The New York Times is liveblogging developments in the Iran war. From today's pinned item at 4:15 am ET: “The status of the Strait of Hormuz was unclear on Saturday even as both ... [Donald] Trump and Iran raised hopes that the strategic waterway had been reopened to ship traffic and an end to the six-week-old war was in sight. Seyed Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, said on Friday that the Strait of Hormuz was 'completely open' for all commercial ships on a 'coordinated route' approved by Tehran during the cease-fire. But Iranian officials said on Friday that vessels would still need permission to travel through the strait. Mr. Trump framed the announcement as a breakthrough but added that the American blockade of Iran’s ports would remain in place until a deal was reached to end the war. Iran’s top negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said the passage would not remain open if the blockade continued. Ships did not return in large numbers to the strait..., shipping analysts said on Friday. The two-week truce period expires next week.”
Ashley Ahn of the New York Times: Donald “Trump went on a media tear on Friday, granting interviews and unleashing a flurry of social media posts that framed peace talks with Iran as all but complete.... Iranian officials did not confirm most of Mr. Trump’s claims and disputed several of them. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s top negotiator and the speaker of its Parliament, said on social media Friday evening that Mr. Trump made several false claims. 'The president of the United States made seven claims in one hour, all of which are false,' said Gen. Ghalibaf, a military and political influential figure in Iran leading negotiations. 'They did not win the war with these lies, they will certainly not get any where in negotiations either.'... Mr. Trump has made exaggerated and outlandish claims related to the war since the United States and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28....
“Mr. Trump said on Friday that Iran, with the help of the United States, was removing all of the mines it laid in the Strait of Hormuz last month. He also claimed that the 'Hormuz Strait situation is over' and 'Iran has agreed to never close the Strait of Hormuz again.' Iran has made no such commitment, and its foreign minister, Seyed Abbas Araghchi, had only gone so far as to announce that the vital oil route would be open 'for the remaining period of cease-fire' for ships that adhered to a route 'coordinated' by Iran. Later, the ministry’s spokesman, Esmail Baghaei, said the strait remained under Iran’s supervision.... Mr. Trump also claimed in a phone interview with CBS that Iran had 'agreed to everything,' including working with the United States to remove its enriched uranium. But in comments made to Iranian state media later that day, Mr. Baghaei said that Tehran had rejected the option of transferring its enriched uranium stockpile abroad.” Here's the CBS News story.
~~~ Marie: You can't tell if Trump is lying or is fantasizing or is repeating misinformation his advisors are feeding him. Or all of the above. Oh, and in one post, according to Chris Hayes, Trump also renamed the Strait of Hormuz, not for himself but in honor of Iran: according to Trump the narrow water passage is now the "Strait of Iran."
This Is Astounding. Barack Ravid & Marc Caputo of Axios: “The U.S. and Iran are negotiating over a three-page plan to end the war, with one element under discussion being that the U.S. would release $20 billion in frozen Iranian funds in return for Iran giving up its stockpile of enriched uranium, according to two U.S. officials and two additional sources briefed on the talks.... Update: Trump wrote on Truth Social after this story published that 'no money will change hands,' though he didn't refer specifically to the idea of unblocking Iranian funds." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Ravid & Caputo assert that "Republicans and Trump himself also lambasted President Obama for releasing tens of billions in Iranian funds under the 2015 nuclear deal." That isn't true. Under the Obama agreement, the U.S. released a total of $1.7 billion in sanctioned Iranian funds, which the U.S. had been holding for decades. That is, Trump is proposing to release to Iran more than ten times the funds Obama released. Trump would not have had to release a penny if he hadn't torn up the far less generous Obama deal. In any event, Obama's agreement did not release "tens of billions in Iranian funds."
Another Gift to Vlad. Ashley Ahn of the New York Times: “Just two days after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the United States would not extend a sanctions exemption on the sale of some Russian oil, the Treasury Department did just that on Friday, issuing one for about a month. The renewed license will be in effect until May 16 and supersede the sanctions waiver on Russia that expired on April 11.... Mr. Trump has downplayed the economic repercussions of the conflict and brushed aside soaring oil and gas prices since the start of the war on Feb. 28. The price of regular gasoline in the United States jumped 25 percent from February to March, the highest monthly percentage increase on record.”
