@10:20, , 4/17/21

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1

Dark Money in the New York Mayor’s Race

Giovanni Russonello, NYT > U.S. > Politics - 4 hours ago

This year’s election is shaping up to be the city’s first in which super PACs play a major role.

 

The businessman Andrew Yang seems to believe human life is fungible.

 

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

2

The Afghanistan War Is Ending. A Pennsylvania Town Exhales.

Trip Gabriel, NYT > U.S. > Politics - 5 hours ago

In Canonsburg, known for its big Fourth of July parade, many people say they are proud of America and its military but weary of the two-decade war in Afghanistan.

 

W. Bush should have known better and resisted the impulse.

 

3

A War Is Ending. A Pennsylvania Town Exhales.

Trip Gabriel, NYT > U.S. > Politics - 5 hours ago

In Canonsburg, known for its big Fourth of July parade, many people say they are proud of America and its military but weary of the two-decade war in Afghanistan.

 

W. Bush should have known better and resisted the impulse.

 

4

100 Days Without Trump on Twitter: A Nation Scrolls More Calmly

Sarah Lyall, NYT > U.S. > Politics - 5 hours ago

Democrats are breathing easier. Republicans are crying censorship. For all of the country’s news consumers, a strange quiet has descended after a four-year bombardment of presidential verbiage.

 

Twitter was not imagined as a broadcast system.

Trump's missuse presented a problem.

 

5

Danica Roem, a Pathbreaking Lawmaker, on the Fight for Trans Rights

Jennifer Medina, NYT > U.S. > Politics - 5 hours ago

Ms. Roem, a Virginia delegate who in 2018 became the first openly transgender legislator in the country, spoke with The Times about Republicans’ anti-trans crusade and how Democrats can push back.

 

Gender and sex are personal  Civil governments have almost no say.

 

6

The Republican Retreat on World Affairs

Lisa Lerer, NYT > U.S. > Politics - 5 hours ago

What will G.O.P. foreign policy be post-Trump? Who knows!

 

Much of foreign policy is bound by treaty and other international agreements.

 

7

Biden and Suga Agree US and Japan Will Work Together on 5G

David E. Sanger and Katie Rogers, NYT > U.S. > Politics - 10 hours ago

The subtext of the meeting was responding to China’s influence and its aggressive actions in the Indo-Pacific and beyond, and Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga resisted being drawn into a rivalry.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5G

The U.S. wants a trusted chip foundry.  It does not have one.

 

8 

Biden and Suga Agree U.S. and Japan Will Work Together on 5G

David E. Sanger and Katie Rogers, NYT > U.S. > Politics - 10 hours ago

The subtext of the meeting was responding to China’s influence and its aggressive actions in the Indo-Pacific and beyond, and Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga resisted being drawn into a rivalry.

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5G

The U.S. wants a trusted chip foundry.  It does not have one.

 

9

Open Thread

Ian Welsh, Ian Welsh - 10 hours ago

Use comments to discuss topics unrelated to recent posts.

 

talk

Sooner is better.  As soon as you can is best.

 

10

President Biden Wavers on Restricting Refugee Entry

Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Miriam Jordan, NYT > U.S. > Politics - 13 hours ago

The Biden administration will for now maintain a historically low refugee cap. But after a widespread backlash from Democrats, the White House said it would raise refugee admissions in May.

 

Nothing in government is instant.

Zero South American immigration was a Republican goal.

Full reversal on refugees will take several months.

 

11

Biden Wavers on Restricting Refugee Entry

Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Miriam Jordan, NYT > U.S. > Politics - 13 hours ago

The Biden administration will for now maintain a historically low refugee cap. But after a widespread backlash from Democrats, the White House said it would raise refugee admissions in May.

 

Nothing in government is instant.

Zero South American immigration was a Republican goal.

Full reversal on refugees will take several months.

12

Justice Dept. Restores Use of Consent Decrees for Police Abuses

Katie Benner, NYT > U.S. > Politics - 14 hours ago

Attorney General Merrick Garland rescinded a Trump administration policy curbing use of the decrees, which provide a way to force changes in police departments.

 

The Attorney General has done a proper thing.

 

13

SpaceX Wins NASA $2.9 Billion Contract to Build Moon Lander

Kenneth Chang, NYT > U.S. > Politics - 16 hours ago

Elon Musk’s company bested Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and others in the contest to carry American astronauts to the lunar surface.

 

Inexpensive.

 

14

Oath Keeper Pleads Guilty and Will Cooperate in Jan. 6 Riot Inquiry

Alan Feuer, NYT > U.S. > Politics - 16 hours ago

The plea by a member of the far-right extremist group the Oath Keepers was the first to be entered publicly by any of the more than 400 people who have been charged so far in the attack.

 

Ultimately he gets an infrastructure job.

 

15 

Florida Passes Public Disorder Bill

Michael Levenson, NYT > U.S. > Politics - 19 hours ago

Critics call the measure racist and anti-democratic, and say it could criminalize peaceful demonstrations.

 

The riot act is a patch on broken politics.

Fix the politics.  

Fix the racism. 

Fix the class systems.   I don't know how.

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

16

World War I Memorial in Washington Raises First Flag After Years of Wrangling

Jennifer Steinhauer, NYT > U.S. > Politics - 21 hours ago

As the United States withdraws from its longest war, a memorial that recognizes one of its most complicated ones officially opened in Washington, D.C., on Friday.

 

Heroism is not inheritable.

 

"If they ask you why we died

 Say because our fathers lied" 

                           Kipling

 

17

Trump is gone, but land disputes along the border continue under Biden.

Zolan Kanno-Youngs, NYT > U.S. > Politics - 1 day ago

 

Trump is gone.

His stench lingers.

 

18

How Democrats Who Lost in Deep-Red Places Might Have Helped Biden

Isabella Grullón Paz, NYT > U.S. > Politics - 1 day ago

A study by a liberal group found a reverse coattails effect in 2020: Down-ballot candidates may have helped elect President Biden, rather than the other way around.

 

Organization is powerful.

 

19

What Can Taiwan Do To Protect Itself From China?

Ian Welsh, Ian Welsh - 1 day ago

Article by Mark Pontin Lyle Goldstein, research professor and founding director of the China Maritime Studies Institute at the U.S. Naval War College, in a YouTube video, claims, in the words of commenter someofparts ‘One clear fact that emerges is that China will be taking Taiwan back. It’s a question of when not if … […]

 

Keep talking.

Keep Trading. 

Acquire nuclear weapons.

There will be no nuclear wars.

20

Biden’s Approval Rating Rises, Helped by Vaccine Distribution Push

Giovanni Russonello, NYT > U.S. > Politics - 1 day ago

Americans don’t think the president deserves sole credit for the widespread availability of Covid vaccines, but they like the job he’s doing getting them distributed, a new poll found.

 

The curriculum of U.S. education is faulty.

Systems thinking is not explicitly taught.

 

 

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