December 16, 2025

Here's the nativity scene that Akhilleus discusses in today's comments. Last week, RAS linked a photo of the display at St. Stephen's Roman Catholic church in Dedham, Mass. Here's a December 8 New York Times story about it: 

 

From a New York Times liveblog. Robert Jimison & Megan Mineiro: “Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declined on Tuesday to show members of Congress the unedited video of a boat attack in September that included a second strike to kill survivors, amid bipartisan pressure for more transparency around the U.S. military’s operations in international waters. Mr. Hegseth, who along with Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered separate classified briefings for all members of the House and Senate, said officials planned to share the video of the Sept. 2 strike with members of the congressional national security committees, but not more broadly. 'Of course, we’re not going to release a top-secret, full unedited video of that to the general public,' Mr. Hegseth said after the meeting with senators, which was held in the secure briefing room designed to handle top-secret intelligence.... Senator Chuck Schumer ... was among the lawmakers who saw the unedited footage; he said he had asked Mr. Hegseth to allow all lawmakers to see it. 'He said he’d think about it,' Mr. Schumer said on Tuesday. He added that instead, Mr. Hegseth and Mr. Rubio, who is the acting national security adviser, 'came to this briefing empty-handed.... Every senator is entitled to see it.'” The Hill's report is here.

Peter Baker of the New York Times: Donald “Trump’s chief of staff [Susie Wiles] said she tried to get him to end his 'score settling' against political enemies after 90 days in office, but acknowledged that the administration’s still ongoing push for prosecutions has been fueled in part by the president’s desire for retribution.... While she insisted that Mr. Trump is not constantly thinking about retribution, she said that 'when there’s an opportunity, he will go for it.' Ms. Wiles made the comments in a series of extraordinarily unguarded interviews over the first year of Mr. Trump’s second term with the author Chris Whipple that are being published Tuesday by Vanity Fair.... She also acknowledged that [Mr. Trump] was not telling the truth when he accused former President Bill Clinton of visiting the private island of the sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein. Over the course of 11 interviews, Ms. Wiles offered pungent assessments of the president and his team: Mr. Trump “has an alcoholic’s personality.” Vice President JD Vance has 'been a conspiracy theorist for a decade' and his conversion from Trump critic to ally was based not on principle but was 'sort of political' because he was running for Senate. Elon Musk is 'an avowed ketamine' user and 'an odd, odd duck,' whose actions were not always 'rational' and left her 'aghast.' Russell T. Vought, the budget director, is 'a right-wing absolute zealot.' And Attorney General Pam Bondi 'completely whiffed' in handling the Epstein files.” The link appears to be a gift link. You will likely want to read on. ~~~

     ~~~ Part 1 of Chris Whipple's Vanity Fair article is here. At the bottom is a link to Part 2. MB: I was able to access Part 1, but not Part 2. Evidently I've used up my Vanity Fair freebies. I think I did access one other Vanity Fair story this month, so if you did not, you may be good to go. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Most people would get fired for such a tell-all. Wiles either thinks she's immune or wants to get out. ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Paul Campos in LG&$: "(My guess is she’s heading out the door, and decided to first play the I Tried To Stop The Excesses card, on the off chance anybody is ever held accountable for any of this at some point in the future). This is like Stupid Watergate, but instead of having to subpoena tapes all the way up to the SCOTUS, you just have to clink on the link." ~~~

     ~~~ Darlene Superville & Bill Barrow of the AP: “After the story was published, Wiles disparaged it as a 'disingenuously framed hit piece on me and the finest President, White House staff, and Cabinet in history.... Significant context was disregarded and much of what I, and others, said about the team and the President was left out of the story,' she wrote in a social media post. 'I assume, after reading it, that this was done to paint an overwhelmingly chaotic and negative narrative about the President and our team.' Wiles did not deny the comments that were attributed to her.... Press secretary Karoline Leavitt also rose to Wiles’ defense, writing on the X platform that, 'President Trump has no greater or more loyal advisor than Susie. The entire Administration is grateful for her steady leadership and united fully behind her.'”

Jeff Cox of CNBC: "Nonfarm payrolls grew slightly more than expected in November but slumped in October while unemployment hit its highest in four years, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday in numbers delayed by the government shutdown. Job growth totaled a seasonally adjusted 64,000 for the month, better than the Dow Jones estimate of 45,000 and up from a sharp decline in October. The unemployment rate rose to 4.6%, more than expected and its highest level since September 2021. A more encompassing measure that includes discouraged workers and those holding part-time jobs for economic reasons swelled to 8.7%, its peak going back to August 2021."