Rebecca Elliott of the New York Times: “Shipping companies are facing confusion and uncertainty about the status of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow passageway through which a significant share of the world’s energy flows, as they assess mixed messages from officials in Iran and the United States. But even if the strait opens fully ... it will take weeks for substantial amounts of Persian Gulf oil and gas to reach buyers around the world. And it will be much longer before companies repair the damage that has been inflicted on one of the world’s most important energy-producing regions. It is likely to be a long time before a gallon of gasoline costs less than $3 a gallon, as it did before the United States and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28. Shortages of certain products like jet fuel and natural gas may also persist in some countries for weeks or longer.” ~~~
~~~ Rebecca Elliott of the New York Times: “The apparent opening of the Strait of Hormuz to ship traffic brought immediate relief to a world starved of fuel, sending international oil prices tumbling 9 percent on Friday, to about $90 a barrel. Oil last traded at that level more than a month ago, in the first weeks after the United States and Israel began attacking Iran. The reprieve ... should give tankers at least a brief window to bring oil and other fuels from the Persian Gulf to other countries. That, in turn, would bring down prices for consumers in the coming weeks and blunt shortages that have developed in many places. But reopening the strait, a narrow passageway on Iran’s southern coast, is not a panacea.... Spencer Dale, [formerly chief economist at BP, said] producers that have been forced to turn off their oil and gas wells will be reluctant to turn them back on until people have confidence that you have a lasting agreement.'”
Joe Rennison of the New York Times: “The stock market continued its record-setting rally on Friday, after Iran announced that the Strait of Hormuz had reopened to commercial shipping, bolstering investors’ optimism that the conflict in the Middle East was nearing an end. The S&P 500, which set a record high on Wednesday, rose an additional 1.2 percent on Friday, notching its best streak of daily gains so far this year. Already this month, the S&P 500 has climbed almost 10 percent, which would be the best monthly gain since 2020 when markets were rebounding from the pandemic-induced sell-off. The index is nearly 4 percent higher than it was before the United States and Israel started attacking Iran on Feb. 28.”
Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: “With an unpopular war and high gasoline prices dragging down his party’s midterm election chances..., [Donald] Trump flew to Phoenix on Friday to speak to some of his most enthusiastic supporters and promise that prices would soon come down. At a Turning Point USA event at Dream City Church, Mr. Trump said he had worked out a deal with Iran to get commerce flowing through the Strait of Hormuz, which would lead to lower oil prices. The strait had been open for business before the war the United States and Israel launched in Iran almost two months ago.”
“The central verse in II Chronicles 7 reads: 'If My people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.'... At the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021, the founder of a group called Cowboys for Trump prayed the passage through a bullhorn over the crowd, which chanted 'Fight for Trump!' in response.... The list of almost 500 other readers is a who’s who of Mr. Trump’s most loyal Christian supporters, including those in his current administration. Participants include the secretary of state, Marco Rubio; the secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth; and the transportation secretary, Sean Duffy.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: I guess that would be Two Chronicles. I was hoping Trump would read about the Two Corinthians again. Now the question is, will Hegseth grace us with another passage from the Lost Gospel of Quentin Tarantino? ~~~
~~~ Politico has a story here. Marie BTW: To illustrate its report, Politico chose a photo of Trump ostensibly taking the oath of office in 2025. His right hand is raised. Melanie is standing by his side holding two Bibles. Trump's left hand is by his side. It is not on a Bible. You can't tell from the photo if he has crossed the fingers of his left hand. I wonder if he thinks by not placing his hand on a Bible, he has "tricked" us into thinking he has taken the oath, but in his mind, he has absolved himself from having to defend the Constitution and all.
⭐The Biggest Grifter. Mike Masnick of TechDirt: in a court filing Friday, Donald Trump & the DOJ asked for a 90-day pause in their litigation over how much to pay Trump in his demand for $10 billion because an IRS contractor leaked his 2019 & 2020 tax returns. “The plaintiff is the sitting President of the United States. The defendants are two agencies of the executive branch that the plaintiff (again, the President of the United States) runs. The lawyers representing those defendants report, through a chain of command, to Trump’s former personal lawyers. “The Parties are engaging in discussions” means Trump’s lawyers are negotiating with Trump’s other lawyers over how much of your money Trump gets to take home.... [Where the parties ask in their filing to] 'avoid protracted litigation' [they mean] 'skip the part where a judge or a jury or any actual adversarial process might interfere with the predetermined outcome.'... The only party with an actual adverse interest here — the American public — has no seat at the table and no lawyer in the room.” ~~~
~~~ Kenny Colston of Common Cause (Feb. 11, 2026): “... as Trump himself said: 'I’m supposed to work out a settlement with myself.' All hope is not lost, though. First, Common Cause has filed a legal brief urging the court to reject the profound conflicts of interest and the case’s failure to meet basic legal requirements. Here are seven things that could stop your tax dollars from being wasted on Donald Trump’s IRS lawsuit – and prevent this sort of thing from happening in the future.” MB: Even if the suit fails -- and I'm not sure it will -- the audacity of bringing it is mind-boggling. ~~~
~~~ Update. The Washington Post & the AP are on it. Sort of. And so aree other outlets, including the New York Times. ~~~
~~~ Maegan Vazquez of the Washington Post: “... Trump has engaged in other legal efforts to claim a large amount of money against the government he oversees. He previously sought damages over the Justice Department’s investigations into the connection between Russia and his 2016 presidential campaign, and pursued a case over the FBI’s 2022 search of his Mar-a-Lago property.... Earlier this week, Democratic lawmakers announced plans to introduce legislation that would, among other guardrails, bar sitting presidents and vice presidents from collecting settlement payments from the United States. The bill ... would also prohibit spouses, children, any trust 'that exists for their benefit' or any 'entity they own or control' from collecting damages payments through settlements with the federal government. Trump has suggested that he would donate any funds received as part of restitution in cases against the federal government to charity or 'to the White House while we restore the White House.' However, critics have argued that any settlement funds would ultimately be awarded at the expense of taxpayers.” The AP report is here.
