Month: August 2018

Verizon burns firefighters fighting the Mendocino Complex fire

benfell

Updates

  1. Originally published, August 22, 3:13 pm.
  2. August 22, 6:43 pm:
    • We’re probably just at the beginning of the reaction to Paul Manafort’s conviction and Michael Cohen’s guilty plea, but the Hill has coverage of the battle thus far.[1] (Donald Trump)
    • I forgot to mention, because it’s been a couple days, a new blog post, entitled, “Ethos and appropriation: On the use of certain words and phrases.” There have been two updates already and I now even more emphatically reject the usage of the term dogwhistling in defense against attacks on the rich and powerful.
  3. August 22, 7:26 pm:
    • It would appear that Bill Kristol is forecasting that Donald Trump will somehow leave office by next year. See the tweet added under Donald Trump.
  4. August 22, 10:48 pm:
    • Had Barack Obama ever been beset with legal difficulties like those Donald Trump now faces, it is not difficult to imagine what the Republican reaction would have been: Congress would have impeached Obama so fast that, had you blinked, you would have missed it. In the absence of such difficulties, they focused on obstructing him in every way possible. With Trump, and his very real legal difficulties, their attitude is strikingly different.[2]
    • Added a tweet, which included a forecast map (figure 1), from the National Weather Service about Hurricane Lane.
  5. August 23, 12:47 pm:
  6. August 23, 6:32 pm:
    • Jennifer Rubin sifts through and discards apologists’ defenses for Donald Trump in the wake of Michael Cohen’s guilty plea and Paul Manafort’s conviction[4] and Adam Serwer looks at the legal road ahead. (Just one spoiler: It is not 100 percent certain that the Southern District will abide by Justice Department policy against indicting a sitting president.)[5]
  7. August 24, 12:11 pm:
    • You knew this was coming, right? Or maybe you didn’t care. Donald Trump lashed back at Jeff Sessions.[6]
    • Hurricane Lane is moving slowly. I have saved a 72-hour gif as figure 2. I expect to replace what is now figure 3 with another one later.
    • That the sleazy National Enquirer purchased stories about sleazy Donald Trump’s sleazy extramarital affairs is a strand of the story so deep in sleaze that I’ve been repulsed and inclined not to bother with it. But apparently this was their game.[7] Now the Chief Executive Officer of the tabloid’s publisher and a Trump organization executive have been granted immunity.[8] And if Melania Trump has any self-respect whatsoever, she takes her son and gets the fuck out.
  8. August 24, 2:48 pm:
    • Verizon has lifted data caps on its allegedly unlimited plans for firefighters in California and for first responders dealing with Hurricane Lane in Hawaii.[9]
  9. August 24, 10:59 pm:
    • Replaced the earlier saved 72-hour gif in figure 2 with one ending August 25, at 04:30 Zulu (or 4:30 am, Greenwich Mean Time or Universal Coordinated Time). I think the replacement is a bit more useful. As before, you may need to open the gif in a separate window or tab and reload it. I’m still expecting to replace figure 3 later.
  10. August 24, 11:43 pm:
    • Replaced the earlier saved 72-hour gif in figure 2 with one ending August 25, at 05:30 Zulu (or 5:30 am, Greenwich Mean Time or Universal Coordinated Time). I think this pretty much covers it, so I’m deleting what was figure 3.
  11. August 25, 5:43 am:
    • Where’s my bailout? California legislators are considering allowing Pacific Gas and Electric and other California utilities to issue revenue bonds that would be paid by ratepayers for wildfire liabilities.[10] So, I repeat: Where’s my bailout? Until you all answer that or even get me a real job, I’m really not interested in hearing about how we can’t allow PG&E to go bankrupt. Because what you’re saying is that a corporation has more human rights—is more human—than I am. (Mendocino Complex)

Hawaii

The relevant National Weather Service page is here.

Fig. 1. The National Weather Service tweet above included this forecast map.
Fig. 2. Hawaii infrared satellite photo as of August 25, 5:30 Zulu (or 5:30 am, Greenwich Mean Time or Universal Coordinated Time).

More imagery is available here.

