September 19, 2026

In my best Bette Davis imitation: What a Dick! The New York Times is running a liveblog on Donald Trump's latest fascistic (and unconstitutional) power play. From the pinned item (by Michael Grynbaum) at 12:10 pm ET: 

“Journalists from CNN, MS NOW and Politico were denied access to the White House grounds on Saturday, a day after ... [Donald] Trump announced a ban on three news organizations because of reporting he disliked. Akayla Gardner, a White House correspondent for MS NOW, said that her White House-issued access badge failed to work at the security entrance where reporters typically enter near the West Wing. 'The officer asked me to hand over my badge; he said that it was disabled,' Ms. Gardner said in an on-air interview. 'I asked why I could not get inside; he said it was above him.' A photographer for MS NOW was also asked to relinquish their badge, but a producer for the network was allowed into the White House, Ms. Gardner said.

“Betsy Klein, a veteran CNN correspondent, described a similar experience that occurred about an hour later. She said that a White House security officer, whom she has known for years, informed her that her badge had been deactivated. 'I asked if he had any more details he could share with me,' Ms. Klein said in an on-air interview. 'He said I should be referred to the White House press office for more information.' Cheyenne Haslett, a reporter at Politico, was also denied access to the White House on Saturday morning, according to a note to staff from Jonathan Greenberger, Politico’s editor in chief, that was described in the publication’s Playbook newsletter.” The link is a gift link. ~~~

~~~ Jim Rutenberg & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: “The Justice Department has sent F.B.I. agents to reporters’ homes to serve subpoenas and, in at least one case, flashed a warrant to seize devices. The Pentagon has fired the editor and publisher of its traditionally independent newspaper, Stars and Stripes, and blocked access to other journalists who refused to sign pledges that would limit their reporting. Regulatory agencies are using their powers to pressure media organizations over their content. The administration has stripped funding from public television and radio. Angry over stories he does not like, President Trump has sued major news organizations and the White House has taken control of the previously independent press pool that tracks the president, deciding which outlets can participate. Almost 20 months into Mr. Trump’s second term, his long-running media clashes have grown into a sweeping campaign to control speech in America that stands out for applying so many levers, so fast, all at once.... Free speech advocates say the president’s intent is apparent: to punish, intimidate and silence dissenters.” The link is a gift link. 

People protesting against Trump at the Kennedy Center, Friday. WashPo photo.

 ~~~~~~~~~~ 

If you are Donald Trump or a Donald Trump appointee, at some point in every day you ask yourself, "What can I do that's stupid and destructive and weakens democracy and usurps the traditional rights of ordinary Americans?" And then you do it.

There’s something wrong with a country that can allow people to write purposely negative stories....  Now, if they want to write them, that’s fine, but I don’t have to let them into my — into the people’s house.... I don’t think that a court should allow fake news to be written day after day after day. -- Donald Trump, to reporters in the Oval Office, Friday 

As Thomas Jefferson wrote, 'Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press.' -- President Ronald Reagan, October 1983 (More on Jefferson's legacy linked below.) ~~~ 

 ~~~ Crazy Old Man Bans Major News Outlets. Michael Grynbaum & Benjamin Mullin of the New York Times: Donald “Trump said on Friday that he would ban journalists from CNN, MS NOW and Politico from reporting at the White House. Mr. Trump published his abrupt proclamation, which he said was “effective immediately,” in a post on Truth Social, the social media platform he owns. The president wrote that his move was 'a result of their constant “reporting” FAKE NEWS!,' repeating one of his most common complaints about independent news outlets. It was not clear how such a ban might be enforced, or whether it could pass muster in the event of a legal challenge.... Mr. Trump’s announcement was met with instant condemnation from many First Amendment groups, which called it unconstitutional. CNN and Politico both suggested they could mount challenges in court. The White House Correspondents’ Association said in a statement that constitutional protections for the press do 'not depend on whether the president likes a news organization’s coverage, agrees with its reporting, or approves of the questions its journalists ask.'” The story has been updated. The link is a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Heather Cox Richardson speculates on which stories -- stories that presumably were true, though Trump claims the news outlets "constantly" write "FICTION and LIES" -- raised Trump's ire." I missed Politico's story on how some top-secret F-35 stealth technology components got "accidentally" rerouted to Hong Kong and "disappeared," likely into the hands of Chinese counterintelligence engineers.