~~~ In case Masnick didn't make the case strongly enough (and he did), here's another reminder that on the "litigants" in the $10BB case -- the Trump DOJ -- is completely corrupt: a career prosecutor determines there's no case against a "designated Trump enemy," but a Trumpity U.S. attorney plans to bring a case anyway. ~~~
~~~ Charlie Savage, et al., of the New York Times: “A senior federal prosecutor in Miami has withdrawn from an investigation into John O. Brennan, the former C.I.A. director, over concerns about the legal viability of a politically charged case Trump administration officials have tried to fast-track, people familiar with the matter said. The prosecutor, Maria Medetis Long, is a career official who oversees national security investigations for the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of Florida. The top prosecutor there, Jason A. Reding Quiñones, is an ardent Trump loyalist who has been leading a far-ranging inquiry into the president’s perceived political adversaries, including Mr. Brennan. The exact circumstances of Ms. Medetis Long’s departure from the case were unclear.... And Mr. Reding Quiñones has told senior Justice Department officials he plans to take action — possibly asking a grand jury to indict Mr. Brennan — in the next few weeks....” Update: the link has been changed to one that appears to be a gift link.
Marie: Being a person who was never too bright, Trump often attacks his perceived opponents for traits or actions that people routinely and accurately attribute to him. Therefore, it wasn't all that surprising that he vaguely accused Pope Leo of being "weak on crime." Maybe this is why: ~~~
~~~ Now This Is “Weak on Crime.” Mark Berman of the Washington Post: “Since ... Donald Trump returned to the White House last year, his administration has enthusiastically — and steadily — embraced his campaign to try to rewrite the story of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Trump immediately granted a blanket pardon to nearly everyone charged or convicted in connection with the attack, calling them 'patriots.' Earlier this year, his White House posted a falsehood-strewn retelling of that day. Then, this week, his administration moved to vacate some of the last remaining and most serious criminal convictions stemming from the riot.... More than 140 police officers were injured, and the Justice Department has said the attack cost millions of dollars in damage. In the aftermath, the Justice Department launched the largest investigation in its history. More than 1,500 people were charged in connection with the attack.”
The Secretary of War & the FBI Director walked into a bar.... This isn't the prelude to a joke; it's a guessing game: which one couldn't walk out of his own volition? ~~~
~~~⭐Sarah Fitzpatrick of the Atlantic drops a bombshell: Kash “Patel, according to multiple ... [sources], is deeply concerned that his job is in jeopardy. He has good reasons to think so — including some having to do with what witnesses described to me as bouts of excessive drinking.... Senior members of the Trump administration are already discussing who might replace him.... He is erratic, suspicious of others, and prone to jumping to conclusions before he has necessary evidence, according to the more than two dozen people I interviewed.... They described Patel’s tenure as a management failure and his personal behavior as a national-security vulnerability. They said that the problems with his conduct ... include both conspicuous inebriation and unexplained absences. His behavior has often alarmed officials at the FBI and the Department of Justice, even as he won support from the White House for his eager participation in Trump’s effort to turn federal law enforcement against the president’s perceived political enemies....
Early in his tenure, meetings and briefings had to be rescheduled for later in the day as a result of his alcohol-fueled nights, six current and former officials and others familiar with Patel’s schedule told me. On multiple occasions in the past year, members of his security detail had difficulty waking Patel because he was seemingly intoxicated.... An FBI director is expected to be available and focused on his job — especially when the nation is at war with a state sponsor of terrorism.... Patel has also earned a reputation for acting impulsively during high-stakes investigations.” The link is a gift link.