Mendocino Complex

That climate change and wildlands management are issues in the Mendocino Complex fire is not a surprise.[11] But net neutrality, as a fire department blames the Federal Communication Commission’s repeal of net neutrality rules for Verizon’s throttling of firefighters,[12] most certainly is. Be sure to read the promoted comments on the Ars Technica stories; some are absolutely priceless.

Rong-Gong Lin, II, Joseph Serna, and Louis Sahagun, “143-mph ‘fire tornado’ that cut a path of destruction is an ominous sign of the future,” Los Angeles Times, August 3, 2018, http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-redding-tornado-destruction-20180802-story.html

Dana Nuccitelli, “Trump reignited his war with California, but his bizarre tweet got burned,” Guardian, August 13, 2018, https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2018/aug/13/trump-reignited-his-war-with-california-but-his-tweet-got-burned

John Myers, “California lawmakers will abandon effort to loosen wildfire liability rules for utility companies,” Los Angeles Times, August 18, 2018, http://www.latimes.com/politics/essential/la-pol-ca-essential-politics-may-2018-california-lawmakers-will-abandon-effort-1534615963-htmlstory.html

William Finnegan, “California Burning,” review of Wildfire: On the Front Lines with Station 8, by Heather Hansen, Firestorm: How Wildfire Will Shape Our Future, by Edward Struzik, and Burning Planet: The Story of Fire Through Time, by Andrew C. Scott, New York Review of Books, August 16, 2018, https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2018/08/16/wildfires-california-burning/

Jon Brodkin, “Verizon throttled fire department’s ‘unlimited’ data during Calif. wildfire,” Ars Technica, August 21, 2018, https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/08/verizon-throttled-fire-departments-unlimited-data-during-calif-wildfire/

Ina Fried, “Verizon admits error in throttling California firefighters’ service,” Axios, August 21, 2018, https://www.axios.com/verizon-responds-to-allagations-it-throttled-fire-departments-wireless-connection-1534890751-04a282b1-e369-40c9-b8bf-779d8c7999b7.html

Jon Brodkin, “Fire dept. rejects Verizon’s “customer support mistake” excuse for throttling,” Ars Technica, August 22, 2018, https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/08/fire-dept-rejects-verizons-customer-support-mistake-excuse-for-throttling/

Dale Kasler, “Stung by criticism over wildfire response, Verizon lifts data ‘cap’ on first responders,” Sacramento Bee, August 24, 2018, https://www.sacbee.com/latest-news/article217296475.html

Donald Trump

Fig. 3. A screenshot from the New Yorker Daily Humor newsletter.

Megan Keller, “Hayden: Relationship between Trump, national security community ‘dangerously close to being permanently broken,'” Hill, August 19, 2018, http://thehill.com/homenews/sunday-talk-shows/402515-ex-cia-director-relationship-between-trump-national-security

Devlin Barrett et al., “Michael Cohen says he worked to silence two women ‘in coordination’ with Trump to influence 2016 election,” Washington Post, August 21, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trumps-longtime-lawyer-michael-cohen-is-in-plea-discussions-with-federal-prosecutors-according-to-a-person-familiar-with-the-matter/2018/08/21/5fbd7f34-8510-11e8-8553-a3ce89036c78_story.html

Jennifer Rubin, “Michael Cohen: Trump’s greatest fear comes true,” Washington Post, August 21, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/opinions/wp/2018/08/21/michael-cohen-trumps-greatest-fear-comes-true/

Gerald F. Seib, “Michael Cohen Deals a Blow to His Former Boss,” Wall Street Journal, August 21, 2018, https://www.wsj.com/articles/michael-cohen-deals-grievous-blow-to-former-boss-1534892391

Burgess Everett and Nolan D. McCaskill, “‘It is what it is’: Republicans shrug off Trump’s legal meltdown,” Politico, August 22, 2018, https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/22/republicans-senators-react-manafort-cohen-trump-791530

Isaac Stanley-Becker, “In Trump’s right-wing media universe, it was a day like any other,” Washington Post, August 22, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/08/22/how-right-wing-media-dealt-with-a-devastating-day-for-trump/

Jeff Horwitz, “National Enquirer hid damaging Trump stories in a safe,” Yahoo, August 23, 2018, https://www.yahoo.com/news/reports-immunity-tabloid-ceo-trump-hush-money-probe-183131025.html