~~~ A.G. Sulzberger, publisher of the New York Times: “On Sept. 18 of [1951], at the south end of [Manhattan], on Nassau Street, the newspaper we know today as The New York Times published its first issue. Put together in unfinished lofts by candlelight, it consisted of four dense, colorless pages of text. It sold for a penny. On Friday, The New York Times turns 175.... How unlikely it is that a newspaper born before indoor electricity — let alone cars, radio, telephones, planes and computers — is still here.... Today, the future of America’s free press is uncertain. As the advertising-based business model that long supported original reporting has collapsed, the country has lost nearly 3,500 newspapers and a vast majority of local journalism jobs in just two decades....

“No president in modern history has been more hostile than Donald Trump to a press he’s dubbed 'the enemy of the people.' He accuses reporters of treason, a crime punishable by death. He personally sues news organizations when their coverage displeases him. He directs his administration to use the levers of government power to investigate, subpoena and prosecute journalists for doing their jobs. But in a reminder of the press’s lasting importance, Mr. Trump, like his predecessors, still reads The Times.”The link is a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Worth a read. It's notable, IMO, that Sulzberger thinks the U.S. is still "a global superpower." I'm not sure he's been paying close attention to where we stand in the world today. BTW, A.G. wrote this before Trump banned the three news outlets.  

~~~ Arc de Trump News, Ctd. Dan Diamond of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump has insisted that a 250-foot-tall triumphal arch should be built near Arlington National Cemetery, citing long-abandoned plans to construct a monument there. Local officials, preservationists and historians are now pushing an alternate idea: Abandon the arch and consider building the slender columns that were originally envisioned by architects and lawmakers a century ago. 'We request meaningful consideration of an alternative that more accurately reflects the spirit and intent of the 1924 McKim Mead & White design and the 1925 Act of Congress,' C. Andrew Lewis, an official in Washington’s historic preservation office, wrote in a letter to the Trump administration on Wednesday and obtained by The Washington Post. 'Specifically, we request the [National Park Service] to evaluate design concepts consisting of two columns that truly frame, rather than limit the historic view corridor.'” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: Donald “Trump’s planned 250-foot triumphal arch in Washington must have a constant flame atop the structure to make it safe for planes to pass by in one of the busiest airspaces in the country, the Federal Aviation Administration said. In a hazard study released on Friday, the F.A.A. deemed the proposed arch, which would sit along a flight path less than a mile from Ronald Reagan National Airport, safe for air travel provided that Mr. Trump complies with recommended safety measures. 'The proposed structure should be appropriately marked/lighted with a nonstandard eternal flame and continuously floodlighted by searchlight projectors installed at three or more equidistant points around the base of the structure,' the study said. In June, F.A.A. evaluators recommended that red, blinking obstruction lights similar to the ones atop the Washington Monument be added to the arch — a common measure for large structures that go up near airports. But upon further review, the agency altered the safety provisions.” The link is a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.)

Jonathan Edwards of the Washington Post: “The Kennedy Center laid off more than a dozen employees Friday, according to three people familiar with the cuts.... The cuts affected high-ranking staff members including the center’s top spokesperson, Roma Daravi; board relations head Joe LaFauci; and others overseeing marketing and other functions, according to two of the people familiar with the moves.... The cuts follow a shake-up in upper management. Earlier in the week, Donna Arduin, the center’s chief financial officer since shortly after the Trump takeover, resigned.... 

“Trump on Friday again defended his push for recognition at the Kennedy Center, this time with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the former president’s nephew, standing behind him in the Oval Office. 'I actually like the name of Kennedy and Trump, Trump and Kennedy, because it showed bipartisanship,' Trump said..... 'I think the Trump administration should be recognized as having saved the Kennedy Center because nobody else could do it,' he said.”

     ~~~ Marie: Of course President* MAGA Lardo is destroying the Center, not "saving" it. (And he is not, BTW, uniquely capable of "saving" buildings; quite the opposite is true. See, e.g., White House, East Wing.) But let's say for argument's sake that Trump was restoring the Kennedy Center. So what? That's his job. Among a president's many responsibilities is to maintain federal facilities. You don't get your name on the building for doing your job. If that were the case, dozens of staff from janitors to executive directors would have their names splashed on the front facades of every building in the U.S.A. 

Chris Cameron of the New York Times: “A large group of demonstrators locked arms to form a human chain around the Kennedy Center on Friday evening to protest ... [Donald] Trump’s efforts to close and remake the center in his image, amid speculation about a possible effort to demolish the building. Hundreds of demonstrators, many of them performing artists and workers at the Kennedy Center, sang and played music as they circled the building and the sun set over the embattled cultural institution. Late Wednesday night, photojournalists captured a series of images through the windows of Air Force One that showed Mr. Trump reviewing a large poster board with what looked like a rendering of a construction site beneath the title: “Kennedy Center DEMOLISHED.'” The link is a gift link. ~~~

     ~~~ As Chris Hayes observed Thursday, the gold-plated graffiti Trump slapped onto the front of the Kennedy Center & his incessant demands to name the center after himself are "almost like desecrating a grave." 

Of course the statements made by Trump et fils in this next linked story are likely lies. But it's still an arresting development. Even they seem to have reckoned that accepting a gift-bribe of hundreds of thousands of dollars from Putin's henchman is at least a bad "look," especially when said president* has steadfastly maintained for a decade that "Russia, Russia, Russia" is a "hoax": ~~~

