Shakesville

Daily Dose of Cute

image of Olivia the White Farm Cat grooming herself with her wee pink tongue

Ms. Olivia Twist had her six-month post-surgery check-up at the vet on Saturday, and her lovely vet just called me with the results of her bloodwork: Everything looks terrific! She is doing very well and remains, as far as we can tell, cancer-free. Huzzah!

As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.

We Resist: Day 473

a black bar with the word RESIST in white text

One of the difficulties in resisting the Trump administration, the Republican Congressional majority, and Republican state legislatures (plus the occasional non-Republican who obliges us to resist their nonsense, too, like we don't have enough to worry about) is keeping on top of the sheer number of horrors, indignities, and normalization of the aggressively abnormal that they unleash every single day.

So here is a daily thread for all of us to share all the things that are going on, thus crowdsourcing a daily compendium of the onslaught of conservative erosion of our rights and our very democracy.

Stay engaged. Stay vigilant. Resist.

* * *

Earlier today by me: Someone Hired Black Cube to Collect Info on Obama Administration Officials and Malice Is the Centerpiece of Trump's Agenda: Access to Healthcare Edition.

Here are some more things in the news today...

[Content Note: Volcanic eruption; moving GIF at link] Amy B Wang at the Washington Post: 'This Is Heartbreaking': Lava Burns More Homes on Hawaii's Big Island as New Fissures Form. "Shortly after Kilauea erupted Thursday, the ground split open on the east side of Leilani Estates, exposing an angry red beneath the lush landscape. From the widening gash, molten rock burbled and splashed, then shot dozens of feet in the air. ...Soon, another such fissure had formed a few streets to the west. Then another, and another. From the vents, hot steam — and noxious gases — rose, before magma broke through and splattered into the air. ...As of Sunday night, at least 10 such fissure vents were reported in the neighborhood — including two that had opened anew late Saturday night — and at least 26 homes had been destroyed, according to the county civil defense agency."

As I mentioned on Friday, I'm including this continuing story in the We Resist thread because, although it is not a resistance item now, I fear that it may become one, based on how the Trump administration responds to this crisis. Maude knows I hope I'm wrong, and that affected Hawaiians get whatever federal aid they need.

* * *

[CN: Nativism. Covers entire section.]

President Trump floats "closing up the country for a while" over border security https://t.co/pr0PLNvMuB pic.twitter.com/NXdy9U4tFC
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) May 5, 2018

Remember when I said Trump wanted to build a wall to keep us in as much as keep people out? Welp. https://t.co/ppR3lLFc4r
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) May 5, 2018

Ari Honarvar at Rewire: Caravan Asylum Seekers Let in, But Their Harrowing Journey Continues. "Until last night, the vast majority of asylum seekers had been camping outside of the port of entry on the Mexican side of the border. As of [Friday] afternoon, the remaining people from the caravan have been processed. But after traveling some 3,000 miles and several months, the final part of their journey remains just as challenging and uncertain. We already know the Trump administration is hostile toward asylum seekers. Trump has called on Congress to end 'loopholes' regarding laws that dictate children and families who arrive together move through the system together. 'It is a disgrace. We are the only Country in the World so naive! WALL,' Trump tweeted in April."

Ontario woman arrested, jailed in U.S. for driving with a Canadian licence https://t.co/d2enVNbNui pic.twitter.com/U9JxUFck2x
— CBC Canadian News (@CBCCanada) May 7, 2018

One point of clarification: Emily Nield was not jailed for driving with a Canadian license, but because she could not produce her passport upon request, after being pulled over for breaking the law by speeding. That's an important distinction, because the officer was technically within her rights to detain Nield, but that sort of thing never used to happen in the U.S., especially if you had a copy of your passport, if not your actual passport, with you. (Which Nield did.)

What this story highlights is that U.S. agents are becoming more militant toward immigrants and foreign visitors more broadly.

The issue is not that the police weren't allowed to detain her, but that they were allowed but never would have before. That signifies a major shift in policy, which is clearly being empowered and encouraged by this administration. The disposition toward immigrants and foreign visitors has changed, and it means we need to be examining all the precedents on the books of which law enforcement has not been making use, because the nation wasn't officially hostile to all non-citizens before now.

* * *

Andy Towle at Towleroad: Trump Rages at 'Russia Witch Hunt's Unrevealed Conflicts of Interest,' Says He's Not Obstructing But 'Fighting Back'. "In a pair of Monday morning tweets, Donald Trump lashed out at Robert Mueller's team, claiming there are 'unrevealed conflicts of interest' and said he's 'fighting back' and not obstructing justice. Tweeted Trump: 'The Russia Witch Hunt is rapidly losing credibility. House Intelligence Committee found No Collusion, Coordination or anything else with Russia. So now the Probe says OK, what else is there? How about Obstruction for a made up, phony crime.There is no O, it's called Fighting Back.' He added: 'The 13 Angry Democrats in charge of the Russian Witch Hunt are starting to find out that there is a Court System in place that actually protects people from injustice…and just wait 'till the Courts get to see your unrevealed Conflicts of Interest!'"

FUCKING HELL. So that's just the President of the United States, who is under suspicion of colluding with a foreign adversary, threatening legal action against his ideological opponents who are also trying to hold him accountable based on mounting evidence of his treason.