Peter Nicholas and Sadie Gurman, “Sessions Defends Himself After Trump Slams DOJ and Decries ‘Flipping,’” Wall Street Journal, August 23, 2018, https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-decries-law-enforcement-tactic-of-flipping-criminal-defendants-1535033248

Jennifer Rubin, “Speaking of collusion . . .,” Washington Post, August 23, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/opinions/wp/2018/08/23/speaking-of-collusion/

Adam Serwer, “Trump’s Troubles Are Just Getting Started,” Atlantic, August 23, 2018, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/08/trumps-troubles-are-just-getting-started/568246/

Aaron Blake, “This may be the biggest flip yet in the Trump-Cohen saga,” Washington Post, August 24, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2018/07/26/this-may-be-the-biggest-shoe-to-drop-from-the-trump-michael-cohen-tape/

Nicole Hong and Lukas I. Alpert, “David Pecker, CEO of National Enquirer Publisher, Granted Immunity in Michael Cohen Case,” Wall Street Journal, August 24, 2018, https://www.wsj.com/articles/pecker-granted-immunity-in-cohen-case-1535041976

Carol D. Leonnig, Devlin Barrett, and Rosalind S. Helderman, “Trump Organization executive Allen Weisselberg, who allegedly helped arrange hush-money reimbursement to Cohen, receives immunity,” Washington Post, August 24, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-organization-executive-allen-weisselberg-who-allegedly-helped-arrange-hush-money-reimbursement-to-cohen-granted-immunity/2018/08/24/404ebdf2-a7b1-11e8-97ce-cc9042272f07_story.html

Veronica Stracqualursi, “Trump responds to Sessions: Go investigate Dems and critics,” CNN, August 24, 2018, https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/24/politics/trump-continues-jeff-sessions-criticism/index.html

