- What we know Trump did this week — and why it matters (WaPo) "President Trump fired the director of the FBI, in the fourth year of his 10-year term, because the president was upset that Mr. Comey was leading an FBI investigation of possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign in 2016. The investigation was gaining momentum as Mr. Trump struck. Mr. Trump initially misrepresented the reason for the firing and allowed other members of his administration, including Vice President Pence, to grossly misinform Congress and the public. By Thursday, in his interview with NBC’s Lester Holt, Mr. Trump was acknowledging that he decided to fire Mr. Comey before soliciting and receiving any recommendations and that the Clinton emails were not his motivation. 'When I decided to just do it, I said to myself, I said, you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story.' In January, according to Mr. Trump, the president dined privately with Mr. Comey at Mr. Comey’s request and asked the FBI director to tell him whether he was under investigation. That would be troubling. In a more troubling — and, in our view, more plausible — version provided by Mr. Comey’s associates, the president initiated the dinner and used the occasion to demand the FBI director’s 'loyalty.' On Friday, as the contradictory versions of that dinner added to Mr. Trump’s political difficulties, he issued a menacing tweet — 'James Comey better hope that there are no ‘tapes’ of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!'"
- The Trump-Russia Nexus (NYT) "There may be no Trump Tower in Moscow or St. Petersburg, but it is not for lack of trying. Mr. Trump and his family have sought to do business in Russia since at least the 1980s. In 2008, Donald Trump Jr. told a real estate conference, 'Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross section of a lot of our assets; say in Dubai, and certainly with our project in SoHo and anywhere in New York,' according to eTurboNews, a travel industry news site. The author James Dodson said that another son, Eric Trump, told him in 2013 that Russians have bankrolled Trump golf courses: 'Well, we don’t rely on American banks. We have all the funding we need out of Russia.' Eric Trump denies saying that. Mr. Trump and his associates can cry themselves hoarse that there is neither smoke nor fire here. But all in all, the known facts suggest an unusually extensive network of relationships with a major foreign power."
- The Senate Starts to Look at Trump’s Businesses (New Yorker) "If the committee does begin to seriously consider the Trump Organization’s business practices and any connections those show to figures in Russia and other sensitive countries, it would suggest what prosecutors call a 'target rich' environment. Rather than focussing on a handful of recent arrivals to Trump’s inner circle—Mike Flynn and Carter Page, a Trump campaign adviser—it could open up his core circle of children and longtime associates. The same associate who told me that he doesn’t think Trump was likely involved in a long-term plan with Putin and Russia said he is certain that Trump has, many times, made very risky decisions in order to take advantage of a short-term opportunity. 'If he sees something shiny,' he said, 'he wants it.'"
- Trump must be impeached. Here’s why. (NYT) "Ample reasons existed to worry about this president, and to ponder the extraordinary remedy of impeachment, even before he fired FBI Director James B. Comey and shockingly admitted on national television that the action was provoked by the FBI’s intensifying investigation into his campaign’s ties with Russia."
BUSINESS/INVESTMENT:
- Silicon Valley is 'officially a retirement community for D.C. political vets' (LA Times) "Veterans of high-profile political campaigns and White House administrations such as LaBolt — who in years past would have turned their public-service resumes and connections into jobs as lobbyists on K Street, advisers at Fortune 500 firms or leaders of nonprofits — are increasingly heading west, attracted by the opportunities to put their political skills to use in the technology industry. It can lead to strange bedfellows: Democrats and Republicans who fought each other while working on opposing campaigns find themselves working on shared goals and trying to effect change outside the nation’s gridlocked capital. Beyond healthy six-figure salaries and better weather than Washington, D.C., the moves make sense — skills developed in politics are in critical demand in the Bay Area and Silicon Valley."
