecutors, a development that spells deepening legal peril for Bankman-Fried.
Ellison, who was at times romantically linked to Bankman-Fried, pleaded guilty to seven counts that mirror a significant portion of Bankman-Fried’s indictment. Her charges include conspiracies to commit wire fraud, securities fraud, commodities fraud and money laundering. She faces up to 110 years in prison. Wang pleaded guilty to four conspiracy and fraud-related counts. He faces up to 50 years in prison.
Williams, in his video message, encouraged other FTX insiders to come forward. “If you participated in misconduct at FTX or Alameda, now is the time to get ahead of it,” he said. “We are moving quickly and our patience is not eternal.”
Bankman-Fried’s court appearance offered another compelling scene in a downfall that has unfolded even faster than his meteoric rise. Until months ago, he was one of the youngest self-made billionaires in the world, with an estimated $16 billion personal fortune. In the wake of FTX’s collapse, Bankman-Fried has said he is down to about $100,000 and one working credit card.
The roughly $40 million he spent on political donations helped him forge ties to a key financial regulator and opened doors to committee chairmen and leaders on Capitol Hill. That money has since become an albatross for those who received it and now face questions about how they intend to pay it back.
Bankman-Fried’s effort to pitch cryptocurrency as a mainstream tool for everyday investors to build wealth — a campaign backed by hundreds of millions of dollars in marketing by FTX — has similarly boomeranged. The value of the global crypto market has shed roughly a quarter of its value, or about $250 billion, since the company imploded last month, according to data from CoinMarketCap. And its failure is continuing to reverberate through the crypto economy, with other companies that had exposure to FTX filing for bankruptcy or teetering.
Newmyer reported from Washington. | 2022-12-22T19:18:00Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Bankman-Fried to be released on $250 million bond to live with parents - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/12/22/sam-bankman-fried-released-on-bond/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/12/22/sam-bankman-fried-released-on-bond/ |
That mean ol’ Grinch gets a bad rap
The Grinch teaches us it’s not about the presents during the holidays, but your presence
Boris Karloff narrated the animated tale of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!” in the original 1966 TV special.
This is an updated column from our archives. It originally ran on Dec. 9, 2016.
To be an evolved Grinch is to understand the true meaning of Christmas.
Yet every time I hear people label someone a Grinch, I suspect they don’t comprehend the full message of the Grinch’s story. People recall the cartoon character from early in the animated TV special about the mean old “Stink Stank Stunk” Mr. Grinch.
“Every Who down in Who-ville liked Christmas a lot,” the tale begins. “But the Grinch, who lived just north of Who-ville, did NOT!”
That’s the Grinch who sticks in our memory. It’s how we describe people who criticize the commercialism of Christmas.
The word “grinch” is defined by Merriam-Webster as “a person who is mean-spirited.”
How to manage gift-giving expectations while in debt
But the character created by Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, came to understand what every Who knew.
He learned the real reason we should gather during the holidays. It’s not just about the presents. It’s about each other’s presence. Isn’t that a lesson we have learned from the forced isolation during the worst of covid?
Still, even with high inflation, mall parking lots across the country are teeming with cars. Drivers will argue and scuffle over spaces.
Customers will curse long checkout lines as they stand with their carts loaded to the top.
From Halloween to Christmas Eve, debt is amassed by the masses.
But pardon my interruption of your consumption. I would like you to take some time this year to read — not just watch — Dr. Seuss’s classic “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!”
I read it every year. I teach from it when cautioning folks in my financial ministry to watch their holiday spending.
Before you groan — if you haven’t already — my intention isn’t to make you feel bad about your desire to give. I just want the time you spend with your loved ones to be more than the time you spend shopping for them.
5-year-old calls 911 to report that Grinch plans to steal Christmas
Another book I like to pull out this time of year is “Hundred Dollar Holiday: The Case for a More Joyful Christmas” by Bill McKibben. McKibben challenges people to spend just $100 on holiday gifts. When he and a few friends started this idea, he was called a Grinch.
“I’ve been called my share of names, but the only one that ever really stung was ‘Grinch,’” he writes. But then McKibben reread the Dr. Seuss book.
“I breathed a sign of real relief,” he said. “Not only was I not a Grinch trying to wreck the meaning of Christmas, it was abundantly clear who the Grinches of our culture really are: those relentless commercial forces who have spent more than a century trying to convince us that Christmas does come from a store, or catalogue, or a virtual mall on the Internet.”
As McKibben writes: “The point is not to stop giving; the point is to give the things that matter. Give things that are rare — time, attention, memory, whimsy. We run short on these things in our lives, even as we have an endless supply of software, hardware, ready-to-wear.”
And then there is the financial strain. Just under half of Americans (46 percent) report cutting back on their holiday shopping list this year because of high prices, up from 40 percent in 2021, according to a Monmouth University poll.
Inflation could steal Christmas, but shoppers are finding ways around it
High earners — people making over $100,000 — are more likely than those who earn less than $50,000 to say they do not enjoy holiday shopping.
“It seems that having enough money to enjoy the holidays doesn’t necessarily mean you also enjoy spending it,” said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute. “Maybe this is because gift-giving expectations are greater among those in higher income levels.”
When you read “How The Grinch Stole Christmas!” focus, in particular, on the following passage about what happened after the Grinch snatched away all the town’s Christmas gifts:
“Every Who down in Who-ville, the tall and the small, Was singing! Without any presents at all! He HADN’T stopped Christmas from coming! IT CAME! Somehow or other, it came just the same! And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow, Stood puzzling and puzzling: ‘How could it be so?’ It came without ribbons! It came without tags! It came without packages, boxes or bags!’ And he puzzled three hours, till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before! ‘Maybe Christmas,’ he thought, ‘doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas … perhaps … means a little bit more!’ ”
After the Grinch puzzled about the present-less situation in Who-ville, he had a change of heart.
SPOILER ALERT: He brings back all the toys.
The Monmouth University poll found a third of Americans enjoy shopping for holiday gifts. The emotion elicited when you give is a good thing, even when the presents come from a store.
But be a Grinch. Keep in mind that the holidays still ought to mean a little bit more. | 2022-12-22T19:52:51Z | www.washingtonpost.com | The Grinch was right: Christmas isn't about consumerism. - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/12/22/grinch-christmas-consumerism/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/12/22/grinch-christmas-consumerism/ |
Ukraine live briefing: In Washington, Zelensky and Biden cast aid to Ukrain...
Russian President Vladimir Putin at a news conference after a government meeting on youth policy at the Kremlin in Moscow on Thursday. (Vladimir Gerdo/Sputnik/Kremlin Pool/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock) (Vladimir Gerdo/Sputnik/Kremlin/Pool/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)
RIGA, Latvia — After nearly 10 months of war, but referring to the brutal invasion of Ukraine instead as “a special military operation,” Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday finally called it a “war” for the first time, setting off an uproar among antiwar Russians who have been prosecuted for merely challenging the Kremlin-approved euphemism.
“Our goal is not to spin this flywheel of a military conflict, but, on the contrary, to end this war,” Putin said during a televised news conference following a government meeting on Thursday. “This is what we are striving for.”
Exactly what Putin has been striving for has been a subject of much consternation and debate, especially in Ukraine, where thousands have been killed and cities have been flattened, and in Western capitals that have sent billions in weapons and economic aid to Kyiv to help the country withstand Russia’s aggression.
Putin has alternately said that he is seeking to “de-Nazify” Ukraine, to “liberate” Russian-speaking regions in the southeast of the country, and to stop NATO countries, especially the United States, from trying to destroy Russia. He has denied wanting to conquer the country and topple the government, an assertion undermined by his failed effort to invade and occupy Kyiv.
What Putin had not said until Thursday was that the fighting in Ukraine, whatever the goal, is, in fact, a “war.”
Putin used the term “special military operation” in his early morning announcement on Feb. 24, the day his full-scale invasion began. It seemed be an effort to stress that what was about to unfold would not drastically affect the lives of ordinary Russian. Instead, he sold the idea of a limited operation conducted by a small number of professional soldiers.
After several days of antiwar protests in Russia and critical coverage in the last few remaining independent media outlets, the Russian authorities rushed to suppress criticism and effectively mandate the use of “special military operation” by passing draconian laws to prohibit “spreading fakes” and “discrediting” the army, which essentially made it illegal to call the war a “war.”
Mass protests were crushed and many Russians fled the country fearing prosecution. The few remaining activists who took to the streets to do solo pickets were immediately swept away by the police and fined, even some who held up blank pieces of paper.
By October, Russian law enforcement had initiated nearly 5,000 administrative cases based on the new laws, meaning the defendants were likely given hefty fines. And there were more than a hundred criminal cases in which those prosecuted faced sentences of up to 15 years in prison.
In early December, one opposition politician, Ilya Yashin, was sentenced to eight years and six months in prison on charges of “spreading false information” after he dissected Russian atrocities in the city of Bucha, near Kyiv, in an effort to debunk the official Kremlin line that those reports were staged or fabricated to smear Russia.
Yashin’s sentence was the harshest to date under the new laws. In July, Moscow municipal lawmaker Alexei Gorinov was sentenced to seven years in prison on similar charges after he opened a public meeting with a moment of silence for those dying in the war.
On Thursday, critics of Putin and his war, reacted furiously to the president’s utterance of the word “war.”
“Alexei Gorinov was sentenced to seven years for calling the war a war at a meeting of the council of deputies,” tweeted Georgy Alburov, an exiled ally of the jailed Russian opposition leader, Alexei Navalny. “Vladimir Putin today also publicly called the war a war at his workplace. So either release Gorinov or put Putin in jail for seven years.”
Most independent media have been forced out of the country, and hundreds of thousands of Russians fled what the Kremlin called “a partial mobilization” that disrupted Putin’s promise of a swift and successful war that won’t affect the livelihoods of civilians.
The laws have been enforced selectively to target longtime Putin critics, while pro-war hawks and state television propagandists are allowed to criticize Russian military commanders for heavy battlefield losses and even use the word war without penalties.
Nikita Yuferev, a municipal lawmaker from St. Petersburg who fled the country for his antiwar views but can still perform the official duties of his mandate remotely, said on Thursday that he had written a complaint against Putin, asking Russia’s prosecutor general to investigate the president’s statement.
“There was no decree to end the special operation, and no war was declared,” Yuferev tweeted. “Several thousand people have already been prosecuted for such words about the war, so I’ve sent a request to the authorities to charge Putin with spreading fakes about the army.”
The move is symbolic and will not be acted upon by law enforcement. But it underscores how selective prosecution has become the norm in the Russian judicial system under Putin’s rule, with different standards in place for citizens depending on their level of support for the president.
Pro-war Russian commentators have been permitted to level withering criticism at the Russian military and its commanders over battlefield losses and other missteps, including a botched mobilization of 300,000 new soldiers.
In his remarks on Thursday, Putin dismissed the U.S. decision to supply Ukraine with its most advanced air defense weapon, the Patriot missile system, which was formally announced by President Biden during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to Washington on Wednesday.
Putin described the move as an insignificant development. “Patriot is a rather old system and does not work like our S-300,” He said, referring to Russia’s mainstay air defense system. “We’lll just keep it in mind and there will be an antidote,” Putin said. “We’ll knock down Patriots.”
Asked if he felt the “operation” has been going on too long, Putin replied with a Russian idiom about how big goals are achieved little by little — the latest sign he has no plan to end the war that he is now willing to call a war. “The intensification of hostilities leads to unjustified losses,” Putin said. “And as they say, ‘the hen pecks grain by grain.’” | 2022-12-22T20:01:34Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Putin says ‘war’ – aloud – instead of 'special military operation' - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/12/22/putin-war-ukraine-special-operation/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/12/22/putin-war-ukraine-special-operation/ |
America’s life expectancy is dropping because younger people are dying
A tombstone in the Danville National Cemetery. (John McDonnell/The Washington Post)
On Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) made a grim announcement. For the second year in a row, American life expectancy declined. In 2019, there were 715 deaths for every 100,000 Americans and life expectancy at birth hit 78.8 years. In 2021, there were nearly 880 deaths per 100,000 people and life expectancy at birth dropped to 76.4 years.
The ongoing death toll from the coronavirus pandemic played a central role, of course, as did deaths from drug overdoses, particularly opioids. But the scale of the drop in life expectancy is also a function of who is dying. More people are dying at a younger age, which drives expectancy lower than deaths among the elderly.
I spoke with Stanford University’s Shripad Tuljapurkar in 2021 about life expectancy. He made precisely this point about the effects of younger deaths.
“If you kill somebody off at age 50, the effect on the life expectancy is much greater than if you kill somebody off at age 75, to put it bluntly,” he said. “Consequently, we do see drops in life expectancy simply because we are losing younger people at a rate that we wouldn’t have predicted.”
In the last two years, younger people have in fact seen a larger increase in deaths. Using CDC data (including provisional figures for 2021), we see that the rate of deaths among Americans under the age of 25 rose 2.5 percent between the average value in 2018 and 2019 and the average for 2020 and 2021. For those 65 and over, deaths increased nearly 20 percent, heavily due to covid-19. For those aged 25 to 64, though, the increase was even higher, just shy of 24 percent.
You can see that below. The number of deaths in 2020 and 2021 rose significantly from teens upward as the pandemic killed more than a million people. But notice the data on covid-19 deaths in 2020 versus 2021: the death toll skewed younger. We can attribute this in part to resistance to vaccination against the virus, which was more common among those under the age of 65 — given how deadly the virus was for those over the age of 65 in 2020.
On a state-by-state basis, we can see how that looks. Below, the change in the number of deaths is shown for each of 11 age groups. The percentage of increase (darker purple) is consistently larger at the middle of the graph — not children, not elderly — than at the edges.
We can also see politics at play. A disproportionate number of covid-19 deaths in 2021 occurred in states that supported former president Donald Trump in 2020, places where the delta variant surged during the summer and vaccination rates were lower.
According to CDC data, there were about 378,000 more deaths in 2020 and 2021 than in 2018 and 2019 among those aged 65 and over. There were also about 137,000 more deaths among those aged 25 to 64 — a larger increase relative to the 2018-2019 baseline.
That increase is one reason that the country’s life expectancy fell. Americans were dying more — and younger. | 2022-12-22T20:14:39Z | www.washingtonpost.com | America’s life expectancy is dropping because younger people are dying - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/22/life-expectancy-deaths-younger-americans/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/22/life-expectancy-deaths-younger-americans/ |
Mom of Jackson-Reed student found slain in hotel demands answers
The family held a news conference with their attorney Thursday to draw attention to the unsolved case.
Toni Cole, whose 18-year-old daughter Akira Wilson was found fatally shot inside a hotel room last month, at a vigil for the teen. (Katherine Frey/The Washington Post)
The mother of an 18-year-old Jackson-Reed High School student found fatally shot in a hotel room in the NoMa area last month said at a news conference Thursday that she is frustrated by an apparent lack of progress and answers about her daughter’s death.
“There’s been no updates on anything, so at this point I’m just lost,” said Toni Cole, whose daughter Akira Wilson was found slain at the Hilton Garden Inn on First Street NE on Nov. 19. “I’m trying to figure out when something will happen.”
Cole appeared at the news conference with Wilson’s grandmother, Dawn Perry, and their attorney, Keith Watters, in an effort to draw attention to the unsolved case. Watters noted that there is an outstanding $25,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest, and said he hoped police would solve the case soon, so “somebody else doesn’t have to bury their son or daughter.”
A D.C. police spokesperson said that no arrests have been made, and that the case remains under active investigation.
Watters also revealed new details of the circumstances surrounding the death. He alleged that a now-former employee of the hotel rented the room where Wilson was found, and allowed Wilson to use it. Police had said previously they were seeking a person of interest in the case; Watters alleged that person had some type of interaction with the employee who rented the room. Police had said previously they were called to the area for the sound of the gunshot, and arrived to find Wilson fatally shot in the hotel room.
“We have a lot of questions of how a young man with a gun and apparent disguise can come into the hotel and not be questioned,” Watters said.
A representative for the Hilton Garden Inn declined to comment.
Wilson had been a senior at Jackson-Reed High School and took math and psychology classes at Trinity Washington University in hopes of jump-starting college work, according to relatives and the school. Perry said that her family has been unable to sleep trying to process the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday season without Wilson.
“Without Akira, we are all broken. I don’t even know how we’re still standing because she impacted our life greatly,” Perry said. “Without her being here, it’s a total loss.”
Cole said that Wilson loved to bake and would make chocolate-covered strawberries and cupcakes during the holidays. This year, Cole said she hasn’t put up a tree or done any holiday shopping for Christmas.
“I don’t think I will even celebrate Christmas, which is unfair to my other children,” Cole said. “God gave me three kids and now I have two, and it’s killing me. I wake up, I see Akira. I close my eyes, I see Akira. … I don’t know how to go on without my daughter.”
In late November, around 100 of Wilson’s friends, classmates and relatives gathered by Jackson-Reed High School to release balloons in her memory. Cole said that several scholarships have been put in place in her daughter’s memory.
Cole said that since her daughter’s death, other mothers came to her with similar stories about losing their children. Her attorney noted that violence involving youths has been a persistent problem in D.C.
“I think there’s so much crime that it’s become business as usual,” Watters said. “The police, while well-meaning, have run out of ideas on how to prevent these crimes. Something is fundamentally wrong in our criminal justice system that these crimes keep occurring over and over again.” | 2022-12-22T20:14:41Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Mom of Jackson-Reed student found slain in hotel demands answers - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/12/22/akira-wilson-killing-unsolved/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/12/22/akira-wilson-killing-unsolved/ |
Teen who shot Magruder student in school bathroom sentenced to 18 years
Steven Alston Jr. had pleaded guilty last month to attempted first-degree murder for shooting a 15-year-old student with a ghost gun
Police talk to a man outside the school after SWAT team responds to the shooting incident at Colonel Zadok Magruder High School in Derwood on Jan. 21. (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post)
A Montgomery County teenager who shot another student inside the boys bathroom at Magruder High School was sentenced to 18 years Thursday in a judgment designed to allow his earlier release from a youthful offender program if he does well behind bars.
Steven Alston Jr. had pleaded guilty last month to attempted first-degree murder in the shooting that nearly killed DeAndre Thomas, then 15, and sent the high school into lockdown on Jan. 21.
The shooting that terrified parents and students in the middle of the school day also raised concerns about the growing availability of ghost guns, which was used in the incident. Ghost guns can be put together with parts ordered online and without a permit.
Alston’s attorney David Felsen has said in prior hearings that his client felt threatened by Thomas and others and brought the gun to school for protection.
In earlier court proceedings, prosecutors played recordings from interviews indicating that the teens had been in fistfights months before the shooting and agreed to meet on Jan. 21 for what Thomas said he believed would be another fistfight. That’s when Alston walked in, pulled out the gun and fired, according to authorities.
Students in the bathroom scattered out, making commotion in the hallway that a school security officer noticed, prosecutors said. He went into the bathroom and found Thomas.
The victim had a lengthy stay in the hospital and has undergone multiple operations, according to hearing testimony.
In an earlier interview, Thomas’s mother, Karen, had spoken about the case. “I was totally scared,” she said. “I thought I was going to lose my baby.”
Thomas’s family has sued the school board and the county, alleging that officials deprived Thomas “of his right to a reasonably safe and secure public education” and did not take any action to curb earlier rising reports of violence on school grounds.
Alston was prosecuted in adult court but as part of his plea agreement, prosecutors recommended placement in a youth offender program at the Patuxent Institution.
Following the shooting, Alston concealed his gun and left the bathroom undetected to a another area of the school. When the lockdown was called, a teacher helped pull him into a classroom, where he stayed for about two hours as police worked to identify the shooter.
After an assistant principal working noticed a social media post that said, “Steven shot ’Dre,” investigators burst into the classroom Alston had ducked into. | 2022-12-22T20:14:45Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Magruder HS teen sentenced to 18 years for shooting student in bathroom - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/12/22/magruder-high-shooting-teen-sentenced/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/12/22/magruder-high-shooting-teen-sentenced/ |
Chick-fil-A location fined for paying workers with food
A North Carolina Chick-fil-A location was fined $6,450 and ordered to pay $235 in back wages to seven employees. (Mike Stewart/AP)
The operator of a North Carolina Chick-fil-A restaurant has been hit with a four-figure fine for paying workers in chicken vouchers instead of legal tender.
Good Name 22:1 LLC — the operator of a Hendersonville, N.C., location — was fined $6,450 by the Labor Department and ordered to pay $235 in back wages to seven employees, according to a news release issued Monday.
The agency says it found that the operator violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by compensating workers who directed drive-through traffic with meal vouchers instead of proper wages, and violated child labor law by allowing three workers under 18 to use a trash compactor.
A person who identified themselves as a manager of the store over the phone Thursday declined to comment to The Washington Post. The restaurant’s operator did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment Thursday.
“Protecting our youngest workers continues to be a top priority for the Wage and Hour Division,” Richard Blaylock, North Carolina Wage and Hour Division District Director, wrote in the news release. “Child labor laws ensure that when young people work, the work does not jeopardize their health, well-being or educational opportunities. In addition, employers are responsible to pay workers for all of the hours worked and the payment must be made in cash or legal tender.”
The Hendersonville store ran the voucher-for-work program during the summer. The Post reported at the time that the store, in a since-deleted Facebook post, wrote: “We are looking for volunteers for our new Drive Thru Express! Earn 5 free entrees per shift (1 hr) worked. Message us for details.”
Only McDonald’s and Starbucks earned more sales in 2019 than Chick-fil-A’s $11.3 billion, according to a report from restaurant industry consulting firm Technomic.
The sky is falling for fast food, but not for Chick-fil-A. Here’s why.
The fine is a relatively paltry amount, considering the average Chick-fil-A store outside of a mall in 2021 drew more than $8.1 million in annual revenue, The Post previously reported, citing franchise disclosure documents obtained by Restaurant Business magazine.
A spokeswoman for Chick-fil-A on Thursday said the Hendersonville store is responsible for its own labor practices and policies because it is independently owned and operated.
“Chick-fil-A Inc. follows all federal, state and local laws and we expect and require franchise Operators to comply with all laws applicable to their restaurant. This was a program at an individually owned restaurant and Chick-fil-A Inc. was not involved and did not endorse this. The restaurant decided to end the program earlier this summer,” spokeswoman Ashley Cobb wrote in an email.
Trans Chick-fil-A worker told to be ‘honored’ by catcalls, suit says
The chain has 2,600 restaurants open across 47 states, Washington, D.C., Canada and Puerto Rico, according to Chick-fil-A’s website. The company, headquartered in Atlanta, is known for its Bible Belt principles — including not operating stores on Sundays.
The name of the Hendersonville operator, Good Name 22:1, is seemingly a reference to Proverbs 22:1, which reads: “A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold.” | 2022-12-22T20:14:45Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Labor Department fines North Carolina Chick-fil-A for paying workers in food - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2022/12/22/chick-fil-a-fine-workers-food/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2022/12/22/chick-fil-a-fine-workers-food/ |
George Santos may be unfit for Congress. But he should still be seated.
New York Rep.-elect George Santos speaks during the Republican Jewish Coalition Annual Leadership Meeting in Las Vegas on Nov. 19. (David Becker for The Washington Post)
George Santos has had a terrible week. Multiple reports suggest that the newly elected New York Republican has fabricated virtually everything about himself: his education, his prior work history, his religious heritage and perhaps even his sexuality. Tellingly, neither he nor his campaign has tried to disprove any of the allegations. (Though a lawyer representing him has said Santos was a victim of a “shotgun blast of attacks” and described media exposés about his background as “defamatory allegations.”) Not a good start to a budding political career.
This has led some to argue that the House should exercise its constitutional power over its membership and refuse to seat Santos when it convenes in January. That might seem like a just penalty for the alleged fabulist. But it would be the wrong thing to do.
Democracy means nothing if the people themselves do not rule. That means submitting to their decision even if we are convinced they have decided badly. No one doubts that Santos was legitimately elected in November, and the Supreme Court ruled in Powell v. McCormack that the House can vote to expel members only once they have taken their seats. Expelling Santos on the basis of media reports would amount to the House substituting its own judgment for the people’s. That’s the antithesis of what this country is about.
It would also set a poor precedent that ambitious or unscrupulous politicians would no doubt try to abuse. Imagine a future case that is similar but less egregious. How much of a member’s past must be proven false or questionable to merit his or her exclusion? What about uncovering prior misdeeds? Would they deserve exclusion or expulsion? This is a slippery slope no one should want to go down.
Congress has implicitly chosen in recent decades to expel a member only when that person has been convicted of a felony. Thus, even members who are charged with crimes are allowed to sit as their cases are tried. Former congressman Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska, for example, remained in Congress while he fought federal charges that he lied to the FBI during an investigation into the sources of his campaign financing. Once convicted, he resigned rather than face expulsion.
This is a clear rule that gives deference to voters while upholding the House’s honor and integrity. It should not be cast aside lightly.
That doesn’t mean Santos will get off scot-free. Some of the allegations raise questions of criminal behavior. Santos largely self-financed his campaign, saying he received the money from a family-run company and from property he owns. But reports suggest the company didn’t have the revenue to pay him the amount claimed, and reporters could not find proof that he owns any of the properties he claimed. If the money Santos used to finance his campaign wasn’t his own, he would have clearly violated campaign finance laws.
Santos will also have to defend his reputation to the voters who elected him. He will have to show up for work in Washington and his district, where he will be hounded by his constituents and the media to give plausible answers to the allegations. Stonewalling simply isn’t politically plausible in the long term. He either has to rebut his critics or expect voters to abandon him in droves.
And he should not expect even MAGA Republicans to stand by him in a primary. (There are a number of Republican state legislators in his district who would leap at the chance to succeed him.) Consider Rep. Vance McAllister (R-La.), who was caught kissing a married female staffer on a surveillance video (he was also married). He ran for reelection anyway and was clobbered, finishing fourth in Louisiana’s all-party jungle primary with only 11 percent of the vote. Consider also the scandal-ridden, ultra-MAGA Rep. Madison Cawthorn (N.C.), who recently lost his bid for reelection in the primary, too, despite former president Donald Trump’s endorsement.
And then there is Douglas Stringfellow, a member of Congress who engaged in similar behavior. The Utah Republican invented a life story from scratch to get elected in 1952, claiming that he engaged in heroic military service in World War II by landing behind German lines in a secret mission and capturing a leading nuclear scientist. His exposure by the Army Times led him to confess his lies on television and abandon his reelection bid.
Santos might have the good sense to resign rather than go through two years of public humiliation. If he doesn’t, however, the voters should decide his fate, not Congress. | 2022-12-22T20:15:12Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | George Santos may be unfit for Congress, but he should still be seated - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/22/george-santos-scandal-seated-congress/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/22/george-santos-scandal-seated-congress/ |
Military pilots are growing less and less necessary
An MQ-9 Sea Guardian unmanned maritime surveillance drone flies over the USS Coronado in the Pacific Ocean during a drill in April 2021. (U.S. Navy/Chief Mass Communication Specialist Shannon Renfroe/AP)
I applaud The Post’s Dec. 18 editorial “America’s new manned bomber just might be its last” and the basic question it asked: Why have a person in an aircraft? I proposed this same question in 1996 as an analyst while on the U.S. Congressional Commission on Roles and Missions of the Armed Forces. At a general discussion of roles and missions within our analytic group, I suggested that in 25 years manned aircraft would be needed only to deliver cargo and personnel; that unmanned aerial vehicles would take over the airborne roles of intelligence, surveillance and weapon delivery. I was roundly laughed at.
