The Ledes

Saturday, March 8, 2025

New York Times: “Officials said [actor Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa] died of natural causes, he of heart disease and she of a rare viral infection. But it was Ms. Arakawa — the caregiver, lover, protector — who died first, perhaps on Feb. 11, leaving Mr. Hackman, 95 years old with advanced Alzheimer’s, alone in the house for days. He is believed to have died a week later, on Feb. 18. Their decomposing bodies were not discovered for yet another eight days, when a maintenance worker called a security guard to the house after no one came to the door.... Ms. Arakawa died of hantarivus, which is contracted through exposure to excrement from rodents, often the deer mouse in New Mexico.”

The Wires
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The Ledes

Friday, March 7, 2025

CNBC: “Job growth was weaker than expected in February as the Trump administration began to slash the federal workforce. Nonfarm payrolls increased by a seasonally adjusted 151,000 on the month, better than the downwardly revised 125,000 in January but less than the 170,000 consensus forecast from Dow Jones, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. The unemployment rate edged higher to 4.1%.”

Help!

To keep the Conversation going, please help me by linking news articles, opinion pieces and other political content in today's Comments section.

Link Code:   <a href="URL">text</a>

OR here's a link generator. The one I had posted died, then Akhilleus found one, but it too bit the dust. He found yet another, which I've linked here, and as of September 23, 2024, it's working.

OR you can always just block, copy and paste to your comment the URL (Web address) of the page you want to link.

Note for Readers. It is not possible for commenters to "throw" their highlighted links to another window. But you can do that yourself. Right-click on the link and a drop-down box will give you choices as to where you want to open the link: in a new tab, new window or new private window.

Thank you to everyone who has been contributing links to articles & other content in the Comments section of each day's "Conversation." If you're missing the comments, you're missing some vital links.

Marie: Sorry, my countdown clock was unreliable; then it became completely unreliable. I can't keep up with it. Maybe I'll try another one later.

 

Public Service Announcement

Zoë Schlanger in the Atlantic: "Throw out your black plastic spatula. In a world of plastic consumer goods, avoiding the material entirely requires the fervor of a religious conversion. But getting rid of black plastic kitchen utensils is a low-stakes move, and worth it. Cooking with any plastic is a dubious enterprise, because heat encourages potentially harmful plastic compounds to migrate out of the polymers and potentially into the food. But, as Andrew Turner, a biochemist at the University of Plymouth recently told me, black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid." This is a gift link from laura h.

Mashable: "Following the 2024 presidential election results and [Elon] Musk's support for ... Donald Trump, users have been deactivating en masse. And this time, it appears most everyone has settled on one particular X alternative: Bluesky.... Bluesky has gained more than 100,000 new sign ups per day since the U.S. election on Nov. 5. It now has over 15 million users. It's enjoyed a prolonged stay on the very top of Apple's App Store charts as well. Ready to join? Here's how to get started on Bluesky[.]"

Washington Post: "Americans can again order free rapid coronavirus tests by mail, the Biden administration announced Thursday. People can request four free at-home tests per household through covidtests.gov. They will begin shipping Monday. The move comes ahead of an expected winter wave of coronavirus cases. The September revival of the free testing program is in line with the Biden administration’s strategy to respond to the coronavirus as part of a broader public health campaign to protect Americans from respiratory viruses, including influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), that surge every fall and winter. But free tests were not mailed during the summer wave, which wastewater surveillance data shows is now receding."

Democrats' Weekly Address

Marie (Feb 23): As far as I can tell, there isn't any. I hope I'm wrong, but it looks like Democrats are so screwed up, they can't even put together a couple of minutes of video to tell us how screwed we are.

Back when the Washington Post had an owner/publisher who dared to stand up to a president:

Prime video is carrying the documentary. If you watch it, I suggest watching the Spielberg film "The Post" afterwards. There is currently a free copy (type "the post full movie" in the YouTube search box) on YouTube (or you can rent it on YouTube, on Prime & [I think] on Hulu). Near the end, Daniel Ellsberg (played by Matthew Rhys), says "I was struck in fact by the way President Johnson's reaction to these revelations was [that they were] 'close to treason,' because it reflected to me the sense that what was damaging to the reputation of a particular administration or a particular individual was in itself treason, which is very close to saying, 'I am the state.'" Sound familiar?