Marie: The only thing that has surprised me about Trump's second term is how he went out of his way to appoint the worst -- or nearly the worst -- top officials in history. From the get-go, he was determined to far exceed his previously-earned reputation as the worst U.S. president ever. If you look at his Cabinet (and don't forget his first choice for AG was not Pam Blondie but Matt Gaetz), if you consider the remarkably indiscriminate way Chain Saw Elon (and others) slashed personnel, you have to suspect that Trump's intent was to destroy the federal government. He has been worse than a dictator (or wanna-be dictator) from Day One. He has been a traitor since Day One. He is the Manchurian President*.
The New York Times headline describes Samuel Samson as a "diplomat." ~~~
~~~ This. Is. Not. A. Diplomat. Michael Shear, et al., of the New York Times: “For much of the past year, [Samuel] Samson has been at the forefront of ... [Donald] Trump’s effort to reshape America’s relationship with Europe. Touring the continent, Mr. Samson has sought to cultivate Washington’s ties with far-right Europeans and bolster such figures at the expense of Europe’s centrist establishment. He has shocked its mainstream leaders, many of them with decades of experience in diplomacy, by accusing them of stifling freedom and by frequently meeting with and promoting their hard-line challengers. He is just five years out of college, and he has repeatedly advocated an approach that overturns three generations of American diplomatic orthodoxy. Last March, Mr. Samson was in London for a secret breakfast meeting with Nigel Farage, Britain’s most prominent right-wing populist, to discuss abortion and censorship. In May, he was in Paris trying to convince a human rights commission that Marine Le Pen, a French far-right leader recently convicted of embezzlement, had been unjustly persecuted.” (Also linked yesterday.)
Oh. AND This Is Not a Diplomat. Ana Swanson & Matina Stevis-Gridneff of the New York Times: “Howard Lutnick, the U.S. secretary of commerce, said on Friday that ... [Donald] Trump was committed to reining in the North American trade deal and blasted Canada for its trade negotiating strategy, adding, 'They suck.' A spokesman for the Department of Commerce said that Mr. Lutnick was describing America’s unfair trade imbalance with Canada and how Canada 'sucks off' America’s $30 trillion economy. Mr. Lutnick, who was speaking at a conference organized by the media outlet Semafor, was particularly critical of Canada’s effort to push back against the Trump administration. He dismissed a former Canadian trade official’s suggestion — that Canada could benefit from negotiating more slowly because political pressure on the Trump administration was increasing — as 'the worst strategy I ever heard.' Asked if Mr. Trump was committed to extending the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, a trade deal he renegotiated in his first term, Mr. Lutnick responded that the president 'thinks it’s a bad deal.'” ~~~
~~~ Nevertheless, He Persisted. Ian Austen of the New York Times: “Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Friday that he would host a meeting of investors and executives in September, seeking to attract 1 trillion Canadian dollars, about $730 billion, in investment in Canada. The investment plan is part of Mr. Carney’s ambitious efforts to reduce Canada’s economic dependence on the United States in response to President Trump’s trade war with his country. Mr. Carney also hopes to exploit shifts in global energy markets brought about by Russia’s attack on Ukraine and the American and Israeli strikes on Iran. 'Canada has what the world wants,' Mr. Carney said in a statement announcing the meeting, which will take place in Toronto. 'We’re an energy superpower, with the most educated work force in the world and rock-solid fiscal strength.'’’
How Ya Gonna Keep 'Em Travelin' Coach After They've Seen Gulfstreams? Madeleine Ngo of the New York Times: “The Department of Homeland Security recently doubled its fleet of jets to carry out deportations under the Trump administration, shelling out $304 million for five planes including two high-end Gulfstreams, according to government documents and interviews. The contract to buy the planes is intended to make it easier and, department officials say, cheaper to expel people from the country. But it is coming under scrutiny for its overall price tag as well as the inclusion of the Gulfstreams, which can accommodate fewer than 20 passengers and are more typically used as private jets for C-suite executives and high-net-worth individuals.... Richard Aboulafia, an aerospace consultant, said he thought the department had many options to buy less expensive jets that could be used for deportations. 'It’s bizarre,' Mr. Aboulafia said. 'These are jets normally associated with billionaires.'” ~~~
~~~ Marie: Not only that, DHS already has two Gulfstreams so Markwayne can fly around in the comforts his predecessor & her boyfriend enjoyed. Ngo writes, “The department was also scrutinized last year after it bought two G700 jets for Ms. Noem and other top department officials for $172 million.” Just how many flying queen-sized beds does Markwayne need at his disposal?