Turns out my detractors were right. It didn’t take 25 years. It took about 10, when drones became a significant part of U.S. weaponry in Afghanistan. Technology has improved greatly since then, and drones large and small are now leading the fight in Ukraine, providing critical intelligence and strike capability for Ukrainian forces and creating significant havoc within the Russian army.
Manned aircraft will continue to be used for the foreseeable future, primarily because of culture, but it’s pretty well proved that if you can clearly see a target with a drone (and now you can) that is armed (even with a hand grenade), you can destroy the target. And if you have a lot of those drones, you can destroy a lot of targets. Bandwidth and latency are now more important than a person in the cockpit.
J.R. East, Springfield
The writer is a retired U.S. Air Force colonel. | 2022-12-22T20:15:18Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | Military pilots are growing less and less necessary - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/22/military-pilots-drones/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/22/military-pilots-drones/ |
A ban on trophy hunting is long overdue
An elephant walks with its herd near Kasane, Botswana, in May 2019. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)
Regarding the Dec. 20 news article “Countries vow to protect biodiversity”:
Hunting to feed one’s family is justifiable in the eyes of most of us. Trophy hunting is something else. A select few of our species, with the wealth to support their goals, hunt down and kill the biggest and strongest of every species on the planet. When they have succeeded in doing so, they lower the bar and continue to kill the biggest and strongest that remain. The gene pools of many animals on the planet have, over the years of our domination, been culled of their greatest assets.
Should a group of wealthy alien hunters decide that we (humans) are worthy adversaries to be hunted for trophies, what would be the effect on our population? On our gene pool? Who would be the most attractive of our species to kill and mount on a wall for bragging rights? Isn’t it long overdue to ban this form of self-aggrandizement that comes at such a high cost to those with whom we share this fragile planet? If biodiversity is to be truly protected, is this not a necessary first step?
Michael R. Martin, Annapolis | 2022-12-22T20:15:24Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Opinion | A ban on trophy hunting is long overdue - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/22/trophy-hunting-ban-overdue/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/22/trophy-hunting-ban-overdue/ |
A new map of the island’s underworld provides a valuable window into the behavior of some of the most capricious, and hazardous, volcanoes on Earth
By Robin George Andrews
An aerial view of the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii shows lava beginning to crust up on Dec. 9, 2022, as its most recent eruption came to an end. Kilauea is one of the most active volcanoes on Earth. (Andrew Richard Hara/Getty Images)
When the sinuous structures first came into view on the computer screen, John Wilding’s jaw dropped. “I was jumping around the office,” said the graduate student of geophysics from the California Institute of Technology. “I was thinking that it’s a part of the Earth that, in this moment, I was the only person on the planet who knew these things were there.”
Scientists had suspected that somewhere below Hawaii, a secret was entombed in stone — something that plays a leading role in influencing the island chain’s famous volcanism. Now, with the help of almost 200,000 earthquakes and a machine learning program, Wilding and his colleagues have finally unearthed it.
In a study published Thursday in the journal Science, the team has revealed a previously hidden collection of magma caches that may act like the beating heart of the volcanoes above. The discovery offers a possible solution to a long-standing mystery — how does magma from the deep mantle travel to the Hawaiian surface? The work gives scientists a valuable new window into the behavior of some of the most capricious, and hazardous, volcanoes on Earth.
Hawaii's Mauna Loa volcano erupts for first time in 38 years
The shallow magma reservoirs that feed Hawaii’s eruptions have been known about for some time. This is partly thanks to seismic waves, which are closely monitored in Hawaii by an ever-expanding network of sensors. The waves act like an ultrasound for Earth; changes in their speed and trajectory during their subterranean voyages tell scientists what sorts of matter they have been traveling through, providing clues to its temperature, density and composition.
The giant feature described in the paper is made up of several elongated chambers named sills. When eruptions drain magma from the shallow reservoirs above, these deep-seated sills seem to react. A cacophony of quakes signals when individual chambers begin to fill with molten rock at different times, a bit like “blood rushing into a heart,” Wilding said.
“We were just looking at it, and it was just mind-blowing, it really was,” said Zachary Ross, a geophysicist at Caltech. “Ever since then, I can’t get the image of it out of my head.”
Ken Rubin, a volcanologist at the University of Hawaii not involved with the study, said, “It is a very elegant study, and an immensely intriguing result.”
A persistent seismic rumble from an area southwest of Kilauea and 20 miles below ground had previously suggested that a collection of faults may exist there, creating pathways for magma to travel from the hadean depths to near-surface reservoirs. And since the 1980s, special kinds of quakes suggestive of roaming fluids have hinted that magma has been churning about in the region. But until recently, the true nature of this underground labyrinth was based more on speculation than scientific truth.
“It’s been this mysterious box in the mantle,” said Wilding. “We really have very little idea what’s going on.”
What scientists needed was a sustained spike in quakes coming from that exact region, enough to strongly illuminate that shadowy zone. Things looked promising in 2015 when the region’s rumbling picked up a little.
But the team’s lucky break came in 2018 when, after Kilauea had been erupting more or less continuously for 35 years, a grand finale-style eruption sequence began at the volcano. The event produced 320,000 Olympic-size swimming pools’ worth of lava in just three months — and the speedy exsanguination of the volcano’s shallow magma reservoir caused its summit to collapse dramatically.
In an exciting plot twist, geologists recorded a shocking spike in deep seismic activity in 2019 way below the town of Pāhala, which sits roughly 25 miles southwest of Kilauea. Surely, scientists thought, this cannot be happenstance.
While the Pāhala quake storm was a chance to unearth the island’s buried magmatic treasure, scientists alone would not be able to identify many of the individual quakes in that cacophony, especially the more commonplace smaller ones that could be smothered by bigger bangs.
Not willing to miss a single beat of the geologic drum, the team from Caltech fed the entire recording of the seismic storm to a machine learning program — a technique Ross and his colleagues had previously used to identify millions of hidden quakes in California. The program quickly taught itself what was a real quake and what was extraneous noise, then identified and characterized thousands of temblors that would have been missed by conventional seismic signal detection programs and their human analysts.
From November 2018 to April 2022, the system logged around 192,000 quakes below Pāhala. Plotting these luminiferous points on a map, the team was stunned to discover a collection of pulsing magmatic structures — the beating volcanic heart of southern Hawaii.
Some of the quakes came from a region 28 to 32 miles deep: these long-period earthquakes are usually attributed to the vibrations made by the movement of fluids, including magma. The bulk of the seismicity came from an area 22 to 27 miles deep. These volcano-tectonic quakes — the sort produced when a fault moves and rocks break inside a volcanic region — delineated a number of near-horizontal sheetlike structures, some of them four miles long and three miles wide.
At different times, the scientists detected surges in seismic activity within separate sheets. The team surmised that these sheets were sills, magma pockets whose own grumbles tracked molten rock rushing up from the lower fluid-filled region close to the mantle plume’s peak.
This new 3D map of a key segment of the Hawaiian circulatory system “is extraordinary,” said Jackie Caplan-Auerbach, a volcano seismologist at Western Washington University who wasn’t involved with the new study. It’s “awfully cool,” she said, that scientists cannot only see this previously hidden heart, but also can perceive the convulsions of the ventricles within.
The Pāhala Sill Complex, as the heart is technically known, appears to have several arteries branching from it. One major pathway, marked by rock-breaking quakes, appears to lead right into one of Kīlauea’s shallow magma reservoirs. It’s perhaps no coincidence, then, that the sill complex began to thunder relentlessly in 2019. During the 2018 eruption, Kilauea was drained of a significant portion of its shallow magma supply, causing a pressure drop. In response, magma was sucked into the sills to equalize the pressure. Similar events happened during Kīlauea’s briefer 2020 eruption.
Further work may help resolve the controversial question of whether Kilauea and Mauna Loa, which are relatively close neighbors at the surface, are somehow connected at great depths. To date, little concrete evidence for this hypothesis exists, and experts generally agree that the two volcanoes are largely independent of one another.
The new study does not overturn that consensus just yet. It shows another major artery of the sill complex, again marked by rock-breaking quakes, streaking up toward Mauna Loa. But this one stops short at a large horizontal fault and does not appear to reach one of Mauna Loa’s shallow magma reservoirs.
It also isn’t certain that magma is moving through either of these pathways. That would change if future work detects long-period quakes coming from them — the sort signifying the presence of fluids, likely to be magma.
“The results are stunning,” said Diana Roman, a geophysicist at the Carnegie Institution for Science in D.C. who wasn’t involved with the study. But “it is still unclear whether the magma being intruded at Pāhala directly feeds the eruptions of Mauna Loa and Kilauea.”
“What else is still in there that has not been lighting up?” he said. Whenever Hawaii’s hellish subsurface furiously shakes again, the team from Caltech will be ready to shine a spotlight on it, hoping to reveal what for now remains concealed. | 2022-12-22T20:16:07Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Hawaii volcanoes powered by 'mind blowing' magma network - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2022/12/22/hawaii-volcanoes-magma-chambers/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2022/12/22/hawaii-volcanoes-magma-chambers/ |
TikTok’s Chinese owner fires workers who gathered data on journalists
The ByteDance internal investigation comes as the company scrambles to persuade congressional officials that U.S. users’ data is secure
A TikTok exhibition in Germany in August. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)
TikTok’s parent company ByteDance said Thursday it had fired four employees after an internal investigation found they had accessed data on two journalists and other U.S. users while attempting to track down a company leak, a revelation that could further inflame doubts in Washington over the company’s Chinese roots.
In an attempt to identify who had shared internal documents with journalists from BuzzFeed and the Financial Times, workers on a ByteDance internal-audit team — two in China, two in the U.S. — pulled the reporters’ IP addresses and other data as well as that of people they’d connected with over TikTok, the investigation found.
The workers tried to use the IP addresses — numbered codes assigned to every internet-connected device that can give a rough estimate of a person’s location — to see whether the journalists and their associates had been in contact with ByteDance employees, the investigation found. The attempt did not identify the source of the leaks.
The investigation was revealed in emails that ByteDance’s general counsel sent to employees on Thursday, which the company shared with The Washington Post. The New York Times first reported the investigation.
The findings will likely intensify tensions over TikTok, one of the world’s most popular apps, as its corporate owners strive to persuade the U.S. government that its Chinese ownership poses no data-privacy or surveillance threat.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), one of TikTok’s biggest critics in Congress, cited the investigation in a Thursday tweet. “This is why Congress must BAN TikTok on all federal devices now,” he said.
Nineteen states have recently passed laws prohibiting the use of TikTok on government-owned phones, and members of Congress on Tuesday included a similar ban for federal employees in its must-pass omnibus spending bill.
The company has since 2019 been negotiating an agreement with a government panel known as the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. In August, it proposed a major restructuring of its U.S. operations that would further restrict who can access U.S. users’ data and give federal officials veto power over key decisions, including its board of directors, The Post reported this week, citing people familiar with the discussions.
CFIUS officials have not yet approved the deal, saying they continue to review the company for potential national-security concerns.
How TikTok ate the internet: A three-part series
Erich Andersen, ByteDance’s general counsel, said the company’s Global Legal Compliance team brought in an external law firm to help launch an investigation into claims made in a news report alleging the company had inappropriately gathered users’ location data.
A ByteDance spokeswoman declined to name the law firm, saying only that is “a prominent firm,” and said the company is communication with Congress and CFIUS.
The investigation, Andersen said, found that employees in ByteDance’s internal-audit department had carried out a “misguided plan” this summer to use TikTok user data to examine whether the journalists had made contact with current employees by pulling their IP addresses.
Company officials did not name the journalists, but some of the details match closely with an October report from Emily Baker-White, a former BuzzFeed journalist, now at Forbes, who has written articles citing internal documents, screenshots and meeting recordings.
ByteDance fired the four employees and has restructured its Internal Audit and Risk Control department, including by adding an oversight council to help set new policies for its employee investigations, Andersen said.
ByteDance’s chief executive, Rubo Liang, said in an email to employees Thursday that he was “deeply disappointed” by the situation, saying, “The public trust that we have spent huge efforts building is going to be significantly undermined by the misconduct of a few individuals.”
“No matter what the cause or the outcome was, this misguided investigation seriously violated the company’s Code of Conduct and is condemned by the company,” he added. “We simply cannot take integrity risks that damage the trust of our users, employees, and stakeholders.”
In a third email, TikTok’s chief executive, Shou Zi Chew, outlined how the company had in recent months begun moving and safeguarding U.S. user data and “systematically cutting off access points” to the information for all but a select group of authorized officials.
“We must continue to prioritize these efforts and not let the poorly conceived acts of a few people undermine the work of the tens of thousands,” he said.
The findings could challenge TikTok’s ability to persuade federal lawmakers that its international operation poses no threat to U.S. user security.
TikTok has said repeatedly that it is not influenced by the Chinese government and that employees in ByteDance’s Beijing office, where critical parts of TikTok’s code are designed and built, are restricted from accessing Americans’ information.
TikTok officials have held briefings for members of Congress and their staff to detail their proposal to CFIUS, which would sever the TikTok U.S. team’s decision-making from ByteDance and give U.S. authorities veto power over the appointment of the U.S. operation’s leadership, according to four people with knowledge of the discussions, who spoke to The Post on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the work publicly.
The company said it has spent more than $1.5 billion on implementing the plan, known internally as Project Texas, and that it would bind the company to a level of public scrutiny and oversight more involved than any U.S. technology firm currently faces.
Some skeptics in Washington, including many top Republicans, argue that TikTok’s ownership by a Chinese tech conglomerate poses an insurmountable risk to U.S. data privacy and have called for a full divestiture or ban. | 2022-12-22T20:17:29Z | www.washingtonpost.com | TikTok’s Chinese owner fires workers who gathered data on journalists - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/12/22/tiktoks-chinese-owner-fires-workers-who-gathered-data-journalists/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/12/22/tiktoks-chinese-owner-fires-workers-who-gathered-data-journalists/ |
Jeter Downs was Boston's No. 19 prospect, according to Baseball America. (Brian Fluharty/Getty Images)
There are a few counters to that question — since there are valid reasons Downs, 24, was recently designated for assignment by the Boston Red Sox, who acquired him as part of the package for star outfielder Mookie Betts. In the past two seasons, across 180 plate appearances with the Class AAA Worcester Red Sox, Downs posted a .193 batting average, .292 on-base percentage and .368 slugging percentage. In an abbreviated shot in the majors last year, he collected six hits in 41 trips to the batter’s box. He is, by and large, a former top prospect who swung his way out of Boston’s plans, leading them to dump him for the mundane purpose of clearing a spot on the 40-man roster.
Why not take a flier on Downs, who once flashed significant power and potential while playing in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ system? Why not try to get him on track, even if the Nationals’ player development record suggests they aren’t primed to? Why not hope Downs’s fourth franchise in his seven pro years will be the change of scenery he needs?
What do the Nationals — last place finishers in three consecutive seasons, still set on adding on the margins instead of really spending in free agency — have to lose?
The waiver wire previously brought reliever Hunter Harvey and outfielder Alex Call into the Nationals’ immediate plans. It has also netted them Mike Ford, Josh Palacios, Patrick Murphy, Lucius Fox and Francisco Perez, who were all acquired in the past 16 months and are either off the 40-man roster or out of the organization entirely.
Waiver claims are low-risk, low-cost bets who were available because their previous teams — often with heaps of firsthand experience — were comfortable losing them for nothing. That’s worth remember whenever the next club takes a shot. Downs, born in Colombia, then drafted in the first round out of a Miami high school in 2017, has had his strikeout rates explode in the upper levels of the minors. Defensively, he seems to be a far better fit at second base than shortstop.
His stock has never been lower, so the Nationals, owners of their own low stock, pounced. Baseball America had Downs ranked as Boston’s 19th-best prospect.
The upside for Washington: Downs is still young and has two minor league options remaining, meaning that, for now, he could swing between the majors and AAA without going on waivers again. And since the Nationals have next to no middle infield depth near the majors, Downs fits logically behind shortstop CJ Abrams, second baseman Luis García and third basemen Jeimer Candelario and Carter Kieboom. Whether Downs becomes an actual part of the Nationals’ future can be sorted in the years ahead. | 2022-12-22T20:40:51Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Washington Nationals claim infielder Jeter Downs - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/22/jeter-downs-washington-nationals/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/22/jeter-downs-washington-nationals/ |
A battle over an Adams Morgan plaza gains new life with court ruling
An appeals court has ruled that a trial must take place to determine the fate of a plaza in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of D.C. (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post)
A long-standing legal battle over a neighborhood gathering spot in Northwest Washington was extended Thursday when the D.C. Court of Appeals ordered a trial to determine whether the parcel should be preserved as a public plaza.
The court’s ruling injected new life into a campaign by two Adams Morgan civic groups to preserve as a public plaza a 4,000-square-foot concrete parcel at the intersection of 18th Street and Columbia Road NW. The groups have contended that decades ago the property’s former owner dedicated the plaza as a “public easement.”
Until the property’s owner, Truist bank, fenced it off in March, the plaza for decades had functioned as a convenient, if not universally appreciated, town square that featured a Saturday morning farmers market. During the pandemic, it became a gathering place for vagrants, some of whom pitched tents.
The court’s ruling adds another delay to Truist’s long-standing hopes of selling the property to a developer who had plans to build 54 condominiums on the site and greatly shrink the size of the plaza.
Paul Zukerberg, an attorney representing the Kalorama Citizens Association and Adams Morgan for Reasonable Development, called the court’s decision “a huge win” and demanded that Truist remove the fencing it had put up around the property.
“The Court of Appeals has ruled that ordinary citizens can stand up to big banks,” Zukerberg said.
A Truist spokeswoman said the bank is “evaluating the ruling and next steps.”
Zukerberg has argued that the property’s former owner during the 1970s had entered into an agreement with the neighborhood to preserve the land as a plaza. Truist has challenged the validity of the agreement.
The legal battle began in 2017 when the community groups sued the property’s owner, then known as SunTrust, to stop it from demolishing the plaza. By then, the development plan has been approved by the D.C. Historic Preservation Review Board.
In its 27-page decision, the three-member appeals panel overturned a Superior Court judge’s ruling that the community groups did not have legal standing to claim that the parcel was public space.
The appeals court ruled that community groups — not just the government — can seek to enforce a public easement because their quality of life could be “harmed” if the plaza is demolished.
At the center of the dispute is a Nov. 2, 1976, letter to the neighborhood from Thomas Owen, president of what was then known as the Perpetual Savings & Loan Association, which was seeking to build a branch on the parcel.
In the letter, Owen promised that the bank would design a building that would preserve open space for vendors that had used the site. Frank Smith, an Adams Morgan community leader at the time, subsequently said that his organization would drop opposition to the project.
The community had opposed Perpetual’s project after alleging that the bank did not offer mortgages to minorities seeking to buy homes.
In its decision, the appeals panel wrote that a “genuine dispute of material fact exists” over whether the bank’s commitment to preserve the parcel as a public plaza was intended as permanent.
The ruling returns the case back to Superior Court, which will set a trial date. | 2022-12-22T20:40:52Z | www.washingtonpost.com | A battle over an Adams Morgan plaza gains new life with court ruling - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/12/22/adams-morgan-plaza-dc-court-ruling/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/12/22/adams-morgan-plaza-dc-court-ruling/ |
Reflecting on her role as the first female House speaker during her last briefing on Dec. 22, Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said she wants women “to have confidence." (Video: The Washington Post)
Power, freedom and the ways in which the former could most effectively be wielded to achieve the latter, were very much on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s mind Thursday morning.
The night before, the California Democrat had welcomed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the Capitol, where he delivered a rousing speech to a joint meeting of Congress during a surprise visit to Washington, his first trip outside Ukraine since Russia invaded the country in February.
Zelensky’s speech was part of “a momentous week for our democracy,” Pelosi declared Thursday in her final press conference as speaker. It had also reminded her of another moment from decades ago, when Winston Churchill, former prime minister of the United Kingdom, spoke to Congress in 1941, as World War II was underway. In the audience was Pelosi’s father, Thomas D’Alesandro Jr., then a young congressman from Maryland. Pelosi herself was a toddler at the time.
“It always was a source of pride to me that my father was there that day and now a source of pride that I could be there to hear another heroic leader of … a country at war, come ask for help,” Pelosi said. “When Winston Churchill came … he said, ‘We are doing the noblest task in the world, not only defending our hearths and homes, but the cause of freedom in every land.’ So much the theme, so much the common purpose of President Zelensky.”
In a matter of days, Pelosi, 82, will relinquish the speaker’s gavel and step down from party leadership after two decades. In 2006, she became the first woman elected speaker, after serving four years as minority leader. Last month, after Republicans retook the House majority in the midterm elections, Pelosi announced that the hour had come “for a new generation” to lead the Democratic caucus. She will remain a lawmaker representing the San Francisco area.
In farewell speeches and events, Pelosi has spent the past few weeks emphasizing the importance of defending democracy, turning a lame-duck session of Congress into her swan song of sorts as a foil against former president Donald Trump. She opened her final press conference Thursday thanking reporters, calling them “guardians of democracy,” a sharp contrast to Trump’s attacks on the press.
Her remarks also came just before a final report was set to be released by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, when a pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol seeking to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s electoral win.
“The 117th Congress began with a violent assault on our democracy, and now we hear its conclusions,” Pelosi said. “We have a vital road map, ensuring justice will be done and that this won’t happen again.”
As she often does, Pelosi avoided calling out Trump specifically, instead referring to him Thursday as “what’s his name” when listing the presidents she had worked with. The two had a famously tumultuous relationship when Trump was in office, a tension that birthed a thousand memes as Pelosi challenged him in the White House, clapped at him wryly and tore up a copy of his third State of the Union speech.
The animosity was returned in orders of magnitude from Trump and his supporters. Footage from the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection showed that, while rioters strode through the Capitol’s hallways with bear spray and body armor in search of Pelosi — yelling “Where are you, Nancy?” and “Bring her out!” — she remained calm as she made efforts to reach the National Guard and procure the safety of her fellow lawmakers.
Still, when asked Thursday to reflect on her time as party leader, Pelosi said her most difficult task was not wrangling votes for the 2010 Affordable Care Act or trying to stay safe during an attack on the Capitol. Instead, she cited being a minority leader alongside a Democratic president and having to convince her caucus members to sustain a presidential veto against GOP legislation.
“The Republicans would roll out stuff that sounded like a chocolate sundae, but it’s more like doggie doo,” she said. “So I’d rather be writing the Affordable Care Act or any other massive legislation than to have to go to my members and say, ‘My friend, in friendship, I really need your vote to sustain the president’s veto.’ That was the hardest.”
On Oct. 13, the Jan. 6 Committee played a video of House Speaker Pelosi (D-Calif.), Senate leader Schumer (D-N.Y.) and GOP leaders during the Capitol attack. (Video: The Washington Post, Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
Pelosi said she had not had any formal conversations with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who is seeking to become House speaker next year, but said she didn’t think anyone needed her advice.
“You’ve heard me say even about our own distinguished leadership. I’m not going to be the mother-in-law who comes in and says, this is the way my son likes his turkey, stuffing, his scrambled eggs or anything else. They have to have their own vitality about it all. And they do,” Pelosi said. “I’m just hoping that on Jan. 3rd that they’ll be expeditiously able to elect a speaker so that we can get on with the work of the Congress.”
Pelosi acknowledged that she would be transitioning from a role that comes with “awesome power” to one with still “strong,” if subtler influence, particularly on women who might want to run for office. Pelosi recalled how, when she arrived in Congress in 1987, there were only 23 women in the House out of 435 lawmakers.
“I want women to have confidence,” Pelosi said. “So sometimes when I act a little more, shall we say, like myself, it’s because I want them to know it’s okay to assert yourself, to have confidence in what you bring to the table, and also to understand your uniqueness.”
Pelosi ended by citing President John F. Kennedy’s inauguration speech, which she said she recalled attending in the “freezing cold.” Most people remember the penultimate sentence in Kennedy’s speech, she said: “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for our country.” But Pelosi said it was the next sentence that struck her: “Ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.”
She has told Biden that he has fulfilled in so many ways what Kennedy was signaling in his ability to rally international support for Ukraine.
“Working together with all of the countries to come together to support Ukraine, not by dictating what we think is the way to go, but through listening, working together so that everybody felt committed to a plan for the freedom of mankind,” Pelosi said. “And that’s how I tie being there as my father’s daughter at the inauguration to what happened this week and what our responsibilities are later.” | 2022-12-22T21:37:33Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Pelosi reflects on transition from ‘awesome power’ to 'strong influence’ - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/22/pelosi-zelensky-churchill-kennedy/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/22/pelosi-zelensky-churchill-kennedy/ |
Man arrested in Baileys Crossroads area fatal crash
A man was arrested Monday in a two-car crash that killed a woman in the Baileys Crossroads area last May, Fairfax County police said.
Tewodros Worku, 35, of Maryland, faces felony charges of involuntary manslaughter and hit and run, Fairfax County police wrote in a Thursday news release. Police said his arrest came from a May 24 crash that killed Gladis Suyapa Deras, 54, of Falls Church.
Police said Worku, who was driving a Honda Accord, struck a Volkswagen Jetta as it was turning into Skyline Plaza in the 3700 block of South George Mason Drive. The Jetta was driving southbound on the roadway while Worku was heading north, police said in May.
Deras, a passenger in the Jetta, died at the scene. Police said the driver of the Jetta was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Worku tried to flee the scene on foot after the crash with another person, officials said. Police at the time said Worku, who claimed he was a passenger in the car, was arrested on charges of being drunk in public. The other man was taken to the hospital for injuries that were life-threatening, authorities said.
Sgt. Jim Curry said police determined Worku had been driving the car after investigating forensic evidence from the crash but did not release further details. The other man does not face any charges in the case, Curry said.
Worku was detained in Prince George’s County and will be transported to the Fairfax County jail, Curry said. His case information was not posted Thursday in the county’s online court records system.
Members of Worku’s and Deras’s families could not be immediately contacted. | 2022-12-22T21:46:17Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Man arrested in Baileys Crossroads area fatal crash - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/12/22/arrest-baileys-crossroads-crash/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/12/22/arrest-baileys-crossroads-crash/ |
D.C.’s deputy attorney general will take the helm at Legal Aid
Vikram Swaruup will become the first person of color and first openly LGBTQ person to permanently lead the city’s largest general legal services organization
Vikram Swaruup is the second-highest-ranking official in the D.C. attorney general’s office. He’s becoming the next executive director of D.C. Legal Aid. (D.C. Office of the Attorney General)
The District’s deputy attorney general will be the next executive director of D.C. Legal Aid, becoming the first person of color and the first openly LGBTQ person to permanently take the helm of the city’s largest general legal services organization.
Swaruup, 34, is the second-highest-ranking official in the office of D.C. Attorney General Karl A. Racine, whose term ends in January. He will become D.C. Legal Aid’s first new executive director in a decade, succeeding former executive director Eric Angel, who resigned in March.
“Legal Aid is one of the most important institutions working to make sure all District residents are treated fairly in our legal system,” Swaruup said in a statement. “I’m honored to be joining a top-notch team that is on the front lines of fighting for District residents.”