~~~ Isaac Arnsdorf of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump said Friday that his son paid back the well-connected Russian businessman who funded his wedding celebrations. A person close to Donald Trump Jr. confirmed the repayment. The contribution of hundreds of thousands of dollars, revealed Monday by the investigative news website ProPublica, came from Umar Kremlev, a boxing executive who does business with the Russian state and has received honors from Russian President Vladimir Putin.... The president defended the contribution, calling it 'common' for people to give a wedding party to a friend. 'It’s totally allowed, but as I understand it, he paid him back,' Trump told reporters Friday in the Oval Office. 'He didn’t want to have that.'” ~~~

     ~~~ Michelle Stoddart of ABC News: "Trump was asked in the Oval Office on Friday whether it was appropriate for his son to have accepted the gift from Umar Kremlev. 'Well, it's totally, it's totally allowed. And a lot of people have parties and all, but it's totally allowed,' Trump said. 'But as I understand it, he paid them back....' ... The president and the Trump Organization haven't provided evidence that [Junior] did [pay back Kremlev]." MB: The ABC News story more-or-less confirms my earlier assertion that Daddy Longnose is lying: "A reporter commented that it was the first the public had heard that Trump Jr. paid Kremlev back. "No, I heard I heard about that. I actually heard that -- when I heard the story, I asked about it. He said, "No, I'm paying it back, Dad." So, and that was a while ago,' Trump later added." And yet. And yet. When Junior and his wife each confirmed last week that they had accepted the extraordinary gift from Kremlev, neither thought to mention that the gift was maybe some sort of short-term loan that the couple had paid off "a while ago." ~~~

     ~~~ Update: In today's Comments, RAS lets on that the whole transaction was merely "some old fashion typical Trump Russian money laundering. Nice to see a family get back to their roots, allegedly." Very cynical, RAS. And entirely likely (if you think Junior repaid the $$$ -- show me the cancelled check, Junior, or did you stuff the cash in a brown bag?). These people are so crooked, you can't even be sure which scam they're pulling. You know only that money changed hands, that some part or parts of the exchange were illegal, that there are yet untold secrets and that people lied.