And here's the newest member of Trump's legal team:

Giuliani said that he and Jay Sekulow, another lawyer for Trump, agreed that the president should avoid speaking with Robert Mueller. “Not after the way they’ve acted,” Giuliani said. https://t.co/yGpD8rKYXV
— NYT Politics (@nytpolitics) May 6, 2018

This isn't a legal strategy. This is public contempt for the law and government accountability. https://t.co/lNlXj6t41R
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) May 6, 2018

Meanwhile... Kyle Cheney at Politico: Trump's GOP 'Warriors' Lead Charge Against Mueller.

They have demanded thousands of documents central to special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. They threaten to impeach Mueller's boss, who in turn accuses them of "extortion." One has even likened the Russia probe to a possible "coup d'etat."

[Donald] Trump calls them his "warriors": a band of four House Republicans defending Trump with a relentless counterattack against the Justice Department's Russia investigation that thrills the president even as it unsettles some House GOP colleagues who think they're going too far.

This crew of hard-charging conservatives, whom Trump singled out by name in late April, have emerged as some of Washington's most prominent Republicans, enjoying direct lines to the Trump White House and flights on Air Force One.

"Look, we have some absolute warriors," Trump told Fox News on April 26 when asked about his relationship with Congress, name-checking "Jim Jordan and Mark Meadows and Matt Gaetz and [Ron] DeSantis."

Their emergence underscores a reality of the Trump era: Power and prominence on Capitol Hill these days often flow not to the most senior lawmakers but to Republicans who display allegiance to a president who prizes loyalty. None of the four holds a powerful committee chairmanship, but they have something just as important: Regular airtime on Fox News.

This is what authoritarianism looks like.

And this is what they're hoping to accomplish, at least as the first part of their plan for the president (and their party) to evade accountability altogether...

Ian Millhiser at ThinkProgress: This Is the Man Who Will Supervise Mueller If Trump Fires Rosenstein. "Even before he became Donald Trump's top Supreme Court advocate, Solicitor General Noel Francisco was a magnet for Trumpian causes. ...In short, Francisco built his law practice as if his primary goal was to troll the libs. Flash forward a few years, and Francisco is now one of the most powerful and influential lawyers in the country. As Solicitor General, Francisco shapes the Trump administration's appellate litigation strategy and acts as one of the top advisers to the justices themselves. And, as one of the Justice Department's top officials, Francisco is next in line to supervise Special Counsel Robert Mueller if Trump fires Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein."

* * *

David Morgan at Reuters: Republicans in Key Election Races Turn Down Volume on Trump's Tax Cuts. "Right after Republicans in the U.S. Senate passed their income tax overhaul in December, delivering tax cuts to businesses and most American taxpayers, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell was buoyant. Surrounded by jubilant fellow Republicans, he told reporters, 'If we can't sell this to the American people, we ought to go into another line of work.' Four months later, McConnell's attempt at levity could prove prophetic. The most vulnerable Republican incumbents in the tightest congressional races in the November elections are talking less and less about the tax cuts on Twitter and Facebook, on their campaign and congressional websites, and in digital ads, the vital tools of a modern election campaign, a Reuters analysis of their online utterances shows. All told, the number of tax messages has fallen by 44 percent since January."

As I have said countless times: Republicans can't win on the issues. And so they lie about their records — and they cheat.

To wit: Allegra Kirkland at TPM: Republicans Make Moves to Crush Gerrymandering Reform. "With anti-gerrymandering efforts gaining steam, Republicans in some states are mobilizing to protect their ability to continue rigging election maps." Of course they are. Because they are Democracy Killers who don't believe in free and fair elections.

* * *

[CN: Torture] Melanie Schmitz at ThinkProgress: Trump Brazenly Endorses the Use of Torture While Defending CIA Nominee. "[Donald] Trump defended the use of torture on Monday while tweeting his support for acting CIA Director Gina Haspel, his pick to officially head up the agency. 'My highly respected nominee for CIA Director, Gina Haspel, has come under fire because she was too tough on Terrorists,' Trump tweeted, referring to criticisms of Haspel's tenure overseeing a black site CIA prison in Thailand after 9/11, where detainees were subjected to brutal torture, including sleep deprivation and waterboarding. Haspel was later involved in the CIA's destruction of some 100 videotaped recordings of those interrogation sessions. 'Think of that, in these very dangerous times, we have the most qualified person, a woman, who Democrats want OUT because she is too tough on terror,' Trump added. 'Win Gina!'"

[CN: Racism; anti-Blackness] Angela Helm at the Root: #BlackWhileAirbnb-ing: 3 Filmmakers Checking Out of Rental Swarmed by Police, Including the Chopper. "Unfortunately, the spate of wypipo calling police on black folks simply living their lives — playing golf, working out, having coffee — continues. This time, the incident involves a group of three black filmmakers who were staying in an Airbnb home rental in the Golden State. A woman named Kells Fyffe-Marshall posted on her Facebook page last week that as she and two other black friends were leaving their rental in Rialto, Calif., they were met with a throng of seven police cars and a helicopter, because why not call in the whirlybird on this? This kerfuffle went down because a white neighbor took it upon herself to call said law enforcements on the friends, allegedly because they didn't 'wave to her' (did she know them?) and also because three black people taking luggage out of a home automatically means they're robbing the joint."