Out with the Black. In with the White. New York Times: “Lester Holt, the veteran NBC newscaster and anchor of the 'NBC Nightly News' over the last decade, announced on Monday that he will step down from the flagship evening newscast in the coming months. Mr. Holt told colleagues that he would remain at NBC, expanding his duties at 'Dateline,' where he serves as the show’s anchor.... He said that he would continue anchoring the evening news until 'the start of summer.' The network did not immediately name a successor.” ~~~

~~~ New York Times: “MSNBC said on Monday that Jen Psaki, the former White House press secretary who has become one of the most prominent hosts at the network, would anchor a nightly weekday show in prime time. Ms. Psaki, 46, will host a show at 9 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, replacing Alex Wagner, a longtime political journalist who has anchored that hour since 2022, according to a memo to staff from Rebecca Kutler, MSNBC’s president. Ms. Wagner will remain at MSNBC as an on-air correspondent. Rachel Maddow, MSNBC’s biggest star, has been anchoring the 9 p.m. hour on weeknights for the early days of ... [Donald] Trump’s administration but will return to hosting one night a week at the end of April.”

New York Times: “Joy Reid’s evening news show on MSNBC is being canceled, part of a far-reaching programming overhaul orchestrated by Rebecca Kutler, the network’s new president, two people familiar with the changes said. The final episode of Ms. Reid’s 7 p.m. show, 'The ReidOut,' is planned for sometime this week, according to the people, who were not authorized to speak publicly. The show, which features in-depth interviews with politicians and other newsmakers, has been a fixture of MSNBC’s lineup for the past five years. MSNBC is planning to replace Ms. Reid’s program with a show led by a trio of anchors: Symone Sanders Townsend, a political commentator and former Democratic strategist; Michael Steele, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee; and Alicia Menendez, the TV journalist, the people said. They currently co-host 'The Weekend,' which airs Saturday and Sunday mornings.” MB: In case you've never seen “The Weekend,” let me assure you it's pretty awful. ~~~

     ~~~ AP Update: "Joy Reid is leaving MSNBC, the network’s new president announced in a memo to staff on Monday, marking an end to the political analyst and anchor’s prime time news show."

Y! Entertainment: "Meanwhile, [Alex] Wagner will also be removed from her 9 pm weeknight slot. Wagner has already been working as a correspondent after Rachel Maddow took over hosting duties during ... Trump’s first 100 days in office. It’s now expected that Wagner will not return as host, but is expected to stay on as a contributor. Jen Psaki, President Biden’s former White House press secretary, is a likely replacement for Wagner, though a decision has not been finalized." MB: In fairness to Psaki, she is really too boring to watch. On the other hand, she is White. ~~~

     ~~~ RAS: "So MSNBC is getting rid of both of their minority evening hosts. Both women of color who are not afraid to call out the truth. Outspoken minorities don't have a long shelf life in the world of our corporate news media."

As we watch in horror the rapid destruction of our democratic form of government, it is comforting to remember there is life outside politics. I took a break a while ago to enjoy a brief lesson in the history of the moonwalk: ~~~

But it may go back even further:

And this chronological account is helpful:

CNBC: “ CNN plans to lay off hundreds of employees Thursday [Jan. 23] as it refocuses the business around a global digital audience.... The layoffs come as CNN is rearranging its linear TV lineup and building out digital subscription products. The cuts will help CNN lower production costs and consolidate teams, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss nonpublic changes. Certain shows that are produced in New York or Washington may move to Atlanta, where production can be done more cheaply, said the people. For the most part, the job cuts won’t affect CNN’s most recognizable names, who are under contract, said the people. CNN has about 3,500 employees worldwide.... NBC News is also planning cuts later this week, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss nonpublic changes. While the exact number couldn’t be determined, the job losses will be well under 50....”

 

Contact Marie

Email Marie at constantweader@gmail.com