  1. [1]Niall Stanage, “Team Trump fights back,” Hill, August 22, 2018, http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/403154-the-memo-team-trump-fights-back↩
  2. [2]Burgess Everett and Nolan D. McCaskill, “‘It is what it is’: Republicans shrug off Trump’s legal meltdown,” Politico, August 22, 2018, https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/22/republicans-senators-react-manafort-cohen-trump-791530↩
  3. [3]Peter Nicholas and Sadie Gurman, “Sessions Defends Himself After Trump Slams DOJ and Decries ‘Flipping,’” Wall Street Journal, August 23, 2018, https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-decries-law-enforcement-tactic-of-flipping-criminal-defendants-1535033248↩
  4. [4]Jennifer Rubin, “Speaking of collusion . . .,” Washington Post, August 23, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/opinions/wp/2018/08/23/speaking-of-collusion/↩
  5. [5]Adam Serwer, “Trump’s Troubles Are Just Getting Started,” Atlantic, August 23, 2018, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/08/trumps-troubles-are-just-getting-started/568246/↩
  6. [6]Veronica Stracqualursi, “Trump responds to Sessions: Go investigate Dems and critics,” CNN, August 24, 2018, https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/24/politics/trump-continues-jeff-sessions-criticism/index.html↩
  7. [7]Jeff Horwitz, “National Enquirer hid damaging Trump stories in a safe,” Yahoo, August 23, 2018, https://www.yahoo.com/news/reports-immunity-tabloid-ceo-trump-hush-money-probe-183131025.html↩
  8. [8]Aaron Blake, “This may be the biggest flip yet in the Trump-Cohen saga,” Washington Post, August 24, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2018/07/26/this-may-be-the-biggest-shoe-to-drop-from-the-trump-michael-cohen-tape/; Nicole Hong and Lukas I. Alpert, “David Pecker, CEO of National Enquirer Publisher, Granted Immunity in Michael Cohen Case,” Wall Street Journal, August 24, 2018, https://www.wsj.com/articles/pecker-granted-immunity-in-cohen-case-1535041976; Carol D. Leonnig, Devlin Barrett, and Rosalind S. Helderman, “Trump Organization executive Allen Weisselberg, who allegedly helped arrange hush-money reimbursement to Cohen, receives immunity,” Washington Post, August 24, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-organization-executive-allen-weisselberg-who-allegedly-helped-arrange-hush-money-reimbursement-to-cohen-granted-immunity/2018/08/24/404ebdf2-a7b1-11e8-97ce-cc9042272f07_story.html↩
  9. [9]Dale Kasler, “Stung by criticism over wildfire response, Verizon lifts data ‘cap’ on first responders,” Sacramento Bee, August 24, 2018, https://www.sacbee.com/latest-news/article217296475.html (Mendocino Complex)↩
  10. [10]Adam Ashton, “Ratepayers would help pay off utilities’ fire debts under Legislature’s proposal,” Sacramento Bee, August 25, 2018, https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article217307900.html↩
  11. [11]William Finnegan, “California Burning,” review of Wildfire: On the Front Lines with Station 8, by Heather Hansen, Firestorm: How Wildfire Will Shape Our Future, by Edward Struzik, and Burning Planet: The Story of Fire Through Time, by Andrew C. Scott, New York Review of Books, August 16, 2018, https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2018/08/16/wildfires-california-burning/; Rong-Gong Lin, II, Joseph Serna, and Louis Sahagun, “143-mph ‘fire tornado’ that cut a path of destruction is an ominous sign of the future,” Los Angeles Times, August 3, 2018, http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-redding-tornado-destruction-20180802-story.html; Dana Nuccitelli, “Trump reignited his war with California, but his bizarre tweet got burned,” Guardian, August 13, 2018, https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2018/aug/13/trump-reignited-his-war-with-california-but-his-tweet-got-burned↩
  12. [12]Jon Brodkin, “Verizon throttled fire department’s ‘unlimited’ data during Calif. wildfire,” Ars Technica, August 21, 2018, https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/08/verizon-throttled-fire-departments-unlimited-data-during-calif-wildfire/; Jon Brodkin, “Fire dept. rejects Verizon’s “customer support mistake” excuse for throttling,” Ars Technica, August 22, 2018, https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/08/fire-dept-rejects-verizons-customer-support-mistake-excuse-for-throttling/; Ina Fried, “Verizon admits error in throttling California firefighters’ service,” Axios, August 21, 2018, https://www.axios.com/verizon-responds-to-allagations-it-throttled-fire-departments-wireless-connection-1534890751-04a282b1-e369-40c9-b8bf-779d8c7999b7.html↩

When a judge becomes “co-counsel for the [filthy rich] defense”

benfell

trumpspace
Fig. 1. Donald Trump is depicted in a space suit colored in an earth camouflage style. I doubt, though the question did occur to me, that were he indeed to appear in uniform, this would make him a legitimate military target. Still, the thought of letting the air out of that gas bag surely has to tempt. Via Ozy, fair use.

Updates

  1. Originally published, August 11, 8:03 am.
  2. August 13, 7:03 am:
  3. August 13, 3:30 pm:
  4. August 13, 10:45 pm:
    • Worked some more on the commentary under James Comey.
  5. August 14, 6:37 am:
    • More than 50 percent of Lake County has burned since 2012.[2] The graphic (figure 2) is jaw-dropping. (Mendocino Complex)

James Comey

So, okay, it’s been a couple days, but Elie Mystal at Above The Law at least helps me to know that yes, the judge really is being weird in Robert Mueller’s prosecution of Paul Manafort.[3] And now, a couple days after that, Jonathan Turley weighs in, with yet more criticism.[4] They’re lawyers and I’m not, but each of us has our own criticisms.

As to other points in the above, verbal communication is, of course, only a part of the sum of communication. When I was in that field (my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees are in Communication), the word was that over half—maybe even 90 percent—of communication is nonverbal and it’s pretty unreasonable to think that the folks who invented open courtroom trials weren’t well aware that nonverbal communication is a factor.

The point of having the accused confront their accuser in front of a jury is in large part about enabling them to see facial reactions to judge who is more credible. There’s nothing radical here. This is simply how it works. But Judge T. S. Ellis, III, had demanded counsel constrain their facial reactions.