[CN: Anti-choice terrorism] Casey Quinlan at ThinkProgress: Trespassing at Abortion Clinics More Than Tripled in 2017. "Trespassing at abortion clinics more than tripled last year and death threats and threats of harm nearly doubled, according to a new report from the National Abortion Federation, a professional association of abortion providers. There were also more incidents of obstruction at clinics, from 580 in 2016 to more than 1,700 in 2017. Harassing phone calls and hate mail also rose 33 percent from last year. 'We know that hostile rhetoric, including rhetoric from anti-abortion elected officials, can incite some to take the law into their own hands by threatening abortion providers and committing acts of violence,' NAF President Vicki Saporta said in a press release on the report. '…The protesters are feeling emboldened by the political environment and seeing what they could get away with.'"

And finally, in good resistance news, this piece by Jamil Smith is a must-read:

In Alabama, there are now 805 large, iron receipts for white supremacy. We need them. I wrote for @RollingStone about why the new @LegacyMuseum and @MemPeaceJustice, both of which honor lynching victims and shame their murderers, are patriotism in action. https://t.co/VhZkUQLi05
— Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith) May 6, 2018

What have you been reading that we need to resist today?

Malice Is the Centerpiece of Trump's Agenda: Access to Healthcare Edition

With the constant barrage of news about Trump administration failures, many of them of deliberate design, commanding our immediate attention at seemingly every moment, the long-term consequences of that sabotage often escapes notice.

This should be a headline with sustained coverage in every newspaper and magazine, on every network news broadcast, on every cable news channel: U.S. Americans' access to healthcare is eroding again under Trump's presidency.

The Washington Post editors, under the blunt and accurate headline "Americans Are Starting to Suffer from Trump's Health-Care Sabotage" write (empahses mine):

The Commonwealth Fund, a nonprofit foundation focused on health-care issues, announced last week that the rate of working-age Americans without health insurance in the group's annual survey rose to 15.5 percent, up about three percentage points since 2016. Things are worse in the 19 holdout states, such as Virginia, that have refused to expand their Medicaid programs: The rate of uninsured working-age Americans hit 21.9 percent in those areas, up nearly six percentage points over two years. Nationally, the spike has been particularly bad at the modest end of the income scale, rising nearly five percentage points since 2016 for low-income, working-age Americans.

Obamacare critics regularly describe all problems as the inevitable result of a poorly designed law. But the numbers suggest that the critics' sabotage efforts are to blame. After impressive declines during President Barack Obama's second term, the fund found that the uninsured rate increased in both of the years Mr. Trump has been in office. During the campaign, Mr. Trump regularly complained that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) left too many Americans uncovered. The result of nearly a year and a half of Mr. Trump's leadership is 4 million people added to that group.

Obamacare was never perfect. But Commonwealth Fund analysts noted that, rather than fixing the law's problems, Republicans have done concrete things to worsen them. "These include the administration's deep cuts in advertising and outreach during the marketplace open-enrollment periods, a shorter open enrollment period, and other actions that collectively may have left people with a general sense of confusion about the status of the law," they wrote. "Signs point to further erosion of insurance coverage in 2019: the repeal of the individual mandate penalty included in the 2017 tax law, recent actions to increase the availability of insurance policies that don't comply with ACA minimum benefit standards, and support for Medicaid work requirements."

Surely, a significant part of this sabotage is driven by Republicans' desire to dismantle the signature achievement of Barack Obama, the nation's first Black president and most recent Democratic president. But equally as significant, at least, is the fact that subverting the federal government's role in providing services to We the People (especially certain We the People) is a driving force of conservatism.

Yes, this vile cruelty is happening during the Trump administration, and the blame should be laid at his doorstep. It should be shared with the rest of his party, though. Trump, after all, is comparatively new to politics; there are Republican officeholders who have been diligently working for decades to lay the groundwork for this sort of (non)governance.

It's important to hold Trump accountable. It's also important to remember and center, always, that Trump is not an anomaly of Republican politics, but its inevitable endgame.

Film Corner: Avengers: Infinity War

screencap from Avengers: Infinity War showing the Hulk, Black Panther, Okoye, Captain America, Black Widow, Bucky Barnes, and a Wakandan army running into battle

I finally saw Avengers: Infinity War this weekend, so now I can host a thread on it, for which I know some of y'all have been clamoring!

I won't say anything on the main page, but I am looking forward to discussing it in comments, where there will be SPOILERS APLENTY, so consider yourselves warned if you'd like to avoid spoilage!

Someone Hired Black Cube to Collect Info on Obama Administration Officials

Someone hired Black Cube, the same Israeli private intelligence firm that was used by Harvey Weinstein to gather info to discredit his accusers, to discredit Obama administration officials who had championed the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which Donald Trump now seeks to unwind.

Ronan Farrow has additional details at the New Yorker.

Who is the someone who put this operation of spying, intimidation, and attempted discrediting into action? Well, that's a very good question! And the answer, according to Black Cube, is: We're not telling!

#BREAKING: Full Black Cube comment on the reports they were the company hired by Trump admin officials to spy & dig dirt on @brhodes & @ColinKahl: "Our policy is never discuss, confirm or deny any speculation made with regard to the company’s work" pic.twitter.com/GPP3V98CyZ
— Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) May 6, 2018

However, former Obama Administration foreign-policy adviser Colin Kahl — who was one of the two men, along with another former foreign-policy adviser, Ben Rhodes, targeted by the Black Cube operation — has an idea about who it might have been, telling Farrow he believes "Trump associates may have been involved because of unsubstantiated reports in conservative media outlets accusing Rhodes and Kahl of damaging leaks about the Trump administration. 'Why Ben and I? Why conjoin Ben and me?' Kahl asked."

