Tuesday, October 31, 2023
Colleges
Jewish students at Cooper Union in New York City sheltered in a library as pro-Palestinian demonstrators banged on the glass walls of the building. At a pro-Palestinian protest near Tulane University, at least two students were assaulted in a melee that began when someone tried to burn an Israeli flag.
War
“Modern war is conducted not only with tanks and airplanes,” Amos Yadlin, a former head of Israeli military intelligence, said in a phone interview. “It’s a cyberwar, a psychological war, and an informational war.”
Colorado
Washington Post: Police officers recall Jan. 6 at Colorado hearing to kick Trump off ballot By Patrick Marley
The first day of the hearing, which is expected to last a week, featured an exhaustive retelling of what happened at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, by a Democratic lawmaker who had to evacuate and two police officers who tried to stop the rioters.
Gunman
Sheriff Joel Merry said in a statement that his office was contacted by members of Card’s family on May 3.
War
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel categorically dismissed any possibility of a cease-fire in Gaza at a news conference late Monday...
Freedom
NY Times: America’s Rifle Fetish Is Destroying Its Sense of Freedom By Jamelle Bouie
How free are you really when you know that a trip to the grocery store or a morning in prayer or a day at school or a night at the movies can end in your death at the hands of a gun?
The Market On Tuesday
Good morning. At 6:30 a.m. ET DOW futures are -8, S&P futures are -9.75, and NASDAQ futures are -63.25. The market is poised to open moderately lower.
Monday, October 30, 2023
Save
Frank Howard Dies
At 6-foot-7 and about 270 pounds, he was a towering force on an otherwise forgettable team, launching monumental home runs that sometimes flew more than 500 feet.
Popuation
Washington Post: The Native American population exploded, the census shows. Here’s why. Analysis By Andrew Van Dam
Could immigration from other countries have boosted our Native American population?
Probably not.
Gaffe
“We did it with Obama,” Mr. Trump said. “We won an election that everybody said couldn’t be won, we beat …” He paused for a beat as he seemed to realize his mistake. “Hillary Clinton.”
Upstate NY
Syracuse.com via MSN: Upstate NY’s first snow of the season could fall as early as tonight Story By Glenn Coin
Temperatures will fall below freezing in some areas tonight, and will hover around 32 degrees along the I-90 corridor from Buffalo to Albany.
Why
Why was this a thing? Why was the image of a fearful woman standing on a chair, in order to escape a mouse, an important archetypal image. Is it patriarchal in origin? Is it just silliness? Is it real, are some people phobic and terrified of mice? Now that winter is approaching we get some mice. I have these traps that safely catch the mouse and then I take it to a woodsy area and release it. They jump out of the trap with lightning quickness. But, you can buy traps that catch and kill the mouse and you never see the mouse either. You throw out the trap and the mouse together. Makes me think some people can't even look at a mouse, it's beyond jumping on a chair.
Dinosaurs
This is a gift article, available to everybody.
Washington Post: An apocalyptic dust plume killed off the dinosaurs, study says By Carolyn Y. Johnson
Jewel
Next, the female wasp drags the subdued cockroach by its sensitive antennae into a cavity it has found, lays a single egg on the roach’s leg and then uses dirt and debris to seal the fateful pair inside. After six days, the egg hatches, and the larva carves its way inside the cockroach’s chest. It then begins devouring the helpless insect from the inside out.
PFAS
In my opinion, we have an existential threat with global warming and its impacts on the environment. Another existential threat are PFAS, the forever chemicals. The more I read about PFAS, the more I recognize why there is so much cancer.
Solutions
From June 2022
Washington Post: Opinion - 6 solutions to gun violence that could work By Robert Gebelhoff
1. Ban weapons of war
Gunman
In a country saturated with guns, including an industry estimate of at least 20 million AR-15s, the bank killings were not unique. Ninety-nine days into the calendar year, Sturgeon’s assault on Old National Bank was the 15th mass killing with a gun in the United States in 2023...
Netanyahu
For many Israelis, the episode confirmed suspicions of rifts and disarray at the top during one of the worst crises in the country’s 75-year history and reinforced qualms about Mr. Netanyahu’s leadership
War
Several health facilities in Gaza were damaged over the weekend and hospitals there continue to receive evacuation orders from Israel...
The Market On Monday
Good morning. At 7:20 a.m. ET DOW futures are +194, S&P futures are +27, and NASDAQ futures are +108.5. The market is poised to open significantly higher.
How
This is a gift article, available to everybody. It's fun.
