The Conversation -- December 29, 2024
President Jimmy Carter Dies at 100
Washington Post: "Jimmy Carter, a no-frills and steel-willed Southern governor who was elected president in 1976, was rejected by disillusioned voters after a single term and went on to an extraordinary post-presidential life that included winning the Nobel Peace Prize, died Sunday at his home in Plains, Georgia, according to his son James E. Carter III, known as Chip. He was 100 and the oldest living U.S. president of all time." ~~~
~~~ The New York Times is live-updating news related to President Carter's life & death. ~~~
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Tyler Pager of the Washington Post writes about Joe Biden's presidency. Read it, & you may be more convinced than ever that Biden should never have put himself up for re-election. ~~~
~~~ Nicholas Wu of Politico: "Dean Phillips has some regrets. Not about his decision to launch a quixotic primary challenge to President Joe Biden. He stands by that move, which alienated him from his party even as it proved prescient after Biden's disastrous debate with Donald Trump. But in an exit interview with Politico Magazine, the retiring Minnesota Democrat said he wished he had been more successful at fixing what he says is a deeply broken Congress and that he could have delivered more for his constituents. And he made clear he was leaving Capitol Hill extraordinarily frustrated with his party. 'We are totally devoid of leadership. We are rudderless,' he said."
Ken Bensinger of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump appeared to weigh in on Saturday on a heated debate among his supporters over the role of skilled immigrant workers in the U.S. economy, saying he had frequently used the visas for those workers and backed the program. 'I have many H-1B visas on my properties,' he told The New York Post. 'I've been a believer in H-1B. I have used it many times. It's a great program.' But his comments -- which were enthusiastically embraced by the technology industry as an endorsement -- may muddy the waters because Mr. Trump appears to have only sparingly used the H-1B visa program, which allows skilled workers like software engineers to work in the United States for up to three years and can be extended to six years.
"Instead, he has been a frequent and longtime user of the similarly named, but starkly different, H-2B visa program, which is for unskilled workers like gardeners and housekeepers, as well as the H-2A program, which is for agricultural workers. Those visas allow a worker to remain in the country for 10 months. Federal data show Mr. Trump's companies have received approval to employ over 1,000 workers through the two H-2 programs in the past 20 years.... While campaigning in 2016, Mr. Trump spoke out against the H-1B program, calling it 'very bad for workers' and stating that 'we should end it.'" ~~~
~~~ Megan Lebowitz of NBC News: "During his first term, the Trump administration implemented rules that would have cut the number of H-1B visas issued each year. The rules, however, were ultimately struck down in court." An AP story is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: If you check yesterday's news, you'll learn that Donald has a tremendous -- but perhaps partially unrequited -- crush on Elon. So my guess is that Trump is siding with Musk, not because he has flip-flopped on H-1B visas, but because he hopes to lure Elon to return to him at Mar-a-Lardo. As for his misstatement about his frequent use of the H-1B program, my guess is that he's not lying this time; he just doesn't know the difference between a program for skilled workers and one for housemaids. Trump's confusion is understandable; he no doubt helped Melania obtain an "Einstein visa" (EB-1), a type of visa reserved for people who are "highly-acclaimed in their field." At the time, Miss Melanie's claim to fame, according to this BBC News report, was limited: "She appeared on the cover of British GQ on a fur rug in Mr Trump's private jet, and in the swimsuit edition of Sports Illustrated in the US. She was not a top international model." So you can see where he would confuse somebody who codes AI with somebody who mows his greens. ~~~
~~~ Tom Sullivan of Hullabaloo, citing an Axios post (Axios is now requiring sign-ins): "Just before midnight Friday, Musk once again defended the H-1B program in vulgar, all-caps terms, saying the program was the key to the success of his (and other big American) companies. 'Take a big step back and F--K YOURSELF in the face. I will go to war on this issue the likes of which you cannot possibly comprehend,' Musk wrote. In a separate post, he pledged to 'fight to my last drop of blood' to keep America a meritocracy". ~~~
~~~ In any event, it's easy to see why Trump has a crush on Musk. For instance: ~~~
Christopher Schuetze of the New York Times: "Elon Musk ... shocked many in Germany last week by endorsing its far-right Alternative for Germany party, which is under surveillance by domestic intelligence for being extremist. This week, Mr. Musk entangled himself even more in the country's snap election, explaining in a newspaper opinion essay why he believes the far-right party is the 'last spark of hope' for Germany. 'The traditional parties have failed in Germany,' Mr. Musk wrote in comments published online by the daily Welt on Saturday.... Mr. Musk's opinion piece comes as Germany girds itself for an intense winter election after Chancellor Olaf Scholz's three-party coalition collapsed in November. On Friday President Frank-Walter Steinmeier of Germany officially announced the disbandment of Parliament and set Feb. 23 as the date for new elections....