Last night on Twitter, he further noted there are "some suspicious coincidences—especially as it relates to the particular focus on Ben & me. We were not the only Obama officials involved in negotiating & publicly defending the Iran deal." And yet, he adds, "around the same time the Israeli firm was hired, senior White House aides began complaining to Fox News about a 'Ben Rhodes-Colin Kahl Nexus' that was supposedly organizing opposition to the administration."

Dr. Gorka criticizes media over White House coverage: "It's no longer fake news. It's now dishonest news." (via #Hannity) pic.twitter.com/K1mpXB6iJK
— FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) May 17, 2017

As the summer wore on, senior White House aides pushed a narrative that Ben and I were solely responsible for turmoil across the Middle East. https://t.co/XZPZxpL5kG 7/10 pic.twitter.com/BEkrCxinJ5
— Colin Kahl (@ColinKahl) May 7, 2018

So, we are meant to believe that Gorka seized on this "Rhodes-Kahl nexus" out of nowhere, at just about the same time Black Cube's op on the two men began.

Oh.

Well, that's either quite a coincidence, or Trump was the someone, whether directly or via associates, who hired Black Cube to discredit federal officials over the Iran deal.

Suffice it to say: None of this is normal.

Open Thread

image of a purple sofa

Hosted by a purple sofa. Have a seat and chat.

The Virtual Pub Is Open

image of a pub Photoshopped to be named 'The Beloved Community Pub'

[Explanations: lol your fat. pathetic anger bread. hey your gay.]

Belly up to the bar,
and be in this space together.

Friday Links!

This list o' links brought to you by cloves.

Recommended Reading:

Gabriella Paiella at the Cut: Mitt Romney: 'My Favorite Meat Is Hot Dog'

Ijeoma Oluo at the Guardian: How Should White People Talk about Kanye West?

Brian Kahn at Earther: Deadly Dust Storms Are Smothering India

Hazel Shearing at BuzzFeed: [Content Note: Sexual assault] The Nobel Prize for Literature Will Be Postponed for the First Time in Nearly 70 Years

Blue Telusma at the Grio: [CN: Sexual assault] "He's a Predator": Two More Women Accuse R. Kelly of Sexual Abuse

Raifa Rafiq at Media Diversified: [CN: Othering; exploitation] The Migrant Children Sent Abroad by Their Parents to Chase a Dream

Fannie Wolfe at Fannie's Room: [CN: Homophobia] Area Man Terrorized by Obscure, Fake Manifesto; Promotes It on His Popular Website

Sameer Rao at Colorlines: Rihanna on the 'Groundbreaking' Response from Women of Color to Fenty Beauty Products

Starre Vartan at Earther: [CN: Animal endangerment] We're Doing a Terrible Job Protecting the Animals We Love Most

Mary von Aue at Inverse: Tween Discovers 475-Million-Year-Old Fossil in a Huge Win for Paleontology

Leave your links and recommendations in comments. Self-promotion welcome and encouraged!

Discussion Thread: Self-Care

What are you doing to do to take care of yourself today, or in the near future, as soon as you can?

If you are someone who has a hard time engaging in self-care, or figuring out easy, fast, and/or inexpensive ways to treat yourself, and you would like to solicit suggestions, please feel welcome. And, as always, no one should offer advice unless it is solicited.

* * *

Here's my important act of self-care for the day:

What I am not going to do today: Waste my time listening to Trump speak at the NRA Convention. I already know that everything he says will be vile trash.
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) May 4, 2018

A friend was recounting some of the highlights (cough) for me, and each of them confirmed that the decision I made was a good one.

Taking a pass means, of course, that I can't cover it for y'all, but, honestly, that feels like I'm doing you a favor.

Daily Dose of Cute

image of Zelda the Black and Tan Mutt napping on the living room floor, with an uneaten dog bone beside her; Dudley the Greyhound is lying next to her, leaning forward to stare at it intently

Dudley is very frustrated that Zelda hasn't eaten her bone yet.

image of the dogs in the same position, but Dudley is now sitting up tensely

"Urrrrrrrgggggghhhhhhhhh!"
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.

We Resist: Day 470

a black bar with the word RESIST in white text

One of the difficulties in resisting the Trump administration, the Republican Congressional majority, and Republican state legislatures (plus the occasional non-Republican who obliges us to resist their nonsense, too, like we don't have enough to worry about) is keeping on top of the sheer number of horrors, indignities, and normalization of the aggressively abnormal that they unleash every single day.

So here is a daily thread for all of us to share all the things that are going on, thus crowdsourcing a daily compendium of the onslaught of conservative erosion of our rights and our very democracy.

Stay engaged. Stay vigilant. Resist.

* * *

Earlier today by me: Junot Diaz Accused of Sexual Assault.

Here are some more things in the news today...

"A whole town has been ordered to evacuate after the eruption of the Kilauea volcano on Hawaii's Big Island... All 1,500 inhabitants of Pahoa were told to leave after steam and lava poured out of a crack in the nearby Leilani Estates." So scary. https://t.co/sY5GwNFWNH
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) May 4, 2018

That's not really a resistance item, but I wanted to put it at the top of this post, because I fear — and hope I am wrong — that any need and expectation of federal recovery will turn into a resistance item.