Joseph O'Neill, for the New York Times, reviews a book by journalist Jacob Weisberg titled Profiles in Cowardice: Donald “Trump ... has ushered in a golden age of cravenness. A nation long perceived, not least by its own nationals, as resilient and courageous ... is now forced to contemplate an entirely new set of data. It seems that, when placed under mild authoritarian pressure, an extraordinary number of powerful Americans ... quickly revealed themselves to be cowardly and unprincipled and made of the wrong stuff... In a dismal inversion of the John F. Kennedy classic 'Profiles in Courage, Weisberg’s Profiles in Cowardice' offers case studies of eight representative men and women 'who recognized the danger Trump posed to American values, who had the ability to say no to him and who at earlier moments showed flickers of integrity — but who, when a more serious test came, failed to act courageously, in ways that reveal both their moral weakness and the fragility of the institutions they represented.'... 

“The author’s specimens of moral failure are drawn ... from the country’s supposed crème de la crème: Brad Karp, the former chair of the law firm Paul, Weiss; the private equity mogul Steve Schwarzman; the Amazon founder and Washington Post proprietor Jeff Bezos; the media personality Megyn Kelly; the former Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell; the former President George W. Bush; the Dartmouth College president Sian Beilock; and last but certainly not least, John Roberts, the chief justice of the United States.” The link is a gift link.

Zolan Kanno-Youngs, et al., of the New York Times: Donald “Trump said on Friday that his administration had reached a deal with Denmark and Greenland to expand the U.S. security presence in Greenland, a semiautonomous Danish territory, raising the possibility of a diplomatic solution to a U.S.-made threat that nearly upended the Western alliance. The full contours of the deal Mr. Trump was describing were not immediately clear, but shortly after his announcement, leaders of Greenland and Denmark issued statements indicating they expected an agreement to be signed next week during the United Nations General Assembly in New York. The two sides described the agreement in very different terms. Mr. Trump claimed the United States had secured 'permanent control over security, and all other needs' in Greenland, while the Danish prime minister said the deal 'recognizes the sovereignty and territorial integrity' of the Kingdom of Denmark. That description would mean the agreement fell well short of Mr. Trump’s longstanding demand of total control over Greenland.” The link is a gift link. The Guardian's story is here.

Quack-in-Chief Strikes Again. Rachel Roubein of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump said Friday that he would be 'demanding' drug companies further split up vaccines into five doses given in six-month intervals, and claimed that doing so would reduce autism rates.... 'The vaccine size will be much, much less,' he said. 'I think you’re going to see a massive reduction in autism. And that’s a big deal, a very big deal. We’re going to be recommending that and actually demanding it.'... [Trump's]  The rhetoric has alarmed vaccine experts and major medical groups, who have said that there is no new scientific evidence to justify further breaking up shots and that doing so could leave children vulnerable to infectious diseases for longer. Some said such an action would take years to get regulatory approval.... The AAP has said claims that the number of vaccines on the childhood immunization schedule can overwhelm a child’s immune system are 'inaccurate and dangerous.'” ~~~

     ~~~ As Akhilleus pointed out earlier this week, Donald Trump doesn't even know how to hold a baby. Still, he claims to know that (gift link) (a) doctors pump vaccines “the size of a bottle of soda,” “gallons” and “vats of vaccine” into tiny babies (not true); and that (b) somehow breaking up the vats of vaccines into individual shots will reduce autism (even though there's no evidence at all that vaccines cause autism). This is a guy who thought pumping bleach into your body might be a good way to kill the Covid virus; no longer satisfied with endangering the lives of adults, he is concentrating on infants now. Have I mentioned that a raving lunatic is running the country?