Page Links
Thursday
Mar072024

The Conversation -- March 7, 2024

Julian Borger of the Guardian: "US forces will build a temporary port on the Gaza shoreline in the next few weeks to allow delivery of humanitarian aid on a large scale, Joe Biden will announce in the State of the Union speech, amid warnings of a widespread famine among the territory's 2.3 million Palestinians. 'We are not waiting on the Israelis. This is a moment for American leadership,' a senior US official said on Thursday, reflecting growing frustration of what is seen in Washington as Israeli obstruction of road deliveries on a substantial scale. The port will be built by US military engineers operating from ships off the Gaza coast, who will not need to step ashore, US officials said. The aid deliveries will be shipped from the port of Larnaca in Cyprus, which will become the main relief hub."

Here are some excerpts from tonight's SOTU address, via the White House.

Marie: I missed this the other day, but it's worth watching at least the first bit where Seth lays out Trump's CV, who is, BTW, spending his time during the SOTU speech getting dictator tips from Viktor Orban:

Brian Melley of the AP: "... Donald Trump has been ordered to pay a six-figure legal bill to a company founded by a former British spy that he unsuccessfully sued for making what his lawyer called 'shocking and scandalous' false claims that harmed his reputation. A London judge, who threw out the case against Orbis Business Intelligence last month saying it was 'bound to fail,' ordered Trump to pay legal fees of 300,000 pounds ($382,000), according to court documents released Thursday. Orbis was founded by Christopher Steele, who once ran the Russia desk for Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, also known as MI6."

No Labels Has Plan to Help Trump. Thomas Beaumont & Steve Peoples of the AP: "The third-party presidential movement No Labels is planning to move toward fielding a presidential candidate in the November election, even as high-profile contenders for the ticket have decided not to run, two people familiar with the matter said Wednesday. After months of leaving open whether the group would offer a ticket, No Labels delegates are expected to vote Friday in favor of launching a presidential campaign for this fall's election, according to the people familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the group's internal deliberations." MB: Any candidate these yahoos field -- unless she's to the right of Trump -- will takes votes away from Biden.

It's Cap'n Ronny Now. Dan Diamond & Alex Horton of the Washington Post: "The Navy demoted [Dr. Ronny Jackson] in July 2022 following a damaging Pentagon inspector general's report that substantiated allegations about his inappropriate behavior as a White House physician, a previously unreported decision confirmed by [two U.S. officials].... Jackson [-- who retired as a rear admiral --] is now a retired Navy captain, those people said -- a demotion that carries significant financial burden in addition to the social stigma of stripped rank in military circles. Despite the demotion, Jackson has continued to refer to himself as a retired rear admiral, including in statements released since the Navy reclassified him as a retired captain.... Donald Trump and other Republicans have also continued to publicly describe Jackson using his former rank; it's unclear if they were aware of his demotion.... Katherine L. Kuzminski, a military policy expert..., said that it was inappropriate for Jackson to describe himself as a retired rear admiral."

Emily Rauhala of the Washington Post: "Sweden officially joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Thursday, a historic shift that highlights how Russian President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine is transforming European security in ways he may not have foreseen. At a meeting in Washington, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson deposited the final paperwork with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the last step needed for the former militarily nonaligned nation to become NATO's 32nd member. Sweden's neighbor, Finland, joined last year. To justify his aggression in Ukraine, Putin cited the possibility of NATO expansion. Now, in one of the conflict's many twists, his war has brought a bigger, stronger alliance to his door. Russia will have to live with the consequences for years." MB: Kind of the ultimate troll of the Putin/Trump alliance.