For now: I'm thinking of you, Pahoa. I hope y'all are safe, and I desperately hope the damage, to your property and all the sentimental items held within, is minimal. ♥

* * *

This ain't good:

Judge repeatedly tried to get the special counsel lawyer to say that the real reason they were going after Manafort was to get leverage on Manafort to get info on Trump. "The vernacular is, "to sing'," judge quipped. Lawyer wouldn't bite.
— Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) May 4, 2018

Rachel Weiner at the Washington Post: Federal Judge in Virginia Grills Special Counsel on Manafort Investigation.

A federal judge in Virginia on Friday grilled lawyers from the office of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III about the motivations for bringing a bank and tax fraud case against former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort.

"You don't really care about Mr. Manafort's bank fraud," Judge T.S. Ellis III said during a morning hearing. "You really care about getting information Mr. Manafort can give you that would reflect on Mr. Trump and lead to his prosecution or impeachment."

Manafort was seeking to have the bank and tax fraud charges against him dismissed in federal court in Alexandria, with his lawyers arguing that the alleged crimes have nothing to do with the election or with [Donald] Trump.

Ellis agreed, but he made no immediate decision on the defense motion. He said even without such a connection the special counsel, which is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election, may well still have the authority to bring the charges.

Um, yeah. Because that's what happens when someone breaks the law: They may have criminal charges brought against them. JFC.

Judge Ellis also said: "We don't want anyone in this country with unfettered power. It's unlikely you're going to persuade me the special prosecutor has power to do anything he or she wants." NO ONE IS ARGUING THAT OMG.

The wheels may be truly coming off the cart. (And I'm not sure they were ever properly screwed in to begin with.)

"I don't want to know what the law is. I want to know who the judge is." -- Trump's mentor, Roy Cohn https://t.co/9NC3IbOGeK
— Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) May 4, 2018

Sob.

* * *

Giuliani "told NBC News that he made the explosive announcement about the U.S. president's personal reimbursement to Michael Cohen in order to try to get ahead of Special Counsel Robert Mueller." So, exactly what I said yesterday, then. https://t.co/X82VA6o2TE
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) May 4, 2018

And then right on cue... Ben Jacobs at the Guardian: Donald Trump Says Giuliani Yet to Get His 'Facts Straight' on Stormy Daniels. "Speaking to reporters on the south lawn of the White House on Friday morning, Trump said Giuliani 'started yesterday…he'll get his facts straight.' He added that 'virtually everything said has been said incorrectly' about the payment to Daniels."

It's all wrong, so no one can possibly tell what the truth is. More helpful chaos.

This is the same play, over and over and over. It's honestly embarrassing that the U.S. media keeps falling for this same fucking trick again and again.

It's also very perilous for all the rest of us, for the reasons I detailed yesterday:

To be clear: The perception of chaos is an organized (nonchaotic) strategy. The suggestion there is no strategy helps that strategy.

The less people understand a strategy, the harder it is to counter. If we don't even know there *is* a strategy, so much the better (for them).
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) May 3, 2018

Donald Trump isn't interested in anyone having their "facts straight." Trust that.

* * *

Susan B. Glasser at the New Yorker: Donald Trump's Pursuit of an Oval Office Meeting with Vladimir Putin.

This coming Monday, Putin, already Russia's longest-serving leader since Joseph Stalin, will be inaugurated to a new six-year term. In March, Trump defied his own advisers to congratulate Putin in a post-election phone call, then surprised them again by inviting Putin to Washington for a summit meeting. It seems implausible and politically [foolish] to imagine that Trump would even consider a chummy one-on-one with Putin now, especially when the risks to Trump from the special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of Trump's Russia ties appear so significant. And yet the invitation, I'm told, was real, and reflects the President's strongly expressed personal preference.

Will Trump follow through with it — and add yet another high-drama plotline to the already oversubscribed Trump show? I asked an array of current and former U.S. and European officials about it over the last few weeks, and the answers, as always when it comes to the mystery of Trump and Russia, are surprising, contradictory, and frustratingly incomplete.

Cool. Meanwhile...

Cassandra Pollock and Alex Samuels at the Texas Tribune: Hysteria over Jade Helm Exercise in Texas Was Fueled by Russians, Former CIA Director Says. "A former director of the CIA and NSA said Wednesday that hysteria in Texas over a 2015 U.S. military training exercise called Jade Helm was fueled by Russians wanting to dominate 'the information space,' and that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's decision to send the Texas State Guard to monitor the operation gave them proof of the power of such misinformation campaigns. Michael Hayden, speaking on MSNBC's Morning Joe podcast, chalked up people's fear over Jade Helm 15 to 'Russian bots and the American alt-right media [that] convinced many Texans [Jade Helm] was an Obama plan to round up political dissidents.' Abbott ordered the State Guard to monitor the federal exercise soon after news broke of the operation. Hayden said that move gave Russians the go-ahead to continue — and possibly expand — their efforts to spread fear. 'At that point, I'm figuring the Russians are saying, 'We can go big time,'' Hayden said of Abbott's response."

"Some members of Congress, military officials and people who do similar security work say that Prince’s role as chairman of Frontier puts him in the unsettling position of advancing the strategic agenda of the United States’ largest rival." That's polite. https://t.co/rMl04JdP6Y
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) May 4, 2018

Trump should be less concerned about soybean tariffs and more concerned about mercenaries, if he really wants to put "America First." (I know he doesn't.)

