It's a major long-form investigative piece by three main reporters (including Pulitzer winner Matt Apuzzo) and five assisting reporters.
MURDER, POLITICS, AND THE END OF THE JAZZ AGE
by Michael Wolraich
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In the News
It's our equiv of harlequin romances - Xena Warrior Princess comes alive.
Op-ed by Ruchir Sharma @ NYTimes.com, Nov. 2
Forget Scandinavia. Switzerland is richer and yet has a surprisingly equal wealth distribution.
By Nick Miroff @ WashingtonPost.com, Nov. 2, 9:30 pm
SAN DIEGO — Smuggling gangs in Mexico have repeatedly sawed through new sections of President Trump’s border wall in recent months by using commercially available power tools, opening gaps large enough for people and drug loads to pass through, according to U.S. agents and officials with knowledge of the damage.
The breaches have been made using a popular cordless household tool known as a reciprocating saw that retails at hardware stores for as little as $100. When fitted with specialized blades, the saws can slice through one of the barrier’s steel-and-concrete bollards in minutes, according to the agents, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the barrier-defeating techniques.
After cutting through the base of a single bollard, smugglers can push the steel out of the way, creating an adult-size gap. Because the bollards are so tall — and are attached only to a panel at the top — their length makes them easier to push aside once they have been cut and are left dangling, according to engineers consulted by The Washington Post [....]
"We need plans, not slogans." True? (54 are currently listed at link)
Does anyone actually read them, except opposition researchers?
Do slogans actually work better in the general election?
(quote is from her 9,268 word new health care plan).
The results of the test, which assesses a sample of fourth- and eighth-grade students, will inevitably prompt demands for policy change.
By Erica L. Green & Dana Goldstein @ NYTimes.com, Oct. 30
WASHINGTON — America’s fourth and eighth graders are losing ground in their ability to read literature and academic texts, according to a rigorous national assessment released Wednesday that is likely to fuel concerns over student achievement after decades of tumult on the educational landscape.
Two out of three children did not meet the standards for reading proficiency set by the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a test administered by the National Center for Education Statistics, the research arm of the Education Department.
The dismal results reflected the performance of about 600,000 students in reading and math, whose scores made up what is called the “nation’s report card.” The average eighth-grade reading score declined in more than half of the states compared with 2017, the last time the test was given. The average score in fourth-grade reading declined in 17 states. Math scores remained relatively flat in most states.
Only 35 percent of fourth graders were proficient in reading in 2019, down from 37 percent in 2017; 34 percent of eighth graders were proficient in reading, down from 36 percent. Overall student progress in reading has stalled in the last decade, with the highest performers stagnating and the lowest-achieving students falling further behind [....]
Blame it on Bibi - he likes pushing this unaccountability, amoral foreign intrigue building, and playing hardball & pushing the boundaries even with "friends".
Child in critical but stable condition after being hit when at least two men fired shots intended for a suspected gang, say police @ TheGuardian.com, Nov. 1
A seven-year-old girl is fighting for her life in hospital in Chicago on Friday after she was shot while out trick-or-treating for Halloween, and police are on an intense hunt for at least one gunman.
The child was hit in the neck with a stray bullet when at least two men fired seven or more shots that were intended for a suspected gang rival nearby, police said. The intended target of the shooting was on the other side of the street, and near the girl and other children and parents who were out on a busy street for the seasonal festivities on Thursday evening.
It was still daylight when the gunfire rang out around 5.30pm local time, and the child’s father, who was accompanying her, was heard to cry out: “My little girl’s been shot.” [....]
Can we loalse the election 1 yr out? Sure we can. The first female McGovern? Could be.
Interactive @ PewResearch.org, Oct. 30
[....] How would you feel discussing Trump with a group of people who have opposing views from your own? See how your views compare with the opinions of Americans in a Pew Research Center survey conducted earlier this year [....]
I’ve been out there organizing for 20 years. I have never seen this level of public activity by white supremacist groups. Guest op-ed by George Goehl @ NYTimes.com, Oct. 30. Goehl runs a federation of community-based organizations across the country that bring poor and working-class people together to win economic and racial justice.
[....] our organizers had over 10,000 conversations with people in small towns across the country over the past year. We spoke with neighbors in Amish country, visited family farms in Iowa and sat on front porches in Appalachia — communities that have experienced hard economic times and went solidly for Donald Trump in 2016.
Although these communities may be fertile ground for the Trump administration and other white nationalist organizations, they are also places where people can come together across race and class to solve the big problems facing everyday people. That starts by recognizing one another’s humanity — and with honest conversations.
At a trailer park home in Michigan, a white man told canvassers from our local affiliate group, Michigan United,[....]
For those who have given up on rural communities: Please reconsider. So many of these places need organizing to win improved conditions. Despite the stereotypes, rural people are not static in their political views or in the way they vote. Single white rural women and young rural white people represent two of the greatest leftward swings in the 2018 midterms, moving 17 and 16 points respectively toward Democrats. They played a key role in Democratic wins across the Midwest.
In front-porch conversations, the most common thing we hear is, “Nobody ever asked me what I think.” That’s a problem. Because white nationalists are filling that vacuum. They’re organizing around people’s pain and using racism to help make sense of changing economic conditions and racial demographics. We are also up against the outsized influence of Fox News and right-wing talk radio, as well as the white nationalists online [....]
The former national security adviser is said to have been deeply alarmed by what he perceived as a campaign by the president’s inner circle to manipulate Ukraine policy for political gain. It is unclear whether he will appear to testify.
By Nicholas Fandos & Adam Goldman @ NYTimes.com, Oct. 30
WASHINGTON — House impeachment investigators on Wednesday summoned John R. Bolton, President Trump’s former national security adviser, and two top White House lawyers to testify next week in their inquiry into Mr. Trump’s pressure campaign on Ukraine, closing in on critical witnesses as they prepare to go public with their investigation.
[....] His deputies have testified that Mr. Bolton, who left the White House in September amid disagreements with the president, was angry about the efforts to pressure Ukraine to open investigations into Democrats. Rudolph W. Giuliani, the president’s personal lawyer who was leading the charge, he warned, was a “hand grenade who’s going to blow everybody up.”
But his appearance is far from assured. His lawyer said that Mr. Bolton was “not willing to appear voluntarily,” declining to specify what his client would do should he be subpoenaed [....]
In addition to Mr. Bolton, House investigators sent requests on Wednesday to two senior White House lawyers implicated in the case, John A. Eisenberg and Michael Ellis, who could offer important insight into the events under scrutiny. Mr. Eisenberg fielded concerns from Mr. Bolton’s deputies about apparent demands being placed on Ukraine and helped move a transcript of a now-famous July phone call between Mr. Trump and Ukraine’s leader into a secure server that limited who could see it [....]
I agree that the article was "terrific". It also made me sad about the reality that a good manager type can't seem to win the presidency, which was always meant to be, meant to be a managerial job. You know, "executive" branch and all. The passionate partisans, propagandists, populists et. al. were supposed to be in the legislative branch. The greatest irony is that good management of Federal government takes away one of the GOP's main selling points drowning it or draining the swamp