- How Homeownership Became the Engine of American Inequality (NYT) "There is a reason so many Americans choose to develop their net worth through homeownership: It is a proven wealth builder and savings compeller. The average homeowner boasts a net worth ($195,400) that is 36 times that of the average renter ($5,400). Almost a decade removed from the foreclosure crisis that began in 2008, the nation is facing one of the worst affordable-housing shortages in generations. When we think of entitlement programs, Social Security and Medicare immediately come to mind. But by any fair standard, the holy trinity of United States social policy should also include the mortgage-interest deduction... The owner-renter divide is as salient as any other in this nation, and this divide is a historical result of statecraft designed to protect and promote inequality. ...the New Deal...through the G.I. Bill of Rights...remains unmatched by any other single social policy in the scope and depth of its provisions... The G.I. Bill brought a rollout of veterans’ mortgages, padded with modest interest rates and down payments waived for loans up to 30 years. But both in its design and its application, the G.I. Bill excluded a large number of citizens. From 1934 to 1968, the official F.H.A. policy of redlining made homeownership virtually impossible in black communities. This legacy has been passed down to subsequent generations. "
ENTERTAINMENT:
- How Pixar Lost Its Way (Atlantic) "The painful verdict is all but indisputable: The golden era of Pixar is over. It was a 15-year run of unmatched commercial and creative excellence, beginning with Toy Story in 1995 and culminating with the extraordinary trifecta of wall-e in 2008, Up in 2009, and Toy Story 3 (yes, a sequel, but a great one) in 2010. Since then, other animation studios have made consistently better films."
HEALTH:
- Virtual-reality worlds filled with penguins and otters are a promising alternative to painkillers (Quartz) "Over the last few decades, U.S. doctors have tackled constant pain problems by prescribing ever-higher levels of opioid painkillers... These medications have turned out to be less effective for treating chronic pain than thought – and far more addictive. Efforts to curb opioid prescriptions and abuse are starting to work. Persuading patients to embrace this more diverse approach isn’t easy, however. People don’t want programs... 'They just want to take a pill.' ...researchers believe that the sense of immersion created by VR – feeling physically present in the virtual location – is crucial. 'It works because it tricks your senses into perceiving that the computer-generated environment is real...' There are several obstacles to its use becoming routine. One is a reluctance among many hospitals and clinics to adopt unfamiliar technology. Developing VR into a routine treatment is also going to require new models of funding."
NEWS:
- Intelligence Officials Warn of Continued Russia Cyberthreats (NYT) "On the same day that President Trump went on Twitter to renew his claim that the focus on Russian hacking was 'a Democrat EXCUSE for losing the election,' his two top intelligence officials told the Senate...that Russian cyberactivities were the foremost threat facing the United States and were likely to grow only more severe."
- The Effort to Undo Obama Regulations Is Ending with a Whimper (Weekly Standard) "The Trump administration and congressional Republicans have talked a big game when it comes to deregulation. The president has issued several strong executive orders aimed at rolling back the administrative state. But such a 'pen and phone' strategy is subject to unwinding by a future president. For its part, Congress has thus far failed to pass any form of comprehensive regulatory-reform legislation, despite having a menu of options from which to choose."
- Why the Trump White House Is So Leaky (National Review) "Beyond the normal messaging, there are several answers. Some reporters I’ve talked to note that few people in the Trump White House have much experience working in a White House, contributing to the shocking lack of internal discipline and clear lines of authority. Some reporters tell me it’s simply '[posterior]-covering.' Maintaining good relationships with the press is an insurance policy. It’s always useful to have friends in the media, particularly if an administration goes off the rails. All these explanations are probably true. But I think the problem ultimately goes back to the president himself. He thrives on drama, particularly drama he creates. He cares about, and monitors, media coverage like no president in American history. Trump likes to pit subordinates against each other, which encourages staffers to be free agents. This dynamic is exacerbated by his glandular zigzagging on policies and his failure to provide a consistent philosophical or policy agenda beyond 'Make the boss look good.' In short, he values loyalty above all else but offers few incentives for it."
- Ivanka Trump Has the President’s Ear. Here’s Her Agenda (NYT) "By inserting herself into a scalding set of gender dynamics, she is becoming a magnet for anger over dashed dreams of a female presidency and President Trump’s record of conduct toward women. Critics see her efforts as a brash feat of Trump promotion — an unsatisfying answer to the 2005 'Access Hollywood' recording that surfaced during the campaign and the seas of pink, cat-eared 'pussy hats' worn by protesters after the inauguration — by a woman of extraordinary privilege who has learned that feminism makes for potent branding. She has one skill unmatched by almost anyone else, family members and aides say: She can effectively convey criticism to a man who often refuses it from others, and can appeal to him to change his mind. But can she influence his actions as president? In her 35 years, she has left little traceable record of challenging or changing the man who raised her."