"Mr. Musk's commentary was printed in the Sunday edition of the Welt, a conservative daily owned by the Axel Springer media group, which also owns Politico in the United States. Many of the paper's journalists protested the printing of the commentary, according to reports. Eva Marie Kogel, who had been the paper's head of opinion, resigned from her post after the printing, she confirmed on X.... The AfD ... [is] considered so far right as to be anti-democratic. All other political parties in Germany have precluded working with the AfD." MB: Similarly, no real U.S. president or pro-democracy American political party would have anything to do with Musk. The Guardian's story is here.
~~~ Marie: Krugman is as upset as I am about the MAGA feud: ~~~
~~~ ⭐Paul Krugman in a Substack essay titled, "MAGA is already eating its own. Pass the popcorn": "Every political movement is a coalition made up of factions with different goals and priorities.... What's different about MAGA is that I'm pretty sure that almost all of the movement's activists (as opposed to the low-information voters who put Trump over the top) knew that he was a con man, without even concepts of a plan to reduce prices. But each faction believed that he was their con man, putting something over on everyone else. But now the two most important factions -- what we might call original MAGA, motivated largely by hostility to immigrants, and tech bro MAGA, seeking a free hand for scams low taxes and deregulation -- have gone to war, each apparently fearing that they may themselves have been marks rather than in on the con." Read on. MB: Krugman gets everything right. (He's so smart, I'm going to check to see if he was born & reared in India.)
Azi Paybarah of the Washington Post (Dec. 27): "A bipartisan Senate report released Friday faulted the CIA's response to the mysterious ailment known as 'Havana syndrome,' saying many employees 'faced obstacles to timely and sufficient care' after experiencing symptoms. The report from the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence did not shed new light on what may be behind the mysterious ailment -- formally known as Anomalous Health Incidents (AHIs) -- which was first reported by CIA employees in late 2016. But it did say the lack of a clear definition of this affliction, its cause and the 'CIA's evolving organizational position have greatly complicated CIA's ability to consistently and transparently facilitate medical care, provide compensation and other benefits' to those affected." ~~~
~~~ You can read the report here, via the Senate.
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New York. Daniel Wu of the Washington Post: "New York corrections officers pummeled a shackled inmate in a state prison hours before he died in early December, according to body-camera footage released Friday by the New York Attorney General's office.... Robert Brooks died Dec. 10, a day after he was transferred to Marcy Correctional Facility in Oneida County, according to New York Attorney General Letitia James. The night he arrived, video shows corrections officers took Brooks to a medical examination room and struck him repeatedly. In the video, Brooks appears limp and bloodied." The article is topped with a still photograph. Even that is too difficult for me to look at. ~~~
~~~ Jan Ransom of the New York Times: "At least three of the New York prison guards implicated in the savage beating death of a handcuffed man had been accused of participating in similar attacks on prisoners across the state. Two of the corrections officers and a sergeant accused in the death of Robert Brooks, an inmate at the Marcy Correctional Facility in central New York, were previously named in federal lawsuits filed by prisoners accusing them of brutal attacks that left one man disfigured and another in a wheelchair."
Geoff Mulvihill & Kevin Vinys of the AP: "Abortion has become slightly more common despite bans or deep restrictions in most Republican-controlled states...." The article includes summaries of many statistics on changing practices re: abortion. MB: This is not surprising. Women who can afford to travel or use other extraordinary means to get safe abortions may be inclined to do so because of the very difficulties being imposed upon them. Some women who might have decided a few weeks later in their pregnancies to carry to term may have "rushed into" abortions, knowing their choices would be limited later. Furthermore, I suspect all of the discussion surrounding Dobbs and its consequences have made abortion more acceptable to the public rather than less so (I'm basing this on a gut feeling). *
* Update. Marie: Oh, looky here. The Pew Research Center says my gut was right.
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Russia/Azerbaijan/Kazakhstan. Anatoly Kurmanaev of the New York Times: "President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia on Saturday apologized for the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane this past week, breaking the Kremlin's three-day silence on the accident that killed 38 people. He did not explicitly acknowledge Russia's responsibility for the crash. Mr. Putin 'offered his apologies' for the crash in a phone call to his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliyev, the Kremlin said in a statement. Mr. Putin initiated the phone call, according to the statement, and told Mr. Aliyev 'that the tragic incident took place in Russian airspace.' Mr. Putin said that as the plane approached its scheduled destination of Grozny, in southern Russia, Russian air defenses had begun to repulse an attack by Ukrainian drones on the Grozny airport and others nearby, according to the Kremlin....