Kyle Cheney of Politico: “A Cambodian national convicted of aggravated robbery in 1993. A stateless Palestinian man who pleaded guilty to driving under the influence and drug crimes in 2018. A Ukrainian man who fled the war with Russia in 2022 only to lose lawful status last year when he accidentally drove his UberEats delivery across the Mexican border. A Cuban man convicted of child abuse in 2020. All four had previously been ordered deported from the U.S. and were arrested by ICE in recent months. But all four were ordered released by federal judges appointed by ... Donald Trump who concluded that their detentions violated constitutional limits. They are among hundreds of immigrants targeted amid the Trump administration’s mass deportation drive with murky histories — and sometimes sordid criminal records — who nevertheless have been found by federal courts to be illegally detained.... Federal judges have routinely found that ... immigrants, including some with criminal records, who have been issued final deportation orders yet remain in the country — have faced ... abuses of due process and violations of constitutional rights.”
Catherine Porter & Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs of the New York Times: “An 85-year-old Frenchwoman who spent 16 days in American immigration detention went home to France on Friday. Jean-Noël Barrot, the French foreign affairs minister, announced the return of the woman, Marie-Thérèse Ross-Mahé, to reporters on Friday morning, saying 'there were acts of violence' in her case that concerned the French government. 'The main thing is that she is back in France, and that is fully satisfying to us,' he said. Ms. Ross-Mahé was greeted at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport by her three adult children. She was still dressed in her prison wear — orange shoes, sweatpants and a gray sweater — covered in stains and holes, according to one of her sons. She was in a state of physical shock and spiritual exhaustion after the ordeal. It was unclear Friday whether she had been deported or had left the country voluntarily.” (Also linked yesterday.)
On Her Own Terms. Vimal Patel of the New York Times: “Rumeysa Ozturk, the Tufts University graduate student who was arrested during the Trump administration’s crackdown on campus speech, has returned to Turkey after completing her studies, the group representing her said on Friday. Her arrest, in March 2025, was an early battle in the Trump administration’s targeting of university campuses. Armed and masked immigration agents surrounded her and whisked her into a van. She spent six weeks in federal custody. First, she was driven to New Hampshire, then Vermont and then flown to a detention facility in Louisiana. In a statement posted by the American Civil Liberties Union, Ms. Ozturk, who completed her Ph.D. in child study and human development, said she was proud to return home on her own timeline. 'The time stolen from me by the U.S. government belongs not just to me, but to the children and youth I have dedicated my life to advocating for,' she said.” (Also linked yesterday.)
Sheryl Stolberg, et al., of the New York Times: “Over two dizzying days in Washington this week, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appeared to change his tune on vaccines. The nation’s loudest vaccine skeptic conceded that the measles vaccine was safe and effective for “most people” and put forth a slate of doctors who support vaccines to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But whether those shifts are merely rhetorical, or will produce real policy change, is an open question. Mr. Kennedy is still surrounded by allies, notably the lawyer Aaron Siri, who are pushing him to roll back existing vaccine policy.... 'I think he is still a wolf in sheep’s clothing, just like he was in his confirmation hearings,” said Richard H. Hughes IV, a lawyer representing the American Academy of Pediatrics in [a case involving HHS's elimination of longstanding Hepatitis B vaccine recommendations].” ~~~
~~~ Blame It on the Brain Worm?? MSN: "At a House Ways and Means Committee hearing, Rep. Terri Sewell questioned Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about a 2024 podcast statement in which he discussed Black children on ADHD or depression medication and said they would have a chance to be 're-parented.' Kennedy denied making the comment and said he did not know what the phrase meant. Reports from The New Republic, Mediaite, and Alternet include excerpts from the podcast where Kennedy used the term while describing rural wellness farms intended to address issues linked to pharmaceuticals, processed foods, and screen time." Chris Hayes played video of the podcast during which Kennedy made the wild allegation: "Psychiatric drugs, which every Black kid is now just standard put on—Adderall, SSRIs, benzos, which are known to induce violence—and those kids are gonna have a chance to go somewhere and get re-parented...." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Maybe it wasn't the brain worm. It could have been the microplastics. During one of the hearings, Kennedy asserted, "The average American now has a teaspoon of microplastics in his brain." While I have recently made serious efforts to substantially reduce the contact between the things I put in my mouth & microplastics, Kennedy's stats may be off, and the jury is out as to what conditions microplastics actually cause. As Chris Hayes pointed out last night, Kennedy raised the alarm about microplastics at hearing in which he was drinking water from a plastic bottle, as is his custom. "A March 2024 study found 1 liter of bottled water — the equivalent of two standard-size bottled waters typically purchased by consumers — contained an average of 240,000 plastic particles from seven types of plastics."