His appointment concludes a nearly year-long search for a new leader at D.C. Legal Aid. Formed in 1932, the organization offers pro bono legal services and assistance to low-income District residents in areas like housing, immigration, public benefits and consumer law. Legal Aid has also coordinated with the attorney general’s office on consumer protection and tenant matters — issues that have also been central focuses in Racine’s office during his eight-year tenure.
D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine will not seek elective office in 2022
Swaruup, who is gay, immigrated with his family to the United States from India as a child and held several roles in Racine’s office before he was named chief deputy attorney general last December, including as his senior counsel. As second-in-command, Swaruup was responsible for many of the office’s day-to-day operations.
He was the office’s first attorney to prosecute cases under the city’s Human Rights Act, according to the attorney general’s office, and in 2020 he led a lawsuit against the federal government, in coordination with D.C. Legal Aid, to challenge a federal government effort that would have cut Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for hundreds of thousands of people — including an estimated 20,000 D.C. residents.
“Vikram is a rising star and tireless advocate for making the District of Columbia a fairer and more just city,” Racine (D) said in a statement, adding that Swaruup “has dedicated his career to using the law to serve vulnerable people. The Office of Attorney General’s loss is Legal Aid’s gain.”
Legal Aid has served an estimated 6,000 clients in the last five years. Jennifer Mezey, Rachel Rintelmann and Stephanie Troyer, legal directors with the organization, have served as interim co-executive directors during the search and will return to their roles when Swaruup starts next year.
Joan McKown, president of Legal Aid’s board of trustees, praised Swaruup in a statement, noting that his work in Racine’s office “helped him develop a keen understanding of the strengths of members of Legal Aid’s community as well as the challenges they face.”
Before joining Racine’s office, Swaruup was an appellate attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division; he also clerked for judges in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit and the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. He earned his law degree at the University of California at Berkeley School of Law. | 2022-12-22T21:46:23Z | www.washingtonpost.com | D.C. Deputy Attorney General Vikram Swaruup to take the helm at D.C. Legal Aid - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/12/22/vikram-swaruup-attorney-general-legal-aid/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/12/22/vikram-swaruup-attorney-general-legal-aid/ |
Montgomery students lament antisemitism surging in their schools
Students at Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, Md., had a walk out in support of the Jewish students who attend the school after antisemitic graffiti was painted on the school’s sign last weekend. (Robb Hill for The Washington Post/for The Washington Post)
Eliana Joftus couldn’t believe someone had spray-painted “Jews Not Welcome” on the entrance sign to her campus, Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda. Days before, she’d helped lead a lesson as president of the school’s Jewish Student Union on how to combat stereotypes and be an ally to Jewish students.
The graffiti was clearly a response to that lesson, she suspected.
“It could have been just coincidence, but chances are it wasn’t,” Joftus, 17, said. She added that teachers had also received antisemitic emails from a sender outside of the school system over the weekend, confirming that the action wasn’t random. “It really had purpose and motivation behind it.”
Hundreds of Whitman students walked out Thursday against antisemitism in response to the vandalism. During a forum outside class, several Jewish students told stories of targeted, antisemitic jokes that they’ve heard while in school. They described how their ancestors fled Europe during the Holocaust and called on Montgomery County Public Schools — Maryland’s largest school district — to increase its Holocaust education.
The vandalism was the latest in a string of antisemitic acts in the county’s schools that have occurred over the past few years. Swastikas and other hate speech have been found spray-painted on the walls and bathrooms of several middle and high schools. Tilden Middle School officials found a swastika drawn on a classroom desk in April.
After those incidents, principals and other school officials denounced the acts, but students say administrators need to do more. The students hope that by walking out of their classes on Thursday, they can educate their peers on how serious and detrimental antisemitism is.
Rachel Barold, a freshman at Whitman, said she wasn’t surprised when she saw news of the vandalism, since she was used to these incidents in schools. But it was “the tipping point” for students in the county to begin organizing.
Schools Superintendent Monifa B. McKnight said at a news conference Wednesday she stood with Jewish families. She condemned acts of antisemitism and added that it was “everyone’s responsibility” to reject acts like this.
“This continues to be a call to action for us as a community. Every single time we have an experience in which a graffiti is placed somewhere in our community in Montgomery County, we have to stop and ask the question, ‘Why is this happening?’” McKnight said. “What happens in our schools is a microcosm of what’s happening in our world and our community.” She added that the school system has to continue to educate students and teach them to “embrace understanding one another.”
Hate-based incidents surge in suburban school system in Maryland
Antisemitic acts are on the rise nationally. The Anti-Defamation League reported a total of 2,717 antisemitic incidents in 2021 — which was the highest number of incidents on record since the group started tracking such acts in 1979. In Maryland, there were 55 antisemitic acts reported in 2021. For this year, data up to August shows that the state is already close to 60 incidents, said Meredith R. Weisel, the regional director for the Anti-Defamation League’s D.C. region.
Incidents in schools have also spiked. The Anti-Defamation League’s data showed that there were 331 incidents reported in non-Jewish K-12 schools in 2021, an almost 106 percent increase from the 161 incidents the previous year.
Weisel attributed the increases to a normalization of antisemitism fueled by social media and ignorance about the Holocaust. The former has acted as “an enormous boon to the dissemination of hate,” she said. She pointed to a recent report from the organization that found 15 percent of young people ages 10-17 reported being exposed to discussions of white supremacist ideologies in online games.
“If [children] are not being taught the opposite or they’re questioning things, they may act out on it,” Weisel said.
There are also incidents that often don’t get reported to the police or school officials but are just as damaging. Barold mentioned that since the rapper “Ye” — formerly known as Kanye West — praised Adolf Hitler and Nazis in an interview with far-right provocateur Alex Jones and made other antisemitic statements online, some students have gone up to Jewish students to ask, “I listen to Kanye West, how does that make you feel?”
Joftus recalled another incident she saw as a microaggression. The Jewish Student Union was serving rugelach at a school club night, and a passerby took a bite of the dish, before spitting it back out onto the table.
Joftus said the student body at her school doesn’t have students who outwardly deny the Holocaust because there is a substantial Jewish population in the school. But Whitman students often make antisemitic “jokes or little comments they feel comfortable saying,” she said. And she knew of other antisemitic vandalism around Montgomery County. Still, she said, this incident felt personal. She thought of the trauma her great-grandparents had gone through when they fled from Nazi Germany.
“It’s like you carry all your family’s grief with you, and I felt all of that with me when I saw it,” she said. “It was super scary.”
School officials in Maryland strengthen requirements for Holocaust education
Montgomery County Public Schools is reworking its curriculum “to teach antisemitism as something that has been present throughout history,” said district spokeswoman Jessica Baxter. The Holocaust is covered in U.S. History in grade nine and Modern World History in grade 11. The district is also creating a lesson about antisemitism during the Middle Ages in Europe for its World History course taught to seventh graders. Superintendent McKnight said the school district wants to invite community members “who have experienced some significant history in life that can shed light on our students to build their understanding,” she said.
Students say education about the Holocaust should happen before high school. The current requirements are “nowhere near enough” of what students need to know, Barold said.
Since the entrance was vandalized Saturday, Whitman’s Jewish Student Union has met almost daily with the school’s administration to program events involving the Jewish community to take place after students return from winter break, said Ryan Kulp, the student union’s secretary. The group also handed out hot chocolate this week and coordinated a video campaign of Whitman students declaring they are proud to be Jewish or proud to be an ally to the Jewish community.
On Tuesday, members of the group came together to create a new banner for the school. Perched above the school’s main entrance, a sign declares, “Everyone is welcome here.” | 2022-12-22T21:46:29Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Montgomery students lament antisemitism surging in their schools - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/12/22/antisemitism-montgomery-county-whitman-vandalism/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/12/22/antisemitism-montgomery-county-whitman-vandalism/ |
In its economic heyday of the late 1980s and early 1990s, there was a curious phenomenon of Hollywood celebrities showing up in Japanese commercials: Arnold Schwarzenegger hawking instant noodles, Harrison Ford pitching Kirin beer. To this day, Tommy Lee Jones still appears in a long-standing series advertising canned coffee.
The US share of the world’s third-biggest box office has been dropping for years, a phenomenon that predates the pandemic and has only been aggravated by it. Four of the top five grossing movies this year are domestic hits, with Hollywood’s only representative the ’80s throwback Top Gun: Maverick.
It’s part of a broader decoupling between Hollywood and Japan. But unlike the woes studios face in China, this is no ideological departure. Japan is a free market, with no equivalent of the quota Beijing places on US movies, nor censors stepping in to prevent their release on moral grounds. Neither is it a pandemic phenomenon. Japan is one of the few countries that largely kept cinemas open during the global outbreak.
Instead, Japanese audiences are favoring domestic fare, a trend accelerated by an increase in big-budget animated movies. Every other film, except Top Gun, in the top five this year is Japan-made and uses animation, led by One Piece Film: Red and Jujutsu Kaisen 0: The Movie. Even James Cameron isn’t immune. His Avatar: The Way of Water debuted at a disappointing third place in Japan, behind two animated motion pictures that have been on screens for weeks. Some estimates say it’s the only market where Avatar failed to debut at number one.
While the first Avatar was a box-office hit in Japan and the country’s 12th-highest grossing movie of all time, tastes have shifted in the decade-plus since. The phenomenon is epitomized by the success of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba — the Movie: Mugen Train — which despite opening in the midst of the pandemic became Japan’s biggest-ever box office hit, toppling a record held since 2001 by Studio Ghibli’s Oscar-winning Spirited Away.
There’s no single reason behind the audience’s changing tastes. But one must be the rising quality of domestic movies. The days of reusing animations and dragging the same action scenes out for episode after episode are over. Japanese animation these days is a big-budget affair, illustrated nowhere better than by the hits from director Makoto Shinkai, the creative force behind Your Name, the 2016 tale of body-swapping teens that is Japan’s fifth-biggest box-office blockbuster. Shinkai’s recently released Suzume, a disaster-themed animated fantasy that’s one of the movies that beat Avatar last weekend, is nearing 10 billion yen ($75 million).
Meanwhile, the same pressures that impact the movie industry elsewhere also affect Japan. The rise of streaming means that films need to be tent-pole events to get people in seats. Animation directors like Shinkai or Studio Ghibli alum Mamoru Hosoda have become brand names unto themselves, with budgets to match. That pressure for success encourages making movies of established franchises such as One Piece, the long-running pirate series that is Japan’s all-time top-selling manga, or perennial high-school basketball tale Slam Dunk, a movie adaption of which beat Cameron to the top of the box office last weekend.
The rise of high-quality movies from the pages of comic books also means there’s less room for Hollywood’s equivalents. Another reason for its shrinking share is the limited audience for the now-ubiquitous superhero movies. With a few exceptions, such as Avengers and Spider-Man, consumers haven’t taken to them in the way they previously flocked to franchises like Harry Potter or Pirates of the Caribbean. While Black Panther might rank globally as the 10th biggest-grossing movie of the last decade, it scored just $14.7 million in Japan. This year’s Thor: Love and Thunder earned a paltry $9.8 million.
Even Walt Disney Co.’s animation hits seem to be struggling. While 2013’s Frozen grossed nearly $250 million in Japan — fully 20% of its total — recent entries have done startlingly poorly. Last year’s Encanto earned just $6.8 million, Raya and the Last Dragon $3.3 million, and Strange World, released a month ago, less than $1 million. For a Disney-crazy country, that failure should be concerning. Notably, remakes of previous hits like Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast seem unaffected by this disinterest, a further indication that it’s the properties themselves, not the hassle of going to the theater, that’s turning audiences off.
Japan’s success in capturing audiences at home is to be applauded. There’s no question of protectionism here. But it’s hard not to feel a little troubled if this trend continues long term. Among certain generations, despite a lack of a common language, it’s easy to bond over a shared love of Arnie blockbusters or the early career of Leonardo DiCaprio. For that to disappear entirely would be to lose something precious.
Of course, there’s always the alternative: Japan could better export its increasingly high-quality products. Anime already scores highly on Netflix Inc. worldwide, with more than one generation of westerners having grown up watching Japanese cartoons. Sony Group Corp.’s purchase of anime streaming service Crunchyroll bears close attention.
It’ll be interesting to see if the second season of the Japan-produced Netflix show Alice in Borderland, released this week, resonates with audiences. The first season largely sank without trace abroad, only for the similarly themed South Korean Squid Game to become an international phenomenon. Instead of aging Hollywood stars in Japanese commercials, it might be Japanese stars, real or otherwise, hawking products on western screens.
• China’s Gaming Ambitions Threaten to One-Up Japan: Gearoid Reidy
• At Disney, Iger Is CEO and Chief Political Officer: Beth Kowitt
• Forget Brad Pitt. The Bullet Train Is the Star: Gearoid Reidy | 2022-12-22T21:46:35Z | www.washingtonpost.com | ‘Avatar’ Struggles Show How Japan Is Ditching Hollywood - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/avatar-struggles-show-how-japan-is-ditching-hollywood/2022/12/22/09197536-8234-11ed-8738-ed7217de2775_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/avatar-struggles-show-how-japan-is-ditching-hollywood/2022/12/22/09197536-8234-11ed-8738-ed7217de2775_story.html |
This illustration, provided by the National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, depicts a target pellet inside a hohlraum capsule, with laser beams entering through openings on either end. The beams compress and heat the target to the conditions necessary for nuclear fusion to occur. (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory/AP)
Last week, the Energy Department announced that for the first time, scientists have been able to produce a fusion reaction that creates a net energy gain. This essentially means that in a lab-based setting, researchers were able to replicate the nuclear reaction by which energy is created within the sun. It’s a major milestone in a decades-long, multibillion-dollar quest to develop a technology that could provide unlimited cheap, clean power.
While nuclear fusion is still at least a decade – and maybe many decades – away from commercial use, officials from the scientific community and the government are looking at this moment as one of deep promise, in the hopes of developing carbon-free power. Innovation reporter Pranshu Verma unpacks how nuclear fusion works and what this could mean for the future of the planet. | 2022-12-22T21:47:18Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Can nuclear fusion save the world? - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/podcasts/post-reports/can-nuclear-fusion-save-the-world/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/podcasts/post-reports/can-nuclear-fusion-save-the-world/ |
Travis Hunter, shown after the Celebration Bowl, is leaving Jackson State to follow Coach Deion Sanders to Colorado. (Hakim Wright Sr./AP)
Around this time last year, Travis Hunter stunned college football observers when he flipped his commitment from Florida State to Jackson State.
Arguably the top recruit in the country, Hunter appeared to be the latest coup for historically Black colleges and universities, which in the months after the murder of George Floyd in May 2020 attracted high-profile coaches and saw a spike in interest from top recruits, who considered offers from Howard and Alabama State alongside LSU and USC.
But like Hunter, who on Wednesday officially decided to follow his former Jackson State coach Deion Sanders to Colorado, several of those players left after brief stays — if they ever signed at all.
“I talked to a couple schools, you know. Like I said I was going to do, I was going to weigh my options out and go ahead and see who had the best fit for me,” Hunter said in a video announcing his Colorado commitment. “I seen the rumor saying it was all about money. It’s not about money. It’s about where I’m going to get developed most at. Y’all seen me at Jackson State. I dominated. But y’all said, ‘That’s a high school league, you ain’t really doing nothing there.’ … It’s time for the next level.”
Hunter’s defection was predictable. Hunter long admired Sanders before they bonded over football and bass fishing during his high school recruitment. Sanders promised to teach Hunter about creating a personal brand off the field and becoming a two-way star on it, as Sanders did during his Hall of Fame career.
As a true freshman this fall, Hunter quickly evolved into one of the best cornerbacks in the Football Championship Subdivision, recording eight passes defensed and two interceptions, including one he returned for a touchdown. He also caught 18 passes for 190 yards and four touchdowns as a receiver.
Sanders’s son, quarterback Shedeur Sanders, and Tyler Brown, an FCS all-American offensive lineman, also left Jackson State and committed to Colorado on Wednesday.
Hunter’s brief stint at the Mississippi HBCU is reminiscent of basketball standout Makur Maker’s inauspicious stay at Howard.
Maker made waves in 2020 when he chose Howard over predominantly White powerhouses such as Kentucky and UCLA. Considered one of the best centers in the Class of 2020, his commitment was hailed by some as a game changer. When he announced his commitment, Maker said he needed “to make the HBCU movement real so that others will follow.”
Following Maker’s commitment that July, others appeared to entertain the idea, including Mikey Williams, a top basketball recruit in the Class of 2023 who couched his HBCU interest in terms of Black empowerment. A day after Maker’s commitment, Williams wrote on Instagram: “I’m 10 toes behind the black community! Any way that I can help or make a change in the black community best believe I am going to do it.” He committed to Memphis in November.
Still, others followed through.
Two months after Maker’s decision, Class of 2021 quarterback Noah Bodden chose Grambling State over several Power Five conference suitors including Oregon, Tennessee and Arizona State. That November, ESPN 100 point guard Se’Quoia Allmond committed to play basketball for Jackson State, and forward Duncan Powell flipped his commitment from Arkansas to North Carolina A&T. Four months later, Hercy Miller, the son of hip-hop mogul Master P, opted to play basketball for Tennessee State, rejecting offers he said he received from USC and Missouri, among others.
Interest in HBCUs has continued, albeit more quietly. This year, wide receiver Kevin Coleman Jr. joined Hunter in Jackson State’s 2022 recruiting class, declining suitors that included Miami, Florida State and USC. Recruiting service 247 Sports ranked Jackson State’s recruiting class No. 75 in the country, higher than Wake Forest, Tulane and Coastal Carolina, which all dabbled in the Associated Press top 25 this season.
But most of those players have since departed.
Miller transferred to Louisville this year because he didn’t believe the Tennessee State medical staff could provide the proper care after he suffered a hip injury during his freshman season, his father told the Tennessean. Allmond, who never suited up for Jackson State, plays for Loyola Marymount. Coleman on Monday entered the transfer portal, while Bodden left Grambling State in May — albeit for Southwestern Athletic Conference rival Southern.
A groin injury ended Maker’s freshman season at Howard just two games after it started. He went undrafted in 2021 but opted to train in Los Angeles rather than return to college. After a professional stint in Australia, he eventually returned to D.C., where he plays for the Wizards’ G League affiliate. | 2022-12-22T21:47:49Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Travis Hunter commits to Colorado, is latest top recruit to depart an HBCU - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/22/travis-hunter-leaves-jackson-state/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/22/travis-hunter-leaves-jackson-state/ |
Musk and Starship are now at center stage in NASA’s moon landing hopes
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson says SpaceX has assured him that it is not distracted while CEO Elon Musk has been consumed with Twitter
The SpaceX Starship spacecraft at the company's facility in South Texas in February. (Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post)
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson was leaving the Kennedy Center Honors this month when he ran into Gwynne Shotwell, the president and chief operating officer at SpaceX, Elon Musk’s space venture.
The company is now NASA’s No. 2 contractor, pulling in more money from the space agency than Boeing and Lockheed Martin. It flies NASA’s astronauts to the International Space Station and is developing the spacecraft that is to land people on the moon. But Nelson was growing concerned that Musk, SpaceX’s founder and CEO, was getting embroiled in his purchase of Twitter and losing focus.
“Tell me that I don’t have to worry about the distraction at Twitter,” he said to Shotwell as they walked into the garage at the awards ceremony together.
“I assure you — you don’t have anything to worry about,” Nelson, in an interview with The Washington Post, recalled Shotwell replying.
That exchange eased Nelson’s concern about Musk and his stewardship of SpaceX — at least for now. But with the completion of its Artemis I mission this month, a flight of NASA’s Orion capsule around the moon without astronauts on board, the space agency will increasingly be looking to SpaceX to help it achieve its goal of returning humans to the surface of the moon.
Last year, NASA made a big bet on Musk’s company, awarding it a nearly $3 billion contract to use its next-generation Starship spacecraft to land astronauts on the lunar surface by 2025. Since then, SpaceX won another contract, worth $1.5 billion, for a second lunar landing.
The company has been running an intense testing program at its private launch and manufacturing facility in South Texas, moving quickly to get what would be the biggest and most powerful rocket ever flown up and running. The company is already building a launch tower for it at the Kennedy Space Center, where it launches its Falcon 9 rockets and Dragon spacecraft.
While Musk has been at Twitter, SpaceX has kept up its fast pace, completing three launches in 34 hours last week, including one that was the 15th flight of its reusable Falcon 9 booster, a record.
All of which has turned Nelson, once a SpaceX skeptic, into a believer.
“Remember what everybody said? SpaceX was pie in the sky,” Nelson, a former senator from Florida, said in the interview. “As we say in the south, the proof’s in the pudding.”
Gesturing to a model rocket on display in his office, he added: “And look what they’ve done with that one right there, the Falcon 9.”
Still, Musk’s foray into social media and the way it has consumed his time has worried Nelson, other leaders at NASA and the space community as a whole.
When pressed about what Musk’s takeover of Twitter might mean for NASA, Nelson said: “I have a great deal of faith in Gwynne Shotwell. And I also have faith that Elon trusts Gwynne and has turned the reins of SpaceX over to Gwynne.”
When it comes to SpaceX’s day-to-day operations, that has been true for some time. But SpaceX is still very much Musk’s company; he’s not only the chief executive, but also the chief engineer. He sets the vision and the ethos for its more than 10,000 employees. And Starship, a fully reusable spacecraft that he wants to use to get people to the moon and Mars, has been the project that has consumed most of his time and energy at SpaceX.
Concerned about its progress, Musk last year wrote an email to SpaceX employees lamenting how long it was taking to ramp up production of the next-generation raptor engine that powers Starship. “The Raptor production crisis is much worse than it seemed a few weeks ago,” he wrote. He said the company faced a “genuine risk of bankruptcy if we cannot achieve a Starship flight rate of at least once every two weeks next year.”
The email was largely seen as a way for Musk to motivate his team to work faster. But Starship still hasn’t flown this year, let alone at such a fast cadence. The company is now looking to fly sometime in the first part of next year.
But it’s still not clear when. This year, the company won preliminary approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to fly the vehicle to orbit, but that approval came with a list of more than 75 actions the company must complete that are designed to protect the environment and reduce the impact of SpaceX’s activities on a nearby public beach and wildlife preserve.
The FAA said last week in a statement to The Post that the time frame to complete those milestones varies. “Some measures must be completed prior to launch, while others are designed to occur during post-launch activities or following a major mishap,” the statement said. “The FAA will ensure SpaceX complies with all required mitigations.”
It did not say when SpaceX might launch. SpaceX declined to comment for this article.
Earlier in the development program, SpaceX sent Starship prototypes several miles into the air, where they hovered and then descended toward their landing pad. Several crashed and blew up. But after a few attempts, the teams figured it out and landed the spacecraft safely. Since then, the company has been focused on building the launch tower, complete with a pair of arms that would catch the booster as it descends, and getting the whole vehicle ready for an orbital launch attempt. In recent months, it has conducted engine tests, including one last week.
Pam Melroy, NASA’s deputy administrator, said at a recent event that the company is making progress. But she didn’t offer a timeline for when the orbital launch attempt might come.
“They’ve got the design ready to go. Do some serious hardware testing and they’re beyond the we’re-going-to-probably-blow-up-the-pad phase,” she said.
As a former acting deputy associate administrator at the FAA, she said she knows “how hard it is to develop a new location to launch rockets from. … It’s very challenging to set up a new location, and I think they’re just experiencing some of those things.”
In the interview, Nelson said he is constantly asking for updates on the company’s progress. “And I am continuously told they are on schedule, they are meeting every milestone, and in some cases, they are exceeding their milestones,” he said. “And, you know, look at SpaceX’s history. They launch and sometimes they blow up. But in the end, they keep it going.”
NASA will need them to. After it successfully flew the Artemis I mission, it’s looking toward Artemis II, which would send a crew of astronauts in the Orion spacecraft to orbit around the moon, perhaps by 2024. Then for the lunar landing attempt, Starship would meet up with Orion in lunar orbit, ferry the astronauts to the surface and back to Orion again, which would take them home.
That’s scheduled for 2025 — an ambitious, perhaps quixotic timeline, considering Starship has yet to fly to Earth orbit, let alone to the moon. The mission is also complicated by the fact that SpaceX would have to refuel Starship in Earth orbit with several tankers before it could fly to the moon.
Nelson conceded that there is a good chance the mission could slip to 2026, especially since the space agency has to get its new spacesuits ready and pull off a successful Artemis II mission as well.
“There’s a lot riding on it,” he said. “SpaceX has to be ready.” | 2022-12-22T21:49:02Z | www.washingtonpost.com | NASA says its assure SpaceX on track for Starship landing on the moon - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/12/22/starship-spacex-moon-landing-update/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/12/22/starship-spacex-moon-landing-update/ |
Trevor Bauer last appeared in an MLB game in June 2021. (Ross D. Franklin/AP)
LOS ANGELES — From nearly the moment Trevor Bauer, the polarizing star pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, was accused of sexual assault last year, his team and much of the baseball world quickly moved on.
But for the three women who have publicly accused him of abuse, the past 18 months have been spent asserting, repeating and litigating their allegations.
One accuser was interrogated by detectives who scoured her phone for evidence of financial motives. When prosecutors then declined to charge Bauer, he posted a video to social media in which he called the woman a liar and denied striking her during sex, even though he had already acknowledged hitting her on a phone call recorded by detectives. Bauer’s investigator called another woman’s former acquaintances, asking about her dating and sex life, the woman said. And all three have been accused of extortion and faced social-media retaliation by Bauer.
The baseball star’s withering counterattack appeared to reach a crescendo in April of this year, just as he faced a career-threatening reckoning in which those women would play a pivotal role. Days before Major League Baseball suspended him for a record 324 games for violating its domestic violence and sexual assault policy — a decision he would immediately appeal — Bauer sued the woman who would be the chief witness in the resulting arbitration battle.
Amid such pressure, one of the three accusers decided unexpectedly this summer that she no longer wanted to participate in the arbitration battle, citing “personal and family matters,” according to records reviewed by The Washington Post.
The latest chapter in Bauer’s saga is nearing its end. Over seven months, an arbitrator, tasked with determining whether to uphold or reduce Bauer’s two-season suspension, has examined MLB’s case against the pitcher. That arbitrator’s decision, expected within weeks, will not only determine Bauer’s future but will affect the Dodgers’ payroll — and help determine whether accusers will be willing to cooperate as MLB investigators try to root alleged abusers from the game.
The arbitration hearing has been shrouded in secrecy. But The Post used previously unreported public records, confidential legal materials and interviews with people with firsthand knowledge, including one of the accusers who testified, to shed light on proceedings that have been as in-depth as a trial — with roughly two dozen witnesses, reams of evidence and a battalion of hired legal guns on each side. For MLB, those reinforcements include a former federal prosecutor known for taking down the leader of a sex cult.
At least two of Bauer’s accusers testified during the hearing, records and interviews show. They appeared via Zoom from MLB headquarters, in under-oath and transcribed testimony subject to cross-examination from Bauer’s lead attorney, Shawn Holley.
Through subpoenas and public records requests, both sides — Bauer and the players union on one, MLB and his accusers on the other — have amassed evidence they each have touted as proof that the other is lying, records show.