... After the Horse Has Bolted. Arden Farhi of CBS News: "Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland plans to introduce legislation Tuesday that would subject White House renovations like ... [Donald] Trump's ballroom project to the same reviews as other federal projects. Currently, the White House is exempt from certain oversight under the National Historic Preservation Act. Raskin's bill ... would require White House renovations to undergo a so-called 'Section 106 review,' a pre-ground breaking assessment that addresses the impact of renovations on historic buildings and allows the public to weigh in."

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Michelle Price of the AP: “...  Donald Trump on Monday blamed Rob Reiner’s outspoken opposition to the president for the actor-director’s killing, delivering the unsubstantiated claim in a shocking post that seemed intent on decrying his opponents even in the face of a tragedy. The statement, even for Trump, was a shocking comment that came as police were still investigating the deaths of the beloved director and his wife as an apparent homicide.... Trump, in a post on his social media network, said that Reiner and his wife were killed 'reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME.' He said Reiner 'was known to have driven people CRAZY by his raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump, with his obvious paranoia reaching new heights as the Trump Administration surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness.'... Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican whom Trump branded a  'traitor' for disagreeing with him, responded to Trump’s message by saying, 'This is a family tragedy, not about politics or political enemies.'” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: Donald “Trump seized on the stabbing death of Rob Reiner and his wife to make a baseless attack on the Hollywood director less than a day after reports of his killing.... The attack on Mr. Reiner, so soon after his death, prompted a rare backlash against the president from some MAGA-aligned Republicans, some of whom urged the president to retract his comments.... Asked by reporters later in the day whether he stood by [his] comments, Mr. Trump was unapologetic: 'Well, I wasn’t a fan of his at all. He was a deranged person.” He added, “I thought he was very bad for our country.'... Mr. Trump’s attack brought immediate outrage, including from close allies who said the attack undercut Republicans’ calls for civility after the assassination of Charlie Kirk.” Here's Politico's report. ~~~

~~~ Asawin Suebsaeng of Zeteo: “On Sunday, news broke that acclaimed Hollywood filmmaker Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, were found stabbed to death in their Los Angeles estate. By Monday morning, the president of the United States – widely known for his cruel policies and a penchant for celebrating the deaths and grave misfortunes of others – decided to make fun of the late Reiner.... Of course, it was mere months ago that the Trump administration was ringleading yet another one of its crackdowns on free speech and dissent, with the White House encouraging the ratting-out and punishment of ordinary people who insulted Trump ally and podcaster Charlie Kirk in the wake of his slaying. Reiner was a well-known Hollywood liberal who despised Trump and his policies. And yet, following Kirk’s murder, Reiner publicly condemned the assassination, describing the 'horror' he felt upon learning about it[.]” ~~~