~~~~~~~~~~

Jim Tankersley of the New York Times: "President Biden enters his State of the Union speech on Thursday with an economic record that has defied forecasters' gloomy expectations, avoiding recession while delivering stronger growth and lower unemployment than predicted.... Mr. Biden's State of the Union speech will 'discuss the historic achievements he's delivered for the American people and lay out his vision for the future,' Lael Brainard, who heads the president's National Economic Council, told reporters ahead of the speech. She stressed recent wage gains, low unemployment and new factory construction that she said were linked to Mr. Biden's agenda. Ms. Brainard and other administration officials said the president would try to draw sharp contrasts with Mr. Trump on economic issues during his annual speech, including on tax policy and reducing consumer costs."

Aishvarya Kavi of the New York Times on the guests Jill Biden has invited to join her at the State of the Union address. CNN's story is here.

Good Luck with That, Mike! Mychael Schnell of the Hill: "Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is urging GOP lawmakers to maintain decorum when President Biden delivers his State of the Union address Thursday night, after Republicans had a number of outbursts during last year's speech. Johnson made the request during a closed-door GOP conference meeting Wednesday morning, three Republican lawmakers who attended the gathering told The Hill.... [Republicans' bad behavior] was on full display last year, when some GOP lawmakers heckled the president throughout his speech in the House chamber.... The heckling about Social Security and Medicare led to an unusual back-and-forth between Biden and his Republican critics, which prompted an agreement from individuals in the room that the two programs should remain intact. 'Well, I'm glad to see -- and now, I tell you, I enjoy conversion,' Biden said, prompting laughs."

Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: "The House on Wednesday passed a $460 billion spending bill to fund about half the federal government through the fall, moving to avert a partial shutdown at the end of the week and offering the first glimmer of resolution to bitter spending fights that have consumed Congress for months. The 339-to-85 vote capped months of heated negotiations over federal funding that have repeatedly pushed the government to the edge of shutdown as Republicans pressed for cuts and conservative policies. It was yet another instance in which Speaker Mike Johnson was forced to steer around the opposition of the hard right and turn to Democrats to supply the bulk of the votes for critical legislation to keep the government running. The Senate was expected to take up and pass the bill easily, sending it to President Biden in time for it to become law before a midnight deadline on Friday." The AP's report is here.

Whatever Happened to Those Articles of Impeachment? Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "It has been nearly a month since House Republicans impeached [Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro] Mayorkas by a single vote, racing ahead with a case that constitutional scholars called groundless before Democrats won a special election in Long Island and wiped away the majority support needed to approve the charges. But instead of quickly sending the articles over to the Senate to try to force out one of the officials they blame for chaos at America's southern border, Republicans have sat on them.... They are taking their time before suffering that high-profile defeat [in the Senate].... The current strategy is to wait until Republicans and Democrats have finished negotiating and passing a series of spending bills, a process expected to last until a March 22 deadline, Republicans say.... Democrats see a pattern in House Republicans rushing to score temporary wins to satisfy their conservative base without thinking through how to achieve any lasting victories."

Presidential Race

Hawaii. AP & Star Advertiser: "President Joe Biden handily won the Democratic Party of Hawaii's caucus Wednesday night, but 'uncommitted' equaled nearly 30% of the votes tallied. A total of 1,563 votes were cast statewide, with Biden receiving 1,032, or 66%, while uncommitted took 455 votes, or 29%. Other candidates receiving votes were self-help author and spiritual guru Marianne Williamson with 50, or 3%, and U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips with 15, or 1%, according to the party. Two other candidates had single-digit vote tallies. Party officials released the results after 10 p.m. but did not release the delegate allocation because they were still waiting for results from Lanai Democrats."

Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: During an hour-long White House meeting, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) urged President Biden to more clearly define the contrast between Democrats & Republicans. "In an interview, Sanders said Biden has 'has a lot to be proud of' and that Biden should 'proudly talk about those achievements' but that the president should be far more focused on articulating a forward-looking agenda than he has been thus far."

Meryl Kornfield of the Washington Post: "Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) announced Wednesday that he would suspend his long-shot presidential campaign, giving up his primary challenge of President Biden after struggling to convince Democrats that he would perform better than Biden in a race against Republican Donald Trump.... Phillips acknowledged his campaign's shortcomings in an interview with local Minneapolis radio host Chad Hartman, saying that he endorses Biden.... After the series of defeats, Phillips acknowledged his lack of popularity, posting 'Congratulations to Joe Biden, Uncommitted, Marianne Williamson, and Nikki Haley for demonstrating more appeal to Democratic Party loyalists than me' on X ... on the night of Super Tuesday." (Also linked yesterday.) CNN's report is here.

     ~~~ Thanks to RAS for the link.