Billy House at Bloomberg: House Republicans Prepare to Endorse Trump's Military Parade. "House Republicans are preparing to endorse [Donald] Trump's plan for a military parade in the nation's capital, with warfighting vehicles rolling down city streets and planes flying overhead. The display in Washington would be authorized under the Republican-proposed draft for the annual defense policy measure... The parade would look back 'on a century of military service and focuses on the men and women who sacrificed to secure America's freedoms,' according to the summary released by committee chairman Mac Thornberry, a Texas Republican. 'Far too many American veterans and their families believe their sacrifices have not been given the public recognition that they deserve.'"

Jon Swaine and Julian Borger at the Guardian: Trump Set to Benefit as Qatar Buys $6.5m Apartment in New York Tower. "The government of Qatar bought a $6.5m apartment in one of Donald Trump's New York towers soon after the dismissal of a lawsuit that tried to stop the president benefiting from such deals. Qatar's mission to the United Nations signed a deal for the condominium at Trump World Tower on 17 January, according to city records. The purchase means that the Middle Eastern state now owns four units in the building, for which it paid $16.5m. ...Qatar's new acquisition at Trump World Tower, which is in Manhattan's Midtown East section, coincided with an intense lobbying campaign in Washington by the Qatari government amid a regional crisis that has pitted the Gulf monarchy against Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates."

Authoritarianism, corruption, military parades... It's all happening.

Like it or not.

#TeamNot

* * *

[Content Note: Misogynoir; disablism] Tia Berger at the Atlanta Black Star: Woman Says She Was Treated 'Like an Animal' and Thrown Off Flight on Claims She Was 'Contagious'. "Jeanne Lehman was recently diagnosed with shingles but received the green light from her doctor that was not contagious and could fly back to Edmonton. Upon her flight with Air Canada on April 22, Lehman asked to be seated near a window due to insecurities of the rash on her face and the flight attendant agreed. However, the airline employee came back wearing a mask with gloves and told Lehman she was being escorted off the plane. 'No one talked to me… No one listened to me,' the passenger told Insider. 'She [flight attendant] said to me, 'You're contagious.' She was practically screaming it in front of everyone… I told her: But I am not contagious! And even if I was, this is not the way to say it. Please don't say this in front of everyone.'" Lehman says a white woman would not have been treated that way, and I absolutely agree.

[CN: Racism] Dakin Andone and Hollie Silverman at CNN: A Mom on a College Tour Called the Cops on Two Native American Teens Because They Made Her 'Nervous'. "The teens saved their own money to take the family's only car and drive 7 hours from New Mexico to Fort Collins, Colorado, to visit the campus Monday, their mother told reporters with CNN affiliates KOAT and KRQE. 'This was their dream school, and I wanted to give them that opportunity,' the mother, Lorraine Kahneratokwas Gray, said. By the time they showed up, the tour had already begun. 'A parent participating in the tour called campus police because she was nervous about the presence of two young men who joined the tour while it was in progress,' the school said. Officers responded and pulled the young men aside while the tour continued on ahead without them." FUCK THIS. [Related: On Sitting with Fear.]

[CN: Misogyny]

Heh. I have this shirt, too. “Iowa House hides lawmaker's Raygun 'vagina' T-shirt on video feed amid abortion debate” https://t.co/i85encMuBp via @DMRegister
— Robin Marty (@robinmarty) May 3, 2018

[CN: Homophobia] Zack Ford at ThinkProgress: Kansas and Oklahoma Vote to Allow Adoption Agencies to Discriminate Against Same-Sex Couples. "Lawmakers in Kansas and Oklahoma passed bills this week chipping away at marriage equality, approving legislation that would allow child-placement agencies to refuse placements based on their religious beliefs — such as discriminating against same-sex couples — without endangering state funding. ...Proponents of bills in both states argue that they have nothing to do with discriminating, but are just about protecting religiously affiliated adoption agencies." LIARS.

[CN: Misogynist violence] And finally, I guess we're still discussing Kevin Williams because news outlets keep giving him space:

Kevin Williamson said people who get abortions should be hanged. Now he wants to know "what should be done" with people who have abortions. And the Washington Post gave him a platform: https://t.co/uKlz03gH1G
— Rewire.News (@Rewire_News) May 3, 2018

Countless women have been *reflexively* kept out of media jobs just because we're women, or because we're feminist women. Just swept aside without another thought. Now look at this Very Civil and Lengthy Debate about employing a man who would hang women. https://t.co/zmBL1QCZ02
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) May 4, 2018

He advocated hanging women for getting abortions. That is all any decent person should need to hear. Debate over.

"But that's intolerant!" YES IT IS. And if you expect me to feel ashamed of being intolerant of violent misogyny, you're going to have a long-ass wait.
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) May 4, 2018

What have you been reading that we need to resist today?

Wow: Evidence of Early Humans in Philippines 700,000 Years Ago

Hannah Ellis-Petersen at the Guardian: Butchered Rhino Suggests Humans Were in the Philippines 700,000 Years Ago.

The discovery of a butchered rhino has led scientists to conclude early humans were in the Philippines as far back as 700,000 years ago.

Dozens of human-made stone artefacts and tools, alongside the clearly bludgeoned and eaten remains of a rhino, were discovered in a clay bed on Luzon, the largest and most northerly island in the Philippines.

The excavation proves early humans colonised the Philippines hundreds of thousands of years earlier than previously believed, though it is thought these hominins, or 'Hobbits,' pre-date modern humans, known as homosapiens.