~~~ Cheyanne Daniels of Politico: “Democrats are mourning the death of actor and director Rob Reiner and his wife Michele Singer Reiner after they were found dead in their California home on Sunday.... Former President Barack Obama said he and Michelle Obama were 'heartbroken' by the news. Former Vice President Kamala Harris said Reiner 'fought for America’s democracy.' And former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called him 'remarkable and excellent' in everything he pursued.” ~~~

~~~ From the New York Times liveblog: “A son of the celebrated Hollywood director Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner has been arrested after the couple were found dead in their Los Angeles home, according to online jail records viewed on Monday.... The son, Nick Reiner, 32, was arrested on Sunday night and is being held in a jail in Los Angeles County on $4 million bail, according to county jail records.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Brian Mann of NPR: Donald "Trump on Monday signed an executive order designating the street drug fentanyl a weapon of mass destruction.... During an event in the Oval Office, Trump said the carnage fentanyl has caused in American families is worse than U.S. deaths in many wars. 'Two to three hundred thousand people die every year, that we know of, so we're formally classifying fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction,' Trump said.... Trump's numbers are wildly inflated. According to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fentanyl killed roughly 48 thousand people in the U-S last year - a 27 percent drop from the year before. Experts also say fentanyl would be difficult to use as a weapon of mass destruction. There is only one documented incident worldwide, in 2002, where the Russian government weaponized fentanyl in gas form. There have been no cases reported in the U.S.... This executive order comes as part of a wider militarization of the US war against street drugs...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: By Trump's definition, rat poison or bleach (especially if the POTUS* suggests drinking it could improve your health) are WMDs. WMDs are not items like recreational drugs that individuals ingest voluntarily; they are means of mass killing like an explosive bomb or a deadly gas that some malefactor (usually but not always a government entity) drops on defenseless people who are exposed involuntarily.   

National Not Safe Without White House Ballroom. Darlene Superville of the AP: “The Trump administration said in a court filing Monday that the president’s White House ballroom construction project must continue for unexplained national security reasons and because a preservationists’ organization that wants it stopped has no standing to sue. The filing was in response to a lawsuit filed last Friday by the National Trust for Historic Preservation asking a federal judge to halt ... Donald Trump’s project until it goes through multiple independent reviews and a public comment period and wins approval from Congress. The administration’s 36-page filing included a declaration from Matthew C. Quinn, deputy director of the U.S. Secret Service..., that said more work on the site of the former White House East Wing is still needed to meet the agency’s 'safety and security requirements.'... Quinn said even a temporary halt to construction would 'consequently hamper' the agency’s ability to fulfill its statutory obligations and its protective mission.... The administration has offered to share classified details with the judge in a private, in-person setting without the plaintiffs present.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Sounds like tearing down an entire wing of the White House -- no doubt leaving a gaping hole in the east facade of the main building -- has created a security threat. Maybe this is something Demolition Don could have thought of before he sent in the dozers. As for me, as a U.S. citizen, I will not feel safe in my own home until my tax dollar are spent on building a humungous, gaudy venue for the POTUS* to perform that ridiculous herky-jerky he thinks is dancing. 

Michael Shear of the New York Times: Donald “Trump sued the BBC for $10 billion on Monday evening over the editing in a documentary that the British broadcaster said had left the 'mistaken impression' that he called for violent action before the storming of the U.S. Capitol. In a 46-page lawsuit filed in federal court in Miami, Mr. Trump accused the BBC of defaming him and violating Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.... The BBC documentary was broadcast before last year’s presidential election on the network’s flagship 'Panorama' program. It received little notice until recently, when The Daily Telegraph, a leading Tory-aligned London newspaper, reported last month that an internal review at the BBC had criticized the way the program was edited.... The network spliced two clips of the president speaking about 50 minutes apart, leaving the impression that he was urging people to participate in the riot that later broke out at the Capitol.... Samir Shah, the network’s board chairman..., apologized directly to Mr. Trump.” The AP's report is here.

Discovery Can Be Fun! Matt Naham of Law & Crime: "Pulitzer Prize Board members filed court documents in Okeechobee County, Florida, on Thursday, containing a litany of broad discovery demands in an attempt to beat back ... Donald Trump's defamation lawsuit over Russia probe reporting awards.... The board defendants are demanding documentation on subjects ranging from Trump's demands to rescind the awards, to his threats to sue, to proof that the board statement at issue 'had a significant impact on the 2020 presidential election,' and to Trump's various lawsuits.... The defendants further demanded 'all' of Trump's tax returns — 'from all jurisdictions, including all attachments, schedules, and worksheets' — from 2015 to the present day, documents 'sufficient to show all sources of Your income' over the same time period, documents 'sufficient to show all of Your financial holdings' and his liabilities, and finally his health records and prescription medication history."

Sharon LaFraniere & Lara Jakes of the New York Times: “The private equity firm headed by Jared Kushner..., [Donald] Trump’s son-in-law, said on Monday that Mr. Kushner was withdrawing from a planned Trump-branded real estate deal in Serbia. The announcement came hours after Serbian prosecutors charged four senior government officials there with corruption in connection with the half-billion-dollar project. The decision dooms a deal that had exemplified the willingness of foreign governments to bend over backward to further the financial interests of Mr. Trump’s family. President Aleksandar Vucic of Serbia, who has been seeking Mr. Trump’s help all year on economic issues, has fiercely championed the proposed complex in downtown Belgrade, the capital. A cabinet minister was the highest-ranking official charged.... The Serbian project, in the works for years, involved both Mr. Kushner and the Trump Organization, run by the president’s sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr.” ~~~

     ~~~  Marie: What? Jared and Eric and Junior were in on a shady deal? Hard to believe. And isn't it something that prosecutors have made a case against an (alleged!) corrupt member of Serbia's cabinet? How soon do you think Pam Blondie will be looking into Jared and Eric and Junior? ~~~

~~~ Speaking of Junior. Chris Cameron of the New York Times: Donald “Trump told attendees at a White House holiday party on Monday night that his eldest son, Donald Jr., is engaged to Bettina Anderson, a Palm Beach socialite.... Last December, the British tabloid The Daily Mail published photos of the younger Mr. Trump, 47, and Ms. Anderson holding hands in Palm Beach. Kimberly Guilfoyle, then Donald Jr.’s fiancée, was named as his father’s choice to be ambassador to Greece hours later.” MB: So now we know for certain that “Palm Beach socialite” is just another euphemism for “useless dimwit.”  