David Dwyer & Katherine Faulders of ABC News: "Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, the subject of intensifying speculation about a potential retirement before the midterm elections, is not expected to leave the bench this year, sources close to the justice have told ABC News. Alito, 76, has been hiring clerks for next term and intends to continue serving into at least 2027, the sources who have spoken to Alito told ABC. The court's most senior member -- 77-year-old conservative Justice Clarence Thomas -- is also expected to remain on the bench, sources have told ABC.”
Supremes Rule for Big Oil v. Earth. Abbie VanSickle of the New York Times: “The Supreme Court agreed on Friday that energy companies facing lawsuits over environmental damage to Louisiana’s coast from oil and gas production can move the challenges from state courts into friendlier federal venues. The ruling is a significant victory for oil companies, led by Chevron and Exxon Mobil, in their legal battle with Louisiana state officials over who should pay for the state’s coastal erosion. The companies have been supported by the Trump administration. The justices unanimously agreed to allow the oil companies to fight the lawsuits in federal court rather than state court. 'Congress has long authorized federal officers and their agents to remove suits brought against them in state court to federal court,' Justice Clarence Thomas wrote.” A Politico E&E News report is here.
Benjamin Mullin of the New York Times: “A federal judge in Sacramento issued an injunction on Friday that temporarily prevented the television giant Nexstar from combining its operations with the station group Tegna, the latest skirmish in a legal war for local airwaves. Troy L. Nunley, a judge in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, said in his ruling that Nexstar ... would have to take steps to remain separate from Tegna pending further court proceedings.... Nexstar and Tegna, two of the largest television groups in the United States, agreed to merge last year in a $6.2 billion deal that put scores of stations under the umbrella of Nexstar, the biggest local broadcaster in the industry. The Irving, Texas, company says it controls or provides services to 201 stations, reaching roughly 39 percent of households in the United States.... DirecTV, a major satellite TV provider, filed a lawsuit to block the merger.... A group of states, including New York, California, Colorado and Oregon, also sued.... Nexstar responded to the ruling Friday night with a statement saying its merger with Tegna had already been completed....”
Clay Risen of the New York Times: “Kevin Klose, a veteran journalist who joined NPR as president and chief executive in 1998 with no fund-raising experience, and then more than doubled its audience, budget and endowment over the next decade — above all by landing a $230 million gift from Joan B. Kroc, widow of the McDonald’s founder — died on Wednesday in Washington, D.C. He was 85.”
Harrison Smith of the Washington Post: Bob “Hall, who died April 12 at 74, was the Boston Marathon’s first official wheelchair champion, crossing the finish line in 1975 in a lightly modified hospital-style chair. Hailed in later years as the father of wheelchair racing, he helped inaugurate a more inclusive era for the sport, pushing marathon organizers in Boston and other cities to establish wheelchair divisions for the first time. With help from an oceanographic engineer, he also began designing and manufacturing racing chairs through his own company, Hall’s Wheels, spearheading design advances that contributed to the development of the ultralight, three-wheeled chairs used by pro athletes today. One of his sleek 1986 models was featured in a design exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.”
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16 comments:
So Fat Hitler law firm (formerly the Department of Justice) is negotiating with some other blind and deaf (to the law) lackeys about how many billions to hand over to that rapacious prick.
And don't let's forget what's going on here. Fatty is dirtying his diaper because someone (maybe) leaked his tax returns from two years. First, we should already have had access to those returns and ALL his tax returns for the last 10 years or so. He's been keeping those returns under lock and key even though all other presidents have done the right thing and let the public see just what's going on with their finances. This is not an insignificant thing. We, the people, have a right to see just how the person who gets elected to run things handles his own finances and if he's been making a ton of money grifting and cheating and helping himself to insider trading information. We SHOULD have seen those returns. Now though, because we do have a grifting, cheating, lying, insider trading whore in the White House, a sneaky little bastard who has defied tradition and worked hard to keep his financial crimes hidden AND the fact that he pays NO taxes at all, he is demanding that WE PAY HIM because for at least two years, his nasty secrets got out.
When he says he was "hurt" in some way by this tiny revelation, what he means is that his crookedness was uncovered, at least for two paltry years.
"Disgust" doesn't even come close.