Some of this is a judgment call. I can certainly understand Ellis not wanting a trial to be a contest to see who can make the greatest face of disbelief. And there is an issue in that nonverbal expressions cannot easily be rendered in court transcripts. But the sense I’m gathering is that Ellis went well beyond that; hence my question as to whether he would prefer proceedings be conducted in writing.

Further, Ellis sought to limit the prosecution’s presentation of evidence of Manafort’s lavish lifestyle, which was allegedly funded at least in part by through the means for which Manafort has been charged. Facially, this seems valid: Prosecuting a rich man for being rich is, at least, an ad hominem attack. But carry the countermand too far—which it sounds to me like Ellis may have done—and you weaken the prosecution’s ability to question how that lifestyle was funded. Mystal does not raise these specific points here. What he does do is assure me that the appearance that Ellis is favoring, at least for the moment, the defense wasn’t just my misperception based on left-of-Donald-Trump journalism.[5]

Finally, as to class and the system of injustice, Jeffrey Reiman has that covered.[6] And it’s not like he’s the only one.[7]

Elie Mystal, “Should Manafort Prosecutors Request A Mistrial?” Above The Law, August 10, 2018, https://abovethelaw.com/2018/08/should-manafort-prosecutors-request-a-mistrial/

Jonathan Turley, “Judge in the Manafort trial is creating some big problems,” Hill, August 12, 2018, http://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/401443-judge-in-the-manafort-trial-is-creating-some-big-problems

Mendocino Complex

Fig. 2. Los Angeles Times, fair use.

Alejandra Reyes-Velarde and Priya Krishnakumar, “More than 50% of this California county has burned since 2012. Some residents have had enough,” Los Angeles Times, August 14, 2018, http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-lake-county-fire-epicenter-20180814-story.html

  1. [1]Jonathan Turley, “Judge in the Manafort trial is creating some big problems,” Hill, August 12, 2018, http://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/401443-judge-in-the-manafort-trial-is-creating-some-big-problems↩
  2. [2]Alejandra Reyes-Velarde and Priya Krishnakumar, “More than 50% of this California county has burned since 2012. Some residents have had enough,” Los Angeles Times, August 14, 2018, http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-lake-county-fire-epicenter-20180814-story.html↩
  3. [3]Elie Mystal, “Should Manafort Prosecutors Request A Mistrial?” Above The Law, August 10, 2018, https://abovethelaw.com/2018/08/should-manafort-prosecutors-request-a-mistrial/↩
  4. [4]Jonathan Turley, “Judge in the Manafort trial is creating some big problems,” Hill, August 12, 2018, http://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/401443-judge-in-the-manafort-trial-is-creating-some-big-problems↩
  5. [5]Elie Mystal, “Should Manafort Prosecutors Request A Mistrial?” Above The Law, August 10, 2018, https://abovethelaw.com/2018/08/should-manafort-prosecutors-request-a-mistrial/↩
  6. [6]Jeffrey Reiman, The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison, 7th ed. (Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2004).↩
  7. [7]Steven E. Barkan, Criminology: A Sociological Understanding, 3rd ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006).↩

A hot August

benfell

Updates

    1. Originally published, August 7, 12:59 am.
    2. August 8, 7:28 am:
      • Obviously, the Statue of Liberty is just a European plot.[1] (Legal immigration)
      • The article is long. Gawd, it is long. It rambles. Gawd, it rambles. It whines. Gawd, it whines. And it seems like there’s a fucking ad after every god-damned paragraph. But if you want to see what I’m up against when I drive for Uber and Lyft, you could do a lot worse than this article by Ryan Felton. One thing to notice: We see no defense here of how Uber and Lyft treat their drivers; the companies defend themselves by threatening a return to having to stand on a corner to hail a cab.[2] (Ridesharing)
    3. August 8, 8:20 pm:
      • New York City responded to the conditions described by Ryan Felton (see update at August 8, 7:28 am) by passing a temporary cap on the number of Ridesharing vehicles in the city and clearing the way to a minimum wage.[3]
      • I am not caught up.
    4. August 8, 10:30 pm:
      • Added Corte Madera sunset photograph under California wildfires.
      • Added a cute photograph (figure 5) from the Atlantic. Scroll all the way down to see it.
      • I am now caught up.
    5. August 9, 8:42 pm:
      • Added another smoky sunset photograph (figure 2) and two screenshots showing 1) the location of burned areas in the Mendocino Complex fire (figure 3) and 2) a zoomed out version that includes the Carr fire (figure 4) under California wildfires.
    6. August 9, 11:46 pm:
      • The Trump administration attempted to deport a mother and daughter even as a court hearing appealing that deportation was under way. The judge was not amused.[4] (Unauthorized migration)

