Friday, August 7, 2020

@18:15, , 8/6/20

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1

With Old Allies Turning Against Her, Birx Presses On Against the Coronavirus

Sheryl Gay Stolberg at NYT > U.S. > Politics - 1 hour ago
Dr. Deborah L. Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, has found herself a woman without a country, denounced by Democrats and called “pathetic” by the president.
 
A speaker of truth employed by a liar has few friends.
Killing the messenger is a bad habit of commanders.
 

A 4th Presidential Debate? Commission Says No to Trump

Matt Stevens at NYT > U.S. > Politics - 1 hour ago
The Trump campaign had argued that the current schedule would render the debates useless to the many Americans who will vote by mail before they take place.
 
Those who vote early by mail would not be converted by a platform debate.
 

Former Saudi Official Accuses the Crown Prince of Trying to Kill Him

Ben Hubbard and Mark Mazzetti at NYT > U.S. > Politics - 1 hour ago
Saad Aljabri, a former top intelligence official, filed suit in Washington alleging that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman sent a team of agents to Canada to kill him.
 
U.S. courts should have no standing in this matter.
 

Michelle Obama Says She Is Dealing With ‘Low-Grade Depression’

Derrick Bryson Taylor at NYT > U.S. > Politics - 3 hours ago
In her new podcast, the former first lady connected her experience with the effects of quarantine and news about civil unrest and politics.
 
Trump is a low grade depressor.
 

Iran Envoy Brian Hook, a ‘Survivor’ on Trump’s Team, to Quit

David E. Sanger and Michael Crowley at NYT > U.S. > Politics - 4 hours ago
The exit of Brian Hook, the State Department’s special envoy for Iran, most likely rules out nuclear diplomacy with Tehran before November.
 
Steve Bannon wants a war with Iran. 
Iran has a tradition of effective diplomacy that has been impacted by the Revolutionary Guard.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_Revolutionary_Guard_Corps

Diplomacy has won.
 

Lawmakers Aim to Prevent Trump From Bypassing Ban on Armed Drone Sales

Edward Wong at NYT > U.S. > Politics - 9 hours ago
Senators from both parties say President Trump cannot be allowed to help drone technology proliferate, and they want it to be kept away from Saudi Arabia in particular.
 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_policy_of_the_United_States
 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_policy_of_the_United_States#Covert_actions
 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_involvement_in_regime_change
 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Central_Intelligence_Agency
 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clandestine_HUMINT_and_covert_action
 

Money for the Postal Service? The Check’s in the Mail

Giovanni Russonello at NYT > U.S. > Politics - 10 hours ago
Congress still can’t agree, and Democrats plan a virtual convention: This is your morning tip sheet.
 
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/05/us/elections/trump-vs-biden.html#link-453079bd
 
This threat is empty.
It will end with the next administration.
 

New York’s Sidewalk Prophets Are Heirs of the Artisans of France’s Lascaux Caves

Seph Rodney at NYT > U.S. > Politics - 11 hours ago
A critic’s tour deciphers the signs and symbols of the street art adorning boarded-up storefronts. What it tells us about our shared political realities and the ways our stories are connected.
 
The work in New York is derivative folk art.
It communicates.
I continue to think about image.
 

Self-Publishing Is a Gamble. Why Is Donald Trump Jr. Doing It?

Elizabeth A. Harris and Annie Karni at NYT > U.S. > Politics - 11 hours ago
His next book, “Liberal Privilege,” comes with an unusual distribution plan and no publishing house behind it, making it something of a curiosity in the industry.
 
The Trump view of American society is of only academic interest to me.
It appears wrong in conception and result.
I am most interested in its its destruction.
 
10 

Congress’s Ideological Divide Has Stymied Aid for Pandemic-Stricken Schools

Luke Broadwater at NYT > U.S. > Politics - 11 hours ago
Republicans and Democrats agree that schools need billions of dollars to reopen, but policy fights have the parties at loggerheads, with educators growing desperate.
 