As MLB suspends Trevor Bauer, a new accuser speaks out
Among those materials: a recording of a phone conversation between Bauer and his California accuser, who placed the call at the direction of police. During the 28-minute recording, obtained by The Post, Bauer acknowledged hitting the woman, who was hospitalized afterward, but expressed surprise at her injuries and suggested he was following her lead during the encounter. Bauer has publicly denied striking her.
Records reviewed by The Post show the hearing also has included exhaustive back-and-forth over a video showing the California woman beside a sleeping Bauer the morning after the alleged assault. In the Snapchat video, which she filmed, the woman is smiling and does not have visible injuries. Other photos she took that morning, including hours before and shortly afterward, did show injuries to her face.
Bauer’s lawyers have argued she “buried” the video during a restraining order hearing last year because it would have exonerated him. The woman, though, has denied hiding the existence of the video from anybody, according to arbitration records reviewed by The Post. And body-camera footage shows she volunteered the video to police detectives during her initial interview with them, explaining at the time that her smile in the footage was part of her “trauma response.” Her lawyer in the restraining order hearing, Lisa Helfend Meyer, did not respond to a request for comment on whether the video was turned over to Bauer’s lawyers during that proceeding.
The video has been dissected by both sides during the arbitration hearing, according to records reviewed by The Post, with lawyers debating the meaning of her smile and whether her injuries weren’t visible because of lighting issues or the time it takes for bruises to appear. Holley has seized on the video as evidence that the California woman concocted her story for financial gain, which Bauer also has claimed in his lawsuit against her. The woman has denied any such plot and filed a counterclaim against Bauer for sexual battery, and the lawsuit is ongoing.
Records reviewed by The Post show Bauer’s penchant for legal retaliation has been a central concern of MLB during its investigation and the arbitration hearing.
It is against MLB’s domestic violence policy to “engage in conduct which is aimed at, or has the effect of, intimidating or tampering with” a witness or alleged victim in an investigation. In an agreement between MLB and a potential witness in the hearing, reviewed by The Post, MLB stated that if Bauer were to file a “frivolous or any other legal proceeding” against that witness based on their participation in the investigation, MLB would seek to have Bauer disciplined for violating the policy.
Bauer’s representatives did not respond to repeated requests for comment. A spokesman for MLB declined to comment, citing the confidentiality of the arbitration proceedings.
The other accuser known to have testified in the Bauer hearing is a woman from Columbus, Ohio, who previously alleged in an article in The Post that he repeatedly choked her unconscious, slapped and anally penetrated her without her consent over the course of a years-long relationship. The Post is not identifying her or Bauer’s other accusers; it is The Post’s policy to not identify alleged victims of sexual assault unless they ask to be named.
In a recent interview, the Columbus woman said she was constantly reminded of her alleged abuser, whether it be by his investigator calling her former acquaintances; seeing fans wearing Bauer jerseys when she attended a minor league game this summer; or retired MLB pitcher Curt Schilling saying on a podcast that Bauer’s punishment wasn’t deserved because “nothing happened.”
“Unfortunately this is now something that, for the last year and a half, I’ve had to deal with and I’ve had to think about and I’ve had to relive it,” the woman said. “I don’t get to forget the worst thing that happened to me.”
An ‘overwhelming’ hearing
Bauer was at the top of his sport before the 2021 season, when he signed a three-year deal worth $102 million. It was only months later, in May 2021, that a California woman told police that Bauer had choked her unconscious and then repeatedly punched her during sex, derailing Bauer’s career.
A judge denied the woman a restraining order, and a police investigation ended with no charges being filed. Bauer sued the woman, claiming she had orchestrated a scheme to extort him. But by then, two other women had come forward, detailing to The Post allegations of similar abuse. After its own investigation, MLB suspended Bauer in April for two seasons.
MLB’s public announcement of Bauer’s punishment was light on explanation. MLB only said that after a “lengthy investigation,” it was suspending Bauer for violating the Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy it has with the players union.
The policy precludes “physical or sexual violence” and defines sexual assault as a “nonconsensual sex act” such as “when the victim is asleep, unconscious or legally incapable of consent.” The allegations of all three women included that Bauer choked them unconscious and was violent toward them during sex.
Bauer again declared his innocence and said he and his legal team “expect to prevail” in their appeal. Since then, there have only been rare public glimpses of the arbitration hearing, which began in May.
In August, Holley, Bauer’s attorney, disclosed during an unrelated court proceeding that the hearing had 22 witnesses scheduled, featured “substantial documentary evidence” and was expected to last until October or November. Holley, who was attempting to delay the rape trial of another client, actor Danny Masterson, called her obligations in the Bauer hearing “overwhelming and extremely time-consuming.”
“It is a trial,” said Holley, who first gained fame as part of O.J. Simpson’s legal team and has since represented a long list of celebrities.
The hearing has focused on the allegations of “the three accusers” who have publicly detailed their allegations against Bauer, according to an MLB subpoena obtained by The Post. In an interview with The Post, the woman from Columbus described what she saw as a last-ditch effort by Bauer to embarrass or intimidate her before she testified. She said Holley’s private investigator contacted former acquaintances with no relation to the case to ask about her dating history, including whether she had past relationships with professional athletes.
Dodgers star Trevor Bauer, on leave amid assault probe, was subject of previous protection order
She shared with The Post a screenshot of a message she said was sent to her by her former manager at a bar. “Yo some investigator guy called me asking about you... and like asked if I knew who you dated or had sex with with!” the former boss wrote.
The woman wrote back that it was Bauer’s investigator, adding, “I now know why women don’t come forward with this s---.”
She still participated in the hearing. Those proceedings were different from previous high-profile arbitration hearings in that they were remote, per the apparent preference of the arbitrator hired by MLB and its union, Martin Scheinman.
Scheinman has said he takes precautions to make sure virtual witnesses are not being coached. A similar concern resulted in Bauer’s accusers being put alone in MLB offices for testimony, which Holley then picked apart during cross-examination. The Columbus woman said the experience caused her to break down in tears during her testimony. “It’s never fun to discuss super intimate details of your life, let alone with 20 people on Zoom screens,” the woman said. MLB eventually sent in a lawyer to sit in the same room as her, she said.
That lawyer, records and interviews show, was Moira Penza, a specialist in complex legal sagas involving alleged sexual assault. Penza is a former federal prosecutor who helped obtain the conviction of NXIVM cult leader Keith Raniere. She is a partner in the firm of Beth Wilkinson, who recently investigated Washington’s NFL team. Wilkinson’s firm, court records show, has assisted MLB in the Bauer matter.
Penza joined an MLB effort against Bauer that has been led by Moira Weinberg, MLB’s senior vice president of investigations and herself a former Manhattan prosecutor. Penza declined to comment.
After parts of two days, the Columbus woman said, her testimony was over. “The relief I felt afterwards, it was amazing,” she said. “To finally get my part out — to have done my part and be done.”
But another of Bauer’s accusers decided mid-arbitration that she no longer wanted to be involved. That woman, from Cleveland, sought a restraining order against Bauer in 2020, The Post previously reported, after he allegedly punched and choked her during sex without her consent and sent her menacing messages. She dismissed her petition for the restraining order after Bauer’s attorneys accused her of extortion. Following the article, Bauer released hundreds of text messages from her that partially exposed her identity. He then reposted the messages with the identifying information redacted.
Records reviewed by The Post showed the Cleveland woman indicated in June that she would not participate in the arbitration. By August, she had asked to not be contacted further by MLB or the players union.
An attorney who has represented her, Joseph Darwal, did not respond to a request for comment.
A taped call
Bauer’s most exhaustive fight has been against his accuser in California. He claims she lured him into increasingly rough sex with her — including in text messages in which she urged him to give her “all the pain” — to “lay the groundwork for a financial settlement.”
The woman has fought back, denying any such plot and doubling down on efforts to prove her allegations true.
Months after the law enforcement investigation ended with no charges, their dueling legal claims have pried loose new details, some of which contradict Bauer’s public narrative about the case and caused her lawyers to suggest that it was mishandled by police.
Bauer claimed in his lawsuit that in pursuit of her alleged scheme, the woman “pursued bogus criminal” charges against him and filed a “false police report.” Body-camera footage reviewed by The Post, however, shows that during the woman’s first interaction with Pasadena police May 18, 2021 — three days after the alleged assault and after hospital personnel reported her injuries to police — she was not initially willing to pursue charges.
“Everyone’s telling me to press charges and stuff, but it’s like, my life changes, his life changes,” said the woman, whose eyes and face appeared bruised and scratched in the footage of the police interview. “So I guess I’m just like confused on what to do.”
The detectives urged her to call Bauer that day in their presence. “We could arrest him based on what you kind of told us already,” said Det. Derek Locklin, who explained that without more evidence, “it’s going to be a he-said, she-said type thing.”
The woman said she also didn’t feel ready to take that step because she was “pretty shaken up still.” But she later decided to make the call, which police recorded that May 22. In the call, she confronted Bauer about allegedly punching her in the head and vagina.
Bauer didn’t deny punching her — though he said he “just can’t even figure out how, like, the result was what it was” — and on a couple of instances appeared to acknowledge it.
“I didn’t feel like I hit you that hard, you know?” Bauer said.
At another point, the woman asked Bauer, “How many times do you think you, like, hit my head?”
“I’m not sure,” Bauer said. “It wasn’t that many.”
Bauer suggested that he was following the woman’s lead in having rough sex with her and that he frequently checked to make sure she was okay.
“You seemed fine, because, like when you had come to ... it seemed like you were, like, you know, normal,” Bauer said.
But the woman, who described going “in and out of consciousness,” pushed back on his claim that everything was consensual. “I don’t remember you ever asking me. ... The punching thing, I didn’t want that,” the woman said.
“Yeah, I mean, I’m very, like, I’m sorry that — I don’t know, like, what to say,” Bauer responded. “... I feel your pain. I’m, like, in pain, too. And like I never wanted it to get that to that point, like — I can feel like we’ll never get to that point again. I promise that. I know that doesn’t change anything.”
“I’m hurting, too,” Bauer added.
Bauer also appeared to offer financial assistance, saying: “You mention missing work. ... I want to make sure you’re okay, you know? And, honestly, like, if I can help ... is there something I can do?”
But Pasadena detectives then soured on the case, as shown in body-camera footage of a second visit to the woman’s home in early June 2021. By then, police had, in searching through the woman’s phone, discovered messages that Bauer’s lawyers would later seize on as evidence of a financial plot.
In messages to friends before the alleged assault, the woman had boasted of meeting Bauer, saying she had her “hooks in him,” and riffed about prenuptial agreements, Range Rovers and having Bauer give her $50 million.
The woman protested to detectives that the messages were just jokes referring to marrying a wealthy athlete. “I would never purposefully set myself up for something like this, like, thinking, ‘Oh, if I get him to beat the s--- out of me, you know, and let him do whatever he wants, then I could do this,’ ” the woman said.
But the detectives suggested the messages meant Bauer was not being arrested in the near future — and probably never would be. “This creates a large reasonable doubt to where ... I don’t know how we could convince a jury to convict him,” Det. Brian Murphy said.
“It really lays the groundwork for looking like a setup,” Det. Kimberly Jones said.
Among the evidence the detectives cited: that the woman’s search history showed she had Googled “set-ups” days before Bauer’s alleged assault.
The woman later emailed the detectives evidence that she had been searching how to spell that phrase while writing a social media post for her job. But Bauer cited the Google search in his legal complaint as proof of the woman’s plot against him.
The detectives also asked the woman if her encounter with Bauer was sex work, which she denied.
The woman’s attorney, Fred Thiagarajah, emailed Jones after hearing about the interview, complaining that his client “felt more like a suspect than a victim.” That July, Thiagarajah claimed in an email to the detective that they were not calling back other alleged victims.
“These are two tangible leads involving prior victim(s) that can either corroborate or impeach [my client’s] statements,” Thiagarajah wrote, “and yet for some reason, no follow-up is being conducted.”
The Pasadena Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.
The department presented its findings from the investigation to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office the following month. Prosecutors announced in February that they would not pursue a case against Bauer, saying that following “a thorough review of all the available evidence,” they “were unable to prove the relevant charges beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Following that announcement, Bauer for the first time explicitly denied hitting the woman in a YouTube video titled “The Truth.”
“I never punched this woman in the face. I never punched her in the vagina,” Bauer said. “... And while we did have consensual rough sex, the disturbing acts and conduct she described simply did not occur.”
The arbitrator’s final decision is unlikely to be the end of the legal saga involving Bauer. If the ruling goes against him, he could turn to the courts to attempt to overturn the decision.
A judge also recently allowed the California woman to continue pursuing her counterclaim against Bauer, setting up their dueling civil claims to head toward a trial — this one in public.
Her current attorney, Bryan Freedman, declined to make her available for an interview. But in social media posts, she described her battle with Bauer — and her trips to testify in the arbitration hearing — as transformative.
She wrote in one post: “To my summer stints in NYC — you brought out a fire in me that I didn’t know existed.” | 2022-12-22T22:25:31Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Appeal decision looming, Trevor Bauer and accusers wage fight over his future - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/22/trevor-bauer-appeal-decision-dodgers/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/22/trevor-bauer-appeal-decision-dodgers/ |
French officials announced that they seized this $120 million yacht in March that belonged to Russian oligarch Igor Sechin, CEO of oil giant Rosneft. (AP)
The Senate unanimously backed a plan to use certain confiscated Russian assets to aid Ukraine in its war with Russia.
The United States and other countries targeted Russia and its oligarchs with a host of diplomatic and economic sanctions as punishment after it invaded its neighboring country in February. But U.S. law limited how money from those assets could be used, according to lawmakers.
The amendment, passed by a voice vote, is attached to the $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill that passed the Senate 68-29 on Thursday. The House is expected to pass the spending package, which will include the amendment, ahead of a Friday deadline to keep the government funded.
President Biden supported using proceeds from seized Russian assets to help Ukraine and is expected to sign the spending package into law.
The Senate’s action comes one day after Biden, joined by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House, announced a new $1.85 billion security assistance package for Ukraine.
Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) co-sponsored the amendment with Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and said in a statement that he expects it to bring billions of dollars to Ukraine. Graham added, “Our amendment also takes pressure off the American taxpayer.”
Rep Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.), who sponsored the effort in the House, said it makes sense to use assets from friends of Russian President Vladimir Putin to rebuild Ukraine.
“It’s what common sense and justice demands — making Putin’s enablers pay to help rebuild the country he’s destroying,” Malinowski told The Post. “I hope the law encourages the Justice Department to redouble its kleptocrat asset seizure efforts, and our European allies to follow suit.”
Sen. Michael F. Bennet (D-Colo.) said in a statement Thursday that the Senate is “sending the message to Putin and his band of thugs that America stands with Ukraine.”
A March tweet from Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), who co-sponsored legislation with Bennet on this issue, said “we should be seizing, not just freezing, Russian assets and using those funds to support humanitarian efforts for the Ukrainian people.”
Republicans oppose Democrats’ plan to fund Ukraine with seized Russian assets
Zelensky addressed a joint meeting of Congress on Wednesday night, as Ukraine approaches the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion and faces uncertainty over how much more money the United States will provide. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), whose party takes control of the House in January, has said he opposes giving Ukraine a “blank check” to fight Russia.
America and its European allies moved quickly to levy sanctions and enforce them soon after the invasion.
In March, French officials announced that they seized a $120 million yacht that belonged to Russian oligarch Igor Sechin, CEO of oil giant Rosneft. That month, the United States provided international allies a list of 50 Russian oligarchs whose assets were stashed abroad.
The $300 million yacht that belongs to another Russian oligarch, Suleyman Kerimov, was seized in May by the Fiji government on behalf of the U.S. government.
In a statement at the time, Attorney General Merrick Garland said, “there is no hiding place for the assets of criminals who enable the Russian regime.”
Ellen Nakashima contributed to this report. | 2022-12-22T22:38:37Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Senate backs plan to use money from seized Russian assets to aid Ukraine - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/22/senate-russia-ukraine-aid/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/22/senate-russia-ukraine-aid/ |
While prosecuting a former president would be difficult, it’s not unusual to charge people who knowingly take top-secret documents
This image, contained in a court filing by the Justice Department on Aug. 30 and partially redacted by the source, shows documents seized during the Aug. 8 FBI search of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate. (Justice Department/AP)
In Kansas City, a former FBI analyst pleaded guilty in October to taking home more than 300 classified files or documents, including highly sensitive material about al-Qaeda and an associate of Osama bin Laden. She faces up to 10 years in prison. In Massachusetts, a defense contractor pleaded guilty in 2019 to removing classified national defense information from his office and storing it at home. He got 18 months.
And in Maryland, Harold Martin, a former government contractor, took home a huge number of hard and digital copies of classified materials — the equivalent of 500 million pages — though he never shared it with anyone. He is midway through a nine-year prison sentence.
“For nearly 20 years, Harold Martin betrayed the trust placed in him by stealing and retaining a vast quantity of highly classified national defense information entrusted to him,” U.S. Attorney Robert K. Hur said in a Justice Department news release in 2019. “This sentence, which is one of the longest ever imposed in this type of case, should serve as a warning that we will find and prosecute government employees and contractors who flagrantly violate their duty to protect classified materials.”
No U.S. president has ever been charged with a crime, and experts say any classified-documents prosecution involving a former commander in chief would be more complicated and fraught than the average case. But they also say past cases illustrate the potential legal exposure facing Donald Trump, who is under investigation for keeping thousands of government papers, some highly sensitive and more than 300 marked classified, at his Florida residence and popular private club.
Skepticism before a search: Inside the Mar-a-Lago documents case
The criteria for prosecuting people who improperly handle classified documents are clear: Prosecutors must prove a person deliberately flouted rules for how to store the material securely, while knowing it was classified or secret national defense information. They do not need to establish evidence that the person tried to sell the classified material or shared it with others.
“The person’s motive is more relevant to a defense for mitigation purposes than it is for prosecuting cases,” said Mark S. Zaid, a lawyer who has handled espionage cases.
The Justice Department has alleged that keeping or hiding the documents at Mar-a-Lago may have violated criminal statues — including a part of the Espionage Act, a broad law typically associated with spying but also covering anyone who “willfully retains” or “fails to deliver” national defense information. It is one of many criminal statutes that protects the country’s most secret information.
Trump has denied wrongdoing, telling his lawyers the material belonged to him, not the American people, according to people familiar with the conversations who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss them. He also has publicly claimed that he declassified the documents he kept — a scenario national security law experts say would require a careful process that there is no evidence Trump followed.
A Trump spokesman did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
The Washington Post reported in November that federal agents and prosecutors believe Trump had no financial or transactional motive for allegedly taking and keeping classified documents. People familiar with the investigation, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss it, said prosecutors believe Trump acted largely on his desire to hold on to the materials as trophies or mementos.
In the Maryland case, investigators similarly concluded that Martin, the government contractor, was likely a hoarder who had no intent of sharing or selling the country’s secrets.
Nor did prosecutors determine a clear motive in the Kansas City case involving Kendra Kingsbury, an FBI analyst for more than a decade who stored top-secret government documents at her home.
A lead prosecutor in that case — David Raskin, an experienced Justice Department national security attorney — was subsequently tapped by Attorney General Merrick Garland to assist in the Trump document investigation.
New prosecutor joins Mar-a-Lago team as evidence mounts of potential misconduct
“Kingsbury knew that her personal residence was not an authorized location for such storage and having unauthorized possession of these 20 documents relating to national defense,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick C. Edwards, one of Raskin’s colleagues, said at a hearing in that case, according to a court transcript. “She willfully retained the documents and failed to deliver them to an officer or employee of the United States entitled to receive them.”
In prosecuting government workers and contractors for mishandling sensitive information, prosecutors often rely on statements those individuals must sign to get security clearance, in which they pledge to follow classification rules. Martin admitted to investigators that he understood that keeping the documents at his home was wrong. In court filings, prosecutors emphasized that Kingsbury had been trained in how to handle classified documents and knew storing them at her home was prohibited.
Presidents don’t go through that same paperwork process. So to bring a case against Trump, prosecutors would need to show that he was aware storing the documents at Mar-a-Lago could be a crime.
Legal experts said the government has enough documentation — from requests for documents from the National Archives and Records Administration to subpoena demands by the Justice Department — to prove that Trump knowingly failed to return sensitive materials back to the government.
“The president does not have a clearance, he is effectively cleared by process of being elected. So if there was indictment for Trump it could not simply be copy and pasted from previous indictments,” said Steven Aftergood, a longtime specialist in the handling of classified information. “But that does not mean he could not have willfully retained records or failed to deliver them. If nothing else, the subpoena that was rendered to him made it clear that he had an obligation to return these records.”
The Justice Department is also exploring possible charges of obstruction or destruction of government property. People familiar with the investigation have said a Trump aide told the FBI the former president instructed him to remove boxes from a storage room where classified documents were kept — and that was done after Trump received a subpoena in May for any classified material in his possession. Investigators also have obtained video surveillance footage showing boxes being moved, said these people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the probe.
The Post has reported that some of the top-secret material kept at Mar-a-Lago involved nuclear programs, while other documents focused on Iran’s missile system and intelligence gathering in China, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss it. The highly restricted nature of those documents helped convince the FBI to launch its initial investigation, if only to get the material back under government lock and key.
Most cases of government workers or contractors who mishandle classified documents are handled administratively with wrongdoers losing their jobs and clearance to handle sensitive documents. Zaid said he has represented several clients who fit that profile, accidentally taking classified materials home as they cleaned out their desks, for example. One client unintentionally left some classified material in his car while he went inside a fast-food restaurant.
Martin and Kingsbury, in contrast, hoarded millions of pages of restricted material in their homes over their careers, triggering criminal investigations. And Ahmedelhadi Serageldin, the Massachusetts defense contractor, downloaded hundreds of classified documents onto an external hard drive, which his employer — Raytheon Technologies — noticed while investigating him for timecard fraud.
When FBI agents searched Martin’s property, they discovered classified materials haphazardly scattered across his property — stored in his home office, in an unlocked and dusty shed in his backyard and in his car, according to court documents.
“What began as an effort by Mr. Martin to be good at his job, to be better at his job, to be as good as he could be, to see the whole picture at his job, became something more complicated than that. It became a compulsion,” Martin’s attorney, James Wyda, said in a 2016 court proceeding. “It got a grip on Mr. Martin. … This was not Spycraft behavior.” | 2022-12-22T23:00:25Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Past cases of hoarding classified documents show legal risk for Trump - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/12/22/trump-classified-prosecutions-mar-a-lago/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/12/22/trump-classified-prosecutions-mar-a-lago/ |
MANCHESTER, England — Erling Haaland scored his 24th goal of the season but it was Nathan Ake’s first that clinched Manchester City’s 3-2 win over Liverpool in the English League Cup on Thursday.
De Bruyne, part of Belgium’s squad that failed to advance from the group stage in Qatar, crossed to Haaland to open the scoring in the 10th minute and later sent a cross to the far post, where Ake headed home in the 58th. | 2022-12-22T23:17:13Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Haaland scores as Man City beats Liverpool 3-2 in League Cup - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/soccer/haaland-scores-as-man-city-beats-liverpool-3-2-in-league-cup/2022/12/22/7f2dd2dc-824b-11ed-8738-ed7217de2775_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/soccer/haaland-scores-as-man-city-beats-liverpool-3-2-in-league-cup/2022/12/22/7f2dd2dc-824b-11ed-8738-ed7217de2775_story.html |
Soccer fans watch the 2009 World Cup at a bar in Boston, where most businesses are now required to activate closed captioning on their public-facing televisions.
Boston has become the latest city to require many businesses to activate closed captioning on all their televisions in public spaces, making communication more accessible to people with hearing loss, one of the most common physical impairments in the United States.
The statute, approved this month, requires restaurants, gyms, banks and other businesses to keep the captions on during normal business hours. A member of Boston’s disability board raised the issue in 2020 after realizing that critical information about the covid-19 pandemic was not fully accessible to people with hearing disabilities, the city said.
Captions help make audio more understandable to a broad range of people, including those learning English and people with hearing impairments, which affect about 15 percent of U.S. adults.
The new rule joins similar policies in Washington state, as well as cities including Portland, Ore., and Rochester, N.Y. These changes come amid increased awareness that uneven enforcement of federal law has led to incomplete aid for people with hearing loss, decades after the Americans With Disabilities Act sought to elevate public accessibility.
Here’s what closed captioning policies look like in practice and why they matter.
What is closed captioning?
Who does closed captioning help?
How effective are rules requiring businesses to use captions? | 2022-12-23T00:50:30Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Boston becomes latest city to require closed captions on public TVs - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2022/12/22/boston-closed-captioning-tvs/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2022/12/22/boston-closed-captioning-tvs/ |
Use this checklist of five key areas of health and learn how to make them a priority in the new year
And here’s a tip: Stop setting the alarm for a few days, and see how late you sleep. If you’re consistently waking up a few hours past your regular alarm time, your body is telling you that you need to go to bed a few hours earlier. Here’s advice on how to fall asleep faster.
Research shows that eating a variety of foods, especially fruits and vegetables, is better for your microbiome. One fast way to do this is to use more herbs and spices. You can use a variety of leafy greens rather than one type of lettuce for your salads. Adding a variety of fruits to your breakfast, adding several different vegetables to your stir-fry and eating more nuts, seeds, beans and grains is good for your microbiome. Learn more about feeding your microbiome from Eating Lab columnist Anahad O’Connor. | 2022-12-23T00:50:36Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Checklist for a healthier new year - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2022/12/22/new-year-health-tips/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2022/12/22/new-year-health-tips/ |
NEW YORK — Cryptocurrency entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried has left Manhattan federal court after his parents signed a $250 million personal recognizance bond. He wore an electronic monitoring bracelet as he rushed to a car Thursday to head with his parents to their California home to await trial. Bankman-Fried is accused of swindling investors and looting customer deposits on his FTX trading platform. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicolas Roos said that the 30-year-old Bankman-Fried “perpetrated a fraud of epic proportions.” Magistrate Judge Gabriel W. Gorenstein largely agreed to bail terms proposed by lawyers on both sides. Bankman-Fried is scheduled to return to court on Jan. 3.
WASHINGTON — As the U.S. deals with its deadliest overdose crisis to date, a national crime-prevention group is calling on the Justice Department to clamp down on social media’s role in the spread of fentanyl, the drug largely driving a troubling spike in overdose deaths among teenagers. The National Crime Prevention Council sent a letter Wednesday to Attorney General Merrick Garland. The group known for ads featuring McGruff the Crime Dog is calling for an investigation into fake, fentanyl-laced pills sold on the popular teen platform Snapchat. The company says it has been working to address the national crisis in recent years will continue to do everything it can.
WASHINGTON — Shrugging off rampant inflation and rising interest rates, the U.S. economy grew at an unexpectedly strong 3.2% annual pace from July through September, the government reported Thursday in a healthy upgrade from its earlier estimate of third-quarter growth. The rise in gross domestic product — the economy’s output in goods and services — marked a return to growth after consecutive drops in the January-March and April-June periods. Driving the third-quarter growth were strong exports and healthy consumer spending.
WASHINGTON — The U.S. government’s highway safety agency says it’s sending teams to investigate November crashes in California and Ohio involving Teslas that may have been operating on automated driving systems. The probes bring to 35 the number of crashes investigated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration since 2016 in which either Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” or “Autopilot” systems likely were in use. The California crash occurred on Thanksgiving Day involving eight vehicles on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. The Ohio crash happened Nov. 18 near Toledo, when a Tesla Model 3 crashed into an Highway Patrol SUV. A message was left Thursday seeking comment from Tesla.