- How Houston has become the most diverse place in America (LA Times) "Yet demographic experts say the Houston metro area, home to the third-largest population of undocumented immigrants in the country...is a roadmap to what U.S. cities will look like in the coming decades as whites learn to live as minorities in the American heartland. In 1970, about 62% of Houston’s population was white. By 2010, that had shrunk to 25.6%. Over the same period, the Latino population grew from 10.6% to about 44%. Houston — with a black, Democratic mayor and a powerfully pro-immigrant population — has potentially become one of the battlefronts in Texas over the city’s 'don’t ask' ‘sanctuary policy...’ Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has led an aggressive charge to end such policies, and on Sunday signed a bill to punish so-called sanctuary cities. The sanctuary issue has roiled Texas...where the governor has blocked $1.5 million in funding over sanctuary policies. The story of how his city turned from a town of oil industry roughnecks and white blue-collar workers into a major political centrifuge for immigration reform, demographic analysts say, is nothing less than the story of the American city of the future."
- Stop Thinking James Comey Keeps All His Files in a Cardboard Box (Wired) "Today, every single official FBI document gets uploaded to a central government database. The FBI logs every time a document has been viewed, printed, or deleted, and agents conduct regular audits to verify that every document is in its rightful place. All email records are also stored on a government server (unless of course you set up a private server in your bathroom, which, well, you know). All of those documents are eventually subject to the Federal Records Act, which requires the preservation of government records."
POLITICS:
- The Democrats Strike Back: A New Tactic For Redrawing District Lines (Ozy) "State legislators and governors typically hold the power to redraw congressional and state legislative lines after each decennial census, and the politically charged results can resemble reptiles or works of abstract art. Ahead of the 2010 census, Republicans mounted an astoundingly successful campaign in dozens of states to snag total power to draw favorable lines. Using sophisticated software to slice up the electorate down to the block, map-drawers created districts to elect Republicans reasonably safely, while Democrats were packed into blue seats. Democrats did the reverse in states they controlled, such as Maryland and Illinois. In March a federal three-judge panel ruled that Republican-drawn state legislative districts in Wisconsin were so partisan that they violated the civil rights of Democrats."
- The Risks Of An Underfunded Census (NPR)
- When Will Republicans Stand Up to Trump? (NYT) "...the party sold its soul to the soulless charlatan who now occupies the Oval Office and makes a mockery of every one of the party’s principles. Republicans have turned away from this uncomfortable truth by telling themselves that Donald Trump is an imperfect but necessary vessel for their agenda. Like other conservatives, I care about tax cuts and military spending increases. But I care even more about the rule of law... In office less than four months, Mr. Trump has already undermined the rule of law in myriad small ways. But all of that is inconsequential compared with the flagrant assault on the rule of law represented by the firing of the F.B.I. director. While the president has the authority to fire the F.B.I. director, to do so under these circumstances and for these reasons is a gross violation of the trust citizens place in the president to ensure that the laws 'be faithfully executed.' If this is not a prima facie case of obstruction of justice — an impeachable offense — it’s hard to know what is. Are there even three principled Republicans left who will put their devotion to the Republic above their fealty to the Republican Party?"
READ THIS:
- American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson (Joseph J. Ellis) "For a man who insisted that life on the public stage was not what he had in mind, Thomas Jefferson certainly spent a great deal of time in the spotlight--and not only during his active political career."
SOCIALIZED MEDICINE:
- How One Startup Built Better Health Insurance With the Magic of Data (Wired) "Yes, technically Oscar is in the insurance business. But it’s really a technology company. Its CEO, Mario Schlosser, is a Stanford-trained data scientist who has built Oscar’s core business by extracting insights from the flood of existing health care data—insurance claims and doctor directories and electronic medical records. It was a move straight out of the Silicon Valley playbook: limit choice, and deliver a better user experience instead. Oscar’s network is not narrow. And it’s certainly not broad. It is, in the parlance of the Valley, 'optimized.'"
TECHNOLOGY:
- A Sensor That Could Soon Make Homes Scary-Smart (Wired) "One simple device that plugs into an electrical outlet and connects everything in the room. The tiny device...can capture all of the the environmental data needed to transform a wide variety of ordinary household objects into smart devices."