Previously, the earliest confirmed evidence of human presence on the island was a foot bone found in a cave on Luzon, which dates back just 67,000 years.

Aside from their appetite for rhino, very little is known about the humans who would have occupied Luzon, and the researchers are hoping to uncover more archeological clues as they continue to dig.

It is possible they were homo erectus, who are known to have wandered to present-day China and south-east Asia up to a million years ago or could be their own distinct sub-species.

Until recently, it was believed Luzon and the other islands of Wallacea in the Philippines would have been impossible for pre-modern humans to reach, as they would not have boats to cross the deep water.

However, the team of researchers, including paleontologist Dr Gerrit Van Den Bergh from the University of Wollongong, said this called for a rethink of how and where early homonins had travelled in south-east Asia.

"Our hypothesis is that the 'Hobbit' ancestors came from the north, rather than travelling eastward through Java and Bali," said Ven Den Bergh, whose work was published in the journal Nature.

"They may have been caught in a tsunami and carried out to sea. Those kinds of freak, random events are probably responsible for these movements of humans and animals. This region is tectonically active so tsunamis are common and there are big ones every hundred years or so."

Seven hundred thousand years. That's the sort of number that is unfathomable, at least in any meaningful way, for people whose entire lifespans are a tiny percentage of that time.

I just love this stuff.

And it grieves me mightily to read about it in a time where so many humans seem determined to put a period at the end of this sentence, when we haven't even begun to understand its beginning yet.

Junot Diaz Accused of Sexual Assault

[Content Note: Sexual assault/harassment.]

Last month, writer Junot Diaz wrote a widely-shared piece for the New Yorker about having survived childhood sexual violence. I linked the piece here, without comment, because I thought it was an important piece, but I also struggled with what I thought was suggestion, without acknowledgment, that Diaz had been sexually abusive himself in his adulthood.

And, unfortunately, my suspicions were correct.

As a grad student, I invited Junot Diaz to speak to a workshop on issues of representation in literature. I was an unknown wide-eyed 26 yo, and he used it as an opportunity to corner and forcibly kiss me. I'm far from the only one he's done this 2, I refuse to be silent anymore.
— zinziclemmons (@zinziclemmons) May 4, 2018

Many people will be quick to make the point that survivors of childhood abuse sometimes abuse others, because they have been entrained to regard abuse as normal. This is a true thing. But.

Most survivors of sexual violence don't violate other people. And those who do are still responsible for their own harmful actions, even if their abusers are simultaneously responsible for the reverberating harm they caused.

And Diaz did not own his assault(s) in his piece. That is a critical point. To the contrary, there is now the appearance that he confessed his own abuse as a preemptive deflection of accusations against him he may have rightly suspected were imminent.

Indeed, when Bina Shah asked, "Do you think he was trying to pre-empt this from coming out with the essay he wrote in the New Yorker about being raped as a child? Like Kevin Spacey's 'I'm gay' diversion?", Zinzi Clemmons replied frankly: "Yes. And so do many of my colleagues."

That preemption also, of course, created a context in which his victims now have to face all the regular blowback faced by any person publicly alleging abuse against a prominent figure, and additionally will have to weather the criticism of levying allegations against someone who is himself a victim.

Which brings me to this: I take up space in solidarity with Clemmons, and the others, those who will tell their stories and those who won't, who were victimized by Diaz. I am so desperately sorry he was abused; I am so angry he abused others.

May the Fourth Be with You

#MayThe4thBeWithYou from a lifetime Star Wars nerd, and here is a picture of tiny me, sound asleep with my Princess Leia buns, to prove it. 😉 c.c. @HamillHimself pic.twitter.com/BIYhi49v8d
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) May 4, 2018

Princess Leia was everything to me. I was the only girl with my own Darth Vader helmet carrying case for all my Star Wars action figures. I was the only girl who played Ewoks on the playground during recess. I was the only girl with a Star Wars lunchbox.
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) May 4, 2018

Princess Leia is still everything to me. But I'm so glad there are more visible women in the Star Wars universe now, for all the girls and boys who want and need women to model tenacity and bravery and leadership for them. ❤
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) May 4, 2018

Please feel welcome to use this thread to discuss all things Star Wars. Including, of course, Admiral Thrawn.

Open Thread

image of a pink couch

Hosted by a pink sofa. Have a seat and chat.

Question of the Day

Suggested by Shaker Hellianne: "What's something 'weird' about yourself that you value?"

The older I get, the more I realize that what I once thought was "weird" about me isn't nearly as weird as I thought. Anything that once felt unusual or isolating has, with time and contact with other weirdos, now feels more common than I once imagined — or still rare, but special.

But whatever parts of me are indeed weird, I value them all. They make me who I am, and some of my weirdest aspects are the ones around which I've forged the strongest connections with people I love and who love me back.

For a less serious answer, lol, I love that my weirdly bendy fingers can do this, because it always freaks people out!

[Video Description: My hands appear in front of the camera in my home workspace. I squeeze together the tips of my splayed fingers on either hand, then bring my middle fingers underneath my index fingers and back again.]

The Vaudevillian contortionist lives on through his great-granddaughter!

Your Best Photograph

If you're a photographer, even if a very amateur one (like myself), and you've got a photo or photos you'd like to share, here's your thread for that!

It doesn't really have to be your best photograph—just one you like!

Please be sure if your photo contains people other than yourself, that you have the explicit consent of the people in the photos before posting them.