Opening schools for classes appears to be a mistake.
 
11 

Biden Will Not Attend Democratic Convention in Milwaukee

Reid J. Epstein and Katie Glueck at NYT > U.S. > Politics - 16 hours ago
The Democrats bowed to the realities of the pandemic and canceled the major in-person speeches that were still planned for their convention this month.
 
This will not be a "normal campaign season".
 
12 

Facebook Removes Trump Campaign’s Misleading Coronavirus Video

Cecilia Kang and Sheera Frenkel at NYT > U.S. > Politics - 20 hours ago
It was the first time Facebook took down a post by Mr. Trump’s campaign for spreading virus misinformation, but it did not signal a change to the company’s defense of free expression.
 
Facebook would like to survive as a corporation.
 
13 

U.S. Examines Whether Saudi Nuclear Program Could Lead to Bomb Effort

Mark Mazzetti, David E. Sanger and William J. Broad at NYT > U.S. > Politics - 20 hours ago
Intelligence agencies are scrutinizing whether the kingdom’s work with China to develop nuclear expertise is cover to process uranium and move toward development of a weapon.
 
Reactors make plutomium 239 and 240.
Plutomium 239 is bomb fuel.
Pu 240 is excessively hot. It remains in the fuel cycle converting U238 to
plutonium. 
 
14 

Trump Raises $165 Million With G.O.P. in July, Overtaking Biden

Shane Goldmacher at NYT > U.S. > Politics - 20 hours ago
Joe Biden raised $140 million last month. A record-setting pace of money continues to flood into the presidential campaign.
 
I worry.
 
15 

White House and Congress Remain Far From Any Stimulus Deal

Emily Cochrane and Jim Tankersley at NYT > U.S. > Politics - 20 hours ago
White House officials and Democratic leaders continued to dig in on crucial points of any potential deal, jeopardizing additional relief for small businesses and laid-off workers.
 
The U.S. economy will enter a deep recession.
With enough relief it will not enter a deflationary death spiral.
 
I’ve done the math and it’s terrifying.
 
16

In Stimulus Talks, McConnell Is Outside the Room and in a Tight Spot

Carl Hulse at NYT > U.S. > Politics - 20 hours ago
With Republicans divided and President Trump undercutting negotiations on a pandemic relief package, the majority leader is in a difficult bind, partly of his own making.
 
Mitch McConnell is not suicidal.
The policies he has tied his name to would kill him and his voters.
 
17 

Biden’s Milwaukee Trip Is Canceled, and So Is a Normal Presidential Campaign

Reid J. Epstein and Katie Glueck at NYT > U.S. > Politics - 21 hours ago
The Democrats bowed to the realities of the pandemic and canceled the major in-person speeches that were still planned for their convention this month.
 
An acceptance speech on social media will be applauded by all involved.
 
18  

Doing Away With Convention

Lisa Lerer at NYT > U.S. > Politics - 22 hours ago
Do we really need the spectacle of the traditional political conventions? We’re about to find out.
 
"This year, the conventions might amount to a lesson in learning how to use that mute button on Zoom.

Today, Democrats announced that their convention would be nearly entirely virtual. On the advice of health officials working for the party, Joe Biden plans to accept the nomination from his home state, Delaware — forgoing a trip to the convention’s host city, Milwaukee.

19 

Sally Yates, Under Attack by Republicans, Defends Flynn Investigation

Nicholas Fandos at NYT > U.S. > Politics - 22 hours ago
The former deputy attorney general criticized the Justice Department’s decision to drop its prosecution of Michael T. Flynn, President Trump’s former national security adviser.
 
A moot discussion.
 
20 

Member of Conservative Think Tank Takes On Reporter Duties on Air Force Two

Annie Karni at NYT > U.S. > Politics - 22 hours ago
Instead of a member of the White House press corps, the role of pool reporter was filled by Robert B. Bluey, a vice president at the Heritage Foundation.
 
Robert B. Bluey is what is called a flack. 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flack
Publicity manager:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Publicity
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