Sure, the U.S. lost the war Trump & Drunk Pete started against Iran, our armaments are depleted to a couple of muskets & a longbow, and sailors are literally jumping ship, and a rusty old tub at that. BUT the warfighters themselves soon will be so pumped and manly! ~~~ 

~~~ Nicholas Slayton of Task & Purpose: “Two months after announcing mandatory testosterone screenings, and weeks after rolling back an initial plan for it, the Department of Defense is directing all male service members ages 30 and above to get screened to see if they have a deficiency. On Thursday, the Defense Department issued 'Clinical Practice Guideline for Testosterone Deficiency in the Male Service Member.' The new guidance is effective 'immediately,' according to a Pentagon spokesperson, and notes that health assessment questions around the military are being updated to match the new rules.... For troops under 30, there are optional screenings available. The Pentagon is just screening troops for low levels of the hormone; they can take voluntary testosterone replacement therapy if they choose to. The release comes two weeks after the Pentagon initially issued, then quickly rescinded, detailed screening guidelines for both men and women in the military, with different screening paths for them to determine if they suffered from low testosterone.... Guidelines for women are still being reviewed, according to Vice Adm. Darin Via, director of the Defense Health Agency.” MB: I feel so much safer now!

Noah Robertson, et al., of the Washington Post: “More American service members have died in the Middle East during the ongoing Iran war than the Pentagon has disclosed publicly, according to six U.S. officials familiar with the Defense Department’s internal casualty accounting data. Five of the officials said there have been at least 22 military fatalities — four more than what appears in the Pentagon’s public database, known as the Defense Casualty Analysis System, or DCAS. A sixth official, who like the others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the figures, said 23 service members have died since Feb. 28, when the Trump administration, in concert with Israel, initiated the Iran war. Not all of the undisclosed deaths are directly tied to the conflict but have involved U.S. personnel who were in the Middle East amid ongoing hostilities, this person said.” The link is a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.) A related Mother Jones story is here.

⭐Aditya Mehta of Tech Crunch: "Military aircraft were already in the air this spring when U.S. officials made an alarming discovery: The intelligence driving an armed operation against a Chinese vessel had been hallucinated by an AI chatbot. The operation was aborted at the last minute, narrowly averting a potential conflict with China, CNN reported on Friday. [The CNN story is firewalled.] The episode underscores a growing concern among military officials and outside experts: As decision-makers lean more heavily on AI, the errors these systems produce can travel up the chain of command before being questioned. 

"The intelligence report, which circulated during the war with Iran, said the vessel was carrying components for a nuclear weapons program.The false intelligence originated with a Special Operations Command analyst who queried an AI chatbot to synthesize open source data with classified signals intelligence. The chatbot misidentified the ship’s cargo manifest. The analyst then used the tool a second time to format the erroneous findings into an official-looking summary, which was circulated across command channels. The near-miss comes as the U.S. military races to integrate AI to accelerate decision-making and maintain its edge over China.'" ~~~

~~~ David Sanger, et al., of the New York Times: Donald “Trump made clear in the past week that he views fears that A.I. could lead to mass extinction as a 'HOAX,' and that he sees opponents of data centers as people who 'want to end up being backwards and poor.' People who have discussed the subject with Mr. Trump in private say his outbursts are rooted in worries that if the artificial intelligence boom fueling the American economy slows down, the market could crash and recession could quickly follow. His anti-regulatory, anti-slowdown outbursts have been encouraged by a slice of Silicon Valley’s most influential voices. Chief among them has been David Sacks, the venture capitalist who interceded to weaken an executive order in May that would have required safety reviews of new A.I. models. Mark Zuckerberg of Meta and Jensen Huang of Nvidia have also spoken to the president. All have advised Mr. Trump that the bigger risk is being overtaken by Chinese competitors.” The link is a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.)