The First Moron has been throwing around a term I've never heard before: nuclear dust. A reporter on AF1 asked him about it, what it is, and what he means by it. The answer was the usual bullshit runaround. Why? Because he's a fucking idiot and doesn't know what he's talking about. At some point in some 30 second briefing (all this tiny mind can accommodate) some reference to Iran's stockpile of fissionable material must have penetrated the orange birdcage. But because he's an ignorant moron and can't understand what he's been told, he had to make up this term both to sound like he knows what he's talking about and to keep from coming across like a moron he is.
Look it up. Google AI says "nuclear dust" is a term he made up. I guess it's better than "stuff the Iranians have", but not much.
Fucking idiot.
THE STRAIT OF IRAN IS OPEN! I DID IT!
You're fucking right you did it. You closed it, that's for sure. But it's only open in theory. A lot has to happen first. But if this idiot knows anything, he knows that just a few words from the toxic orange pie hole is enough to send the Masters of the Universe on Wall Street into orgasmic dreams of thousand dollar bills landing in their laps. And THEY know that they can bilk investors with tales of "Everything is great. The President sez so".
The fact is that, contrary to the New York Times story, "immediate relief" is not what's going on. It could be that gas prices will come down slightly, but enormous damage has been done to the oil production pipeline, damage it could take months, years to repair. And the really big players in this game right now are the insurance companies. If they feel the teensiest bit of concern for tankers going through the Strait, then they're not gonna cover a dime's worth of insurance. And the owners of the tankers aren't going to move is they're not insured.
The cascade of horrible shit that Fat Fuck has created cannot be rectified by a dazed 2AM tweet.
Fat Hitler is going to take part in a reading of the entire Bible? Yeah, okay. If he makes it through Genesis I'll be stunned. He'll be fast asleep by the time Adam and Eve get their eviction notice.
@Akhilleus: I'm glad you brought up Trump's new term for highly-enriched uranium because it was bugging me, too. As someone whose eyes glaze over when it comes to nuclear physics, I still have been familiar with the term "highly-enriched uranium" for decades.
Therefore, it's amazing that Trump -- who is my age -- seems never to have heard of it. Or else it's such a new term being thrust upon an old, addled brain that he can't remember how to say it. I wonder if one of his advisors realized he couldn't grasp the concept and thought of the term "nuclear dust" so that Trump could "picture" HEU.
Anyway, I hope "nuclear dust" doesn't work its way into the lexicon as a substitute for "highly-enriched uranium," because "nuclear dust" absolutely does not describe the type of uranium that is the stuff of nuclear bombs. Since there are so many types of uranium produced (and at least one that occurs naturally), "nuclear dust" means nothing.
I do recall many decades ago reading an interview of a woman whose father had died of cancer. He worked for a uranium mining company, and she said he came home with "dust" from the mine in the cuffs of his overalls. Her mother threw the overalls in the washer with everything else. If I think of "nuclear dust," that is what it would be.
BTW, if you're thinking of getting a vintage Waltham Watch Company clock, don't. I'll tell you why if you ask.
What happened to Trump's eyes? In every recent photo or video I've seem of him, his eyes are dull-looking little slits. I don't mean just when he's falling asleep in Cabinet meetings. I mean always. He looks terrible.
I guess it is not just the public whose lasting image of Kash is of him chugging a bottle of beer while "on the job". His Olympics trip was claimed to be for work, but he ended up partying, and drinking, with the hockey clowns. I guess this turns out to just be a typical workday for Kash the Trashed.
I saw a comment by someone claiming that we now have Schrodinger's Strait, it is both open and closed at the same time.
Fired Upon
"The standoff over the Strait of Hormuz quickly escalated again Saturday as Iran reversed its reopening of the crucial waterway and fired on ships attempting to pass, in retaliation after the United States pressed ahead with its blockade choking off Iranian ports."
Maureen Dowd's column today (along with Marie's comment of eyes as dull-looking slits) reminded me to reread Rebecca Solnit's essay from a few years back in Literary Hub on On the Corrosive Privilege of the Most Mocked Man in the World
"He is the old fisherman’s wife who wished for everything and sooner or later he will end up with nothing. The wife sitting in front of her hovel was poorer after her series of wishes, because she now owned not only her poverty but her mistakes and her destructive pride, because she might have been otherwise, but brought power and glory crashing down upon her, because she had made her bed badly and was lying in it.
The man in the white house sits, naked and obscene, a pustule of ego, in the harsh light, a man whose grasp exceeded his understanding, because his understanding was dulled by indulgence. He must know somewhere below the surface he skates on that he has destroyed his image, and like Dorian Gray before him, will be devoured by his own corrosion in due time too. One way or another this will kill him, though he may drag down millions with him. One way or another, he knows he has stepped off a cliff, pronounced himself king of the air, and is in freefall. Another dungheap awaits his landing; the dung is all his; when he plunges into it he will be, at last, a self-made man."
