Is the only difference between this
- Prosecutors Describe Driver’s Plan to Kill in Manhattan Terror Attack (NYT) "By the time his rampage ended, six people had been killed and two others would later die. Nine people remained hospitalized from injuries on Wednesday, officials said, four of them critically injured but in stable condition."
and this
- Three dead in shooting at Walmart in Thornton (Denver Post) "They’re calling it 'random.' Police in the Denver suburb of Thornton have no idea why a man walked into a Wal-Mart store there Wednesday evening and calmly opened fire on shoppers, killing three. He said nothing during the attack."
and this
- Opioid Crisis Fast Facts (CNN) "During 2015, there were 52,404 overdose deaths in the United States, including 33,091 (63.1%)that involved an opioid. That's an average of 91 opioid overdose deaths each day."
and this
and this
- Sugary drinks linked to 180,000 deaths a year, study says (WaPo) "The study, conducted by researchers from Tufts University, found that the beverages would be responsible for 133,000 deaths from diabetes, 45,000 from cardiovascular disease and 6,450 from cancer. The United States ranked fourth, with 125 deaths per million adults."
Allahu Akbar? The last three kill more people...
- I Want 'Allahu Akbar' Back (NYT) "I’m 37 years old. In all those years, I, like an overwhelming majority of Muslims, have never uttered 'Allahu akbar' before or after committing a violent act. Unfortunately, terrorists like ISIS and Al Qaeda and their sympathizers, who represent a tiny fraction of Muslims, have. In the public imagination, this has given the phrase meaning that’s impossible to square with what it represents in my daily life. It’s easy to forget that language is often hijacked and weaponized by violent extremists."
NEWS:
- Robert Mueller in the Cross Hairs (NYT) "I’ve reported from tin-pot countries where public figures talk blithely of shutting down prosecutors and imprisoning rivals. I never thought I’d live in one. After all, Mueller was last known to be a registered Republican and was appointed F.B.I. director by a Republican president, George W. Bush. Newt Gingrich reflected the G.O.P. consensus when he wrote in a May tweet: 'Robert Mueller is superb choice to be special counsel. His reputation is impeccable for honesty and integrity.' The reason for Republican reticence is simple: Trump still has 78 percent backing among Republicans, and senators like Flake who have challenged him have lost support. If you’re a Republican senator, I fear that your political interest may be to respond to Trump firing Mueller by calling for an investigation of Hillary Clinton."
- About John Kelly's Racist History Lesson (NYT) "At least there was hope that he would speak up, either publicly or privately. Well, Mr. Kelly has now begun to speak up, and, in doing so, has provided sickening clarification of what this presidency stands for. ...Mr. Kelly revealed that it’s he, like the president, who lacks an appreciation of history — that he has chosen instead to embrace the mythology that white racists methodically created to hide the truth about the causes and course of the Civil War. The truth is, white Southerners went to war to destroy the United States in order to continue enslaving nearly 40 percent of the people in the region."
- So Republicans agree with Democrats on taxes after all (WaPo) "What began with a bang of promises of comprehensive tax reform will end with a whimper: The only large change will be to the national debt. Desperate to propitiate impatient constituents, Republicans say this is no time (actually, there never is a time) to fret about the national debt, which was $9 trillion a decade ago and passed $20 trillion two months ago, having increased 22 percentage points under the Republican president who preceded the present one. We shall have a generous entitlement state and not pay for it. Instead, we shall offload onto future generations a substantial portion of the costs of our current consumption of government. ...during half a century of Republican rhetoric of frugality, 1960 to 2010, entitlement spending grew 8 percent faster under Republican presidents than under Democratic ones."
- Senate Democrats falsely claim GOP tax plan will raise taxes for most working-class families (WaPo) "The original report referred to 8 million households receiving a $794 tax increase. Somehow, when it got communicated down the line, that nuance was lost and it was translated into a talking point referring to all working-class families."
TECHNOLOGY:
- The Upside of Being Ruled by the Five Tech Giants (NYT) "Because these companies control the world’s most important tech platforms, from smartphones to app stores to the map of our social relationships, their power is growing closer to that of governments than of mere corporations. I have argued that the companies’ size and influence poses a danger. But another argument suggests the opposite — that it’s better to be ruled by a handful of responsive companies capable of bowing to political and legal pressure. In other words, wouldn’t you rather deal with five horse-sized Zucks than 100 duck-sized technoforces? Given all the ways that tech can go wrong...isn’t it better that we can blame, and demand fixes from, a handful of American executives when things do go haywire?"
- The AI of science fiction just got one step closer (WaPo) "Major websites all over the world use a system called CAPTCHA to verify that someone is indeed a human and not a bot when entering data or signing into an account. Researchers at Vicarious, a Californian artificial intelligence firm funded by Amazon founder (and Washington Post owner) Jeffrey P. Bezos and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, have just published a paper documenting how they were able to defeat CAPTCHA using new artificial-intelligence techniques."
TRUMPTELL:
- Timeline: The many times George Papadopoulos tried to connect the Trump campaign with Russia (USA Today) "March 21, 2016. In a meeting with The Washington Post editorial board, Trump provides a list of five foreign policy advisers: Walid Phares, Carter Page, Joe Schmitz, ret. Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg – and George Papadopoulos. 'George Papadopoulos, he’s an energy and oil consultant, excellent guy,' Trump said."
- “You Can’t Go Any Lower”: Inside the West Wing, Trump Is Apoplectic as Allies Fear Impeachment (Vanity Fair) "'Here’s what Manafort’s indictment tells me: Mueller is going to go over every financial dealing of Jared Kushner and the Trump Organization,' said former Trump campaign aide Sam Nunberg.'Trump is at 33 percent in Gallup. You can’t go any lower. He’s fucked.'" and In Call With Times Reporter, Trump Projects Air of Calm Over Charges (NYT) "'I’m not under investigation, as you know,' Mr. Trump said in a brief telephone call to The Times late Wednesday afternoon. Pointing to the indictment of his former campaign chief, Paul Manafort, the president said, 'And even if you look at that, there’s not even a mention of Trump in there.'"