Salvador Rizzo of the Washington Post: “A federal judge said at a hearing Friday that she was concerned that the Trump administration could find ways to effectively revive a defunct $1.8 billion 'Anti-Weaponization Fund' that critics say would have rewarded the president’s supporters. The Justice Department has asked U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema to dismiss an ongoing lawsuit challenging the fund. The administration in the spring said the fund would provide payouts to those wronged by the justice system. But it was quickly challenged in court as an unconstitutional rewards program for hundreds of people who accepted pardons from ... Donald Trump after being convicted of blocking access to abortion clinics or participating in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Brinkema, who sits in Alexandria, Virginia, previously issued an injunction blocking the fund, and she signaled at Friday’s hearing that she was not ready to end the case. The judge said that she was troubled by 'this concept of taxpayer money being used to promote particular political viewpoints.'”

Erica Orden of Politico: “The Supreme Court’s recent decision widening the president’s power to fire certain agency leaders also extends to more junior employees — namely, former federal prosecutor Maurene Comey, the Justice Department argued in court Friday.... Comey — a longtime federal prosecutor in Manhattan and the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey, a frequent Trump target — is suing the Justice Department over her abrupt firing last year. She was terminated without explanation, via a letter citing only the Constitution’s Article II, which outlines the powers of the president, as the basis for her firing.”