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Here's a favorite photo I took on holiday last week:

image of the sea next to a rocky cliff on a sunny day

Just looking that gorgeousness is turning me into full-tilt Beard Jack.

image of Jack from Lost crying WE HAVE TO GO BACK!

Sob.

Feds Tapped Cohen's Phones Tracked Cohen's Calls

Tom Winter and Julia Ainsley at NBC News report:

Federal investigators have wiretapped the phone lines of Michael Cohen, the longtime personal lawyer for [Donald] Trump who is under investigation for a payment he made to [Stormy Daniels], who alleged she had an affair with Trump, according to two people with knowledge of the legal proceedings involving Cohen.

It is not clear how long the wiretap has been authorized, but NBC News has learned it was in place in the weeks leading up to the raids on Cohen's offices, hotel room, and home in early April, according to one person with direct knowledge.

[UPDATE: NBC News now says it wasn't a wiretap, but a pen register: "The correction was announced on MSNBC during Meet the Press Daily by the story's lead reporter, Tom Winter. He said US officials had told him that it 'was not a wiretap' but instead a 'pen register,' meaning that Cohen's calls were not being listened to. 'In plain English, that means it was a log of phone calls that were made from specific phone line — from a specific phone line or specific phone lines,' Winter said."]

So, the evening before this news leaked, and the public was about to find out that federal law enforcement ~~had been listening in on~~ had a "pen register" to track Cohen's dirty dealings before his files were seized, Rudy Giuliani goes on Fox News and spills to Sean Hannity a completely new story about Cohen's payment to Daniels, as well as Trump's reimbursement of said payment.

As far as I'm concerned, this gives more credence to my contention that Giuliani's performance was part of a strategy.

Further, New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman — who uses her position at the Times to constantly communicate to the public that the administration is in crisis and/or chaos, in service to the administration — is back at it, which further convinces me that there's a strategy at work:

I hope we all appreciate the irony that everyone knows Haberman has intimate access, but pretends she doesn't, as she then uses that access which is granted as part of a strategy to pretend that there's no strategy.

She's paid in access to convey that there's chaos. pic.twitter.com/ML1FI6dJZP
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) May 3, 2018

This is instructive: "They will create chaos, maintain a constant sense of conflict and danger." Authoritarianism is then ushered in under the auspices of protecting us from the perceived dangers underwritten by relentless chaos. https://t.co/ilMt1DTEM9
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) May 3, 2018

To be clear: The perception of chaos is an organized (nonchaotic) strategy. The suggestion there is no strategy helps that strategy.

The less people understand a strategy, the harder it is to counter. If we don't even know there *is* a strategy, so much the better (for them).
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) May 3, 2018

Relatedly: If you haven't already, you should listen to @sarahkendzior talking about Haberman and access journalism. https://t.co/OsGXTuTLDR
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) May 3, 2018

Anyway. One hopes all of this will matter someday! That would be terrific.

OMG SHOEZ

Listen, the news is tough, and we all need moments of escape from the horror to recuperate and prepare for the next onslaught, and I can talk about shoes all the livelong day, so welcome to the OMG SHOEZ thread.

Got a favorite pair of shoes you want to share? Bought a new pair about which you're super excited? Have a recommendation to make, or want to caution us away from a purchase you regret? Want to solicit suggestions for a specific event, a foot issue, an elusive something for which you've been hunting? Having trouble finding something particular on a budget? Have at it in comments!

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image of my lower calves and feet; I am wearing blue jeans with raw cuffs and Mary Jane style shoes in white with a colorful floral pattern; the beetle tattoo on my right foot is visible in the opening below the strap

A pair of gorgeous Riekers gifted to me by Iain. I love how my beetle is perfectly framed as though it's cavorting through a garden.

These are the Rieker Women's 43789 Mirjam 89 in ice/multi. They are the third pair of Riekers I own, including the blue boots I've previously recommended and a pair of red ankle boots, of which I don't believe I've ever shared a picture. (I'll rectify that in a future OMG SHOEZ thread.)

Rieker Antistress — which, according to their website, has been in business since 1874 (!!!) — produce shoes that "feature cleverly designed technical lightweight interiors and flexible outsoles with shock-absorbing qualities that ensure comfort and relief with every step." That is a very good description of why I love them, lol. They are so light on my feet, and so comfortable!

I have spent an easy 8 hours, with at least a mile of walking, in my heeled boots from Rieker, and I've worn these new Mary Janes out to dinner and grocery shopping several times already, and, at the end of each outing, my feet are ache-free. My feet are in better shape after walking around in Rieker heels than they are with many flats.

I'm also constantly complimented on my Riekers, so they have legit earned their claim to have successfully married comfort and fashion.

They're a little pricey, but, so far, my two older pairs are holding up splendidly. (Rieker does have a reputation for their shoes being long-lasting.) And they are sold on sites like Shoes.com and 6pm and Zappos, so you can usually snag some for a steep discount at the end of a season when the brand goes on sale and the sites are offering a good coupon.

So, that's what up with me! What's up with you?

(As always: I am not affiliated with Rieker in any way, nor have I received anything in exchange for recommending their shoes. I just really like 'em!)

Daily Dose of Cute

image of Zelda the Black and Tan Mutt lying in the sunshine in a dug-out hole in a flower bed beside our back deck

Zelly is very proud of the hole she dug
for herself in the newly mulched flower bed!
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.