BOTTOM OF THE NEWS:
- The many reasons that people are having less sex (BBC) "Just as this problem is multi-dimensional, so the solutions must be multi-dimensional as well. Tackling the sexual decline will require dealing with the very causes of the mental health crisis facing Western worlds – a crisis that is underpinned by job and housing insecurity, fears of climate change, and the loss of communal and social spaces. Doing so will not just help people with their sex lives, but benefit health and wellbeing overall."
TODAY'S SONG:
- Private Eyes (Hall & Oats)
- The Trump-Russia Nexus (NYT) "There may be no Trump Tower in Moscow or St. Petersburg, but it is not for lack of trying. Mr. Trump and his family have sought to do business in Russia since at least the 1980s. In 2008, Donald Trump Jr. told a real estate conference, 'Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross section of a lot of our assets; say in Dubai, and certainly with our project in SoHo and anywhere in New York,' according to eTurboNews, a travel industry news site. The author James Dodson said that another son, Eric Trump, told him in 2013 that Russians have bankrolled Trump golf courses: 'Well, we don’t rely on American banks. We have all the funding we need out of Russia.' Eric Trump denies saying that. Mr. Trump and his associates can cry themselves hoarse that there is neither smoke nor fire here. But all in all, the known facts suggest an unusually extensive network of relationships with a major foreign power."
- The Senate Starts to Look at Trump’s Businesses (New Yorker) "If the committee does begin to seriously consider the Trump Organization’s business practices and any connections those show to figures in Russia and other sensitive countries, it would suggest what prosecutors call a 'target rich' environment. Rather than focussing on a handful of recent arrivals to Trump’s inner circle—Mike Flynn and Carter Page, a Trump campaign adviser—it could open up his core circle of children and longtime associates. The same associate who told me that he doesn’t think Trump was likely involved in a long-term plan with Putin and Russia said he is certain that Trump has, many times, made very risky decisions in order to take advantage of a short-term opportunity. 'If he sees something shiny,' he said, 'he wants it.'"
- Trump must be impeached. Here’s why. (NYT) "Ample reasons existed to worry about this president, and to ponder the extraordinary remedy of impeachment, even before he fired FBI Director James B. Comey and shockingly admitted on national television that the action was provoked by the FBI’s intensifying investigation into his campaign’s ties with Russia."
BUSINESS/INVESTMENT:
- Silicon Valley is 'officially a retirement community for D.C. political vets' (LA Times) "Veterans of high-profile political campaigns and White House administrations such as LaBolt — who in years past would have turned their public-service resumes and connections into jobs as lobbyists on K Street, advisers at Fortune 500 firms or leaders of nonprofits — are increasingly heading west, attracted by the opportunities to put their political skills to use in the technology industry. It can lead to strange bedfellows: Democrats and Republicans who fought each other while working on opposing campaigns find themselves working on shared goals and trying to effect change outside the nation’s gridlocked capital. Beyond healthy six-figure salaries and better weather than Washington, D.C., the moves make sense — skills developed in politics are in critical demand in the Bay Area and Silicon Valley."
- How Homeownership Became the Engine of American Inequality (NYT) "There is a reason so many Americans choose to develop their net worth through homeownership: It is a proven wealth builder and savings compeller. The average homeowner boasts a net worth ($195,400) that is 36 times that of the average renter ($5,400). Almost a decade removed from the foreclosure crisis that began in 2008, the nation is facing one of the worst affordable-housing shortages in generations. When we think of entitlement programs, Social Security and Medicare immediately come to mind. But by any fair standard, the holy trinity of United States social policy should also include the mortgage-interest deduction... The owner-renter divide is as salient as any other in this nation, and this divide is a historical result of statecraft designed to protect and promote inequality. ...the New Deal...through the G.I. Bill of Rights...remains unmatched by any other single social policy in the scope and depth of its provisions... The G.I. Bill brought a rollout of veterans’ mortgages, padded with modest interest rates and down payments waived for loans up to 30 years. But both in its design and its application, the G.I. Bill excluded a large number of citizens. From 1934 to 1968, the official F.H.A. policy of redlining made homeownership virtually impossible in black communities. This legacy has been passed down to subsequent generations. "
ENTERTAINMENT:
- How Pixar Lost Its Way (Atlantic) "The painful verdict is all but indisputable: The golden era of Pixar is over. It was a 15-year run of unmatched commercial and creative excellence, beginning with Toy Story in 1995 and culminating with the extraordinary trifecta of wall-e in 2008, Up in 2009, and Toy Story 3 (yes, a sequel, but a great one) in 2010. Since then, other animation studios have made consistently better films."