Kylie Atwood & Arit John of CNN: "Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley announced Wednesday that she is exiting the Republican presidential race, leaving ... Donald Trump as the party's presumptive nominee.... Haley did not endorse Trump during her address. Instead, she called on the former president to earn the support of voters who backed her. The plan appears to leave room for her to endorse Trump ahead of the general election in November, sources familiar with her plans told CNN prior to her speech." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Trump Consolation Prize. Lisa Mascaro of the AP: "Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell endorsed Donald Trump for president on Wednesday, a remarkable turnaround from the onetime critic who blamed the then-president for 'disgraceful' acts in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack but now supports his bid to return to the White House. McConnell, who was the last top GOP leader in Congress to fall in line with Trump, declared his support in a short statement after Super Tuesday wins pushed the GOP front-runner closer to the party nomination. The two men have not spoken since 2020 when McConnell declared Democrat Joe Biden the winner of that year's presidential election. But more recently, their teams had reopened talks about an endorsement." MB: Now all the chickenshits have come home to roost. Nice to see Mitch confirm that he thinks this country merits nothing better than a "disgraceful" president*. (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times story is here.

AND, In an Effort to Unify the GOP.... Sarah Fortinsky of the Hill: "Former President Trump lashed out at fellow GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley on Super Tuesday, calling her 'crazy' and a 'very angry person.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ That was before Haley dropped out of the race. Just as she did so, Trump wrote this on his fake X platform: "Nikki Haley got TROUNCED last night, in record setting fashion, despite the fact that Democrats, for reasons unknown, are allowed to vote in Vermont, and various other Republican Primaries." Via digby. ~~~

~~~ And this from the Biden campaign: "Donald Trump made it clear he doesn't want Nikki Haley's supporters. I want to be clear: There is a place for them in my campaign. I know there is a lot we won't agree on. But on the fundamental issues of preserving American democracy, on standing up for the rule of law, on treating each other with decency and dignity and respect, on preserving NATO and standing up to America's adversaries, I hope and believe we can find common ground." More here. ~~~

~~~ Dave Weigel on Semafor: "A super PAC that urged non-Republicans to cast primary votes for Nikki Haley is pivoting to November, urging Haley's voters to support President Joe Biden. Starting [Wednesday], Primary Pivot will become Haley Voters for Biden, and urge anyone who supported Haley in a swing state to stick with the president in November.... In a statement, Primary Pivot said it would focus on Haley voters in states where they could be counted -- nearly 300,000 in Michigan, and nearly 250,000 in North Carolina. The super PAC, which started by urging New Hampshire Democrats to temporarily switch their registrations, spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to activate potential Haley voters in South Carolina and Super Tuesday states."

Brian Schwartz of CNBC: "A growing number of Republican National Committee members believe its campaign arm should help pay mounting legal bills for ... Donald Trump, a move that could strain the party's ability to financially support other candidates in the 2024 election. RNC Committeeman Solomon Yue, who is from Oregon, told CNBC he believes 'more than a majority' of members are in favor of helping offset the bills from Trump's lawyers in four pending criminal cases, and at least three other civil cases."

Michael Luciano of Mediaite: "Former federal prosecutor Jeffrey Toobin said that given Donald Trump''s poor credit history, the former president's only option for paying off his legal judgments may be to turn to foreign entities for financing." Toobin made the observation after CNN's John King told him, "Elon Musk said today that despite recent meeting with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, he will not be donating money to either candidate." Toobin said, "What if he goes to Azerbaijan?.... What if he goes to Russia?... What does that mean if a candidate for president is on the hook for multiple, multiple millions of dollars to a foreign source? Because that, it seems to me, is the most likely source."

Marie: Donald Trump's consistent campaign pitch has been that only he will protect us from the murderers, rapists, drug dealers and criminals who are pouring into the U.S. via the U.S./Mexico border. While I don't doubt that a few criminals are crossing into the U.S., I'm more concerned about the crime wave involving or surrounding Trump himself. That is, what appears to be a scapegoating, fear-mongering campaign strategy is more likely Trump's well-known propensity to project his own shortcomings onto others. After all, a New York jury found him liable for what the judge in the case called rape. Trump's White House was awash in drugs, improperly dispensed by Trump's favorite doctor (and now Congressman) Ronny Jackson. Trump himself is charged with 91 criminal felonies. And now it turns out that a Congressional candidate Trump endorsed is wanted for murder (story linked below). So murderers, rapists, drug dealers and criminals? Check, check, check and check.