WASHINGTON — Slightly more Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week as the labor market continues to show strength even as the Federal Reserve has tried for nearly a year to slow the economy by raising its main lending rate. The Labor Department reported Thursday that applications for jobless claims for the week ending Dec. 17 inched up by 2,000 to 216,000 from the previous week’s 214,000. Jobless claims are generally viewed as a representation of layoffs. The four-week moving average of claims, which smooths out some of the week-to-week swings, fell by 6,250 to 221,750.
NEW YORK — Inflation is driving many consumers to put off their holiday shopping until the last minute. For the first two years of the pandemic, many were buying earlier in the season, afraid of not getting what they wanted because of shortages of products or delays in deliveries. They also had more money to spend thanks to government stimulus checks and child care credits. But this year, higher prices on everything are squeezing shoppers’ budgets and pushing them to postpone their buying. A quirk in the calendar is also encouraging procrastination. With Christmas falling on Sunday, consumers have all week to shop. | 2022-12-23T00:50:42Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Business Highlights: Bankman-Fried, Tesla discounts - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/business-highlights-bankman-fried-tesla-discounts/2022/12/22/99a74154-824e-11ed-8738-ed7217de2775_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/business-highlights-bankman-fried-tesla-discounts/2022/12/22/99a74154-824e-11ed-8738-ed7217de2775_story.html |
Scotland passes law making legal gender change easier
Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon speaks in the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh on Nov. 24. (Russell Cheyne/Reuters)
Scotland’s Parliament passed a hotly debated law on Thursday that makes it easier for transgender people to legally change their legal gender, amid similar moves in some countries in Europe and the passage of anti-trans laws in the United States.
The law smooths the path for transgender people to acquire driver’s licenses, birth certificates and other official documents that match their gender identities.
With a vote of 86 to 39, Scotland became the 10th country in Europe to implement such a policy. Denmark was the first, in 2014.
Under Scotland’s previous law, transgender people had to wait two years and be diagnosed with gender dysphoria before applying to certify their transition. Thursday’s reform also lowered the legal age for a minor to request the legal change, from 18 to 16 years.
“Over the large arch we are seeing a huge movement toward a human rights based approach to gender recognition” in Europe, said Cianán Russell, a senior policy offer at ILGA-Europe, a LGBTI rights advocacy group.
Since 2010, they said, every effort at legal gender recognition reform within Europe has sought to advance protections — with the exception of Hungary, which expressly banned changing one’s designated gender in 2020.
Overall, opponents of the expansion of transgender rights in Europe have focused on thwarting legislative changes, Russell said. In the United States, in contrast, anti-transgender legislation aimed at rolling back rights has become a key agenda item for many Republican lawmakers.
Thursday’s vote concluded three days of bitter debate and controversy. Lawmakers argued late into the night Tuesday and Wednesday over amendments proposed by the opposition, as dueling demonstrations squared off in front of the Scottish parliament in Edinburgh.
As the results were announced, protesters filling the pews of parliament shouted “shame on you,” while others cheered and clapped, the BBC reported.
Opponents of the law, among them members of Scotland’s Conservative Party and some feminist activists, argued it did not adequately safeguard women and girls against predatory males in female-only places. British author J.K. Rowling, known for her anti-trans activism, has been among the most high-profile critics.
The British government’s Scotland minister, Alister Jack, said Thursday he had “concerns” about the law, including the impact on women and children’s safety, and signaled Westminster may try to block its implementation, which could spark a political tangle between London and Edinburgh. The decision by Scotland’s government does not affect the rest of the United Kingdom.
Proponents of the law argued the proposed amendments had little substance and were intended to stall proceedings.
“For trans people, being incorrectly referred to or recorded by names and genders that don’t match how we think of ourselves is not just incorrect or inconvenient, but can be deeply upsetting and hurtful … [and] can also cause us to face discrimination and harassment,” the Scottish Trans Alliance said in a statement.
Shortly before Thursday’s vote in Scotland, Spain’s parliament passed a similar bill, simplifying the legal gender change process for people 16 and older.
After an acrimonious debate, the Spanish bill passed 188 to 150, with 7 abstentions. Spain’s senate is expected to approve the legislation in the coming year. Spain currently requires that transgender people be diagnosed with gender dysphoria and undergo hormone treatment for at least two years before applying to change their legal gender.
In September, Finland’s government proposed legislation striking a requirement that people be infertile or sterilized before legally transitioning — the latter a practice that the European Court of Human Rights in 2017 ruled violated human rights.
Despite the ban, Finland is one of twelve European countries that still mandates sterilization, and the only Scandinavian country to do so.
While advances are ongoing, most European countries require a transgender person to undergo some sort of medical procedure — such as hormonal therapies, mental health assessments, medical diagnosis or forced sterilization — to legally certify their gender, according to a report by the human rights group Council of Europe in July. For many trans people, gender dysphoria — which is caused by a mismatch between someone’s biological sex and gender identity — is a stigmatizing diagnosis that can also be costly and complicated to receive, said Russell.
While there’s a “clear trend” of growing support for LGBTQ rights across Europe, the Council of Europe report said, in recent years transgender people have also reported a rise in experiences of discrimination and hate that appear to be coordinated continent-wide.
Back in 2002, the European High Court ruled that transgender people had a legal right to officially change their gender.
In addition to Scotland, nine European states — Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Iceland, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Portugal and Switzerland — use the self-identification model, which requires only a statement by the applicant.
But eight European countries — Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Hungary, Monaco, North Macedonia and San Marino — do not offer a path to change one’s legal gender. More than two dozen countries in Europe also mandate that a transgender person divorce their spouse before they can certify a gender change or already ban same-sex marriages, according to ILGA-Europe.
Only sixteen European countries have in place legal gender recognition procedures for minors, according to ILGA-Europe. Russell said expanding this possibility to transgender minors remains a key human rights concern.
“We trust that children know who they are and can tell us who they are, both cis children and trans children,” he said. The latter is “the one group of people systematically not trusted by the system.”
A 2019 survey by the E.U. Agency for Fundamental Rights found that 72 percent of transgender respondents knew they were trans by age seventeen.
Across the Atlantic, anti-transgender legislative efforts in the United States were at an all-time high in 2022. Though only a small percentage of bills introduced ultimately passed, lawmakers and governors proposed far-reaching restrictions touching everything from sports to health care.
Requirements for changing someone’s gender on a birth certificate or driver’s license, which vary by U.S. state, were also a target.
This year Oklahoma banned nonbinary gender markers on birth certificates — the first of such law in the United States. States including Oklahoma, Idaho, Kansas, Tennessee and Ohio had already prevented transgender people from changing the gender on their birth certificates.
Twenty-two states and Washington, D.C., permit people to choose an “X” on their driver’s license, instead of male or female, and do not require any medical certification to change their gender marker, according to the Movement Advancement Project, a Colorado-based think tank. | 2022-12-23T01:46:09Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Scotland passes law making legal gender change easier - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/12/22/scotland-gender-change-law-transgender-rights/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/12/22/scotland-gender-change-law-transgender-rights/ |
After officers’ convictions in her son’s death, a mom is taken to jail
After two D.C. officers were found guilty of obstruction and one of them was convicted of murder in Karon Hylton-Brown’s death, his mother tussled with U.S. marshals
Karen Hylton, the mother of Karon Hylton-Brown, poses for a portrait along Kennedy Street NW in the Brightwood Park neighborhood in February 2021. (Joshua Lott/The Washington Post)
When the guilty verdicts that Karen Hylton had sought for more than two years finally arrived, she could not contain herself.
The 54-year-old rose from her seat in federal court Wednesday afternoon to confront the two D.C. police officers convicted in the 2020 pursuit that killed her son, Karon Hylton-Brown — both of them for obstructing justice, and one of them for second-degree murder. In an obscenity-laced condemnation, she said, she tried to tell them they were “done tormenting our community.”
Deputy U.S. marshals carried the mother out of the federal courtroom as she tussled with them. She was arrested and detained overnight, accused of assaulting a federal police officer.
The episode was another volatile chapter in an emotionally charged case that strained community relations with law enforcement and fueled destructive protests at the D.C. police’s 4th District station. Hylton-Brown’s death, which came at a time of raw racial tensions nationwide following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, renewed debates in the city over policing practices, crime and race.
Earlier in the nearly two-month trial, the judge had ejected Hylton for openly sobbing during testimony. But Hylton, who was released from custody on Thursday, made no apologies for her behavior in an interview with The Washington Post. She said the raw emotion was real, but she was also trying to make a point about a rare conviction of a police officer for their actions while performing official duties.
“The message I’m sending is they can’t get away with it,” Hylton said.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office for the District said that no charges were filed but that the investigation is continuing. A spokesman for the U.S. Marshals Service declined to comment.
The mother who was at the front lines of D.C. anti-police protests
In the interview shortly after her release, Hylton denied assaulting a deputy marshal. “These officers killed my child and lied about it,” she said of the two D.C. officers found guilty. “Then on the same day the verdicts came out, they locked me up and lied about it.”
The jury deliberated five days before finding Officer Terence Sutton and Lt. Andrew Zabavsky, who are White, guilty of conspiracy and obstruction of justice. Jurors also convicted Sutton of second-degree murder.
Prosecutors said the officers violated department policy in what they described as an illegally reckless pursuit of Hylton-Brown, who is Black, in Northwest Washington in October 2020. As Hylton-Brown tried to elude the officers on a rented moped, authorities have said, he collided with a vehicle when he emerged from an alley and was fatally injured.
Zabavsky was not charged directly in Hylton-Brown’s death. But prosecutors said he and Sutton tried to cover up the pursuit and the seriousness of the crash. Sutton’s attorney, J. Michael Hannon, argued the chase was justified because the officers believed Hylton-Brown was about to commit a crime.
Sutton and Zabavsky were freed to await sentencing, which has not been scheduled. Hannon declined to comment on Brown’s assertions or the verdict. An attorney for Zabavsky did not immediately comment.
D.C. Police Chief Robert J. Contee III said Thursday that “there will be officers who will take this and think about what happened.” He said the department will now work to conclude an administrative review of the incident that could result in both officers being fired. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) said, “I wasn’t on the jury, so I have to respect what the jury’s verdict is.”
Hylton, who was on the front lines of volatile demonstrations at the 4th District police station in 2020 after her son was killed and also got arrested there, said the guilty verdicts did not surprise her. Of Sutton in particular, she said, “We knew he was guilty. We just needed somebody to put a stamp on it.” | 2022-12-23T01:59:13Z | www.washingtonpost.com | After officers’ convictions in her son’s death, a mom is taken to jail - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/12/22/karon-hylton-brown-mother-jailed/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/12/22/karon-hylton-brown-mother-jailed/ |
The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol has issued its final report. This is the culminating document of its work over 18 months, which included reviewing emails, text messages, call logs and White House records, and conducting more than 1,000 interviews.
The report lays out in further detail what had been shared in televised hearings over the summer and fall. Those hearings explored the scope of Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, despite being repeatedly told that his fraud claims were false; Trump and his allies’ pressuring of state and local officials to overturn results; and Trump’s campaign to get Vice President Mike Pence to reject electoral college votes, among other topics.
Read the final report in full here:
Final Report of the Jan. 6 Select Committee | 2022-12-23T03:13:22Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Read the full Jan. 6 committee report - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/12/22/jan-6-committee-report-full-text/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/12/22/jan-6-committee-report-full-text/ |
Senators goalie Cam Talbot kept Alex Ovechkin off the scoreboard Thursday, but the Capitals' captain notched two assists. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press/AP)
OTTAWA — Instead of moving up the NHL’s all-time goals list Thursday night, Alex Ovechkin took on the role of facilitator, handing out a pair of assists as Washington defeated the Ottawa Senators, 3-2, in overtime for the Capitals’ third straight win and their eighth in nine games.
The Capitals (18-13-4) topped the Senators (14-16-3) when Marcus Johansson got in alone and beat Senators goalie Cam Talbot at 2:04 of overtime.
That gave the many Capitals fans in Canadian Tire Centre a thrill — just not the one they were hoping for. Ovechkin remains one goal shy of Gordie Howe for second on the NHL’s all-time list. He has gone four games without a goal since reaching 800 with a hat trick Dec. 13 at Chicago. His next chance comes Friday night against Winnipeg at Capital One Arena.
Ovechkin’s goal total remained unchanged, but he did make NHL history Thursday. By putting six shots on goal, he passed Ray Bourque (6,209) for the most in NHL history. Ovechkin now stands at 6,211.
Capitals goalie Darcy Kuemper, who hadn’t played since Dec. 3 at Calgary after suffering an upper-body injury, made 23 saves. Cam Talbot impressed by making 37 stops in the losing effort.
The Senators’ Alex DeBrincat opened the scoring with a nifty redirection of a blue-line shot by Nick Holden at 4:50 of the first period. Evgeny Kuznetsov scored the equalizer for Washington on the power play at 7:01, with the primary assist going to Ovechkin. Including his assist on Johansson’s winner, Kuznetsov has 11 points in his past 10 games after a slow start to the season.
Sonny Milano notched his fourth goal of the season at 5:25 of the second to put the Capitals ahead — but it was very nearly a celebratory effort by Ovechkin. His slap shot from the left side managed to sneak through Talbot, but Milano nudged the puck across the goal line.
Drake Batherson chipped a power-play equalizer over Kuemper’s pad at 3:04 of the third period; Milano had taken a double minor for high-sticking on the period’s first shift.
Midway through the final period, there was a flurry in front of the Senators’ goal, including a great chance for Ovechkin, but Talbot denied him. Ovechkin also came close to opening the scoring in the first period, but his left-side shot nipped Talbot and was pushed wide.
Senators say no more
Ovechkin has had plenty of memorable moments against Ottawa. He scored his 500th goal against the Senators in Washington in 2016. He also scored Nos. 694 and 695 at Ottawa in 2020 to pass Mark Messier for eighth on the NHL’s all-time list.
There are only six franchises that Ovechkin has scored against more than Ottawa. Coach Peter Laviolette said there’s “not a lot of noise” about his chase of history.
“There’s nothing really to tune out. I’m sure Alex feels it. He certainly doesn’t show it. He’s very calm and goes about his business every day,” he said before the game. “… He’ll probably be happy when he’s past it and just moving on. ... He has an unbelievable delivery at the net, and eventually they’re doing to drop.”
Thursday brought Ovechkin’s 11th multi-point game of the season. He has 408 multi-point efforts in his career, tied for 12th most in NHL history with Paul Coffey. | 2022-12-23T03:26:27Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Alex Ovechkin remains at 800 goals as Capitals beat Senators in OT - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/22/capitals-senators-alex-ovechkin/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/22/capitals-senators-alex-ovechkin/ |
A nurse taped his sexual abuse of patients, cops say. He called it his ‘Dexter’ collection.
Two women who say a nurse sexually assaulted them while they were unconscious in intensive care stand outside the offices of their attorneys in Denver on Tuesday. (David Zalubowski/AP)
Checking on a patient last July, an employee at a Colorado hospital noticed that the lights were off in the ICU room and that the curtain around the bed was drawn. She pulled back the curtain — and found a disturbing sight.
The patient was unconscious, her gown pulled up to expose her breasts and genitals, the employee later told authorities. A nurse, Christopher Lambros, was resting his head on the woman’s stomach, holding up a cellphone as if snapping a selfie.
A police investigation launched the same day uncovered deleted photos and videos showing the 61-year-old nurse sexually assaulting the unconscious patient and at least two others, according to an arrest report from the Grand Junction Police Department. In one video, police said, Lambros whispered to himself, “Don’t ever get rid of these videos.”
“You need to keep them forever … this is your Dexter collection,” he allegedly said, referring to the television show about a blood-spatter expert who has a double life as a serial killer.
The scope of the abuse at St. Mary’s Medical Center in Grand Junction, Colo., a city of about 65,000 near the Utah border, is not yet known. Five months after the employee’s July 9 encounter with Lambros in the ICU room, officials say the investigation is ongoing. Mesa County District Attorney Daniel Rubinstein said during a November hearing that investigators believe they have discovered a fourth victim whose assault took place in 2016.
Pointing in part to the Dexter comments, he told a judge that authorities are concerned they could find a “vast number of victims.”
Lambros’s attorney, Scott Burrill, could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday.
Patients who allegedly were abused by the former nurse said their lives have been shattered. They described their shock at being violated while at their most vulnerable — in a hospital, sometimes while on ventilators.
“It’s devastated my life — devastated me,” one victim said in courtroom testimony. “You know, I thought I was safe at the hospital — and a nurse does this to me!”
Two filed a lawsuit this week against St. Mary’s and parent companies SCL Health and Intermountain Healthcare. Proposed as a class-action suit, it argues that the companies knew or should have known about the wrongdoing of their employee, who began working for the hospital in 2012.
“St. Mary’s put the monster in the room,” said the victims’ attorney, Siddhartha Rathod. “And St. Mary’s didn’t supervise the monster when he was in the room. Yes, the responsibility lies with Lambros for his conduct. But responsibility also lies with St. Mary’s.”
In a statement, the hospital said it placed Lambros on administrative leave, removed his access to St. Mary’s and its patients, and reported him to law enforcement after the colleague who walked in on him reported what she had seen to her supervisor. He was fired after his October arrest.
“What this former nurse is accused of is reprehensible and goes against everything we believe and value at St. Mary’s Medical Center,” he said in a statement. “Patients put their trust in us and should feel safe in our care. We are working closely with law enforcement to protect our patients from those who intend to cause harm.”
Lambros is being held at the Mesa County Detention Facility on three charges of sexual assault against a victim who was helpless or unable to consent; each charge carries a penalty of four to 12 years in prison, with a potential of up to 32 years in extraordinary circumstances. Rubinstein said during the November hearing that the charges Lambros faces could put him away for more years than he has remaining in his life.
His bond was set at $1 million during the hearing.
One of the women he is accused of assaulting spoke in the courtroom, according to a transcript, saying between sobs that Lambros “should never walk out anywhere!” She said she was on life support when she was preyed upon.
Another alleged victim, a 45-year-old rancher who is part of the lawsuit, told The Post that she was intubated when she arrived at St. Mary’s from another health-care facility last June. Her airway was swollen, and she spent days unconscious in the ICU where Lambros worked as a nurse.
When she came to, she said, she told her mother she felt like something was “off.”
“I kept telling her, ‘Something’s not right,’ ” recalled the woman, whom The Post is identifying by her initials, J.V. “I didn’t know what, but I knew it wasn’t right. And I hate the fact this is the answer.”
She said she was sexually assaulted as a child, and when police told her last fall they believed she had been victimized at the hospital, “all that past trauma came back to the forefront.” She was struggling with the feeling “that somebody can just use your body how they want and you have no say in it.”
Since finding out about the alleged assault, J.V. said she has started therapy and taking medication for anxiety and depression. She’s still paying bills for her stay at the hospital — $905 a month. She gets a paper statement and a text telling her each time the money is withdrawn from her account.
“I can’t believe they’re still charging me,” she said. “It’s a reminder every month.” | 2022-12-23T03:26:33Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Grand Junction nurse Christopher Lambros accused of recording sexual assault of patients - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/12/22/colorado-nurse-sexual-assault/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/12/22/colorado-nurse-sexual-assault/ |
Usual starter Don Carey came in off the bench in Maryland's blowout of St. Peter’s on Thursday. (Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post)
A grueling stretch of difficult opponents punished Maryland with a three-game losing streak. Those matchups, including multiple road trips, came in quick succession, leaving little room for practice time and zapping energy from Coach Kevin Willard’s positive start in College Park. But the Terrapins finally had a break, and when they returned to the court Thursday night against St. Peter’s, they ended their skid.
After the seven-day layoff, the Terps’ defense looked sharp as Maryland cruised to a 75-45 victory over the Peacocks (6-6) at Xfinity Center. Maryland (9-3) seized control early with its re-energized defensive effort, then made 9 of 11 field goals to start the second half and expand the lopsided margin.
Maryland held the Peacocks to 30.4 percent shooting and forced 17 turnovers, taking advantage of a St. Peter’s offense that has struggled. Willard said he harped on defense as his team prepared for this game and noticed the progress on the court.
“I just thought they looked mentally fresh,” Willard said.
Even with forward Julian Reese sidelined because of a shoulder injury, the Terps had enough offensive options to dominate. Hakim Hart, who erupted for a career-high 32 points when Maryland played the Peacocks two years ago, had another strong showing in this matchup, leading the Terps with 20 points.
Willard said he had been hard on Hart in the days leading up to this game. Late in the first half, Hart complained after an opposing player elbowed him in the face. Willard said he “got on him just a little bit, and we had a man-to-man conversation.” From there, Hart surged.
“He is the difference-maker,” Willard said. “When he is engaged and he’s playing, he’s going — he just gives us such a different dimension offensively, even defensively.”
The Terps shot 53.2 percent from the field — including a much better three-point shooting mark in the second half (5 of 9 for 56 percent) than in the first (3 of 12 for 25 percent) — and three players, including Hart, scored in double figures.
Senior point guard Jahmir Young added 14 points after not making a basket for the first time in his career in Maryland’s last outing. Patrick Emilien, starting in place of Reese, had his most productive game of the season with 10 points, four rebounds and three blocks.
St. Peter’s became the darling of last season’s NCAA tournament, advancing to the Elite Eight as a No. 15 seed. But all of the starters from that run transferred during the offseason, and this year’s squad entered the game at No. 277 out of 363 Division I teams in Ken Pomeroy’s analytics-based ratings. But this game still gave a Maryland team that was worn down a week ago an opportunity to get back on track before more difficult opponents return to the slate.
Here is what else to know about Maryland’s win:
Earlier this month, Willard said he’s “not a big shake-up guy” when asked about the continuity of his starting lineup. He praised the group for playing hard and its connectedness on defense. But against the Peacocks, Willard tweaked his lineup for the first time this season — one change out of necessity and another by choice.
Emilien took the place of the injured Reese. Ian Martinez, a junior guard who joined the team before last season, notched his second start as a Terp, and usual starter Don Carey came in off the bench. Willard said he wanted to tinker with the units to avoid a drop-off after he makes his first substitutions. He wanted Carey, rather than Martinez, to play alongside backup point guard Jahari Long.
Martinez, a pesky defender, said his job is to bring energy that helps the team avoid a slow start. Against St. Peter’s, he scored four points in the first four minutes and finished with seven in 21 minutes.
Carey had shot at least 36.4 percent from three-point range in each of the previous four seasons at other schools, but he has struggled in his first season at Maryland. Carey started the first 11 games, tallying 7.2 points per outing and shooting 24.2 percent from deep.
He entered the game against the Peacocks after the first media timeout and missed five three-pointers before connecting on his sixth try. Carey ended with five points and a team-high eight rebounds in 19 minutes.
Reese leaves void
Reese didn’t play during the second half of Maryland’s previous game against UCLA because of a shoulder injury. At the time, Willard said he didn’t believe the injury to be serious and said Reese sat out for precautionary reasons. Eight days later, Reese did not dress out for the game against the Peacocks.
Asked about Reese’s status Thursday night, Willard said, “I don’t talk about injuries.”
Emilien, a 6-foot-7 transfer from St. Francis (N.Y.), has been Reese’s primary backup this season, and played well in his expanded role against St. Peter’s. Emilien has dealt with minor injuries this season — a sprained ankle and then a sprained toe. Willard called him a “walking Band-Aid,” but added: “When he’s in rhythm and consistent, he’s been really good all year.”
St. Peter’s lacks size, so Reese’s absence was less worrisome than it would have been in Big Ten play. Still, the Peacocks had a 38-30 rebounding edge, a problem that was particularly pronounced early. At the 11:19 mark in the first half, St. Peter’s was outrebounding Maryland 10-2. On a possession during that stretch, the Peacocks had four missed shots while continuing to grab offensive rebounds before capitalizing with a made jump shot.
St. Peter’s finished with 17 offensive boards for 14 second-chance points.
The Terps have another nonconference game against Maryland Baltimore County before they dive into the bulk of their conference games. In those matchups, beginning with a Jan. 1 game against Michigan and standout center Hunter Dickinson, the Terps will need a big man who can be a force in the paint.
Advice|Ask Sahaj: My family didn’t show love. How do I change for my boyfriend? | 2022-12-23T03:39:32Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Refreshed and refocused, Maryland cruises to blowout of Saint Peter’s - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/22/maryland-terps-saint-peters/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/22/maryland-terps-saint-peters/ |
By Szu Yu Chen
Washington Post Staff
The Senate adopted a roughly $1.7 trillion bill on Thursday that would fund the government through most of 2023. This vote averted a shutdown in the final days of the year.
This compilation of long-stalled appropriations bills, known as an omnibus, would provide nearly $773 billion for domestic programs and more than $850 billion for the military, covering expenses through the 2023 fiscal year, which concludes at the end of September.
See a breakdown of what’s in and what’s out of the $1.7 trillion government spending bill
This bipartisan 68-29 vote passes off the measure for debate in the House, which plans to act before the deadline on Friday.
See how each senate member voted: | 2022-12-23T03:52:44Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Here’s how each Senate member voted for or against the $1.7 trillion omnibus bill to fund the government - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/22/heres-how-each-senate-member-voted-or-against-17-trillion-omnibus-bill-fund-government/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/22/heres-how-each-senate-member-voted-or-against-17-trillion-omnibus-bill-fund-government/ |
The committee’s recommendation came as part of an 800-plus page report that marks the culmination of its 18-month investigation
The House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack swears in witnesses during a public hearing in July. (Doug Mills/Pool/Reuters)
The House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol on Thursday recommended that Congress consider barring former president Donald Trump from ever holding public office again as a result of his role inciting an insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021.
The committee issued its final, 800-plus-page report late Thursday, along with a list of 11 recommendations to prevent an event such as the attack on the U.S. Capitol from occurring again.
Among the proposals: reform of the Electoral Count Act to clarify that a vice president has no authority to reject electoral slates submitted by the states; wholesale expansion of federal law-enforcement agencies’ scrutiny of extremist groups, including white nationalists and violent anti-government groups; and designation of the counting of electoral votes by Congress every four years as a “National Special Security Event,” like inaugurals and State of the Union Addresses.
The recommendations came as the committee released its final report, concluding 18 months of work with a carefully footnoted document intended to cement its findings that Trump’s conduct following the 2020 presidential election was to blame for the unprecedented assault on Congress.
Over eight chapters, the committee wove together evidence drawn from thousands of documents and more than 1,000 witness interviews to argue that Trump embarked on an orchestrated plan to remain in office despite his election loss, pressuring state officials, the Justice Department and his own vice president to help him. Ultimately, the committee argues, he inspired his supporters to commit violence in his name.
“Our country has come too far to allow a defeated President to turn himself into a successful tyrant by upending our democratic institutions, fomenting violence, and, as I saw it, opening the door to those in our country whose hatred and bigotry threaten equality and justice for all Americans,” the panel’s chairman, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.), said in the forward to the report.
What will come of the recommendations is another matter. The committee is preparing to disband within days as the Republicans take over the House, with four of the committee’s nine members — including its two Republicans — not be returning in the new Congress.