"The Kremlin statement stopped short of attributing the crash to a Russian missile, but in its own statement acknowledging the apology, Azerbaijan's presidential office suggested that was indeed the cause.... Mr. Aliyev called for a thorough investigation and for 'ensuring those responsible are held accountable.'... Mr. Aliyev's more accusatory, strongly worded statement on Saturday presents the first challenge from Russia's allies to Moscow's attempts to control the narrative.... The Kremlin's apology without accepting responsibility complicates [Azerbaijan's & KKazakhstan's] efforts to maintain friendly relations with Russia without appearing weak to their citizens and the world, analysts said." CNN's report is here.
News Lede
New York Times: "A passenger plane carrying 181 people crashed while landing at an airport in southwestern South Korea on Sunday. Officials said most of the people on board were presumed dead, even as two survivors were found and search efforts continued. The plane, operated by South Korea's Jeju Air, had taken off from Bangkok and was landing at Muan International Airport when it crashed, local fire department officials said. Footage of the accident shows a white-and-orange plane speeding down a runway on its belly until it overshoots the runway, hitting a barrier and exploding into an orange fireball.Officials were investigating what caused the plane, a Boeing 737-800, to crash land, including why the landing gear malfunctioned, whether the plane had been struck by birds, or if it had been experiencing bad weather." This is a liveblog.
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Reader Comments (12)
So interesting, in’it? Women, for the First Rapist, are objects to own or conquer (ie, sexually assault), arm candy, accessories he feels are necessary to make him look good.
It’s men he truly falls in love with, men he falls for, admires, abases himself for, writes love letters to, pursues: Putin, Xi, Kim, Musk, maybe Arnold Palmer?
Veddy interesting, as the Nazi guy on Laugh-in used to say.
Leopards-Face
OpenAI discussion
Morning thought:
I'm sure there are many reasons the Pretender bends the knee to Musk.
But first and last of all, I'd guess, is his money, a source of both admiration and fear to someone like the Pretender who so obviously confuses his worth as a human being with the size of his own bank account.
Because Musk has much more, he is the alpha ass.
“Krugman gets everything right. (He's so smart, I'm going to check to see if he was born & reared in India)”
Hahahaha. Maybe he got a real Einstein visa as opposed to the phony-baloney one Fatty scrounged for Melanie. She got the Einstein’s dim neighbor visa. Such a joke. Take your clothes off, roll around on a rug for soft core porn pictures…discover the secrets of the universe. Ehhhh…same thing. Let her in.
Ronnie Chieng "Do your homework for your country."
Bradley Balko
"How to support journalism
Worthy subscriptions, what to read, where to donate"
Can’t wait for Fatty to crap on Jimmy Carter.
Akhilleus,
George Will sure didn't.
And I choose not to link the embarrassing excrescence..
Ken,
Thanks for that. Fuck George Will. He hasn’t been right about anything in decades. Carter must have pissed him off by helping to build homes for poor people. Republicans hate that.
Sorry, but I had to look.
After all these years, little Georgie Will, at 83, couldn’t wait until Carter’s body was cold before attacking him for Carter’s belief that Will had given his briefing book to Ronald Reagan before their only presidential debate. Waaaah! I never did! That Jimmy Carter is a big fat liar!! Waaaah.
Still a whiny little punk after all these years.
Never mind that Jimmy Carter has been a model of what ex-presidents should be, when Reagan was making bundles giving incomprehensible speeches in Japan, Bush was painting his toes after setting the world on fire, and fuckface Trump was plotting governmental overthrow. Jimmy Carter was helping to make the world a better place, but never mind all that. Georgie Will’s hurt fee-fees deserve to be front and center upon the death of an American President.
Can winger assholes get any smaller or more self-importantly whiny? Of course they can.
Tell you what I’m gonna be doing when I hear George Will has kicked the bucket. Three fingers of good Irish whiskey, down the hatch, baby.
Prick.
Wow. Trump truly does love the uneducated.
Also the idiots,
Here’s Fatty’s former national security adviser(!) Robert O’Brien, agreeing that we should just take Greenland.
In fact—and here’s his really wicked smaht idea—Greenland could merge with Alaska.
Get that? Greenland and Alaska could be stuck together. Forget those 2,500 miles separating them.
This guy was a national security adviser?? What kind of advice did he give? Certainly none that required an accurate understanding of world geography.
Dunce-O goes on to regurgitate one of Trump’s favorite lies, that the US taxpayer foots the entire bill for defending European nations, who pay nothing for their own defense.
There’s stupid, and then there’s MAGA stupid.