HEALTH:
- Virtual-reality worlds filled with penguins and otters are a promising alternative to painkillers (Quartz) "Over the last few decades, U.S. doctors have tackled constant pain problems by prescribing ever-higher levels of opioid painkillers... These medications have turned out to be less effective for treating chronic pain than thought – and far more addictive. Efforts to curb opioid prescriptions and abuse are starting to work. Persuading patients to embrace this more diverse approach isn’t easy, however. People don’t want programs... 'They just want to take a pill.' ...researchers believe that the sense of immersion created by VR – feeling physically present in the virtual location – is crucial. 'It works because it tricks your senses into perceiving that the computer-generated environment is real...' There are several obstacles to its use becoming routine. One is a reluctance among many hospitals and clinics to adopt unfamiliar technology. Developing VR into a routine treatment is also going to require new models of funding."
NEWS:
- Intelligence Officials Warn of Continued Russia Cyberthreats (NYT) "On the same day that President Trump went on Twitter to renew his claim that the focus on Russian hacking was 'a Democrat EXCUSE for losing the election,' his two top intelligence officials told the Senate...that Russian cyberactivities were the foremost threat facing the United States and were likely to grow only more severe."
- The Effort to Undo Obama Regulations Is Ending with a Whimper (Weekly Standard) "The Trump administration and congressional Republicans have talked a big game when it comes to deregulation. The president has issued several strong executive orders aimed at rolling back the administrative state. But such a 'pen and phone' strategy is subject to unwinding by a future president. For its part, Congress has thus far failed to pass any form of comprehensive regulatory-reform legislation, despite having a menu of options from which to choose."
- Why the Trump White House Is So Leaky (National Review) "Beyond the normal messaging, there are several answers. Some reporters I’ve talked to note that few people in the Trump White House have much experience working in a White House, contributing to the shocking lack of internal discipline and clear lines of authority. Some reporters tell me it’s simply '[posterior]-covering.' Maintaining good relationships with the press is an insurance policy. It’s always useful to have friends in the media, particularly if an administration goes off the rails. All these explanations are probably true. But I think the problem ultimately goes back to the president himself. He thrives on drama, particularly drama he creates. He cares about, and monitors, media coverage like no president in American history. Trump likes to pit subordinates against each other, which encourages staffers to be free agents. This dynamic is exacerbated by his glandular zigzagging on policies and his failure to provide a consistent philosophical or policy agenda beyond 'Make the boss look good.' In short, he values loyalty above all else but offers few incentives for it."
- Ivanka Trump Has the President’s Ear. Here’s Her Agenda (NYT) "By inserting herself into a scalding set of gender dynamics, she is becoming a magnet for anger over dashed dreams of a female presidency and President Trump’s record of conduct toward women. Critics see her efforts as a brash feat of Trump promotion — an unsatisfying answer to the 2005 'Access Hollywood' recording that surfaced during the campaign and the seas of pink, cat-eared 'pussy hats' worn by protesters after the inauguration — by a woman of extraordinary privilege who has learned that feminism makes for potent branding. She has one skill unmatched by almost anyone else, family members and aides say: She can effectively convey criticism to a man who often refuses it from others, and can appeal to him to change his mind. But can she influence his actions as president? In her 35 years, she has left little traceable record of challenging or changing the man who raised her."
