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MURDER, POLITICS, AND THE END OF THE JAZZ AGE by Michael Wolraich Order today at Barnes & Noble / Amazon / Books-A-Million / Bookshop |
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As David Mimoun, a scientist working on the mission, told Scientific American: “It’s so small that at the beginning we were wondering if it was a quake or something else.”
By Kari Paul in San Francisco for TheGuardian.com, April 24
Uber drivers in the US will stage a shutdown for 12 hours to protest against poor working conditions and low wages as the company goes public in May.
Drivers will log off the app in seven cities starting at noon on 8 May, the day Uber is expected to make its IPO. Drivers in San Francisco will also protest in front of the Uber headquarters. The action is backed by driver collectives including Gig Workers Rising in Northern California, Rideshare Drivers United in Los Angeles, and Chicago Rideshare Advocates. “Uber’s much-anticipated IPO will put millions into the pockets of executives, but the drivers who are the core of the service of the company will get nothing,” Shona Clarkson, an organizer with Gig Workers Rising, said [....]
By Aris Folley @ TheHill.com, April 24
John William King, the ringleader behind the 1998 dragging death of James Byrd Jr., has been executed. King was executed by lethal injection at the Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville on Wednesday evening, an official confirmed to The Hill. He was pronounced dead at 7:08 p.m., the official said.
According to The Associated Press, King orchestrated the early morning attack on Byrd on June 7, 1998 [....]
Is this not treating it like a public utility when politicians use it? Just wonderin'
Defying Congress, Trump vows Supreme Court fight over any impeachment
“If the partisan Dems ever tried to Impeach, I would first head to the U.S. Supreme Court,” the Republican president, who is seeking re-election next year, wrote on Twitter, without offering details about what legal action he envisioned.
Maybe it would be a good idea? Push him over the edge, although isn't he already way over the edge?
By Tal Axelrod @ TheHill.com, 04/23/19 09:07 PM EDT
The House on Tuesday evening asked a federal judge to block President Trump’s plan to use Defense Department funds to build his long-promised wall along the southern border.
House lawyers filed a motion to U.S. District Court Judge Trevor McFadden asking him to issue a preliminary injunction to prevent the administration’s plan to use about $6 billion initially intended for military construction and counter-drug accounts to build miles of additional barriers on the southern border.
“Defendants are moving quickly to construct the border wall, and they have awarded contracts against funds that Congress did not appropriate for that purpose. And more contracts are coming soon,” House General Counsel Doug Letter and other lawyers wrote. “Once made, these unconstitutional expenditures cannot be undone, and the grave institutional injury inflicted on the House cannot be remedied.”
Neither the Justice Department nor the White House immediately responded to requests for comment from The Hill.
The motion accuses Trump of violating the Constitution’s separation of powers by violating Congress’s power to appropriate federal funds. More than half the money the House is trying to block is linked to the president’s February emergency declaration [....]
Perhaps Kanye West is dipping his toe in the church-as-business waters. It also seems possible that Sunday Service fills a deeply personal need.
By Jia Tolentino @ Cultural Comment @ NewYorker.com, April 23
On the first Sunday of 2019, Kim Kardashian West assumed a new position as the unofficial head of communications for a pop-up church experience called Sunday Service, which was created by her husband, Kanye West. She pointed her sixty million Twitter followers to a series of videos that she was posting on Instagram Stories; they showed a seemingly phosphorescent choir, in a large studio flooded with ultraviolet light, singing startlingly beautiful gospel renditions of songs by West (“Father Stretch My Hands,” “Lift Yourself”). “Just hearing music as our Sunday Service was super inspiring,” she tweeted later, adding “See you next Sunday” and a sparkle emoji. Every Sunday since, West has put on, and his wife has promoted, a small, invite-only musical gathering [....]
By Katie Mettler @ WashingtonPost.com, April 23
For 16 years, Mohamed Toure and Denise Cros-Toure — both descendants of politically powerful families in Guinea — lived and worked in the wealthy Dallas suburb of Southlake. The couple’s background placed them among an elite class: Toure was the son of Guinea’s first president and Cros-Toure’s father was secretary of state. In Texas, the couple promoted African businesses, organized culture festivals and were written about in newspapers for their philanthropy. Their children played sports, graduated from high school and went to college.
During that time, a girl named Djena Diallo lived alongside them. Like them, she was Guinean. She traveled to weddings, graduations and the Toure children’s sporting events. To the outside world, she appeared to be a member of the family.
But at home, according to federal prosecutors, the family dynamics were far different [....]
WHY YOU SHOULD CARE: Because neuroeconomics can predict market crashes and even treat mental illness.
Might as well call it Accursed?
By Herb Keinon @ Jerusalem Post, April 23
Netanyahu said there “is a need to express our appreciation by calling a community or neighborhood on the Golan Heights after Donald Trump."
Sigh, so now the real horse race crap begins. I am reminded of 2008 @ TPMCafe, being informed by Obama partisans that Michelle thought Hillary a bitch, couldn't stand to be in the same room with her. And that she didn't know how to make coffee. And that Palin should be arrested for abuse keeping that baby up all night. Now those types have a world of social media, not just one little Cafe.
By Josh Lederman @ NBCNews.com, April 23
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Caught off guard by his sudden surge, Pete Buttigieg's rivals are scrambling to find vulnerabilities and lines of attack that can be used against him, five officials with opposing Democratic primary campaigns and Republican political groups tell NBC News.
The situation is different than with Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden, Democrats who have long been on the national scene and were widely expected to run for president. Potential rivals and GOP campaign groups have spent years hunting for dirt — known in political parlance as "opposition research" — that could be deployed against them. Major political groups had entire books of "oppo" ready to go by the time those candidates entered the race. Biden is expected to enter formally this week.
In contrast, Buttigieg was on nobody's radar as a serious presidential contender until a few weeks ago. As a millennial who has never held an office higher than mayor of a midsize town, his record is largely unexamined. Now his competitors are rushing to file a flood of Freedom of Information Act requests, according to officials [....]
Interesting article about how a bunch of socially inept loner nerds who loved sitting alone in front of a computer created an education program that had children sitting alone in front of a computer most of the time. Most of the kids rebelled. Totally shocking response.
In war games simulating a high-end fight against Russia or China, the U.S. often loses, two experienced military war-gamers have revealed.