The new GOP majority has signaled that it intends to scour the work of the committee for flaws and missteps. Although some recommendations may be implemented — including reform of the Electoral Count Act, which is being taken up during this month’s lame duck session — Republicans are likely to block any congressional action required to implement many of the committee’s other recommendations.
Trump quickly issued a statement on the Truth Social website seeking to discredit the committee’s work — and falsely blaming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for the violence on Jan. 6.
The committee had already presented the contours of its case, as well as many of the investigation’s most striking details, over eight public hearings conducted in June and July. On Monday, the committee voted to refer Trump to the Justice Department for criminal investigation, a legally nonbinding step intended to offer the committee’s recommendation for how Trump should be held accountable for his actions.
All that was left this week was the publication of a detailed written report fleshing out the minutia of the committee’s work, along with a long list of transcripts of some of the committee’s most revelatory interviews.
The committee’s recommendations largely deal with how best to hold Trump and his allies accountable for the Jan. 6 attack, reflecting the report’s broader focus on the former president’s conduct. The report notes that the 14th Amendment allows barring people from office who “engaged in an insurrection” or gave “aid and comfort to the enemies of the Constitution.”
The recommendations touch only briefly on other issues, including a passing reference to improved oversight of the U.S. Capitol Police. The report also recommended enhancing criminal penalties for those who threaten election workers — a phenomenon that exploded amid Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen.
The report took a hard line against anyone who participated in the insurrection or supported Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential result. Among the recommendations was a prescription for the Department of Justice to bar its attorneys from participating in campaign-related activities “aimed at subverting the rule of law and overturning a lawful election.” That recommendation seemed aimed squarely at Jeffrey Clark, a former Justice Department assistant attorney general who worked with Trump to keep him in office.
According to the report, Trump’s advisers repeatedly tried to talk him out of marching to the Capitol ahead of Jan. 6. Senior adviser Max Miller shot it down “immediately” out of safety concerns, the report says. Trump floated the idea of having a phalanx of National Guard troops protect him on the walk, but that too was shot down.
“Just glad we killed the national guard and a procession,” Miller wrote in a text, according to the report. That did not deter the former president, however; he would continue to try to go even that day, leading to a heated confrontation with his Secret Service detail.
The report also documented in vivid detail Trump’s propensity to ally with fringe figures. Alex Jones, the right-wing conspiracist who has claimed that the 2012 Sandy Hook, Conn., massacre of 26 schoolchildren and educators was a hoax, apparently believed he would have a leadership role on Jan. 6.
That day, he texted GOP fundraiser Caroline Wren about “when he should leave the Ellipse and begin the march,” according to the report. Jones has publicly claimed that “the White House told me three days before, we are going to have you lead the March,” the report says.
And the report accused Trump of contributing to the planning of the Jan. 6 march well ahead of time. The former president’s advisers first discussed a march on the U.S. Capitol on Dec. 29, according to the findings of the select committee, more than a week before his supporters did just that.
On Jan. 2, rally organizer Katrina Pierson said she was told by then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows that the president would call on his supporters to march. The committee found several other messages supporting its contention that the march was not spontaneous or grass roots, but discussed extensively within the former president’s orbit for many days.
The committee on Wednesday began releasing transcripts from witness interviews, the raw material of the investigation that was used to build the slickly produced summer hearings and the voluminous new report. Republicans will now likely pore through the original source material, looking for places where the committee failed to disclose potentially exculpatory evidence or moments when witness memories differed from the committee’s narrative in important ways.
The final weeks of the committee’s work had been marked by significant disputes behind the scenes about whether the report should be focused exclusively on Trump’s actions. Vice chair Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) had argued that straying from the former president’s culpability would muddy the public argument that he is unfit for office, just as Trump launches his bid for reelection.
Other committee members and staff, notably retiring Florida Democrat Stephanie Murphy, argued the committee’s mandate had been broader than Trump and the panel would undercut its credibility by excluding details it had gathered about the failure of security agencies to prevent the attack.
Ultimately, the report released Wednesday represented something of a compromise. A 30-page appendix was devoted to tracking the government’s response to copious warnings of possible violence received by the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and other security agencies in the weeks before Jan. 6, red flags that were not heeded in preparing a robust defense of the Capitol that day.
But the committee placed much of the blame for the government’s poor preparation on Trump as well, arguing there was sufficient intelligence to have caused Trump to cancel his speech and that security agencies had failed to ancitipate how the mob of thousands would be supercharged by his combative speech on the Ellipse that morning.
It was one of four appendixes the committee included that covered material that bore less directly on Trump’s personal culpability. Those pieces of the report covered the delay in calling out the D.C. National Guard, how Trump’s election lies were used to raise money and the role of foreign interference in the circumstances surrounding Jan. 6.
The report described confusion over which federal agency had agreed to be primarily in charge that day and over whether there had been adequate consideration given to calling out the D.C. National Guard.
The committee’s investigation into social media was ultimately cut from the final report, according to people familiar with the investigation. The cut was a major blow to staffers who spent months scrutinizing the critical role social media played in spreading lies that fomented the Jan. 6, 2021, attack.
The committee’s final act was marked by confusion and delays. Staff had promised to release the lengthy document multiple times during the final preholiday week, with its publication only coming at nearly 10 p.m. on the east coast, three days before Christmas.
One sign that the committee’s final report was far more rushed and chaotic than its carefully orchestrated hearings: The date of the report, prominently displayed on its cover, is “December 00, 2022.” The committee initially announced that the report would be released Wednesday. On Thursday morning, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said it would be released Thursday. The committee made that deadline with just hours to spare.
John Wagner contributed to this report.
The report: The Jan. 6 committee released its final report on Thursday night, marking the culmination of an 18-month investigation into the violent insurrection. Follow our live updates.
Live updates: Jan. 6 report recommends Congress ban Trump from running again | 2022-12-23T04:40:36Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Jan. 6 committee: Trump should never hold office again - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/12/22/jan-6-committee-trump-should-never-hold-office-again/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/12/22/jan-6-committee-trump-should-never-hold-office-again/ |
Ask Amy: My husband’s family completely excludes me, even after 8 years
Dear Amy: My husband and I recently celebrated our eighth wedding anniversary. We were both widowed and in our early 50s when we met and married. We were thrilled to find each other and to have the opportunity to live again and to be happy.
I have two children who are very supportive. They want me to be happy. His daughter is a problem, however. She did not want him to remarry. We went to counseling early on, and the counselor advised my husband to talk to his daughter and explain that he needs a companion. To this day, she will not allow him to tell his grandchildren that he is married to me.
He goes to see the children (without me), although not as often as he would like. He tells me I’m not welcome. I’ve caught him in several lies. He says he’s lying to protect me.
I believe the stress is starting to take a toll on my health. It’s difficult to fathom that anyone could be so disrespected — and for such a long time. I hope your advice will help me to figure out what to do.
Left Out: In many ways, marriage — especially later in life — offers an enchanting opportunity to renew, redo and refresh your emotional life. Maturity and authenticity should inoculate you from some of the traps and pitfalls of youth. Unfortunately, this is not the case in your marriage.
It is challenging to wrap my head around your husband’s choice to basically lead a double life for these last eight years. You state that your husband’s daughter is the “problem.” I disagree. He is the problem, and you are the problem.
This family has created a cycle of deceit. Their family system runs on it. They are completely comfortable pretending that you don’t exist. Unfortunately, you are also pretending that you don’t exist, and that’s why this double life is taking a toll on you.
I assume that when you first got married, you believed that your husband would eventually treat you like a partner, and that these family relationships would gradually work themselves out. Your husband has never treated you like a partner. He is spineless, deceptive, and is letting his daughter run your marriage. Given that she doesn’t even know you, she’s not the right person for the job. I assume that your own children are sad and embarrassed for you.
Amanda has since moved on and gotten married, but is ambivalent about Charles possibly being there. Charles is recently engaged to be married, but I suspect may still have some feelings for Amanda. I should mention he has also recently gone into recovery for alcohol and drug abuse, and this might be a triggering event for him.
Frazzled: Given the volatility of this romantic drama, you should tell both “Amanda” and “Charles” that you have invited both of them — along with their partners. Including both is the path toward eventually neutralizing these friendships, but they might not be ready to move forward cordially.
Dear Amy: “Hesitant” wondered whether to offer “feedback” to a guy she dated briefly, and who continued to message her on Facebook. I was disappointed that you didn’t mention that it seemed like he was possibly stalking her.
Disappointed: The guy in question had sent her several messages on Facebook, but had not called her (she thought he had her number). I strongly recommended that she fight her own instincts to respond, and that she should consider blocking him. | 2022-12-23T05:24:13Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Ask Amy: My husband’s family completely excludes me, even after 8 years - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/advice/2022/12/23/ask-amy-marriage-left-out/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/advice/2022/12/23/ask-amy-marriage-left-out/ |
Miss Manners: Was I rude to leave the room when my in-laws were arguing?
Dear Miss Manners: My husband and I were housesitting for friends in a town that was a short drive from his sister, “Lacey,” and brother-in-law, “Tuck.” We invited them to come over for dinner one evening, which they did. I didn’t know them well, although I had heard that Tuck was volatile and argumentative.
I couldn’t take it anymore, so I said I was going to clean up the kitchen, and I left the game. I didn’t say anything about them, just that I was going to take care of the dishes.
My husband came into the kitchen a few minutes later and told me Lacey and Tuck said it was rude of me to leave the game. He thought I should go back. I refused because their behavior was upsetting, and I would rather wash dishes by myself than endure that atmosphere.
Just because that is the way that this couple normally relates does not mean others should have to witness it.
Miss Manners wholeheartedly defends your behavior. If Tuck and Lacey wanted to confront you themselves (as that seems to be their proclivity), you could have said, “It seemed as if this was a personal matter, and I wanted to give you two some privacy.”
We were some of the nicest-dressed people in attendance. Many people were in capri pants, tennis shoes, jeans, flowered sandals, even a halter mini dress.
It is endlessly confusing to Miss Manners that at what is the most formal and solemn of occasions, people consider it too fussy to dress up and too depressing to wear black. The only place it is still done is on screen — where elaborately chic hats, veils and suits are almost as ubiquitous at funerals as the too-on-the-nose pouring rain.
She assures you dark (black, navy or gray) formal clothes are proper. And if your husband is going to chastise you for red shoes, he should at least have the decency not to wear blue and tan himself. | 2022-12-23T05:24:16Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Miss Manners: Was I rude to leave room when my in-laws were arguing? - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/advice/2022/12/23/miss-manners-couple-friends-argument/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/advice/2022/12/23/miss-manners-couple-friends-argument/ |
This Is the Dawning of the Age of Zeitenwende
What to Expect in 2023:Today is the first day of the rest of your life, as the cliche has it. In that vein, 2023 will be the first year after the Zeitenwende. That’s Germany’s official Word of the Year for 2022. It means something like “turning point” or “revolution.” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz used the term in addressing the Bundestag after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s attack on Ukraine in February.
More than Scholz realized at the time, the word captures not only that particular rupture in European geopolitics but also the beginning of a new era in global history. The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the subsequent collapse of the Soviet Union ended the Cold War and prompted a false diagnosis of the “end of history.” Al-Qaeda’s attacks against the US on Sep. 11, 2001, seemed instead to debut a “clash of civilizations.” Putin’s war of aggression supersedes all of these analytical frames.
At one level, Putin’s atrocities in Ukraine throw us back to earlier epochs. Those were the times when empires waged wars of colonization and conquest to grow their spheres of influence. In the 19th century, such constellations led to a prevailing realism in world politics, which regarded a “balance of power” as the only achievable goal.
Similarly, the new realism of the post-Zeitenwende era will revolve around attempts at triangulation among the US, China and Russia, and more complex geometry involving Europe and middle powers such as Turkey, India, Australia and Indonesia.
What’s in effect dead is the idealism that would like to pretend that the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the International Court of Justice and other global institutions can substitute rules and reason for raw power. Moreover, the reality that some of the states involved are democracies while others are autocracies is secondary to the imperative of constant rebalancing.
In this brave new-old world, military power will once again assert its primacy in international affairs, with economic, political and “soft” power lining up as its attendants. This will raise the profile of the martial — such as the US — and lower that of the meek, including the mercantile and post-heroic European Union. This is why EU members like Sweden and Finland will join NATO in 2023. In a world of power balancing and rebalancing, alliances matter more, not less.
It might appear that the existence of nuclear weapons makes the 21st century different from earlier eras of Realpolitik, since their deployment — which Putin keeps threatening — could at any moment overturn the entire gaming table. But nukes only raise the stakes of failure; they don’t change the logic of the system. Not only the US but also China, India and other powers have, in effect, already reined in Putin from posturing as Dr. Strangelove. In this cynical sense, a “new old order” based on the balance of power could yet turn out reassuringly stable.
The main difference between this era of Realpolitik and previous ones — from Thucydides’ to Metternich’s and Bismarck’s — is instead the existence of a new and apocalyptic externality. This is anthropogenic climate change, with all its side effects — from zoonotic pandemics to floods, fires, droughts, famines and the rest.
In an ideal world — that is, in a world governed by political idealism — humanity, facing a common threat, would put aside its internecine struggles and unite against the enemy. Under the banner of the UN or some other international structure, the world would cooperate to stop emitting greenhouse gasses and mitigate the havoc already wrought.
After the Zeitenwende, alas, that idealist world is gone. We’ll be so busy balancing power, we won’t cooperate on much, if anything. As I said, 2023 is the first year of the rest of our lives.
From the year behind us:Don’t Worry About Being Happy: Feeling down? Then ignore the toxic positivity out there and reflect on these ancient insights.
Elon Musk and the Confessions of an Ayn Rand Reader: As boys, we dream of being John Galt or Howard Roark. As men, most of us move on. If we don’t, that’s a problem.
A Decision Tree for Biden If Putin Goes Nuclear: One question is how to retaliate against a Russian nuclear strike. Another is whether to announce it clearly or vaguely, publicly or privately.
Ukraine Takes Us Into a New Heroic Age: Unusual times bring out unusual bravery in many people. These are unusual times.
Putin, His Rat and Six Ways the War in Ukraine Could End: What makes Russia’s aggression so terrifying is that it’s determined solely by the perceived self-interest of one man. | 2022-12-23T06:56:08Z | www.washingtonpost.com | This Is the Dawning of the Age of Zeitenwende - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/this-is-the-dawning-of-the-age-ofzeitenwende/2022/12/23/28652a40-8287-11ed-8738-ed7217de2775_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/this-is-the-dawning-of-the-age-ofzeitenwende/2022/12/23/28652a40-8287-11ed-8738-ed7217de2775_story.html |
BALTIMORE — The Baltimore Orioles acquired catcher James McCann and $19 million from the New York Mets on Wednesday night for a player to be named.
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Infielder Brandon Drury agreed to a $17 million, two-year contract with the Los Angeles Angels.
NORMAN, Okla. — Peyton Bowen, the highly rated defensive back who backed off a verbal commitment to Notre Dame and said he was going to attend Oregon, ended up signing with Oklahoma.
ATHENS, Ga. — No. 1 Georgia bolstered its depth at wide receiver for the 2023 season when two wide receiver transfers from Southeastern Conference teams committed to play for the Bulldogs.
WASHINGTON — The House passed a bill that ensures equal compensation for U.S. women competing in international events, a piece of legislation that came out of the U.S. women’s soccer team’s long battle to be paid as much as the men.
DUBLIN — Italy’s rugby federation opened an investigation after a Black player at Benetton Treviso was given a rotten banana as a holiday gift.
LAUSANNE, Switzerland — Three-time Olympic weightlifting champion Lyu Xiaojun of China has tested positive in a doping case.
MADONNA DI CAMPIGLIO, Italy — Daniel Yule of Switzerland won the World Cup night slalom at Canalone Miramonti for the third time. | 2022-12-23T06:57:47Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Thursday's Sports In Brief - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/thursdays-sports-in-brief/2022/12/23/8d1906fe-828d-11ed-8738-ed7217de2775_story.html | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/thursdays-sports-in-brief/2022/12/23/8d1906fe-828d-11ed-8738-ed7217de2775_story.html |
A man crosses Parliament Square near the British Houses of Parliament as cold weather continued in London last week. (Toby Melville/Reuters)
BRUSSELS — How low have you set the thermostat? That’s the question of the hour across this chilly continent.
Nearly 10 months into Russia’s brutal war in Ukraine, with temperatures dropping and the cost of power soaring, Europeans are being pushed to lower their settings. For some, it is a desperate bid to cut exorbitant heating bills to make the rent. For others, it is a point of pride: to ensure that Europe doesn’t face fuel shortages this winter, or to symbolically stick it to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The energy situation in the European Union and Britain pales in comparison with what’s happening in Ukraine. Russian forces have systematically targeted energy infrastructure, taking out the substations and transformers needed to keep the lights and the heat on, and leaving millions of Ukrainian civilians shivering as their country is relentlessly shelled.
But the fallout beyond Ukraine is significant. Even in relatively wealthy Western Europe, people are rationing heat. Some of the most vulnerable are turning it off completely. The comfortable classes are feeling an uncomfortable pinch. Extreme heating bills and ad-hoc home insulation are discussed at dinner parties.
Europe’s economic powerhouse, Germany, is regulating the temperature in workplaces. French politicians are being photographed wearing turtlenecks and winter jackets indoors, in an awkward bid to set an example. In Britain, London’s fire chiefs felt it necessary to warn residents against having open fires at home.
Germany: Thermostat settings depend on your job
The thermostats in many German workplaces have been turned down to 19 degrees Celsius (66 Fahrenheit) in line with government regulations. If workers are standing or active, the dial goes down an extra degree. For those doing jobs requiring “heavy” physical activity — using power tools, heaving loads, digging and chopping — the law mandates a nippy 12C (54F).
“Every kilowatt-hour saved helps a little bit out of the dependency on Russian gas supplies,” says the new regulation, known as the “Ordinance for securing the energy supply through short-term effective measures.”
Some rooms in public buildings, including common areas where people don’t linger such as halls and corridors, can’t be heated at all. There are exceptions for hospitals, nursing homes and schools.
“In terms of productivity, the employer must also have an interest in the employees not suffering from hypothermia,” Anette Wahl-Wachendorf, vice president of the Association of German Company and Work Physicians, told Germany’s Deutsche Welle broadcaster. She recommended hot tea, lunchtime walks, blankets and two pairs of socks.
German officials hope the public sector will serve as a “good example.” In private homes, the measures are more “gentle” — lowering the thermostat is encouraged but not required.
The same cannot be said for government and privately owned housing blocks, however, where heating is controlled centrally. Housing associations in Berlin have decided to provide heating only to 17C (63F) at night and 20C (68F) during the day.
Jutta Hartmann of the German Tenants’ Association told RTL news that she saw the move as unnecessary given rising heating costs. “We don’t see any need, since tenants naturally want to save,” she said.
France: 66 degrees, s’il vous plaît
When France unveiled its energy-savings plan for this winter, Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne said 19C (66F) is “the rule.” She was apparently citing a regulation that was first introduced in the oil crisis of the 1970s and stipulates that accommodations with central heating should be kept at an average of 19 degrees.
Companies could theoretically face thousands of dollars in fines if they overheat their premises, though there is no sign the policy is being enforced. Similarly, Parisians who like to be warm and toasty as they sleep are unlikely to have the police knocking on their door. The French government is relying on the goodwill of its citizens.
“The executive is banking on voluntary sobriety,” the French newspaper Le Monde commented.
Some energy savings are also expected from recently introduced measures to combat climate change, including a ban on outdoor heat lamps on restaurant and cafe terraces. In Paris, terraces that were crowded during pandemic winters were largely deserted during a cold spell last week.
France has set up an energy-shortage warning system for this winter, which would alert residents and businesses when the situation becomes critical. In that case, public authorities would turn down the heat in their buildings to 18C (64.4F). Businesses would be asked to lower their indoor temperatures by two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) during peak consumption hours.
To escape the cold, some Europeans have decided to spend extended stretches of the winter in sunnier parts of the continent, including Spain. But after imposing minimum temperature limits for commercial air-conditioning this summer, Spain has now also capped businesses’ heating at — you guessed it — 19C.
Britain: As low as 64.4 Fahrenheit
Britain had its hottest summer on record, topping 38C (100F); a balmy November that saw poppies begin to bloom; and then, whammo, December was all about freezing rain and snow.
On Saturday, Britain unveiled a public service campaign under the slogan “It all adds up.” Among the government’s tips: Turning down radiators when you’re not in a room can save 70 pounds ($85) a year. And adjusting boiler settings so that it takes a bit longer for a room to hit its target temperature can save 100 pounds ($121).
British officials are worried, though, about people sacrificing their health to save money on heating. The government recommends that people heat rooms they use frequently to between 18C and 21C (64.4F to 69.8F).
“Wearing a few thin layers is better at trapping heat than wearing one thick layer,” officials advise, and “having plenty of hot food and drinks is also effective for keeping warm.”
Britain is not known for extreme weather, but already this winter, a cold snap sent temperatures below freezing, deepening concern for the estimated 3 million low-income families that are struggling to heat their homes.
Amid eye-popping energy bills, the government decided to step in with subsidies, bringing the average household’s monthly bill to about 208 pounds ($253). But that is still roughly double the cost from last year.
Sarah Chapman, an advocacy manager at the Wandsworth Foodbank in south London, said staff members are particularly worried for those on pre-payment meters — about 4 million people, many of them poor — who have to pay for their energy in advance.
“We’re literally meeting people who have got nothing on the meter,” she said. “So the lights go off, the fridge goes off and they lose what little food they have in the fridge anyway. Families are living in one room to save on heat and lights. One gentleman needs to keep his insulin in the fridge, and it goes off. …The health risks are huge.”
Morris reported from Berlin, Noack from Paris and Adam from London. William Booth in London contributed to this report. | 2022-12-23T06:57:59Z | www.washingtonpost.com | How European countries are rationing heat as energy prices rise - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/12/23/europe-heat-rationing-ukraine-war/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/12/23/europe-heat-rationing-ukraine-war/ |
Firearms enthusiasts are claiming victory. Not so fast, criminologists say.
The Texas ExpoTiro, Brazil's largest gun show, in the conservative southern state of Santa Catarina. (Photo by Arthur Manson)
BALNEÁRIO CAMBORIÚ, Brazil — Take away the açaí smoothies and the skewers of barbecued Brazilian meat and the four-day Texas ExpoTiro here could be a gun show anywhere in the United States.
“This is a triumph of liberty!” said retired military police chief Marcelo Venera, the executive director of the two-year-old expo, the largest gun show in the country and the first open to civilians. “We are here to show that we are good people and there is nothing wrong with loving guns!”
The gun owners of Brazil are proclaiming victory these days. Private gun ownership, once tightly restricted in Latin America’s largest country, has grown at least sixfold in the four years since President Jair Bolsonaro began relaxing the rules.
What’s more, gun enthusiasts say, it’s working: The homicide rate in Brazil — one of the world’s most violent countries — has fallen more than 27 percent since 2017.
“Everyone said there would be more homicides when Bolsonaro loosened the restrictions,” said Paulo da Silva, 25, attending the gun show with friends. “But it turned out to be the opposite!”
Not so fast, criminologists say. They’ve spent the past four years trying to understand the unexpected decline — and say it has little to do with Bolsonaro or his decrees.
Research consistently shows that when private gun ownership goes up, killings follow. Analysts say it’s too early to draw conclusions from what they’re calling a global test case for what happens when strict gun rules are suddenly lifted. But many say the drop here has more to do with organized-crime trends, investment in policing and demographics.
Much violent crime in Brazil, and homicides in particular, stems from turf battles between the well-armed drug cartels that control favelas, or slums, throughout the country. The victims are predominantly poor young men of color. In 2017, a major war between the country’s two biggest cartels drove gun-related homicides to record levels.
But since then, conflict between First Capital Command and Red Command has calmed considerably, said Roberto Uchôa, a former federal police officer and member of the Brazilian Public Security Forum. First Capital Command now dominates São Paulo, Brazil’s most populous state. In Rio de Janeiro, Red Command now clashes mostly with militias run by police, not rival gangs. As a result, the country’s northeast, ground zero for the groups’ 2017 war for new territory, has quieted.
Brazil’s aging population is also a factor, analysts said. Roughly half of homicide victims here are between 12 and 29 years old. A decade ago, that age group represented 31 percent of the population. Today it represents roughly 27 percent. There’s no comprehensive data on the age of perpetrators, but criminologists say victims and perpetrators tend to be the same age. Demographically, older Brazilians are aging out of crime faster than younger ones are aging in.
Gun ownership in Brazil is far more limited than in the United States, where there’s more than one gun per person. In Brazil, there are more than 48 people per gun.
Webster called the belief that arming more civilians makes society safer “a fantasy that is put forward by the gun lobby” — and is not grounded in any data.
“This drop in homicides is really, really big,” Figueiredo said. “But it has nothing to do with Bolsonaro’s policies. If anything, his policies have cost thousands of lives.”
As the Amazon goes dry, a desperate wait for water
At Texas ExpoTiro — Venera says he and his wife named the gun show for America’s “most gun-loving state” — the firearm fans see it differently. The conservative southern state of Santa Catarina is Bolsonaro country; it delivered the third-highest percentage of votes for the incumbent in the October election.
In another echo of the United States, many here claim that the election was “stolen” and that Lula is a criminal who won’t actually assume the presidency on Jan. 1.
And in a country where police cannot always be trusted to respond effectively, Santa Catarina is also a place where people say they believe they should be able to take personal safety into their own hands. Gun rights advocates, including Bolsonaro himself, say reducing controls on guns has turned Brazil into a far safer place for its 215 million citizens. Bolsonaro’s son Eduardo made the argument this year in a speech at a gun show in California, evidence of growing ties between right-wing movements in the two countries.
“What’s happened with firearms is the same as what happened with the microwave oven,” said Juliana Lopes, a military police major and shooting instructor. “It entered people’s homes … and has become a survival tool.”
Since Bolsonaro took office, the number of shooting clubs here has doubled to more than 2,000. A new lobbying group modeled on the National Rifle Association just got its president elected to Congress. Online, an emerging generation of gun rights influencers has garnered hundreds of thousands of followers. The stock price of Taurus, Brazil’s largest gun manufacturer, went up 200 percent.
How Americans' love of beef is helping destroy the Amazon rainforest
Lula’s advisers have said he plans to reverse many of Bolsonaro’s decrees. But they have also acknowledged that once you recognize rights, it is difficult to take them away.
Paulo Bonoso attended the gun show with his wife, Erika, and friends. Seven or eight years ago, the 43-year-old oceanographer said, he was opposed to civilians owning guns. He said Brazilians had been “brainwashed” into hating guns — even sales of realistic-looking toy guns, he noted, are banned.
Then he started to “open” his mind, he said, reading the writings of conservative Brazilian philosopher and self-defense advocate Olavo de Carvalho and questioning conventional wisdom. He became interested in getting a firearm. But before Bolsonaro, he said, it was “too much of a hassle” to buy one.
Bolsonaro’s changes, delivered in nearly three dozen presidential decrees, included reducing taxes on imported weapons, allowing civilians to purchase assault rifles and increasing the number of firearms registered sport shooters could own from 16 to 60.
He also dropped a rule requiring would-be purchasers to justify their need for a firearm to their local police department. Previously, a civilian who wanted to buy a gun needed to submit an application that substantiated their personal level of risk — describing in detail whether they lived in a condominium complex with a doorman or a secure gate, for example. Police had wide discretion on whether to grant or deny the license.