Conservative Amanda Carpenter in If You Can Keep It: "... Donald Trump ... and his MAGA allies are, once again, rolling out the red carpet for their favorite authoritarian, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. He'll be welcomed at the Heritage Foundation on Thursday and at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club on Friday.... For the MAGA movement, Orban is a model for retaking the executive office and then consolidating power to maximum effect. Like Trump, Orban was ousted by voters and then spent time out of office making plans to win the next election, get control of the levers of power, and abolish democratic checks in the system so he would never lose again.... Orban has now held power for 14 years and counting in a corrupt system of his own making that the European Parliament condemned as a 'hybrid regime of electoral autocracy.' [The Heritage Foundation's written] plans [for a second Trump administration] map almost exactly onto the strategies Orban has used to build an enduring, illiberal, nationalist, authoritarian state in Hungary."

Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha. Fox "News" accidentally gave Joe Biden a boost on Super Tuesday. Via the Daily Dot. Thanks to RAS for the link. ~~~


Ann Marimow of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court has scheduled argument for April 25 to review Donald Trump's claim that he is immune from criminal prosecution on charges of trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The case will be heard on the final day of the court's argument calendar and will determine whether and how quickly Trump faces trial in D.C. for allegedly trying to block Joe Biden's election victory. The high court's decision to consider Trump's claims, rather than letting stand a lower court decision that he can be prosecuted, drew criticism for further delaying the election obstruction trial. It was originally scheduled to begin this week." Note from CJ Roberts to All Justices: Hey, I planned to set arguments for October, but Sonia threatened to make me a soprano if I did. (Also linked yesterday.)

Judd Legum & Tesnim Zekeria of Popular Information: "On Tuesday, billionaire Elon Musk told his 175 million followers on X that President Biden had committed 'treason' by 'secretly' flying '320,000 illegal immigrants' from Latin America to US airports.... The only problem is that nearly everything Musk said is a lie." Do read on for the explanations, including the sourcing of Musk's claim. He is as susceptible to disinformation he encourages on his own platform as is the dimwittiest of X users. Thanks to RAS for the link.

Julia Jacobs of the New York Times: "The armorer who put a live round into the gun that Alec Baldwin was rehearsing with on the set of the film 'Rust' when it went off, killing the cinematographer, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter on Wednesday. The conviction of the armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, marks the first time a jury has weighed in at trial on the fatal shooting of the cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins."

Benjamin Mueller of the New York Times: A 62-year-old German man got 217 Covid shots over the course of 2-1/2 years -- and he's fine! "The man had seemingly never been infected with the coronavirus. He reported no vaccine side effects. And, most interestingly to the researchers, his repertoire of antibodies and immune cells was considerably larger than that of a typical vaccinated person, even if the precision of those immune responses remained effectively unchanged. The researchers found that even the 217th shot boosted the man's immune response. And while they were carefully looking for signs of a progressive weakening in his immune reactions over time -- an unwelcome type of immune tolerance that sometimes develops during long-term viral infections -- they reported seeing no such drop-off in responses."

Somino Sengupta & Delger Erdenesanaa of the New York Times: "Winter was weirdly warm for half the world's population, driven in many places by the burning of fossil fuels, according to an analysis of temperature data from hundreds of locations worldwide. That aligns with the findings published late Wednesday by the European Union's climate monitoring organization, Copernicus: The world as a whole experienced the hottest February on record, making it the ninth consecutive month of record temperatures. Even more startling, global ocean temperatures in February were at an all-time high for any time of year, according to Copernicus. Taken together, the two sets of figures offer a portrait of an unequivocally warming world that, combined with a natural El Niño weather pattern this year, has made winter unrecognizable in some places."

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Alabama. Praveena Somasundaram of the Washington Post: "Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) on Wednesday signed a bill to protect providers and patients doing in vitro fertilization from legal liability if embryos they create are damaged or destroyed.... The bill, signed into law less than three weeks after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are people and individuals could be held liable for destroying them, gives criminal and civil immunity 'for death or damage to an embryo' related to IVF. The unprecedented ruling alarmed medical professionals and reproductive rights advocates, who warned it would jeopardize IVF access in the state. Several Alabama providers halted IVF treatments within days of the decision."