Marie,
Okay, I'll bite on the Waltham Watch Company story. I used to ride my bike by the old factory in Waltham when I'd do a Charles River ride. The place closed down decades ago but I've seen Waltham watches over the years in antique stores. So what's the story? Nuclear dust in the watch works?
RAS,
Love the idea of Schrödinger's Strait. I guess another way to look at that situation is that this deal is both alive and dead at the same time, or depending when you look at it
Speaking of Schrödinger's cat, I have to pass on one of my favorite science nerd jokes.
Schrödinger, Heisenberg, and Ohm were out driving one day.
They get pulled over. Heisenberg is driving and the cop asks him "Do you know how fast you were going?"
"No, but I know exactly where I am" Heisenberg replies.
The cop says "You were doing 55 in a 35." Heisenberg throws up his hands and shouts "Great! Now I'm lost!"
The cop thinks this is suspicious and orders him to pop open the trunk. He checks it out and says "Do you know you have a dead cat back here?"
"We do now, asshole!" shouts Schrodinger.
The cop moves to arrest them. Ohm resists.
Hahaha....love that joke.
What do you want to bet that t****'s cronies wanted one last insider trading round on crude oil futures? "The strait is open", price plunges. "It's closed again", price goes high again. Follow the money.
@Akhilleus: The science joke is hilarious. I would tell it if (a) I didn't think I'd goof it up, and (b) I wasn't afraid somebody would ask me to explain it. I'd be fine with some of the details but not more than half of them.
And @RAS: Schrodinger's Strait is perfect. But you won't be able to explain that to Trump any more than he can get highly-enriched uranium.
Waltham. I have never been to Waltham, but my grandmother grew up there, and my mother must have spent some time there because she was familiar with the town. She knew about the Waltham Watch Company, and she told me about it when I was maybe 13 years old. The company had always employed women to paint the clock faces because women's hands were so much smaller than men's that the women were better-suited to do the close work of painting tiny numbers. Fortunately for my family, my grandmother was not among the workers.
In the 1910s and 1920s the Waltham Watch Company began making clocks & watches with illuminated dials. And what did they use to illuminate the dials? Radium-infused paint. In order to get a fine point on their brushes, the young women moistened the bristles by putting the brushes in their mouths. Again and again. Needless to say, the women soon became ill with various maladies and died not long after from the effects of radium poisoning.
I didn't know this, but other watch-making companies in the U.S. used the same practice, with the same results, of course. The workers became known as "Radium Girls." And the companies of course denied their work had anything to do with their untimely illnesses & deaths. I didn't know this either: the women who fought the companies made radium poisoning front-page news, and their fights eventually led to the formation of OSHA.
Some of those old glow-in-the-dark watches and clocks are still around (and not all of them are made by Waltham). If the crystal breaks, they're still lethal. So don't buy one.
Marie,
Gee, now that you mention it, I have heard that radium story before, I guess I didn't connect it to the Waltham factory, but it makes sense. The industrial revolution was a great thing in many ways but it seems to have been really tough on women. Low pay, terrible working conditions for half of what men were paid, then having to go home and get dinner, wash clothes, etc. The Triangle Shirtwaist fire, radium poisoning. Geeez.
As for the joke, here's the skinny:
Heisenberg's uncertainty principle says that, in the quantum realm, you can know the location of a particle or its momentum but not both. In other words, if you know its location, you'd be uncertain of its momentum. If you know the momentum, you couldn't be certain of its location.
The Schrödinger part of the joke you obviously get. The Ohm part is my favorite because it's the most succinct. Ohm's law deals with a measurement of resistance in an electrical line.
Love that joke. And I won't be dissecting any antique Waltham watches any time soon.
NiskyGuy,
Yeah, it's like Trump is Marcel Dalio in "Casablanca": "Marquons les jeux, Mesdames et Messieurs! Les jeux son faits la partie continue Mesdames et Messieurs" Spinning the roulette wheel he knows is rigged to make sure only certain people win. And of course, he is always the biggest winner. "The Strait is CLOSED" (Buy those stocks when they tank!"). Next day, "The Strait is OPEN" ("Sell those stocks I bought yesterday at rock bottom prices.") The corruption is so obvious, the shenanigans so venal, so disgustingly designed to help out the insiders in the Fat Hitler Reich. And nothing will be done about it because he has fired anyone who could make a fuss.
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