Gary Grumbach & Dareh Gregorian of NBC News: "The Trump administration’s public response to the mass shooting at Brown University was swift, but it included a major inaccuracy.... Donald Trump said Saturday night that the alleged shooter was in custody. He walked back the post less than 20 minutes later, saying a suspect was not in custody. It was the most recent example of what has become a pattern of the administration posting incorrect information at times of heightened anxiety, times when the American public is seeking accurate, factual details from authority figures. An NBC News review found that after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, the attack on two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., and this weekend’s shooting at Brown, Trump administration officials released information that was false or misleading and later had to be walked back or corrected. Here is a look at those incidents and how some senior administration officials responded to them." A good look at the many times Trump administration officials have put out false information. ~~~

~~~ Discretion Is the Better Part of ... a Wasted Opportunity to Grandstand. Glenn Thrush & Devlin Barrett of the New York Times: “... over the weekend, Kash Patel, the [F.B.I.]’s self-promotional top official, reported on X that his agents had apprehended 'a person of interest in a hotel room' in Rhode Island [in regard to the Brown University shootings], acting on a lead from local law enforcement. Little or nothing seemed to come of it. The person was released a few hours later, in an outcome that was awkwardly reminiscent of an earlier moment. In September, Mr. Patel announced that the F.B.I. had helped capture the person who gunned down the conservative commentator Charlie Kirk in Utah, only for that to be a dead end. In October, Mr. Patel again jumped onto X to trumpet the F.B.I.’s work in thwarting a potential terrorist attack in Michigan, blindsiding Justice Department lawyers, who had yet to file criminal charges. The move infuriated some prosecutors.... Mr. Patel’s impulse to seize the spotlight and publicize the work of the bureau under his leadership has revived questions about his competence and his future in the administration. It has added to the growing criticism over his recreational travel, his use of a SWAT team to protect his girlfriend and his handling of the Epstein files.” ~~~

~~~ From a New York Times liveblog: “The authorities released new images late Monday of a man they are seeking in the shooting that killed two students and injured nine others at Brown University this weekend, including some videos recorded hours before the attack. The man’s face was covered, but officials said they hoped that someone might recognize him by his gait or dark clothing. They described him as having a stocky build and about 5 feet 8 inches tall. The gunman should be considered armed and dangerous....” ~~~ 