- How Houston has become the most diverse place in America (LA Times) "Yet demographic experts say the Houston metro area, home to the third-largest population of undocumented immigrants in the country...is a roadmap to what U.S. cities will look like in the coming decades as whites learn to live as minorities in the American heartland. In 1970, about 62% of Houston’s population was white. By 2010, that had shrunk to 25.6%. Over the same period, the Latino population grew from 10.6% to about 44%. Houston — with a black, Democratic mayor and a powerfully pro-immigrant population — has potentially become one of the battlefronts in Texas over the city’s 'don’t ask' ‘sanctuary policy...’ Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has led an aggressive charge to end such policies, and on Sunday signed a bill to punish so-called sanctuary cities. The sanctuary issue has roiled Texas...where the governor has blocked $1.5 million in funding over sanctuary policies. The story of how his city turned from a town of oil industry roughnecks and white blue-collar workers into a major political centrifuge for immigration reform, demographic analysts say, is nothing less than the story of the American city of the future."
- Stop Thinking James Comey Keeps All His Files in a Cardboard Box (Wired) "Today, every single official FBI document gets uploaded to a central government database. The FBI logs every time a document has been viewed, printed, or deleted, and agents conduct regular audits to verify that every document is in its rightful place. All email records are also stored on a government server (unless of course you set up a private server in your bathroom, which, well, you know). All of those documents are eventually subject to the Federal Records Act, which requires the preservation of government records."
POLITICS:
- The Democrats Strike Back: A New Tactic For Redrawing District Lines (Ozy) "State legislators and governors typically hold the power to redraw congressional and state legislative lines after each decennial census, and the politically charged results can resemble reptiles or works of abstract art. Ahead of the 2010 census, Republicans mounted an astoundingly successful campaign in dozens of states to snag total power to draw favorable lines. Using sophisticated software to slice up the electorate down to the block, map-drawers created districts to elect Republicans reasonably safely, while Democrats were packed into blue seats. Democrats did the reverse in states they controlled, such as Maryland and Illinois. In March a federal three-judge panel ruled that Republican-drawn state legislative districts in Wisconsin were so partisan that they violated the civil rights of Democrats."
- When Will Republicans Stand Up to Trump? (NYT) "...the party sold its soul to the soulless charlatan who now occupies the Oval Office and makes a mockery of every one of the party’s principles. Republicans have turned away from this uncomfortable truth by telling themselves that Donald Trump is an imperfect but necessary vessel for their agenda. Like other conservatives, I care about tax cuts and military spending increases. But I care even more about the rule of law... In office less than four months, Mr. Trump has already undermined the rule of law in myriad small ways. But all of that is inconsequential compared with the flagrant assault on the rule of law represented by the firing of the F.B.I. director. While the president has the authority to fire the F.B.I. director, to do so under these circumstances and for these reasons is a gross violation of the trust citizens place in the president to ensure that the laws 'be faithfully executed.' If this is not a prima facie case of obstruction of justice — an impeachable offense — it’s hard to know what is. Are there even three principled Republicans left who will put their devotion to the Republic above their fealty to the Republican Party?"
READ THIS:
- American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson (Joseph J. Ellis) "For a man who insisted that life on the public stage was not what he had in mind, Thomas Jefferson certainly spent a great deal of time in the spotlight--and not only during his active political career."
SOCIALIZED MEDICINE:
- How One Startup Built Better Health Insurance With the Magic of Data (Wired) "Yes, technically Oscar is in the insurance business. But it’s really a technology company. Its CEO, Mario Schlosser, is a Stanford-trained data scientist who has built Oscar’s core business by extracting insights from the flood of existing health care data—insurance claims and doctor directories and electronic medical records. It was a move straight out of the Silicon Valley playbook: limit choice, and deliver a better user experience instead. Oscar’s network is not narrow. And it’s certainly not broad. It is, in the parlance of the Valley, 'optimized.'"
TECHNOLOGY:
- A Sensor That Could Soon Make Homes Scary-Smart (Wired) "One simple device that plugs into an electrical outlet and connects everything in the room. The tiny device...can capture all of the the environmental data needed to transform a wide variety of ordinary household objects into smart devices."
BOTTOM OF THE NEWS:
- The many reasons that people are having less sex (BBC) "Just as this problem is multi-dimensional, so the solutions must be multi-dimensional as well. Tackling the sexual decline will require dealing with the very causes of the mental health crisis facing Western worlds – a crisis that is underpinned by job and housing insecurity, fears of climate change, and the loss of communal and social spaces. Doing so will not just help people with their sex lives, but benefit health and wellbeing overall."
TODAY'S SONG:
- Private Eyes (Hall & Oats)
No comments:
Post a Comment