Washington Post: An illustrated guide to surviving an attack by Dracula, the Mummy, and other monsters By Manuel Canales
Between
"There is a strange interdependence between thoughtlessness and evil." - Hannah Arendt
"The aim of totalitarian education has never been to instill convictions but to destroy the capacity to form any." - Hannah Arend
Friday, October 27, 2023
Weekend!
Have an excellent weekend and see you bright and early Monday morning. Please stay safe out there.
Lunatic
Washington Post: Opinion - Mike Johnson’s conspiracy theories about ‘illegals’ mark a new GOP low By Greg Sargent
“This is the plan of our friends on this side — to turn all the illegals into voters,” Johnson said at a congressional hearing in May 2022, gesturing at Democrats. “That’s why the border’s open.”
Warning
“The Saudi leadership was hopeful that a ground operation could be avoided for reasons of stability as well as the loss of life” and Saudi officials warned it would be “extremely harmful..."
Kick
Starting on Monday in Denver, a week-long hearing featuring witnesses and legal scholars will explore whether Jan. 6 qualified as an insurrection, which could bar Trump from the ballot in Colorado.
Manhunt
Washington Post: Manhunt for suspect in Maine shootings that left 18 dead continues
Card’s military reserve commanders sent him to a hospital where he received roughly two weeks of inpatient psychiatric treatment earlier this summer...
Garbage
NY Times: Mike Johnson Is a Right-Wing Fever Dream Come to Life By Jamelle Bouie
He is staunchly against the bodily autonomy of women and transgender people and supports a nationwide ban on abortion and gender-affirming care for trans youth. He is also virulently anti-gay.
War
Simple observation - the Ukraine War is barely reported on in the newspapers now.
Some of them worry that an invasion might suck the Israeli Army into an intractable urban battle inside Gaza. Others fear a broader conflict...
The Market On Friday
Good morning. At 6:10 a.m. ET DOW futures are +64, S&P futures are +20.75, and NASDAQ futures are +131. The market is poised to open significantly higher.
Do
This is a gift article, available to anyone who wants to read it.
Washington Post: 3 things to do if you’re caught in an active shooter situation By Bonnie Berkowitz and Marissa Vonesh
Thursday, October 26, 2023
BBC News - Maine Shootings - 18 People Confirmed Dead With Suspect Still At Large
Garbage
Johnson recruited 125 House Republicans to join him in signing a U.S. Supreme Court brief saying as much, and on Jan. 6, 2021, an even larger group of lawmakers, including Johnson, voted against certifying the electoral college vote for Biden in two key battlegrounds.
Robert Card
Washington Post: Massive manhunt underway for shooter; at least 16 dead, official says
Law enforcement officials are searching for Robert Card, 40, of Bowdoin, a “person of interest” who police said should be regarded as armed and dangerous. The death toll, which could rise, is the largest from a mass shooting this year, according to data compiled...
War
Israel’s 19-day bombing campaign in Gaza has become one of the most intense of the 21st century, prompting growing global scrutiny of its scale, purpose and cost to human life.
Horrific
The gunman walked into the bowling alley in Lewiston, Maine, on Wednesday evening and fatally shot at least seven people before moving on to a nearby bar, according to Sheriff Eric Samson of Androscoggin County.
The Market On Thursday
Good morning. At 6:30 a.m. ET DOW futures are -77, S&P futures are -22.5, and NASDAQ futures are -126.5. The market is poised to open significantly lower.
Wednesday, October 25, 2023
Not Credible
The dispute began outside of court, during a break in the testimony, when Trump said he believed that both Engoron and the person next to him were extremely partisan.
Otis
While hurricanes can surprise meteorologists, a wind forecast error of nearly 100 mph is highly unusual. But some climate scientists have warned that extreme rapid intensification, made more likely by the effects of human-caused climate change and warming oceans, will lead to more unpredictable storms.
Have An Excellent Wednesday
Artwork By "Maria Sibylla Merian 1647-1717, German naturalist and scientific illustrator who left her husband and traveled to South America to study in an age of extreme restriction on women"
Very Cool
I love this.
Good News Network: Tai Chi Can Curb Parkinson’s Disease Symptoms for Years and Lower Needed Drug Doses–Study By Andy Corbley
Antarctic
Washington Post: West Antarctic ice sheet faces ‘unavoidable’ melting, a warning for sea level rise By Scott Dance and Chris Mooney
“It appears we may have lost control of the West Antarctic ice shelf melting over the 21st century...That very likely means some amount of sea level rise that we cannot avoid.”
Capture
Every year, companies around the United States capture around 18 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from natural gas processing plants, oil refineries and power plants.