Donald Trump

It should be no surprise to anyone who read Susan McWilliams’ review of Hunter S. Thompson[5] that bikers at a rally in Sturgis, South Dakota, support Donald Trump, even at the expense of their favorite brands of motorcycles.[6] Nor should it surprise anyone that these bikers are pretty well off.[7] Nor should we be surprised that there is a tyranny of the masses at this rally against dissenting views because those masses of asses supporting Trump “often decline to interpret political conflict as a struggle among interest groups or a good-faith clash of opinion.” Instead, just as Kim Messick observed of authoritarian populists he encountered a few years ago, “they tend to identify the country as a whole with an idealized version of themselves, and to equate any dissent from their values with disloyalty by alien, ‘un-American’ forces.”[8] Still, it’s confirmation of a particular picture I’ve been putting together.[9]

Bill Weir, “Bikers salute leader of their pack: Donald Trump,” CNN, August 6, 2018, https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/05/politics/sturgis-biker-rally-supports-trump/index.html

James Comey

For those of us, including me, too young to remember all the sordid details, William D. Ruckelshaus was the deputy attorney general whom Richard Nixon fired in the infamous “Saturday Night Massacre, Nixon’s attempt to stop a special prosecutor’s investigation.[10]

William D. Ruckelshaus, “Only one other president has ever acted this desperate,” Washington Post, August 6, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/opinions/only-one-other-president-has-ever-acted-this-desperate/2018/08/06/7eed964e-9994-11e8-b55e-5002300ef004_story.html

California wildfires

Fig. 1. Sunset in Corte Madera, August 8, 2018. Mount Tamalpais is at left. The sky is smoky from numerous wildfires burning in Northern California.
Fig. 2. This is along Highway 116, west of Cotati, looking west towards Stony Point Road, August 9, 2018. The marine layer (fog) can be seen intruding at left. The onshore flow that brings that layer likely accounts for the thin appearance of blue sky between it and the smoky rest of the sky.
Fig. 3. This is a screenshot, taken August 9, 2018, at 5:34 pm, from a Google foundation map showing both the extent of the Mendocino Complex fire and its location relative to landmarks that may be familiar.
Fig. 4. This screenshot, taken August 9, 2018, at 8:27 pm, is zoomed out to include the Carr fire near Redding and a bit more of the coast as a reference. San Francisco is off the map, along the coast to the south. I live near Sebastopol, which is west of Santa Rosa, near the bottom extent of the map.

Paige St. John, Alene Tchekmedyian, and Rong-Gong Lin, II, “Mendocino Complex fire racing at unprecedented speed into the record books,” Los Angeles Times, August 6, 2018, http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-california-wildfires-danger-level-20180806-story.html

Ridesharing

Ryan Felton, “How New York Became the Center of the Fight Against Uber and the Gig Economy Lie,” Jalopnik, August 7, 2018, https://jalopnik.com/how-new-york-became-the-center-of-the-fight-against-ube-1827871915

Ryan Felton, “NYC Becomes First Major City to Cap Uber Cars and Can Set Minimum Wage for Drivers,” Jalopnik, August 8, 2018, https://jalopnik.com/nyc-becomes-first-major-city-to-cap-uber-cars-and-can-s-1828201521

Legal immigration

Chris Sommerfeldt, “Trump administration reportedly plans to limit citizenship for millions of legal immigrants, outraging advocates,” New York Daily News, August 7, 2018, http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/ny-news-advocates-trump-citizenship-immigrants-20180807-story.html

Unauthorized migration

Arelis R. Hernández, “Judge halts mother-daughter deportation, threatens to hold Sessions in contempt,” Washington Post, August 9, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/immigration/judge-halts-mother-daughter-deportation-threatens-to-hold-sessions-in-contempt/2018/08/09/a23a0580-9bd6-11e8-8d5e-c6c594024954_story.html

International Cat Day

Yeah, I miss having a cat. This photograph is just a little bit older than I am. I found it in the Atlantic in their International Cat Day collection.