More Murder on the High Seas. AP: “The U.S. military said Monday that it attacked three boats accused of smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing a total of eight people as scrutiny over the boat strikes is intensifying in Congress. The military said in a statement on social media that the strikes targeted 'designated terrorist organizations,' killing three people in the first vessel, two in the second boat and three in the third boat. It didn’t provide evidence of their alleged drug trafficking but posted a video of a boat moving through water before exploding.” The New York Times story is here. ~~~

~~~ It's About the Oil. Edward Wong & Julian Barnes of the New York Times: “The president and his aides have insisted publicly that their lethal military operations around Venezuela and pressure campaign against Mr. Maduro are mainly aimed at protecting Americans from drug trafficking. But Venezuela is not a drug producer, and narcotics smuggled through the country mostly go to Europe. Behind the scenes, administration officials have also focused intently on Venezuela’s oil reserves, the largest in the world. Their importance is evident in secret negotiations between U.S. officials and Mr. Maduro about oil, and in conversations that Mr. Trump’s aides and allies have had with [María Corina Machado, Venezuela’s main opposition leader,], and other Venezuelan opposition figures.”

Dan Lamothe, et al., of the Washington Post: “Senior Pentagon officials are preparing a plan to downgrade several of the U.S. military’s major headquarters and shift the balance of power among its top generals, in a major consolidation sought by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, people familiar with the matter said. If adopted, the plan would usher in some of the most significant changes at the military’s highest ranks in decades, in part following through on Hegseth’s promise to break the status quo and slash the number of four-star generals in the military. It would reduce in prominence the headquarters of U.S. Central Command, U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command by placing them under the control of a new organization known as U.S. International Command.... The Pentagon has shared little to no details with Congress, a lack of communication that has perturbed members of the Republican-led Senate and House Armed Services committees....”

Tara Copp, et al., of the Washington Post: “The Pentagon said Monday night that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is 'escalating' his review of Sen. Mark Kelly’s involvement in a video he and other Democratic lawmakers made reminding service members of their duty to disobey illegal orders — an unprecedented use of the military justice system to investigate a political adversary. In a statement, the Defense Department said it was elevating what had been a 'review' to an 'official Command Investigation' to be carried out at least in part by the Pentagon general counsel’s office.... In a letter sent to the Pentagon before its announcement Monday, Paul Fishman, a lawyer representing Kelly, warned that any legal action against the senator 'would be unconstitutional and an extraordinary abuse of power.'” The CBS News report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I have a feeling that should Democrats take control of either Congressional chamber after the next federal elections, they will be looking into Drunk Pete's “extraordinary abuse of power.” 

Devlin Barrett of the New York Times: “Justice Department officials in Los Angeles said on Monday that they had arrested four left-wing activists accused of plotting to set off homemade bombs outside two companies in the area on New Year’s Eve. The investigation and arrests grew out of an executive order ... [Donald] Trump issued in September declaring antifa to be a terrorist group as well as a separate written order instructing the F.B.I. to more aggressively pursue investigations of potential left-wing violence. At a news conference to announce the arrests, Bill Essayli, picked by Mr. Trump to run the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles, said the investigation had been initiated partly because of the president’s order  'to root out left-wing domestic terror organizations such as antifa.'... A criminal complaint charged two women and two men with conspiracy and possession of an unregistered destructive device, after the F.B.I. conducted an undercover operation in which it said it caught the four trying to assemble and test pipe bombs in the Mojave Desert last week. The authorities describe the four as part of a small offshoot of the Turtle Island Liberation Front, a group officials describe as 'anticapitalist'  and antigovernment.”

Hailey Fuchs of Politico: “Bill and Hillary Clinton were scheduled to give depositions this week on Capitol Hill about their ties to Jeffrey Epstein, but their appearances have been officially punted into January.... House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chair James Comer, who is leading the congressional investigation into Epstein, announced the delay in a letter to an attorney for the Clintons.... In that letter, Comer maintained that former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton must appear before his committee Jan. 13 and Jan. 14, respectively, or risk being held in contempt of Congress.”

Matthew Choi of the Washington Post: “Two Republicans in Congress are calling for the mass expulsion of Muslims from the United States following the mass shooting at a Hanukkah celebration in Australia over the weekend, amplifying an increasingly brazen Islamophobic sentiment within the party. 'It is time for a Muslim travel ban, radical deportations of all mainstream Muslim legal and illegal immigrants, and citizenship revocations wherever possible,' Rep. Randy Fine (R-Florida) posted on social media Monday.... 'Islam is not a religion. It’s a cult,' [Sen. Tommy] Tuberville [R-Ala.] wrote on X. 'Islamists aren’t here to assimilate. They’re here to conquer. … We’ve got to SEND THEM HOME NOW or we’ll become the United Caliphate of America.'... The comments garnered swift backlash for their blatant Islamophobia. But some other Republican lawmakers have made similar comments about Islam for months....” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: You can always count on Sen. Potato Head to take the wrong message from a horrific event. For instance, it's very likely that the person who risked his own life to disarm one of the Australian gunmen was a Muslim himself. It's far more reasonable to celebrate his heroism than it is to blame all Muslims for the bad acts of two people. But (as far as I know) neither Tuberville or Fine ever mentioned him in their diatribes. If the Brown shooter turns out to be a nominal Christian, will Sen. Potato Head or Rep. Fine demand that Christians all be sent back to where they came from? I don't think so. ~~~   