War
The Israeli military said on Wednesday that it had bombed Hamas positions in “wide-scale” strikes in Gaza and had fended off rocket attacks from Syria, hours after the United Nations secretary general called for a cease-fire.
The Market On Wednesday
Good morning. At 7:00 a.m. ET DOW futures are +41, S&P futures are -14.5, and NASDAQ futures are -85.75. The market is poised to open mixed.
Tuesday, October 24, 2023
Plea
Washington Post: Jenna Ellis’s tearful guilty plea should worry Rudy Giuliani Analysis By Aaron Blake
By blaming others for the bad information, she (Ellis) was casting herself more as a negligent junior participant than a full-fledged leader of a criminal plot to subvert democracy.
Cohen
“I was tasked by Mr. Trump to increase the total assets based upon a number that he arbitrarily elected,” Mr. Cohen testified, saying that it was his responsibility to “increase those assets in order to achieve the number that Mr. Trump had tasked us.”
They Call Her Flipper - Faster Than Lightning
Washington Post: Trump co-defendant Jenna Ellis pleads guilty in Georgia election case By Holly Bailey and Amy Gardner
The deal allows her to avoid jail time in exchange for providing evidence that could implicate other defendants and agreeing to testify in any future trials. Ellis worked closely with personal Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, another defendant in the case who faces 13 charges.
Emmer
True story, I once owned a black lab that I named Emer. The word Emer comes from a famous queen in Irish mythology.
Axios: Tom Emmer wins internal vote to become GOP speaker nominee
Ellis Flips
Jenna Ellis, a pro-Trump lawyer who amplified former President Donald J. Trump’s baseless claims of election fraud as part of what she called a legal “elite strike force team,” pleaded guilty on Tuesday as part of a deal with prosecutors in Georgia.
Real Or B.S.
I'm posting this under the idea that it may or may not be true. It's only being reported on the edges, not in major outlets.
Cake Eater
Waste Of Time
My prediction, this will result in nothing happening. I'm more and more convinced that a group of Republicans must work with the Democrats to select a speaker.
Washington Post: House Republicans embark on electing third speaker nominee as Trump looms By Leigh Ann Caldwell, Marianna Sotomayor and Theodoric Meyer
Emmer’s sins, according to people close to Trump, include voting to certify the 2020 election and failing to endorse Trump, both privately and publicly.
Republicans Can't Govern
Gift article, available to anyone.
In that same story, Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) said, “We’re not a governing body.” Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.) said, “This is a bad episode of ‘Veep,’ and it’s turning into ‘House of Cards.’”
Who
...in pursuit of a political end that remains unclear aside from vanquishing Hamas, which controls Gaza, so that it can never again threaten Israeli citizens.
War
Israel said it had struck more than 400 targets in the past 24 hours, after hitting more than 320 a day earlier, in some of the most intense aerial attacks on Gaza in recent days.
The Market On Tuesday
Good morning. At 6:40 a.m. ET DOW futures are +88, S&P futures are +17.5, and NASDAQ futures are +76. The market is poised to open moderately higher.
Monday, October 23, 2023
Spies
Washington Post: Ukrainian spies with deep ties to CIA wage shadow war against Russia By Greg Miller and Isabelle Khurshudyan
The missions have involved elite teams of Ukrainian operatives drawn from directorates that were formed, trained and equipped in close partnership with the CIA...
War
Here are four (I posted two) paradigms now in shatters:
Hamas could be contained and the conflict managed.
Israel is invincible and maintains military superiority.
Blessing
This is a gift article available to anyone.
Washington Post: Opinion The GOP’s speaker chaos is a blessing in disguise By E.J. Dionne Jr.
Normal progressives and normal conservatives, in alliance with politicians closer to the center, are discovering a shared interest in keeping the nihilist right far from the levers of power.
War
Washington Post: Hezbollah steps up attacks, IDF says, fueling fears of wider conflict By Noga Tarnopolsky and Rick Noack
The potential for escalation remained particularly high along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon...
Leaderless
And yet his commanding position has turned Republicans into a party of one, demanding absolute loyalty to Mr. Trump and his personal feuds and pet causes, such as his false claims that the 2020 election was stolen.
War
Israel said on Monday that it had struck hundreds of targets in the Gaza Strip and attacked Hezbollah positions in Lebanon, as President Biden led an international diplomatic effort to try to ensure the conflict does not ensnare other nations in the region.
The Market On Monday
Good morning. At 7:20 a.m. ET DOW futures are -172, S&P futures are -21.5, and NASDAQ futures are -84.25. The market is poised to open significantly lower.