Fig. 5. Quoting from the Atlantic, where I found this: “The original photo caption from March 23, 1959: ‘Hep cat. A real live kitten on the keys, this music-loving feline lends vocal accompaniment to his mistress in Worcester Park, England. As Marion Holland 15, plays the piano, Money the cat joins in the singing.’”
  1. [1]Chris Sommerfeldt, “Trump administration reportedly plans to limit citizenship for millions of legal immigrants, outraging advocates,” New York Daily News, August 7, 2018, http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/ny-news-advocates-trump-citizenship-immigrants-20180807-story.html↩
  2. [2]Ryan Felton, “How New York Became the Center of the Fight Against Uber and the Gig Economy Lie,” Jalopnik, August 7, 2018, https://jalopnik.com/how-new-york-became-the-center-of-the-fight-against-ube-1827871915↩
  3. [3]Ryan Felton, “NYC Becomes First Major City to Cap Uber Cars and Can Set Minimum Wage for Drivers,” Jalopnik, August 8, 2018, https://jalopnik.com/nyc-becomes-first-major-city-to-cap-uber-cars-and-can-s-1828201521↩
  4. [4]Arelis R. Hernández, “Judge halts mother-daughter deportation, threatens to hold Sessions in contempt,” Washington Post, August 9, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/immigration/judge-halts-mother-daughter-deportation-threatens-to-hold-sessions-in-contempt/2018/08/09/a23a0580-9bd6-11e8-8d5e-c6c594024954_story.html↩
  5. [5]Susan McWilliams, “This Political Theorist Predicted the Rise of Trumpism. His Name Was Hunter S. Thompson,” review of Hell’s Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs, by Hunter S. Thompson, Nation, December 15, 2016, https://www.thenation.com/article/this-political-theorist-predicted-the-rise-of-trumpism-his-name-was-hunter-s-thompson/↩
  6. [6]Bill Weir, “Bikers salute leader of their pack: Donald Trump,” CNN, August 6, 2018, https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/05/politics/sturgis-biker-rally-supports-trump/index.html↩
  7. [7]Diana C. Mutz, “Status threat, not economic hardship, explains the 2016 presidential vote,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, April 23, 2018, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1718155115↩
  8. [8]Kim Messick, “Modern GOP is still the party of Dixie,” Salon, October 12, 2013, http://www.salon.com/2013/10/12/modern_gop_is_still_the_party_of_dixie/↩
  9. [9]David Benfell, “Conservative Views on Undocumented Migration” (doctoral dissertation, Saybrook, 2016). ProQuest (1765416126); David Benfell, “How Donald Trump captured the Republican Party,” Not Housebroken, July 1, 2018, https://disunitedstates.org/2018/07/01/how-donald-trump-captured-the-republican-party/↩
  10. [10]William D. Ruckelshaus, “Only one other president has ever acted this desperate,” Washington Post, August 6, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/opinions/only-one-other-president-has-ever-acted-this-desperate/2018/08/06/7eed964e-9994-11e8-b55e-5002300ef004_story.html↩

It might be getting too hot in the kitchen. But if it’s just the whiner-in-chief whining, how would we know?

benfell

My contact information has been revised. Mainly, this is about swapping the primary and secondary contact numbers. Both are cell phones but I’m finding that in a majority of places—this includes Sonoma County, Marin County, the East Bay, and the Peninsula—where I go often, AT&T offers better mobile data coverage overall than Verizon. It’s not 100 percent by any means. If you fail to reach me on one number, by all means, try the other.

Updates

  1. Originally published, August 2, 8:54 pm.
  2. August 3, 7:05 pm:
    • A federal judge has ordered the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program fully restored.[1] (Unauthorized migration)
  3. August 5, 12:51 am:
    • “[A] federal judge in Washington issued a tome on why [Robert] Mueller’s appointment was rock-solid in the first place.” Evidently meaning Donald Trump’s attorneys and supporters should give up any hope of legally overturning Mueller’s appointment.[2] (James Comey)
  4. August 5, 2:16 pm:
    • If I were a Republican, I’d be thinking very hard about a president who brags about destroying the careers of people in my party.[3] (Donald Trump)
    • Donald Trump has thrown his son under a bus, admitting that the latter attempted to collude with Russia.[4] (James Comey)
    • Reproduced Donald Trump’s tweet in which—see above.