The Epstein Cover-up, Ctd. Lisa Rubin & Julianne McShane of MS NOW: "The Justice Department filed a notice of appeal Thursday night in response to a federal judge ordering Attorney General Todd Blanche to turn over handwritten FBI notes from interviews with a woman who accused ... Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein of sexually abusing her when she was a teenager. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan, a Reagan appointee in Washington, issued the 20-page order one day earlier, ruling that the Justice Department must provide the handwritten notes from the interviews, which occurred between July and October 2019, to the court for review by 11 a.m. E.T. on Sept. 24. Sullivan’s order does not yet require the DOJ to release the notes publicly. The ruling was issued in an ongoing lawsuit brought by independent journalist and former MS NOW host Katie Phang that seeks to compel the government to release more unredacted Epstein files." ~~~

~~~ Avery Lotz of Axios: "Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) announced Thursday they've secured commitments for the 218 signatures needed to force another vote the release of files related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.... Answers about the disgraced financier and his web of wealthy connections have continued to haunt the administration, with Attorney General Todd Blanche now facing the threat of contempt proceedings over the Epstein files. This is the bipartisan duo's second push in less than a year after they forced their first Epstein transparency bill through Congress, which the president signed after initially opposing the effort.... [Khanna said in a video post] that [he and Massie] had secured commitments for 218 votes on their discharge petition, including from three Republicans: Reps. Ralph Norman (R-S.C), Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.). Two Democrats were sick, he added, but will sign the day the House returns."

Maggie Haberman, et al., of the New York Times: “Kash Patel, the F.B.I. director, temporarily halted some cooperation with the agency’s counterpart in Canada this month after the nation’s public broadcaster reminded its journalists of a longstanding policy not to refer to the Sept. 11 attacks as 'terrorism' without attribution to experts, according to multiple officials with knowledge of the event. The extraordinary move to punish the Royal Canadian Mounted Police appears to have been short-lived, and it was specific to the F.B.I. Other parts of the U.S. government involved in intelligence-sharing continued with their operations. And not every element of cooperation between the F.B.I. and the mounted police was halted, according to the officials with knowledge of the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the sensitive law enforcement dynamics. Still, the abrupt move by Mr. Patel risked disrupting F.B.I. operations with Canada and jeopardizing the organization’s relationship with Canada’s national law enforcement agency, which works closely with the bureau on a wide range of issues, including terrorism and cybersecurity cases. It came as ... [Donald] Trump was ramping up pressure on Canada, hitting the longtime U.S. ally with punishing tariffs and taunting Prime Minister Mark Carney.” The link is a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.)

Mariana Alfaro of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump pushed back Friday against a Republican critic, calling Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-Florida) weak on border security. Salazar incurred Trump’s wrath by releasing a campaign video Thursday in which she said that some of Trump’s immigration enforcement efforts 'have gone too far.' Trump disagreed with Salazar’s characterization of his record on immigration, saying that he has 'a very strong movement' and he claimed that the U.S., before he returned to the White House, 'had the most unsafe border.... She obviously doesn’t have a very strong feeling for the border, but I do. And, I understand what she’s saying, but I ... won because of my border,' he said at the White House’s Oval Office on Friday.... 'She’s a nice person. I got her elected. Without me, she wouldn’t have gotten elected,' he said. 'Maria won only because of me. So she got a little bit softer than the border. I understand that..., but I just don’t happen to be there.'”

Megha Rajagopalan & Pranav Baskar of the New York Times: “Two men deported to Equatorial Guinea by the Trump administration were hooded, bound, beaten with guns and shoved down a flight of stairs recently by police officers at a remote hotel where immigrants are being held indefinitely, according to witnesses and lawyers. The deportees said the beatings and subsequent arrests were intended to stop them from telling the outside world about the deteriorating conditions and growing violence inside the hotel, which has become a de facto prison for 29 men and women from different countries. Experts and human rights advocates predicted such abuse after the Trump administration began deporting people to authoritarian countries where they had no ties or, in many cases, legal rights. Equatorial Guinea, like other countries cooperating with the U.S. deportation program, is notorious for human rights violations, including torture and arbitrary arrest, according to the State Department.” The link is a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I think of this not as some African thugs beating up these people but as Donald Trump, Stephen Miller, Marco Rubio & Markwayne Mullin torturing these people. They knew this would happened and they arranged to make it happen. The people I've named are criminals.

Russ Vought Really Hates Minorities. Dan Diamond & Riley Beggin of the Washington Post: “Senior administration officials argued in the Oval Office on Friday over whether the National Institutes of Health was continuing to fund priorities at odds with ... Donald Trump’s agenda and if the agency should further change its spending priorities.... Russell Vought, the White House’s budget chief, led the criticism, accusing the NIH of funding 'woke' initiatives that went against Trump’s goals, including his executive order barring 'equity-related' grants and contracts.... Jay Bhattacharya, director of the $47 billion health agency, which is the nation’s largest single funder of biomedical research, defended the NIH’s grant-making process.... Trump, who attended the meeting, appeared open to Vought’s criticisms of the NIH,,,, The NIH last year cut hundreds of millions of dollars in research funding for health issues in minority, gay and transgender communities. The agency has also revamped its grant-making process under Trump, issuing fewer grants on issues such as women’s health.”

Stacy Cowley of the New York Times: “For more than 80 years, activist shareholders have had a potent tool for pressuring companies for governance changes by submitting proposals and seeking a shareholder vote on their suggestions. This week, the Securities and Exchange Commission proposed scrapping that process. It wants to eliminate a detailed rule that is often used by activists and advocacy groups to pursue changes in companies’ operations. The proposal will be open for public comment for 60 days, after which the agency can move to finalize the change. Shareholder proposals frequently focus on environmental and social concerns, like corporate diversity and worker protections, or on governance issues such as executive pay. They are typically advisory and do not dictate decisions by a company’s board. Paul Atkins, the commission’s Trump-appointed chair, said the proposal to discard the rule reflected his highest regulatory priorities.” The link is a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.)

Marie: Here's an extraordinary thing: our adversary Russia is trying to undermine this year's general election -- and the nation's tentative hold on democracy -- but not as much or as effectively as the POTUS* is. ~~~

~~~ Dustin Volz, et al., of the New York Times: “The Russian government has been targeting Americans with covert online disinformation operations seeking to undermine public confidence in November’s midterm elections, using a familiar playbook in an attempt to inject chaos into the voting season, according to U.S. officials familiar with the matter. Classified U.S. intelligence assessments from recent months have determined that the Kremlin has again authorized a digital influence campaign to peddle content across social media in hopes of seeding or amplifying domestic divisions around the election season, the officials said.... he push to inflame the electorate comes as ... [Donald] Trump has repeatedly sought to challenge the integrity of American democracy. In July, Mr. Trump gave a televised prime-time address on election security in which he claimed there were severe vulnerabilities in U.S. voting systems and accused American officials of a yearslong 'cover-up' to conceal efforts by China and others to influence elections.” The link is a gift link.

