[....] The vote was not over qualifications or any misdeed by the party leader, Shahid Shafi, a surgeon and longtime Republican who was appointed vice chairman of the Tarrant County Republican Party six months ago. It was over whether Dr. Shafi’s Muslim faith disqualified him from the job. [....]
A federal judge in California dealt utility giant PG&E another setback Wednesday by proposing to restrict the beleaguered company from using unsafe power lines during the 2019 California fire season.
A sprawling winter storm will spread snow along a 1,500-mile path from Denver to New York City. It will crank up on Friday and should last until at least late Sunday before it peters out. Already, as of late Thursday, over 20 million people were in the path of the storm, the Weather Service said [....]
Jayme Closs disappeared from a small Wisconsin town in October at the same time her parents were found dead in their home. A suspect has been taken into custody, the authorities said.
By Sarah Maslin Nir and Julia Jacobs @ NYTimes.com, Jan. 10
Article recommender Neal Katyal is self-described as Supreme Court lawyer; law professor; extremist centrist. Former Acting Solicitor General of United States:
Wow. Must-read piece, confirming everything career DOJ attorneys have been saying for the last 2 years. https://t.co/qIvLJVqtXM
The residents of Elwood, Illinois were excited when a freight terminal opened in their small town. But the economic growth they had hoped for turned into a corporate development horror story. https://t.co/lA2HPTsYyl
Karen Swallow Prior stands at the vanguard of a new movement of Christians looking to reclaim their faith from the regressive politics that have co-opted it.
The head of the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) on Wednesday blasted President Trump over his threat to stop sending federal funding to California to fight forest fires.
"Sixteen-Year-Old American Islamic State Fighter Reportedly Captured in Syria," the latest from Seamus Hughes and Bennett Clifford: https://t.co/EmU0s6ah83
“The agency, which oversees 80 percent of the food supply, has suspended all routine inspections of domestic food-processing facilities, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in an interview.”
It reminded me of how geek world, since it's development, always seemed to tend to lean libertarian and therefore prone to prefer "third way" political solutions. With the polarization introduced by the Trump and similar populist movements, the lefty Democratic types seem to be getting hopeful that swings are coming over to their side and are thinking "oh boy, the DLC ways of thinking are dead, now we can finally go socialist." Um, but there's this Liberaltarian cohort out there, growing all the time. With lots of money. And a new kinda "don't like big gummint" and bureaucrats attitude. That will be swing supporters and voters if Dem candidates are too left. I've noted a thing watching Twitter over the last few months: even though this type may deplore Trump dolts and rural rubes, they also are very much prone to ridicule earnest lefty types like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The Christian right and other socially conservative nutcases sector of the GOP may be dying out, but this group will be growing. And may be sympathetic to a lot ot "Freedom Caucus" type aims. Politicos ignore them at their peril.
One Russian in Four lacks an indoor toilet; "47 million do not have hot water, 29 million don’t have any running water inside their residences, and 22 million do not have central heating..." Few visitors to Moscow or Piter would guess this... https://t.co/A7DUB9SPtf
Special counsel Robert Mueller believes that Paul Manafort was sharing polling data and discussing Russian-Ukrainian policy with his close Russian-intelligence-linked associate, Konstantin Kilimnik, while he led the Trump presidential campaign, according to parts of a court filing that were meant to be redacted by Manafort's legal team Tuesday but were released publicly.
Trump has alternated between lying that drug prices are already down, baselessly promising that they’re going to start coming down, and scolding various people because they’re going up. https://t.co/uBCM4vIbd9
Among adults <50 years old, (slightly) more Americans identify as liberal than conservative, which is pretty new and different. It's often been the case that voters <30 identify as liberal, but the age 30-49 cohort also now IDs as liberal instead of "maturing" into conservatism. https://t.co/smLySxDlPH