BOTTOM OF THE NEWS:
- Audible’s new feature lets you skip right to the most erotic part of romance novels (Quartz) "In 2017, there is no water cooler, or tattered paperback—just a woman, her phone, and a tech company that thinks it knows what she wants."
TODAY'S SONG:
- September Song (JP Cooper)
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Allahu Akbar? The last three kill more people...
- I Want 'Allahu Akbar' Back (NYT) "I’m 37 years old. In all those years, I, like an overwhelming majority of Muslims, have never uttered 'Allahu akbar' before or after committing a violent act. Unfortunately, terrorists like ISIS and Al Qaeda and their sympathizers, who represent a tiny fraction of Muslims, have. In the public imagination, this has given the phrase meaning that’s impossible to square with what it represents in my daily life. It’s easy to forget that language is often hijacked and weaponized by violent extremists."
NEWS:
- Robert Mueller in the Cross Hairs (NYT) "I’ve reported from tin-pot countries where public figures talk blithely of shutting down prosecutors and imprisoning rivals. I never thought I’d live in one. After all, Mueller was last known to be a registered Republican and was appointed F.B.I. director by a Republican president, George W. Bush. Newt Gingrich reflected the G.O.P. consensus when he wrote in a May tweet: 'Robert Mueller is superb choice to be special counsel. His reputation is impeccable for honesty and integrity.' The reason for Republican reticence is simple: Trump still has 78 percent backing among Republicans, and senators like Flake who have challenged him have lost support. If you’re a Republican senator, I fear that your political interest may be to respond to Trump firing Mueller by calling for an investigation of Hillary Clinton."
- About John Kelly's Racist History Lesson (NYT) "At least there was hope that he would speak up, either publicly or privately. Well, Mr. Kelly has now begun to speak up, and, in doing so, has provided sickening clarification of what this presidency stands for. ...Mr. Kelly revealed that it’s he, like the president, who lacks an appreciation of history — that he has chosen instead to embrace the mythology that white racists methodically created to hide the truth about the causes and course of the Civil War. The truth is, white Southerners went to war to destroy the United States in order to continue enslaving nearly 40 percent of the people in the region."
- So Republicans agree with Democrats on taxes after all (WaPo) "What began with a bang of promises of comprehensive tax reform will end with a whimper: The only large change will be to the national debt. Desperate to propitiate impatient constituents, Republicans say this is no time (actually, there never is a time) to fret about the national debt, which was $9 trillion a decade ago and passed $20 trillion two months ago, having increased 22 percentage points under the Republican president who preceded the present one. We shall have a generous entitlement state and not pay for it. Instead, we shall offload onto future generations a substantial portion of the costs of our current consumption of government. ...during half a century of Republican rhetoric of frugality, 1960 to 2010, entitlement spending grew 8 percent faster under Republican presidents than under Democratic ones."
TECHNOLOGY:
- The Upside of Being Ruled by the Five Tech Giants (NYT) "Because these companies control the world’s most important tech platforms, from smartphones to app stores to the map of our social relationships, their power is growing closer to that of governments than of mere corporations. I have argued that the companies’ size and influence poses a danger. But another argument suggests the opposite — that it’s better to be ruled by a handful of responsive companies capable of bowing to political and legal pressure. In other words, wouldn’t you rather deal with five horse-sized Zucks than 100 duck-sized technoforces? Given all the ways that tech can go wrong...isn’t it better that we can blame, and demand fixes from, a handful of American executives when things do go haywire?"
- The AI of science fiction just got one step closer (WaPo) "Major websites all over the world use a system called CAPTCHA to verify that someone is indeed a human and not a bot when entering data or signing into an account. Researchers at Vicarious, a Californian artificial intelligence firm funded by Amazon founder (and Washington Post owner) Jeffrey P. Bezos and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, have just published a paper documenting how they were able to defeat CAPTCHA using new artificial-intelligence techniques."
TRUMPTELL:
- Timeline: The many times George Papadopoulos tried to connect the Trump campaign with Russia (USA Today) "March 21, 2016. In a meeting with The Washington Post editorial board, Trump provides a list of five foreign policy advisers: Walid Phares, Carter Page, Joe Schmitz, ret. Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg – and George Papadopoulos. 'George Papadopoulos, he’s an energy and oil consultant, excellent guy,' Trump said."
- “You Can’t Go Any Lower”: Inside the West Wing, Trump Is Apoplectic as Allies Fear Impeachment (Vanity Fair) "'Here’s what Manafort’s indictment tells me: Mueller is going to go over every financial dealing of Jared Kushner and the Trump Organization,' said former Trump campaign aide Sam Nunberg.'Trump is at 33 percent in Gallup. You can’t go any lower. He’s fucked.'" and In Call With Times Reporter, Trump Projects Air of Calm Over Charges (NYT) "'I’m not under investigation, as you know,' Mr. Trump said in a brief telephone call to The Times late Wednesday afternoon. Pointing to the indictment of his former campaign chief, Paul Manafort, the president said, 'And even if you look at that, there’s not even a mention of Trump in there.'"
BOTTOM OF THE NEWS:
- Audible’s new feature lets you skip right to the most erotic part of romance novels (Quartz) "In 2017, there is no water cooler, or tattered paperback—just a woman, her phone, and a tech company that thinks it knows what she wants."
TODAY'S SONG:
- September Song (JP Cooper)
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