“You could go through this exhausting and expensive process, only to hear a ‘no’ at the end of it,” Bonoso said. “Because some sheriff decided your home was too safe.”
He's been called a deforester and a killer. Now he's called mayor.
In 2020, Paulo, Erika and their two school-age sons moved from Rio Janeiro, where they say Erika was robbed 16 times, to a family beach house in Santa Catarina. They began to buy guns — a Taurus revolver, pistol and shotgun and a Glock G17 semiautomatic for him; a Taurus G2C pistol and a couple of revolvers for her. They were planning to buy an AR-15, T4 or other type of semiautomatic when the Brazilian government blocked sales of semiautomatic weapons in September, citing heightened risk during the election period.
Several expo attendees said they needed a gun because they live in a rural area where the police presence is minimal. Others said they just like them. In a region populated by many people of German descent, they said, guns have long been part of the local culture. Lula, they said, suppressed the will of the people when he tried to prohibit civilians from owning guns entirely in 2005. He didn’t get the full ban, but lawmakers ended up passing some of the most stringent gun regulations in the world.
Many said they admire the gun culture of the United States — the expo even included a talk on guns in Texas delivered by a member of the Houston-based Brazil-Texas Chamber of Commerce.
Deforesters are plundering the Amazon. Brazil is letting them get away with it.
The United States has a much more “developed” gun culture than Brazil, Venera said. Brazilians aren’t ready to drop the restrictions altogether, he said, but he hopes they will be soon: “You just can’t give a car to someone who can’t drive.”
Venera is not concerned that legal gun sales will help arm the cartels. Criminals have always had guns, he said, and they prefer automatic weapons. “Only civilians couldn’t defend themselves,” he said.
The flowering of gun culture here has prompted the Bonosos to open a shooting club in their small beach town of Imbituba. Inspired by the American West, they are calling the club Comanche, after the Native American tribe of the southern Great Plains. The club is set to open next month, at the same time as Lula’s inauguration.
“We could lose our rights and be sent back to zero,” he said. | 2022-12-23T07:35:11Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Under Bolsonaro, gun ownership rose, killings fell, Brazil debates why - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/12/23/brazil-gun-rights-control-bolsonaro/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/12/23/brazil-gun-rights-control-bolsonaro/ |
South Korea ramps up arms exports in goal to become world supplier
Michelle Ye Hee Lee
South Korea's minister of arms procurement, Eom Dong-hwan, and Polish President Andrzej Duda inspect a South Korean-made Black Panther K2 tank in early December. (Michal Dyjuk/AP)
SEOUL — Amid Russia’s war in Ukraine, the rising demand for arms among Western countries has presented an unprecedented opportunity for South Korea’s defense industry to become a top arms seller and global player.
South Korean defense companies more than doubled their foreign sales this year, with the biggest arms export deal to date struck with Poland during the summer. The first shipment of K2 battle tanks and K9 self-propelled howitzers arrived in Poland this month, and President Andrzej Duda hailed South Korea as a country that could serve up sought-after weapons fast. During a ceremony, he welcomed the “quick delivery of crucial importance” given Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
South Korea is increasingly favored as an affordable provider to nations seeking to refill stockpiles depleted of Soviet-era weapons. The country’s arms exports this year topped $17 billion in November, far surpassing a record $7.25 billion last year. Of those sales, the deal with Poland accounted for $12.4 billion, followed by a $1.7 billion deal with Egypt.
The South Korean minister of arms procurement, Eom Dong-hwan, said the “world is watching with attention” the budding defense cooperation between his country and Poland. The Polish government purchased nearly 1,000 K2 tanks, dozens of FA-50 jets, hundreds of K9 howitzers and Chunmoo multiple rocket launchers, and Eom voiced hope that the equipment will contribute to the nation’s deterrence at a time of “rapid changes in the security situation.”
South Korea’s defense industry has its origins in Cold War-era hostilities with rival North Korea in the mid-1940s. The South, initially armed by U.S. forces to fight the Soviet-backed North during the Korean War, was pursuing its own weapons systems as the United States reduced its military presence in the early 1990s. The threat of conflict with the North remains a prime industry focus today.
“As a country that technically remains in a state of war, South Korea has a distinctive capability for mass production of arms that can be promptly deployed in actual warfare,” said Choi Gi-il, a military expert at Sangji University in South Korea. Government support has given the industry a “decisive competitive edge,” with the global arms market taking note of the weapons’ performance as well as their cost-effectiveness, according to Choi.
“This past year in Ukraine was sort of a coming-out party, this public unveiling of what was very well underway [in Korea] and underappreciated publicly. But it’s not just Poland. They’re winning in the Middle East. They’re winning in Southeast Asia,” said Rexon Ryu, the president of the Asia Group in Washington who served as chief of staff to U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel in the Obama administration.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol announced in August that the country aims to rise four spots in the rankings to become the world’s fourth-largest arms exporter by 2027. As part of the plan, Seoul this month unveiled a funding package of $770 million to support investment and research. Yoon and his defense officials said Australia, Norway and other countries are looking to work with South Korean weapon producers.
South Korean defense companies often say they want to become the “Hyundai of defense exports,” a reference to the South Korean automaker that initially filled a niche by making affordable sedans to compete with giants such as Toyota and Ford. Hyundai is today a top global automaker, including of electric vehicles.
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The country’s defense industry aspires to coordinate with and sell to the United States. Some U.S. defense companies are watching closely to see where South Korea may become competitive with American firms — particularly if, as Biden administration officials foresee, future needs mean seeking solutions outside of the strapped domestic defense industry.
Bill LaPlante, undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, told a crowd of lawmakers, analysts and military officers at the Reagan National Defense Forum this month that he now meets regularly with counterparts from allies and partners to discuss more weapons “co-production” and “co-development” because of the Ukraine war.
“There is this recognition that we are all going to need to do this together,” LaPlante said. “We’re going to have to be comfortable using equipment developed in another country in our own military, and vice versa.”
South Korean defense companies’ far-reaching sales pitch has not targeted Ukraine as a potential direct consumer. Wary of its bilateral relations with Moscow, the Yoon government has said it will not send lethal weapons to Ukraine despite Kyiv’s repeated requests.
“The benefits [of that position] are much, much bigger” than the risks of angering Russian President Vladimir Putin, noted Go Myong-hyun, a research fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul.
Still, Korean weapons are making their way into Ukraine via other countries. South Korea is poised to send the United States 155mm howitzer shells that will be destined for Ukraine under a confidential deal the Wall Street Journal disclosed last month. The South Korean Defense Ministry said discussions were underway “on the understanding that the U.S. would be the end user.”
A senior U.S. defense official said the structure of the American ammunition deal — the United States is already shipping the Ukrainians thousands of rounds of artillery shells every month — helps Seoul deal with both internal politics and diplomatic relations.
“It’s extraordinarily touchy for the South Koreans to donate ammo to Ukraine,” the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
A Pentagon spokesman, Army Lt. Col. Martin Meiners, acknowledged the U.S. government’s discussions about potential ammunition purchases from South Korea’s defense industry. Meiners said the Pentagon does not disclose specific numbers or schedules involving ammunition production or capacity.
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Meanwhile, the Biden administration has accused North Korea of helping to arm the Russian military and then trying to cover up its actions. North Korea has provided infantry rockets and missiles directly to Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Thursday.
South Korea’s growing defense industry and the fighting in Ukraine have been an economic boon to some manufacturing towns. South Gyeongsang Province, facing “rust belt” concerns as its once-powerful manufacturing sector declined, is among the areas gearing up to recapture past glory.
A recent editorial in the newspaper Kyungnam Shinmun said the province’s defense industry “has been given wings” by the latest surge in business: “As the Russia-Ukraine war prolongs, our defense industry has gained standing as a fruitful one for South Korea’s exports.”
Lee reported from Tokyo and Lamothe from Washington. | 2022-12-23T07:35:17Z | www.washingtonpost.com | South Korea ramps up arms exports in goal to become world supplier - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/12/23/south-korea-defense-arms-exports/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/12/23/south-korea-defense-arms-exports/ |
Hundreds of homes burned in massive wildfire in Chile’s Vina del Mar
Wildfires raged through Vina del Mar in the Valparaiso region, Chile, on Dec. 22, forcing residents to flee. (Video: The Washington Post)
Firefighters battled Thursday to contain a massive wildfire around the city of Vina del Mar in the Greater Valparaiso region on Chile’s Pacific coast. Early estimates suggest more than 400 houses have burned as the fire rages over 110 hectares, or 270 acres, according to the country’s fire department.
At least one person was reported dead by 24 Horas, a news channel run by Chile’s public broadcaster.
Gabriel Boric, Chile’s president, decreed a state of catastrophe and said in a tweet that authorities were prioritizing people’s safety.
In a video shared by the fire department, the sky is illuminated by bright orange plumes of fire, while another video taken from a height shows the city and homes framed by billowing smoke.
Vina del Mar is a picturesque town, popular among tourists for its majestic palaces and a sprawling beach.
Photos of the rescue operations showed firefighters attempting to douse flames engulfing a house with a water pipe. Hundreds of rescuers are engaged, the department said. It asked residents to evacuate quickly if orders are issued.
The National Office for Emergencies had earlier advised residents in some parts of the city to evacuate. In Chile, mid-December is considered peak fire season, according to Global Forest Watch, which monitors deforestation and forest fires.
Photos shared by municipal authorities showed remnants of shanties destroyed by the fire and smoky skies as people look on.
In 2014, an immense wildfire erupted in the city of Valparaiso, killing at least 12 residents and forcing thousands of evacuations. Experts believe that climate change has intensified wildfires. | 2022-12-23T08:28:16Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Wildfire in Chile forces hundreds to evacuate - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/12/23/chile-fire-valparaiso-photos-videos/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/12/23/chile-fire-valparaiso-photos-videos/ |
By Rebecca Tan
Rohingya people raise their hands and shout that they won't go back to Myanmar during a demonstration in 2018 near Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. (Manish Swarup/AP)
They had boarded the boat with hopes of a new start.
A single mother who hadn’t been able to work thought she’d finally find employment in a new country. A 17-year-old who dreamed of receiving higher education. A young woman on her way to meet her new husband.
But days after leaving their refugee camp in Bangladesh, the engine on their boat failed. And for more than 2½ weeks, all three of them, along with more than 150 other Rohingya Muslim refugees, have found themselves adrift in the Andaman sea in the northeast Indian Ocean. Food and water ran out more than ten days ago, according to relatives of those on board. And as many as 20 people have already died, including children, per the United Nations.
Despite increasingly desperate appeals for help, neighboring countries have not dispatched help — or given any indication that they intend to, activists say.
“Please,” said Mohammad Rezuwan Khan, whose sister and niece are on board the boat. "I ask the international community to not let them die.”
“Rohingya are human beings,” he added, “Our lives matter.”
As the world moves on, Myanmar confronts a mounting, hidden toll
In 2017, following targeted attacks by the Myanmar military that the United States now considers acts of genocide, hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled Myanmar and settled in Cox’s Bazar, a city on the southeast coast of Bangladesh, forming what has become the biggest refugee camp in the world.
For years, groups of refugees have tried to leave the camp, where they’re largely not allowed to seek gainful employment or higher education, and where their mobility is tightly controlled. Because most of them are stateless and options for formal resettlement are rare, many turn to smugglers to take them across the Andaman sea to countries in Southeast Asia.
The number of these departures, often taken on unsafe vessels, has spiked dramatically in recent months, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Nearly 2,000 people have tried this year to cross the Andaman sea from Bangladesh or Myanmar — about six times as many as in 2020.
The stranded boat departed Cox’s Bazar in late November and was bound for Indonesia — more than 1,000 miles away — where passengers hoped to stay or to head on to Malaysia, where there’s a large Rohingya population. But on Dec. 4, the captain of the boat sent out distress signals via a satellite phone — the engine had failed, the captain said, and supplies of food were dwindling.
Aminullah, a Rohingya man in Cox’s Bazar who goes only by one name, said his 16-year-old sister is on board the boat. “At this point,” he said, “We don’t even know if they are alive.”
Aid groups and the UNHCR have called on countries in the region, which include India, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia, to send out rescue missions and allow the boat to disembark. But as of Friday, no assistance had been dispatched.
In a statement Thursday urging regional governments to act, U.N. special rapporteur on Myanmar Tom Andrews noted that “the duty to rescue persons in distress at sea is a fundamental rule of international law, is a norm of customary international law and is incorporated in international treaties.”
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The boat was originally reported near the Nicobar Islands, potentially in Indian waters, activists said. Priyali Sur, founder of The Azadi Project, a New Delhi-based organization that supports refugees, said she made appeals over recent weeks to India’s Maritime Rescue Coordination Center, urging it to send out rescuers. As of Thursday, she said, she had not received any confirmation that it plans to do so.
“The fact is that none of these countries wants to take them,” said Sur. “We’ve seen this again and again with refugee communities.”
India’s Ministry of Defence, which oversees the Maritime Rescue Coordination Center, and its Ministry of External Affairs, did not respond to inquiries Thursday. Officials in Thailand and Malaysia also did not respond to inquires this week on whether they planned to assist the boat.
Eros Shidqy Putra, a member of Indonesia’s refugee task force, said officials are still verifying the whereabouts of the stranded boat and whether it has entered Indonesian waters. The country is “very concerned about the fate of the Rohingya refugees,” he said, but discussions are still ongoing on how to respond to the situation because “decisions must be made in the right way.”
Khan, speaking over the phone from Cox’s Bazar, said there isn’t time to wait. Casualties have been mounting by the day. Governments need to dispatch rescuers immediately, he said, but they can’t stop there.
His sister, a 27-year-old single mother, had been struggling in the refugee camp for years, Khan said. She was frequently stricken with illness and couldn’t find steady work to provide for her two children. She had hoped to find a better life in Malaysia and a better future for her youngest daughter, who is 5.
“If we have nationality, if we have passports, we wouldn’t die at sea,” Khan said, choking back tears.
“We’ve already suffered a lot,” he continued. “Enough is enough.” | 2022-12-23T08:45:00Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Rohingya refugees stranded in Andaman sea for weeks without rescue - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/12/23/rohingya-boat-myanmar-rescue-andaman-bangladesh/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/12/23/rohingya-boat-myanmar-rescue-andaman-bangladesh/ |
Microsoft and Activision Blizzard, the gaming company famous for franchises like Call of Duty, Candy Crush, Diablo and StarCraft, refuted the Federal Trade Commission’s challenge to their merger. (Dado Ruvic/Reuters)
Microsoft and Activision Blizzard, a gaming company famous for hits like Call of Duty, disputed the Federal Trade Commission’s challenge to their proposed $68.7 billion merger on Thursday, writing in a court filing that the U.S. regulator’s concerns that the deal would undermine fair competition in the gaming industry are “unfounded” and “absurd.”
The rebuttal foreshadows a coming legal battle between Microsoft, a tech giant that has largely avoided close regulatory scrutiny from federal authorities in recent years, and the FTC, whose chairwoman Lina Khan is a well-known skeptic of big tech.
Microsoft, the maker of the Xbox console, announced plans in January to buy Activision Blizzard, which has produced hit franchises like Call of Duty and Diablo. This month, after examining the potential merger, the FTC said it would block the deal, saying the move could incentivize Microsoft to impede access to Activision games on consoles made by rivals Sony or Nintendo.
“Microsoft already has a built-in incentive to promote its own products wherever possible, and it fully understands the competitive power that owning Activision’s leading gaming content would yield,” the FTC said.
The megadeal, which could become the largest acquisition in the history of the gaming industry if completed, according to the FTC, has been approved by regulators in Brazil and Saudi Arabia, The Washington Post reported. Serbia’s regulator has also greenlit the deal, according to Reuters. Authorities in Britain and the European Union are reviewing the potential merger.
Microsoft’s attorneys expressed willingness to go to court, saying the FTC’s concerns were unrealistic. Removing Activision games from rival consoles would be counterproductive to Microsoft’s chief aim of earning more revenue, they said.
“Maintaining broad availability of Activision games is both good business and good for gamers,” they said in a court filing, in response to the FTC’s complaint. Activision’s financial value comes from the continued sale of popular games like Call of Duty on Sony’s PlayStation, they said. “Paying $68.7 billion for Activision makes no financial sense if that revenue stream goes away.”
Activision’s lawyers likewise expressed disagreement with the FTC’s concerns about Microsoft being incentivized to take away access to Call of Duty on PlayStation. Such a move would immediately cost billions of dollars in revenue, they said, and hurt the game’s appeal of allowing users to play with other gamers at any part of the world, at any time.
“Withholding or degrading Call of Duty on PlayStation would eliminate this ability to cross-play and destroy the broad Call of Duty community that drives the game’s success,” they said. “The player backlash from making the Call of Duty franchise Xbox-exclusive would be devastating.”
Sony has been a vocal critic of the deal. It is concerned that Microsoft’s acquisition of the maker of Call of Duty would enable Microsoft to offer significantly cheaper prices to users who have long played the game on Sony’s PlayStation. Although Sony rewards Call of Duty players on PlayStation with exclusive perks like earlier access to in-game gear, Sony believes the lower prices could be enough to lure away users to Xbox, The Post previously reported.
The FTC also says that Microsoft’s recent $7.5 billion acquisition of ZeniMax Media, the parent company of another game publishing giant, Bethesda Softworks, is indicative of Microsoft’s growing dominance in the gaming industry.
The FTC said Microsoft had made some of Bethesda’s games like Starfield exclusive to Microsoft, despite assurances to European antitrust authorities that it had no incentive to withhold games from rival consoles.
Microsoft’s lawyers described the FTC’s account as misleading, saying their client had “explicitly said it would honor Sony’s existing exclusivity rights and approach exclusivity for future game titles on a case-by-case basis, which is exactly what it has done.” | 2022-12-23T09:24:16Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Microsoft pushes to buy Activision, maker of games like Call of Duty - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/12/23/microsoft-activision-blizzard-ftc/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/12/23/microsoft-activision-blizzard-ftc/ |
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy leaves a plane to meet with Polish President Andrzej Duda (not pictured) after Zelenskiy's visit to Washington, at Rzeszow-Jasionka Airport, Poland, December 22, 2022. (Jakub Szymczuk/Kprp/via REUTERS)
North Korea’s foreign ministry on Friday denied providing weapons to Russia, following a Japanese newspaper report that North Korea had shipped munitions to Russia, and recent White House claims that North Korea has been covertly supplying Russia with artillery rounds.
Pyongyang said that no “arms transaction” between North Korea and Russia had ever happened, calling it a “groundless theory” by Japanese media. The White House has accused North Korea of secretly transferring artillery shells to aid Russia, and of making a separate sale and delivery of missiles to Russia’s Wagner group for use in Ukraine. “We can confirm that North Korea has completed an initial arms delivery to Wagner, which paid for the equipment,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Thursday.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky posted a video of himself back in his office in Kyiv Friday, following his visit to Washington D.C., where he urged lawmakers to provide more aid and weapons.
Wagner forces have been particularly active in and around the city of Bakhmut, in eastern Ukraine, Kirby said Thursday, adding that 40,000 of the estimated 50,000 Wagner forces fighting in Ukraine are convicts directly recruited from Russian prisons. The founder and controller of the Wagner Group, Yevgeniy Prigozhin, a key ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, denounced the reports of North Korean weapons shipments as “gossip and speculation.”
The House of Representatives will on Friday vote on a $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill, which includes $44.9 billion in emergency military, economic and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. The package was approved by the Senate on Thursday.
Zelensky met with President of Poland Andrzej Duda for two hours on his way back from his trip to the United States. During the meeting in Rzeszow, about 45 miles from the Ukrainian border, the pair discussed “strategic plans for the future,” according to the Ukrainian presidency.
Putin publicly called his invasion of Ukraine a “war” for the first time on Thursday. The change sparked anger among critics of the Russian President, who pointed out that others had been prosecuted for challenging the Kremlin-approved euphemism “special military operation” previously used to describe the war.
A suspected spy who is an employee of Germany’s foreign intelligence agency was arrested in Berlin after an internal investigation alleged he was sharing state secrets with Russia, according to German broadcaster Deutsche Welle. Earlier this week, Austria said it had identified a Greek national it suspects had been spying for Russia for years, the Associated Press reported.
Turkey said on Thursday that Sweden is not “halfway” through the commitments they made to Ankara to earn support joining NATO, the Associated Press reported. The statement comes after Sweden earlier this week refused to extradite a man wanted by Turkey. Sweden and Finland applied to join NATO after Russia invaded Ukraine but they need all 30 members’ approval move forward.
The United States Senate unanimously agreed to a plan that would use some assets seized from Russian oligarchs to support Ukraine. The amendment, which is linked to the $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill that is up for a vote in the House on Friday, is expected to bring billions of dollars to Ukraine.
Almost 10 months into Russia’s brutal war in Ukraine, people across Europe are turning down their thermostats this winter, Emily Rauhala, Loveday Morris, Rick Noack and Karla Adam report.
The price of fuel has increased dramatically since Putin’s Feb. 24 invasion, leading to rising bills for consumers — and some of the most vulnerable are turning of their heating completely.
For others, the decision to keep the temperatures down at home is a point of pride: to ensure that Europe doesn’t face fuel shortages this winter, or to symbolically stick it to Russian President Vladimir Putin. | 2022-12-23T09:59:15Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Russia-Ukraine war latest updates - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/12/23/russia-ukraine-war-latest-updates/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/12/23/russia-ukraine-war-latest-updates/ |
South Korea’s ‘villa king’ dies, leaving tenants at risk of losing huge deposits
The skyline in Seoul, where housing prices have rocketed in recent years. (SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg News)
SEOUL — Two months ago, Bae So-hyeon, a recently married 27-year-old hairstylist, was desperately trying to reach her landlord, who hadn’t picked up his cellphone or answered texts for days. She wanted to remind him that he needed to return her security deposit by the end of the year, when her housing contract was due to expire.
When someone finally answered the phone, it wasn’t her landlord. It was a police officer, who told Bae that her landlord had been found dead in a motel in Seoul a few days earlier.
Bae described that moment as one of the worst in her life. She is one of the hundreds of South Koreans who have not been able to reclaim massive housing deposits after their landlord — known as the “villa king” by the local press, and identified only by his surname, Kim, by government authorities — died before paying his tenants back.
Government officials suspect that Kim’s tenants each stand to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars. Bae said that she and her husband are facing the possibility of losing their entire deposit of 254 million Korean won, or about $200,000.
Unlike in many parts of the world, where a rental deposit is usually equivalent to one or two months’ rent, many homes in South Korea are leased through an agreement called “jeonse,” also known as key money. Instead of paying monthly rent, tenants give their landlord a large upfront deposit — often hundreds of thousands of dollars. The landlord earns interest off the deposit and, in theory, returns the deposit at the end of the lease.
But Kim — who owned more than 1,000 properties at the time of his death, many of them in small apartment buildings that are known as “villas” in South Korea — had paid back little of the tens of millions of dollars he received in security deposits, according to former tenants and government officials. One estimate puts the combined unpaid sum at $160 million, according to the JoongAng Ilbo, a South Korean newspaper. Most of the affected properties are in or around the capital, Seoul.
How Seoul failed its most vulnerable, flooded in their basement homes
The scale of the problem has grabbed the attention of top politicians, while law enforcement officials are investigating.
President Yoon Suk Yeol promised during a nationally televised program last week to take action that would alleviate the pain of the villa king’s “innocent victims.” Won Hee-ryong, South Korea’s minister of land, infrastructure and transport, has pledged to ensure that Kim’s tenants “don’t have to cry.”
The financial fiasco has stirred public uproar, as hundreds of tenants face the possibility of losing several years’ worth of income. According to the World Bank, the average wage earner in South Korea made about $35,000 in 2021, which is about Bae’s income. Her deposit would be roughly worth six years of her salary.
A government task force is investigating how Kim spent his tenants’ security deposits, officials said. Investigators are also exploring potential criminality and the possibility that Kim had accomplices, according to a government statement, while South Korea’s Justice Ministry is looking at legal routes that could help tenants reclaim their deposits.
But for his tenants, there is no immediate remedy. They now must wait months, possibly years, for courts and government authorities to sort out the financial mess that Kim left behind.
Liabilities from a deceased person can be paid if their relatives agree to inherit their wealth. But Kim had an outstanding property tax bill of around $5 million, according to South Korea’s semiofficial Yonhap News agency, along with tens of millions of dollars in unreturned deposit money. Kim’s family has so far declined to assume the liabilities, according to the Korea Housing and Urban Guarantee Corporation, a government-backed insurance company known as HUG. The insurer is in touch with family members, a HUG official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to speak freely about the case.
Kim’s relatives could not be reached immediately for comment.
Bae was among the tenants who insured their deposits through HUG. However, HUG has told customers such as Bae that it cannot pay her the insurance money, at least for now, because it has no way of filing claims against the deceased Kim, nor his relatives, who have not become his legal heirs.
Bae said promises from high-ranking politicians and the government now “ring hollow” and sound like political theater. She has not been proactively contacted by law enforcement officials. “They are inspiring very little confidence,” she said.
“They failed in a way,” said Kwan Ok Lee, a professor who researches urban planning and real estate at the National University of Singapore, of the government’s lack of safeguards for jeonse tenants. The debacle set off by Kim’s death is notable for its scale, Lee said, but is “not the first time something like this has happened.”
“This has been expected,” she said. “That’s why it’s very sad.”
Jeonse was born from the lack of a formal banking system when South Korea was a poor nation in the 1950s, Lee said. But in modern times, “most scholars agree that [jeonse] is an inefficient system,” she said.
“Jeonse has created so many problems,” she said. Those issues, like the risk of becoming victims of fraud, disproportionately impact lower- and middle-income renters — “the people who get stuck like this.”
Jeonse problems appear to be on the rise. In 2018, HUG paid $63 million in insurance for 372 homes whose owners could not repay their tenants’ security deposits. As of October this year, HUG has paid about $640 million in insurance for 3,754 homes, according to figures that the company submitted to Kim Hack-yong, a South Korean lawmaker.
South Korea’s real estate market is “slowly shifting” toward a monthly rent system, such as in other countries, Lee said.
It would be tricky for the government to suddenly abolish jeonse, as many renters and landlords prefer it, but “at least they could have better mechanisms to protect the tenants,” she said.
Bae, the hairstylist, expressed frustration about the jeonse system, saying there “must be tighter legal safety valves” to protect tenants against the possibility of losing their entire deposits.
If legal protections are not put into place, then it’s time for the jeonse system to go, she said. | 2022-12-23T09:59:16Z | www.washingtonpost.com | South Korean 'villa king' landlord dies without paying tenants' deposits - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/12/23/south-korea-villa-king-landlord-housing/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/12/23/south-korea-villa-king-landlord-housing/ |
An Iowa sports reporter had to cover a snowstorm. It went how you’d expect.
Snow blows over an icy road Thursday in North Liberty, Iowa. (Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen/AP)
Mark Woodley didn’t have the patience for professionalism at 4:30 a.m. on Thursday morning. After traveling to news station KWWL’s offices in Waterloo, Iowa, on three hours of sleep, the sports reporter grabbed a microphone with his gloves and listened as anchor Ryan Witry asked how he felt.