Florida. Lauren Irwin of the Hill: "The Florida State Senate passed a bill Tuesday that would prohibit local agencies from implementing heat protections for workers. The GOP-controlled Senate voted 28-11 to pass the bill, which would ban cities and counties from adopting mandatory water breaks and other extreme heat relief measures that go beyond what is required by state or federal law.... It comes just after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) confirmed that 2023 was the hottest single year ever recorded. The summer season was also confirmed to be the warmest on record." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This sounds just like a bill Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signed into law last summer. We know Republican elected officials despise women, especially sexually-active women. They hate LGBTQ+ people. They hate minorities. They hate East- and West-Coast "elites." They hate deadbeats -- including children -- who receive government benefits. But now they hate the people who are working in the noonday sun, the majority of whom are probably men, many of whom are white guys. So there's hardly anybody they don't hate. Why is that? And why do the people they hate keep voting for those who hate them?

Nevada/Texas. Sky Palma of the Raw Story: "An arrest warrant has been issued for a former Republican candidate for Congress in connection to a homicide that took place on the Las Vegas Strip last year that resulted from a fight inside a hotel room. Daniel Rodimer, who is also a former professional wrestler, has been charged with murder in the death of 47-year-old Christopher Tapp.... [Rodimer] unsuccessfully ran as a Republican for Nevada's third congressional district in 2020 and a Texas congressional seat in 2021." Erik Loomis, in LG&$, publishes a photo of Donald Trump giving Rodimer the thumbs-up.

North Carolina Governor's Race. Jennifer Bendery of the Huffington Post: "On Tuesday, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson won the GOP primary to become his party's nominee for North Carolina governor, presumably with the help of female voters. 'I absolutely want to go back to the America where women couldn't vote,' Robinson said in a newly resurfaced video of his remarks at a March 2020 event hosted by the Republican Women of Pitt County.... The North Carolina Republican's longing for the days when women couldn't vote ties into his history of demeaning women and mocking feminism, especially on social media. He's claimed that feminism was created by Satan. He's said that men who identify as feminists are 'about as MANLY as a pair of lace panties' and are 'weak mined, jelly backed men."' He's routinely referred to feminists as 'fem-nazis' and, in one particularly colorful post, described those who support equal rights for women as 'sexist, hairy armpit having, poo-poo hat wearing pinkos.' 'The only thing worse than a woman who doesn't know her place, is a man who doesn't know his,' he wrote on Facebook in December 2017." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I remind you that Robinson is the man whom Donald Trump believes is "Martin Luther King on steroids." Then again, we never had any illusions about self-professed and found-liable sexual assaulter Trump's opinion of women. ~~~