     ~~~ Paul Campos is LG&$: "Now it’s a fair point that jihadist Islam is fundamentally incompatible with liberal democracy, but you know what else is also fundamentally incompatible with liberal democracy? Ethno-nationalist Christofascism. And the difference between these two things is that the political influence of jihadist Islam in America is less than zero, while ethno-nationalist Christofascism is now practically the unofficial religion of the the fully Trumpified Republican party." 

Annie Karni of the New York Times: Nancy “Pelosi will leave Washington next year as a political figure widely viewed as one of the most effective speakers in memory.... But the widespread perception that she was on the wrong side of the debate over congressional stock trading, and personally benefited from the practice, has put an asterisk on that legacy.... As Ms. Pelosi prepares to leave Congress, a bipartisan bill to ban stock trading by lawmakers appears to be slowly making its way to the House floor with enthusiastic support from the far right and the far left.... [Donald] Trump has said he would support it. Ms. Pelosi now says she would vote for it, too.... As a first-term member of Congress, she reported more than $600,000 in stock holdings, according to her financial disclosure at the time. But she became exponentially wealthier during the years when her power grew. And the stock trades made by her husband, the venture capitalist Paul Pelosi, were so lucrative that they spawned a cottage industry of copycats. The 'Pelosi Tracker' app for years has clocked all of his investments and allowed its users to follow and mimic his trades. Over the past three years, Ms. Pelosi has reported a trade volume of $56.9 million....”

Danny Hakim of the New York Times: “A Wisconsin judge ruled on Monday that there was sufficient evidence for two men to face trial on charges that they illegally tried to keep ... [Donald] Trump in power after his 2020 election loss. The two defendants are James Troupis, a lawyer and former judge who is accused of being an architect of the plan to deploy fake electors in a number of states that Mr. Trump lost; and Mike Roman, a top staff member in the 2020 Trump campaign. The preliminary hearing for a third defendant, Kenneth Chesebro, another lawyer who also faces charges, was delayed amid questions of whether statements he had made to investigators were admissible. The defendants face 11 forgery-related charges in connection with the drafting of false elector certificates, representing an alternative outcome to Wisconsin’s presidential election that year, when Mr. Trump lost to former President Joseph R. Biden Jr.”

Yair Rosenberg of the Atlantic: “...  research collectively suggests that America is becoming more anti-Semitic because its young people are becoming more anti-Semitic. This finding flies in the face of the folk wisdom that prejudice is the province of the old and will die out with them. That maxim may be true of some bigotries, but anti-Semitism is not one of them.... Anti-Jewish prejudice is growing precisely because it is the domain of the next generation, not the previous one. As this young cohort takes its place in American society, that society becomes more anti-Semitic, because politicians, influencers, and tastemakers are trying to reflect youth sensibilities and cater to them.... Younger Americans ... are likely to trust and get their news from lightly moderated social-media platforms, which often advantage the extreme opinions, conspiracy theories, and conflict-stoking content....” Thanks to akaWendy for this gift link.  

Bachelor of the Month. David Enrich, et al., of the New York Times in a New York Times Magazine story on how Jeffrey Epstein went from being a prep-school math teacher from a working-class Coney Island family to a wealthy confidant of the ultra-rich: “In his first two decades of business, we found that Epstein was less a financial genius than a prodigious manipulator and liar.... A relentless scammer, he abused expense accounts, engineered inside deals and demonstrated a remarkable knack for separating seemingly sophisticated investors and businessmen from their money. He started small, testing his tactics and seeing what he could get away with. His early successes laid the foundation for more ambitious ploys down the road. Again and again, he proved willing to operate on the edge of criminality and burn bridges in his pursuit of wealth and power.” 

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Australia. From the New York Times liveblog:  “The gunmen behind the mass shooting at a Jewish celebration in Sydney on Sunday were motivated by 'Islamic State ideology,' Australia’s prime minister [Anthony Albanese] said on Tuesday.... Investigators said that the police had found two homemade Islamic State flags in the car that the suspects, a 50-year-old man and his 24-year-old son, drove to the site of Sunday’s massacre. Police also recovered improvised explosive devices in the car, the authorities said.”

Ukraine/Russia, et al. Michael Birnbaum, et al., of the Washington Post: “U.S. and Ukrainian officials said Monday that Washington had pledged to protect Ukraine against further Russian attack, potentially easing the path to Kyiv’s signing on to a truce even as major questions about territory and Russia’s willingness to agree to a deal remained unresolved. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had made progress over two days of conversations in Berlin with top White House envoys trying to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, saying that Washington had offered security guarantees akin to those of the NATO defense alliance as Kyiv entered a crucial week of high-stakes talks with its backers.” ~~~

     ~~~ Limited Time Offer! Felicia Schwartz & Eli Stokols of Politico: “The offer is the strongest and most explicit security pledge the Trump administration has put forward for Ukraine, but it comes with an implicit ultimatum: Take it now or the next iteration won’t be as generous.” MB: Still, it seems (a) Trump doesn't know what's going on or (b) just generally, the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing: “Asked if the offer for security guarantees had a time limit, he said 'the time limit is whenever we can get it done.”