On a normal morning, Woodley would take this time to catch valuable sleep after a night of covering Iowa’s high school and college sports teams. Instead, he was outside, recording the first of 14 live spots in sub-zero temperatures and over-20 mph gusts.
His answer, and decision to assume the role of snarky weatherman for the next 3½ hours, went viral.
“Again, [I feel] the same way I felt about eight minutes ago when you asked me that same question,” Woodley said. “I normally do sports, everything is canceled here for the next couple of days, so what better time to ask the sports guy to come in about five hours earlier than he would normally wake up, go stand out in the wind and the snow and the cold, and tell other people not to do the same. ...”
“Tune in for the next couple of hours to watch me progressively get crankier and crankier.”
Once Woodley returned home, he cut the snarkiest moments of his on-air time together and posted the video to Facebook for friends and family to laugh at. At the prodding of his sister-in-law, Woodley shared the clip on Twitter shortly before noon.
Within hours, his video was everywhere.
As one of two sports reporters on staff, Woodley is used to a dynamic job description. But his agenda usually involves schools, and temperatures that are somewhat familiar. Though he knew he would assist with blizzard coverage several days before, he remained unaware of his role outdoors until much later on.
“We’re like anybody in the country, whether it’s fast food or any business. … We’re shorthanded compared to what we normally are,” Woodley said in an interview. “A lot of people are kind of thrown into different roles right now. Our station manager came in at about 6 o’clock this morning and shot my last shot.”
Woodley wanted to clarify that the harsh conditions, which will affect many Americans over the holidays, was nothing to scoff at. At least some of the people who watched the newscast, he hopes, stayed inside because of his tone. For most of the morning, he warned people of the dangers outside and shared steps to stay safe. Those clips, however, didn’t end up in his video.
“The storm is a serious thing, and so you’re seeing just a small part of each hit,” Woodley said. “The storm’s not a joke by any means, but it’s not my normal beat. I was working on three hours of sleep and that made me, maybe, a little bit more snarky than I normally would have been. But I decided to have a little fun with it. You know, maybe people pay attention.”
His favorite response, out of the thousands, was a quote tweet from “Knocked Up” and “Trainwreck” director Judd Apatow that simply read “Legend.”
“How many people has that ever happened to?,” Woodley said. “I’m just a local sports guy in Waterloo, Iowa, and it’s Judd Apatow, so that’s crazy.” | 2022-12-23T10:34:06Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Iowa sports reporter talks ‘crazy’ response to snarky snowstorm coverage - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/23/iowa-sports-reporter-snowstorm/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/12/23/iowa-sports-reporter-snowstorm/ |
Once a Marine, always a civilian
Lyle Jeremy Rubin’s memoir, ‘Pain Is Weakness Leaving the Body,’ tests our myths about the military
Review by Tyler McBrien
(Bold Type)
Fifty years ago in January the U.S. government signed the Paris Peace Accords, ending the Vietnam War and the draft that sustained it. The modern all-volunteer military was born.
The ripple effects are difficult to overstate. Ending the draft helped make the military what it is today and appeared to widen the gap between soldiers and civilians. Military leaders cite misperceptions and mistrust between civilian and military populations as an obstacle to recruitment and readiness. Critics of the United States’ forever wars argue that the all-volunteer force has insulated the public from battles fought on its behalf, allowing them to continue in perpetuity.
A new memoir, “Pain Is Weakness Leaving the Body: A Marine’s Unbecoming,” by Lyle Jeremy Rubin, complicates the conventional wisdom about the civilian-military divide. Examining it through firsthand accounts of boot camp, the war in Afghanistan and his reentry into civilian life, Rubin exposes the gap as at best overstated and at its core illusory.
War memoirs are, like any works of literature, products of their time — or, rather, products of the wars of their time. “Pain Is Weakness Leaving the Body,” a product of the war on terror, demonstrates that events on the periphery will always affect the center, and vice versa. Wars fought abroad will always come home. Rubin’s moral injury is shared by everyone. One Marine’s unbecoming becomes a nation’s.
In “Pain Is Weakness,” Rubin recounts “a winding five-year quest through the US military,” as well as his intellectual journey from model college Republican and right-wing ideologue to warrior-philosopher of the antiwar left. Born to upper-middle-class Jewish parents in Connecticut, Rubin graduated from Emory University in 2005 and joined the Marine Corps one year later, driven to enlist, apparently, out of a potent brew of class anxiety, masculine fragility and a steadfast belief in the United States as the “indispensable nation,” to quote Rubin quoting former secretary of state Madeleine Albright.
Review of Elliot Ackerman's “The Fifth Act: American’s End in Afghanistan”
But Rubin also joined up because of a belief that once he made the transition from civilian to military, he would gain access to a sacred brotherhood, one that would free him from his insecurities. “It’s shocking, the parts of ourselves we bury to become marines,” Rubin writes. “Or the parts we hope to bury by becoming marines.” Rubin quickly found that this promise, much like the civilian-military divide itself, was a false one. Even the book’s title, “Pain Is Weakness Leaving the Body,” a Marine Corps aphorism Rubin attributes to “Any marine, ever,” is no guarantee: It’s clear that Rubin and other Marines he encounters retain both pain and weakness.
Upon entering their ranks, Rubin observed only a continuation of life before the Marines. “Insecurities were everywhere,” Rubin declares, as he observes his fellow Marines “sweat trying not to be caught stealing glimpses” at one another’s bodies and “assess their own pecs, as they stood next to the more developed pecs of others.” Rather than escaping his civilian insecurities, he only had them amplified in the military.
A further sense that the civilian-military divide wasn’t as advertised takes hold even before deployment. “They say boot camp exists to break us down so they can build us up again,” Rubin writes, but you get the sense that there was much more breaking down than building up. Rubin’s boot camp is more “Full Metal Jacket” than “Band of Brothers.” In one passage, he describes how several Marines restrain a sleeping recruit, pulling his blanket down to beat him freely. Scenes like this are not the exception but the norm: “In the military one is conditioned to slowly indulge in (rather than restrain or check) wanton passions or acts of violence,” Rubin writes. But rather than encountering a new violence unique to the Marines, he found “a naturalization of the boyish violence” he got to know as a child — more of a continuity than a rupture.
Rubin’s fellow Marines, whom he psychoanalyzes with genuine affection, are trapped by the same malignant forces they were born into in the civilian world. His supposed comrades, many of them men “not so much in search of freedom and democracy as of their own manhood,” hurl sexist and racist invectives at one another and exploit these insecurities. Each suffers his or her own Darwinian fate, as the American empire manufactures and weaponizes “those who have become convinced that the only way to survive and thrive is to be on the more comfortable end of the whipping,” according to Rubin.
As he continues his training across the United States, Rubin draws ever more connections between the civilian and military worlds, as well as empire, capitalism, sexuality and patriarchy at home and abroad. At a base in Southern California called Twentynine Palms, he encounters “meth addicts risking their lives scrounging about impact areas for shell casings, unexploded ordnance, and other scrap metal” they could cash in. For Rubin, the fact that many of these people were immigrants from south of the border lays bare the “parallels between the empire’s outer wars and the wars within its most hopeless communities.” And, the fact that Rubin and his fellow Marines were “uninterested in their plight,” despite ostensibly volunteering to be “nation builders, culturally sensitive agents of humanitarian intervention, winners of hearts and minds,” foreshadowed the doomed civilizing mission awaiting them in Afghanistan.
Rubin isn’t the first veteran to remind the civilian population of their connection to — or complicity in — wars fought in their name. Phil Klay, another military veteran essayist, recently described how he and fellow veterans would respond to the gauche yet common question, “Did you kill anyone?” with a quippy “If I did, you paid me to do it.” The power of testimonials from Rubin and Klay lie in both the message and the messenger. As Rubin writes, “It’s precisely because I did the evil — even if in a support role, even if by omission — that I’m allowed to be heard in this Godforsaken country.” Another antiwar veteran activist, Jose Vasquez, calls this “the veteran mystique.”
For all its bleak depictions of violence and suffering, Rubin’s memoir is a hopeful one at its heart. Among the many cherished quotations Rubin scatters throughout the book, a line from Anton Chekhov sticks out: “Man will only become better when you make him see what he is like.” At boot camp, Rubin admits that he’s “not all that interested in reforming the military.” Rather, his concern “lies with how the boot camp experience acts as a mirror for the society that inspired it.” This is Rubin’s own civilizing mission, traversing the civilian-military chasm, memoir in one hand, mirror in the other.
Tyler McBrien is the managing editor of Lawfare. He previously worked as a writer and editor with the Council on Foreign Relations.
A Marine’s Unbecoming
By Lyle Jeremy Rubin
Bold Type Books. 304 pp. $29 | 2022-12-23T11:09:11Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Book review of Lyle Jeremy Rubin's Marine memoir, 'Pain Is Weakness Leaving the Body' - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2022/12/23/pain-weakness-marine-lyle-jeremy-rubin/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2022/12/23/pain-weakness-marine-lyle-jeremy-rubin/ |
Why mood music playlists are the soundtrack to anxious times
Gavin Luke could barely believe his luck. He’d spent nearly his entire life dreaming of being a musician, ever since he started piano lessons as a child. There was a semester spent studying at Berklee College of Music, and another stint trying to break into writing film scores for Hollywood. None of it stuck. Then he struck gold: His piano instrumentals started getting picked up on Spotify playlists like “Sleep” and “Deep Focus.”
Making money on digital streaming platforms, or DSPs, is notoriously difficult, but Luke does just that. The game changer came in 2016, when Luke and Swedish record label Epidemic Sound decided to upload his catalogue of music to Spotify.
The next year, at age 40, he finally made more from music than from his day job with a Minneapolis mortgage company. Two years after that, he sat steadily around 3 million monthly listeners — numbers that beggared belief for an artist with only 600 followers on Facebook, fewer than 500 on Instagram, and who didn’t play live shows. “I always say the more successful I become, the more paranoid I become about it, that this is too good to be true and it’s all going to go away someday,” Luke says.
Luke’s is a name that few music fans might recognize, but he’s part of a growing subset of musicians who earn a living almost entirely from instrumental mood music playlists. “Peaceful Piano,” the most well-known of these, boasts 6.7 million subscribers, making it one of the most popular playlists in any genre on Spotify.
These classically tinged songs are defined by their thoughtful, receding quality, bare-bones piano movements that belie expectations of commercial appeal. But with listeners looking to tune out of the noise of traumatic times and limitless streaming options at their fingertips, this music offers the perfect salve — even as the artists who create it remain largely anonymous.
Luke suspects he’s a unique case, but he’s hardly alone. Jacob David, a composer in Copenhagen, isn’t as far along the curve as Luke but is traveling on much the same trajectory. He uploaded his first recording, “Judith” — written for his niece’s church confirmation — to Spotify in 2015. Four years later, the song took off when Spotify unexpectedly added it to its “Peaceful Piano” playlist. “That was when I said, ‘Okay, the numbers for this are crazy. This could be a living,’” he recalls. “Judith” has since accrued more than 17 million plays on the platform, while David’s monthly listenership is 1.2 million. Like Luke, he was able to leave his job, in his case as a primary schoolteacher, last year to pursue music full time.
The explosion in popularity of these playlists dovetailed with an increased demand for wellness resources, even before the coronavirus pandemic thrust self-help to the forefront of public discourse.
In 2019, the National Institutes of Health pledged $20 million in research toward music therapy and neuroscience. “I think people are having trouble sleeping because they’re super, super anxious, so there are more people looking for [relief],” says Toby Williams, the music therapy director at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music. “And I think the people who work at Spotify are super smart. They’re trying to find as many categories as possible to hook as many people in as possible.”
It’s not just Spotify, either. After Luke’s streams on the Swedish platform were unexpectedly cut in half in 2020, Epidemic sent out an email the following spring advising its artists that their music had been added to a host of other platforms, like Amazon Music and YouTube Music. “When that happened, my numbers probably quadrupled,” Luke says, still gobsmacked. “I don’t even care about Spotify anymore now, because it’s so many different platforms now. And the income has just gone through the roof” — to the tune, he says, of “close to seven figures.”
But Spotify continues to lead the way for most. Founded in 2006, it launched its first playlists in 2015, which turned into a sprawling network of options either curated by humans or programmed by algorithms.
In the case of some official editorial playlists, the curators function much as radio once did, holding the power to turn a song into a hit with placement on the right playlist. “The labels, when they’re trying to break their artists, they’re pushing hard to these DSPs to try and land on as many different editorial playlists as possible, just to give their songs a fair chance to hit as many different audiences as possible,” says Parker Maass, a senior member of the marketing staff at Three Six Zero, a Los Angeles-based artist management company.
Once an artist is placed, Spotify is prone to add it back into that listener’s algorithm, but repeated plays don’t necessarily equate to fan engagement. Because listeners tend to start a playlist and simply let it play, they might hear a new artist’s song without noticing who the artist is. “The saying we have now is ‘streams do not equate to ticket sales,’” says Maass.
This ambiance-driven listenership is an unexpected twist on a long-standing tradition. “The logic [of radio consumption] has always been: Don’t play anything that will make someone change the channel,” says Elijah Wald, musician, scholar and author of the book “How the Beatles Destroyed Rock ’n’ Roll.” “And that’s what you’re talking about when you talk about playlists. The point is, as long as it doesn’t break the mood, it’s all fine.”
Mood music, or functional music, has existed far longer than music for music’s sake. During the Middle Ages, minstrels were retained by royal courts to provide pleasant atmosphere. Even classical music was often “pretty tinkling in the background,” as Wald puts it.
By the mid-20th century, albums of mood music were produced, as Spotify playlists would later be, to serve as aural complements to domestic activities. Muzak is perhaps the most well-known variation of recent decades.
Luke is acutely aware of the fact that his music often functions as background — while people work, when they’re at yoga classes, or even at hospitals. Far and away his most successful playlist at the height of his Spotify listenership was the “Sleep” playlist. He chuckles at the thought that his music might be playing while listeners aren’t really listening. “They put it on a loop so the ‘Sleep’ playlist plays all night long while they sleep. I swear to God, I had almost 2 million streams just in like a week the first time I had a song on there,” he says.
Rigidly clocking in at under three minutes — Spotify counts a play after 30 seconds and pays by the play, meaning shorter songs and more of them is key — the songs on these playlists ripple along on melodies that plunk like stones skipping on placid water. They never rise above a swell or a calm cascade of notes, hinting at tension rather than embodying it, but they’re more than enough for, say, a computer to register an “emotion” and log it into its metadata.
When heard on their own, songs like Luke’s or David’s can sound like incomplete thoughts, fragments of an idea that haven’t been given their full shape. But played in succession, there’s a hypnotic quality, and it’s almost impossible to tell where one song ends and the next begins — which is, in a sense, the very idea of the playlist.
However soothing the songs may be, the music on these mood playlists shouldn’t be mistaken for therapy. “Music therapists are trained to be in relationship in music with a client, actively making music. So it’s really not the same thing at all,” Williams cautions. She draws a distinction between an activity with a therapeutic quality, which may feel helpful in the moment, and actual therapy. “The course of therapy is systematic. It happens over time,” she says.
Contrary to neatly categorized tags like “Focus,” “Chill” or “Wellness” that proliferate on a platform like Spotify, what works for one patient may have an entirely different effect on another. “There’s really no science, no definitive science behind” the labels Spotify uses, Williams adds. “It’s somebody’s subjective idea of the mood that these particular songs might make.”
Still, David says he’s had several fans write to him to say that his music helped a loved one through an illness, or that they use it to meditate or put their baby to sleep. He first encountered this phenomenon while playing piano at a nursing home, when he noticed how residents’ faces lit up when they heard the music. “I’m not especially a calm person in general, I guess, but when I play it calms my mind,” he says. “And if it calms me, maybe it can calm other people.”
Luke is more unsentimental. He likens himself to a carpenter who might be asked to build a round table one week and a square one the next. In some cases, he admits, he doesn’t even remember his own songs, of which he estimates he’s amassed around 700. “Every once in a while I hear an old track of mine and go, ‘Oh yeah, that was actually pretty good. I forgot about that,’” he says, laughing. “Then the new month happens and it’s like, ‘All right, on to the next set of [songs]. I’ve got to pay the mortgage.’”
On the whole, Williams sees the popularity of these mood playlists as a positive development. “I’d say people are more aware of alternative ways to make them feel better, and more holistic ways, and it’s because it’s more in the mainstream. It’s more accessible,” she says.
Even if listening to the music doesn’t lead fans to seek options like music therapy, it could reflect a broader shift in thinking. “The more health-seeking people are, the better, in general, for society. And people having better access to the idea even of using music, using breath, using movement to naturally take care of themselves is a good thing.”
That may not be the way that Luke once saw his career playing out, but he’s not going to take it for granted. “I suppose if I was writing music with lyrics and vocals that had a real powerful meaning to me, I guess I wouldn’t be jumping up and down if it got on a sleep playlist. But, you know, it is what it is,” Luke says, adding: “It has meaning to me, but it’s more meaningful to me that other people get to hear it. What’s the point in writing music if no one ever hears it?” | 2022-12-23T11:09:17Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Why mood music playlists are the soundtrack to anxious times - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/music/2022/12/23/ambient-noise-sleep-music-playlists/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/music/2022/12/23/ambient-noise-sleep-music-playlists/ |
Two of the world-renowned tenor’s children join him on tour to promote a holiday-themed album
From left, Virginia, Matteo Bocelli and Andrea Bocelli perform at London's O2 Arena in September. (Nicky J Sims/Getty Images)
When it comes to the gargantuan task of performing for their typical crowds of 20,000 people, each member of the Bocelli family prepares in a different way.
Daughter Virginia, 10, is known to do jumping jacks. “I love gymnastics, so when I dance, move my body and my heart is beating right before I go onstage, it’s because of the jumping jacks and not because I’m scared.”
Meanwhile, her brother Matteo is all about rest. “I try to relax as much as possible,” the 25-year-old explains. “The best medicine for your voice is sleep.”
And as for 64-year-old Andrea, legendary tenor and their superstar father? No pre-show routine at all.
“No good-luck ritual, no lucky charm,” Andrea explains. “We keep stress down by having a clear conscience, living as healthy a life as possible and facing the public with the right amount of seriousness and positivity.”
It’s a trio of perspectives that coalesced for the first time this year as Virginia and Matteo joined Andrea for a nationwide tour in support of his latest album, aptly titled “A Family Christmas.” A follow-up to his blockbuster 2009 holiday effort “My Christmas,” one of the best-selling Christmas albums of all time, Andrea and his two children take listeners on a seasonal ride through a series of covers and original tracks that prove a knack for goosebumps-yielding vocals runs in their genes.
The overarching theme of the album, according to Andrea, is a simple yet powerful one: “that family is a blessing, a source of strength, a cornerstone of society.” Songs such as “The Greatest Gift,” a heartfelt original ballad, blend the pop vocals of Virginia and Matteo with Andrea’s iconic voice, complemented by both an orchestra and choir.
“It’s a project that was truly conceived by a family for all families,” Andrea says, though he admits he “also can’t deny that a strong motivator was also the possibility of spending more time with my children.”
The Italian tenor’s offspring happened upon music in a purely organic way. (Though he doesn’t sing onstage with his family, even Andrea’s eldest son, Amos, who works as an aerospace engineer, is skilled at the piano. “As for the music industry, he has kept his distance from it,” the patriarch says.)
Growing up, singing was a regular occurrence for the Bocelli family around their sprawling Tuscan villa. “I never imagined I’d go on tour with my dad, but let’s just say I was prepared,” says Virginia, who first performed onstage with her father during the pandemic. Andrea was set to sing the Leonard Cohen classic “Hallelujah,” but the plan was for him to sing it in English.
“He didn’t want to learn the English lyrics, and I was hearing this conversation between my mom and dad,” she remembers. “So I just said, ‘Oh, I can sing a little part of it.’”
With that, an 8-year-old Virginia and her father took the stage in December 2020 at the Teatro Regio — Parma, Italy’s jewel box of a theater — and surrounded by flickering candles, delivered a tender duet. It turned out to be the perfect introduction: While the performance was filmed, eventually earning 24 million views on YouTube, the theater was empty due to covid restrictions. “It’s so much scarier with an audience,” Andrea’s youngest says.
Matteo’s official singing start at 18 was slightly more intimidating; he took his first bow with his father at the Coliseum in Rome.
“People think that performing next to Andrea Bocelli is quite tough,” says Matteo, who first recorded the 2018 duet “Fall on Me” with his father for the album “Si.” “But Andrea Bocelli is also just my father, and the presence of your father is very helpful to have onstage with you.”
In addition to the family Christmas project, Matteo is also striking out on a pop career of his own. He is signed with Capitol Records, where he’s readying his debut album. He also recently contributed the song “Cautionary Tale” to the 2022 fantasy film “Three Thousand Years of Longing,” in which he also appears, and recently duetted with Colombian singing star Sebastián Yatra on the track “Until She’s Gone.” Earlier this year, Matteo notably performed alongside Andrea at Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker’s high-profile wedding in Portofino, Italy.
However, Matteo is proceeding into the family business with a sense of caution imparted on him by his father. “I think my kids know well that fame, per se, is not a value,” Andrea says. When he was Matteo’s age, Andrea had already completed law school at the University of Pisa and spent a year as a court-appointed lawyer.
“It’s undeniable that being appreciated is a source of satisfaction, but being famous is not an inherent quality,” Andrea explains. “In actuality, if one aims to acquire true human depth, it’s an obstacle, because with fame, it’s easier to lose contact with reality. And if you don’t keep your feet firmly on the ground, you risk getting lost. Every form of vanity is an intellectual challenge from which we try to keep our distance.”
But it doesn’t mean the Bocellis don’t enjoy the perks of an audience, as seen at their stop earlier this month at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Their show there, which has become an annual holiday tradition, consisted of opera classics in the first half and a second act full of Christmas cheer, as well as Andrea’s pop hits such as “Time to Say Goodbye” and “Perfect.”
As the show wrapped up and the family took their bows, Andrea’s children walked him to the edge of the stage and down a series of steps. (The tenor lost his sight when he was 12.) With the crowd still on their feet, Andrea could be seen conferring with his kids before deciding whether to come back for an encore. It was a scenario that repeated itself multiple times as the audience continued to cheer with each successive decision to sing another song.
“Dad just kept wanting to go out one more time, one more time, and we went out five times,” Virginia says. “He loved hearing the affection, all of the cheers and claps. Then at the end we walked off before taking one bow — left, right and center — all as a family.” | 2022-12-23T11:09:23Z | www.washingtonpost.com | For Andrea Bocelli and his children, singing is a family business - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/music/2022/12/23/andrea-bocelli-family-christmas-matteo/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/music/2022/12/23/andrea-bocelli-family-christmas-matteo/ |
Josh Groban is having a moment, and a Sondheim revival is next
The beloved singer makes an interesting pivot in the revamped ‘Sweeney Todd’ coming to Broadway
Josh Groban at New York City's Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, where he will star in the third Broadway revival of “Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street.” (Mary Inhea Kang for The Washington Post)
NEW YORK — Josh Groban says one of his adolescent dreams was to be middle-aged. No, really. “I couldn’t wait to be 40,” he recalls. “I was an 18-year-old kid who couldn’t wait to have that gravitas. Because my voice was big but I was not. And I loved the roles that were bigger, darker. More aged.”
That does help explain why he was in such a rush back then, leaving theater school at Carnegie Mellon University in his freshman year to embark on a recording and concert career, one that shot him out of the gates like an odds-on favorite at Churchill Downs. With a sumptuous baritone, a yen for show tunes and standards, and a nerdy handsomeness that many a mother could love, he amassed all of the tokens of singing star success: Grammy and Tony nods, multiplatinum albums, sold-out world tours.
The fame and money came a lot faster than did 40. But that finally happened, too — on Feb. 27, 2021, to be exact. Having successfully conquered that chronological goal, the now 41-year-old Josh Groban has been looking for other hurdles befitting a person with a zeal for midlife advancement. Offbeat movie roles. A guest slot in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “Freestyle Love Supreme.” And that capstone affirmation of artistic maturity: a lead in a Sondheim musical.
And not just any lead, but one of the most coveted in the canon of the late Stephen Sondheim: Sweeney Todd. On Jan. 12, Groban will start rehearsals alongside Annaleigh Ashford (as the redoubtable Mrs. Lovett) in the third Broadway revival of “Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street” since the 1979 original that starred Len Cariou and Angela Lansbury. The director is Thomas Kail, who shepherded to Broadway the most influential hit of the past two decades, Miranda’s “Hamilton.”
Groban is materializing in parts both whimsical and tailor-made these days: as a waiter in “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story” on Roku; as the Beast opposite H.E.R. in “Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration” on ABC. “Sweeney Todd,” with a score by Sondheim and a book by Hugh Wheeler, is a far bigger deal. It ticks off a lot of boxes for a guy whose more serious ambitions have been fixed toward bigger and darker.
“I’ve thought about it,” Groban says, “ever since I was a camper at Interlochen.” (That’s the highly regarded training center for the arts in Michigan he attended in the 1990s — and where he lost out one summer on playing Sweeney.) “You know, I’m not one of those people who just wants to shoehorn something in just because it’s something I love. So it had to be right.”
Groban is a performer with a sunnier stage temperament; he’s a pleaser who slips easily into lighthearted assignments, as, for instance, co-host of the Tony Awards (with Sara Bareilles in 2018), or headliner of his own variety show, as he did in April in “Josh Groban’s Great Big Radio City Show” before 6,000 people at Radio City Music Hall. On the evening I attended, Groban sang and tossed T-shirts into the audience, introduced unheralded new performers, gave Broadway actress Denée Benton a singing spot, and even interviewed New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist.
The path to being Josh Groban at 41 involved some trial, error — and terror. As he describes it, the success was so meteoric that he really wasn’t able to digest it. All the work and pressure of grueling concert tours made him a nervous, joyless wreck. “By the time I was 25, I was having an existential crisis,” he recalls. “I had already released three albums. You know, I sold 20 million records at that point. And I was thinking to myself, ‘Well, maybe that’s it.’ I’m 25 and thinking to myself, ‘It can only go down from here. Maybe I’ll be a veterinarian.’”
What looked from the outside like a carefree climb was in fact a perpetual steppingstone to anxiety. “You’re technically being thrown all these extraordinary experiences, but you’re seeing them through a real narrow lens of appreciation of those experiences, because the pressure is so great,” he says. “So you’re seeing the world through a hotel window, you’re experiencing the cuisine through room service.”
It’s a philosophy he’s attempting to employ again, in “Sweeney Todd.” He and Kail talked about the project before the pandemic and then returned to the notion in November 2021, when they organized an informal session in New York to sing through the musical. Two days before it was to occur, Sondheim died. “We were all of course just shellshocked,” Groban says. “We all kind of huddled and said, ‘Do we do this?’”
The answer ultimately had to be yes. “To feel like we get to honor him this way, and to know that this was something he wanted to have happen, is something that we take very, very seriously.” | 2022-12-23T11:09:29Z | www.washingtonpost.com | Josh Groban is having a moment, and a Sondheim revival is next - The Washington Post | https://www.washingtonpost.com/theater-dance/2022/12/23/josh-groban-sweeney-todd-broadway/ | https://www.washingtonpost.com/theater-dance/2022/12/23/josh-groban-sweeney-todd-broadway/ |
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