     ~~~ Frank Bruni of the New York Times has more to say about Robinson & Trump, including stuff we didn't know. Like this: "As a devastating article by Jeffrey Billman in the North Carolina publication The Assembly detailed in January, Robinson has been delinquent on taxes and repeatedly filed for bankruptcy, and his wife, Yolanda Hill, has prospered from the acquisition -- and then forgiveness -- of Covid-era Paycheck Protection Program loans from the federal government."

~~~~~~~~~~

Israel/Palestine, et al. The Washington Post's live updates of developments Thursday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "Hamas said in a statement Thursday that its delegation has left cease-fire negotiations in Cairo 'to consult with the leadership of the movement' on issues including aid and the return of displaced people. Egyptian state media reported that talks would resume next week. Pressure is growing on parties to reach a cease-fire deal as the Islamic holy month of Ramadan approaches early next week. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters Wednesday that he was still optimistic a deal could be reached.... Houthi militants struck a Barbados-flagged, Liberian-owned commercial vessel off the coast of Yemen on Wednesday, killing three civilian mariners, U.S. officials said -- the first known fatalities since the Houthis began targeting ships in what they describe as a response to Israel's actions in Gaza. At least four people were injured in the Houthi missile attack on the True Confidence ship, said U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in the region. The United States conducted self-defense strikes Wednesday evening against two unmanned aerial vehicles that threatened U.S. Navy and maritime vessels in the Gulf of Aden area." ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times' live updates for Thursday are here. CNN's live updates are here.

News Lede

New York Times: "A specialized laboratory examining the brain of the gunman who committed Maine's deadliest mass shooting found profound brain damage of the kind that has been seen in veterans exposed to repeated blasts from weapons use. The lab's findings were included in an autopsy report that was compiled by the Maine chief medical examiner's office and released by the gunman's family. The gunman, Robert Card, was a grenade instructor in the Army Reserve. In 2023, after eight years of being exposed to thousands of skull-shaking blasts on the training range, he began hearing voices and was stalked by paranoid delusions, his family said. He grew increasingly erratic and violent in the months before the October rampage in Lewiston, in which he killed 18 people and then himself."

Comments Off

Reader Comments (10)

The Orange Monster endorsed a guy now charged with murder? Of course he did. And of course the MAGAts love him.

Further commentary is superfluous.

March 7, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

My sister in Florida tells me that she heard there was a misunderstanding in Trump's diagnosis of bone spurs.

He thought the doctor said bone spurs, but he actually said 'brain spurs'
and there's obviously no cure for brain spurs. It just gets worse and worse as time goes on.

March 7, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterForrestMorris

Andy Borowitz "Nancy Pelosi drops put of the race."

March 7, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterRAS

Live like a Trump. A seat fit for a wanna be king.

March 7, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterRAS

Mitch McConnell's red lines. He literally can not put the country before his party. It just does not compute for him. The oath he takes every time he gets elected probably sounds the same to him as the slurring gibberish Trump routinely utters sounds to us.

March 7, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterRAS

Mehdi Hasan

"'Brag, Joke, Pick A Fight': What Joe Biden Should Do in His State of the Union
Seven (Unsolicited) Tips for the President of the United States"

March 7, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterRAS

Worse than Trump

‘Member when there was such great concern about Rhonda becoming Trump 2.0, a new and improved authoritarian asshole without the baggage and the bugs, meaning a much more effective dictatorial despot? That turned out not to be the case. DeSantolini, authoritarian aspirations aside, was much more a creation of Fox propagandists. The go-go boots, high profile spats with a cartoon mouse, ineptness as a legislative schemer, bizarre eating habits, and the personality of mop conspired to derail his predicted goose stepping march to the White House.

But there’s always been someone out there much worse than Trump, Rhonda, and the clamoring, democracy hating PoT wannabes. Someone far more effective at back room, back stabbing deal making and breaking. Mitch McConnell’s years in the senate as an intransigent foe of bipartisanship and, consequently, the very idea of a United States, helped salt the earth from whence came the Orange Monster.

Some have compared him to Lyndon Johnson, the one time Master of the Senate. And certainly McConnell was well versed in the Washington power game and had an encyclopedic knowledge of legislative moves. But Johnson was not a traitor. In fact, McConnell is more Otto von Bismarck than Lyndon Johnson. Although no traitor, Bismarck was a master of manipulation, slick trickery, and shady back stabbing. He was a king maker and nation breaker whose slippery machinations laid the groundwork for one world war and helped establish the mindset that caused another.

McConnell hasn’t started any wars but he is in many ways personally responsible for the shattered, blood stained political landscape that Trump now bestrides. Both Trump and McConnell are traitors, but only one has been truly successful at trying to pull this country down into the quagmire we now find ourselves in. McConnell could have stopped Trump. Could have allowed Obama his Constitutional right to pick a Supreme Court nominee. He didn’t.

He can’t exit soon enough. Rings of hell await.

March 7, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Charles Snavely,

Excellent piece. Thanks for the link. More later…

March 7, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Still at it…

I checked the Times site minutes after the SOTU to see what their first take might be.

Guess what it was?

The threat to democracy presented by Trump and the Party of Traitors?

The economy, which Biden has resurrected with fabulous results after four years of an incompetent narcissist?

Ukraine?

Russia?

China?

The border?

Prescription drug prices?

The war in Gaza?

Nope.

Carl Hulse’s very first sentence was about how Biden TRIED to respond to the age issue.

Seriously, kids, it’s beyond parody now.

March 7, 2024 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus
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