Kate Conger of the New York Times: “Google’s artificial intelligence system, Gemini, escaped its testing environment in May and hacked into three companies, the search giant said on Friday. The incidents occurred during tests to measure the cybersecurity capabilities of Gemini, and the A.I. model stopped its own attacks after logging in to the three companies’ networks, Google said.... The Gemini incidents occurred while the model was undergoing testing by Irregular, an Israeli start-up that works with tech companies to assess their A.I. models before they are publicly released. Models made by OpenAI, Anthropic and Meta also gained unauthorized access to the internet this year while being tested by Irregular.” The link is a gift link.

Michael de la Merced of the New York Times: “Warren E. Buffett, who built one of the most successful investment firms in history and became a sage of American capitalism, is stepping down as chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, the company said on Friday. Mr. Buffett, who turned 96 on Aug. 30, will remain on Berkshire’s board as chairman emeritus, effective immediately. His older son, Howard G. Buffett, will become chairman under the company’s succession plan.... Mr. Buffett stepped down as chief executive of the company at the end of last year, and a longtime lieutenant, Greg Abel, took over.” The link is a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.)

Jennifer Schuessler of the New York Times: “For more than 200 years, the question has nagged at the edges of American history: Did Thomas Jefferson father children by Sally Hemings, a woman he enslaved?... Now, the Smithsonian Institution is offering what it says is the most definitive evidence yet, based on an extraordinary piece of data: Thomas Jefferson’s genome, sequenced from samples culled from a few strands of his hair. In a new book, Richard Kurin, the Smithsonian scholar who led the effort, describes how a team of researchers used cutting-edge techniques to extract and sequence Jefferson’s DNA. They then compared it with DNA samples obtained from 13 living Hemings and Jefferson family descendants. It’s a 15-year detective story that involves archaeologists, genealogists, molecular geneticists and historians, stretching across multiple changes in Smithsonian leadership.” The link is a gift link. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Do read on to learn how the Smithsonian has bowed to the Racist-in-Chief in hopes he won't be too upset by the publication of Kurin's book on his reseach. 

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California. Hannah Knowles of the Washington Post: “Storms and high tides — fueled by a near record-breaking El Niño — have battered the California coast in recent weeks, destroying homes and eroding beaches. The fallout has supercharged years-long tensions between the owners of coveted oceanfront property and the authorities they say aren’t doing enough to protect them. The damage has intensified a bigger debate...: What can or should be done to save private property in the most vulnerable communities?... On Beach Road in Dana Point ... the destruction has residents ... organizing in a group chat and paying more than $50,000 per household, they say, to build a rock wall along the shore.... Residents want to make the rock wall permanent, but 'coastal armoring' is so controversial that the California Coastal Commission generally bans it in new developments. “It’s important to note that while seawalls can provide temporary relief for homes, they can also increase erosion and destroy the public beaches that help protect those same structures,' ... a spokesperson for the Coastal Commission said in a statement.”

Florida. How One University Betrayed Its Students. Teo Armus of the Washington Post: In 2025 (??),  Jeanette Nuñez, “Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R) former lieutenant governor [and then president of Florida International University,] had okayed a deal with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to deputize four campus police officers as ICE agents. This type of agreement, known as a 287(g) partnership after that section of the Immigration and Nationality Act, has exploded in use across the country under the mass deportation agenda of ... Donald Trump’s administration. In Florida alone, pressure from DeSantis helped bring the most expansive type of agreements to 15 public colleges. Deputized officers could stop and question people they suspect of being in the country illegally and detain those who are.... FIU, which graduates more Hispanic students than any other school in the country, never put up much of a fight.... Founded to educate the children of Cuban exiles, this massive state school was now declaring open season on the next generation.”