James Comey

Donald Trump (did not) really order(ed) Jeff Sessions to terminate the Robert Mueller probe.[5]

Chris Cillizza, “Donald Trump just tweeted something new about the Russia investigation — and it’s huge,” CNN, August 1, 2018, https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/01/politics/donald-trump-jeff-sessions/index.html

Stephen Collinson, “Trump’s Sessions eruption hints at concern over direction of Mueller probe,” CNN, August 2, 2018, https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/02/politics/mueller-investigation-jeff-sessions-tweet/index.html

Jennifer Rubin, “Why Trump is so freaked out by the Manafort trial,” Washington Post, August 1, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2018/08/01/how-the-manafort-trial-may-hurt-trump/

Laura Jarrett, “As questions swirl over Trump interview, judge guts potential defense strategy,” CNN, August 4, 2018, https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/04/politics/judge-beryl-howell-mueller-appointment-trump-subpoena/index.html

Adam Davidson, “The Day Trump Told Us There Was Attempted Collusion with Russia,” New Yorker, August 5, 2018, https://www.newyorker.com/news-desk/swamp-chronicles/the-day-trump-told-us-there-was-attempted-collusion-with-russia

‘White Trash’

Leah Donnella is asking, not answering, the question “Why Is It Still OK To ‘Trash’ Poor White People?” and arguing that it’s an important question to ask.[6]

Leah Donnella, “Why Is It Still OK To ‘Trash’ Poor White People?” National Public Radio, August 1, 2018, https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2018/08/01/605084163/why-its-still-ok-to-trash-poor-white-people

Unauthorized migration

Maura Dolan, “Appeals court rules Trump can’t withhold funds from California ‘sanctuary’ cities,” Los Angeles Times, August 1, 2018, http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-sanctuary-9th-circuit-20180801-story.html

Aris Folley, “Federal judge says Trump must fully restore DACA,” Hill, August 3, 2018, http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/400332-federal-judge-says-trump-must-fully-restore-daca

Donald Trump

Morgan Gstalter, “Trump: I ‘destroy’ careers of Republicans who say bad things about me,” Hill, August 4, 2018, http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/400423-trump-i-destroy-careers-of-republicans-who-say-bad-things-about-me

  1. [1]Aris Folley, “Federal judge says Trump must fully restore DACA,” Hill, August 3, 2018, http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/400332-federal-judge-says-trump-must-fully-restore-daca↩
  2. [2]Laura Jarrett, “As questions swirl over Trump interview, judge guts potential defense strategy,” CNN, August 4, 2018, https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/04/politics/judge-beryl-howell-mueller-appointment-trump-subpoena/index.html↩
  3. [3]Morgan Gstalter, “Trump: I ‘destroy’ careers of Republicans who say bad things about me,” Hill, August 4, 2018, http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/400423-trump-i-destroy-careers-of-republicans-who-say-bad-things-about-me↩
  4. [4]Adam Davidson, “The Day Trump Told Us There Was Attempted Collusion with Russia,” New Yorker, August 5, 2018, https://www.newyorker.com/news-desk/swamp-chronicles/the-day-trump-told-us-there-was-attempted-collusion-with-russia↩
  5. [5]Chris Cillizza, “Donald Trump just tweeted something new about the Russia investigation — and it’s huge,” CNN, August 1, 2018, https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/01/politics/donald-trump-jeff-sessions/index.html; Stephen Collinson, “Trump’s Sessions eruption hints at concern over direction of Mueller probe,” CNN, August 2, 2018, https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/02/politics/mueller-investigation-jeff-sessions-tweet/index.html↩
  6. [6]Leah Donnella, “Why Is It Still OK To ‘Trash’ Poor White People?” National Public Radio, August 1, 2018, https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2018/08/01/605084163/why-its-still-ok-to-trash-poor-white-people↩