29 of us—not counting dogs!—Marched for Science here in Aberdeen this Earth Day afternoon. Neighbors from Groton, Britton, Sisseton, and Mobridge joined us to march around the center of town to show our support for science, education, and facts… things to which far too many of our elected officials and our fellow voters seem strangely averse.
Click here for my full photo album of the event, plus bonus photos from fellow marcher and Aberdonian John Sullivan! Thank you, John for those extra pix and video, and thank you, everyone on the route, for joining us to support science!
One must assume that every one of the Science Twenty-nine are all in #4Science and huge supporters of The Borehole, into which no nuclear waste will be placed.
I was there at Earth Day #1. Most of the high school in Watertown respectfully walked out of class and assembled on the lawn. It was powerful.
… cont. ~ Before that first Earth Day, there was no Environmental Protection Agency, no Clean Water Act, no Clean Air Act as we know it. Citizens created the demand signal – and politicians followed because they had no choice. … I know that on Earth Day 2017, that future feels a little less certain, and understandably so. But – for the same reason 1970’s people-powered activism turned power structures upside down – something big has already begun around the world that can be slowed but not stopped.” http://wapo.st/2p2r5Vt
Playbook Reads
PHOTO DU JOUR: A bullet hole appears in a shop window on the Champs-Élysées in Paris on April 21, a day after a deadly shooting in the city. | Christophe Ena/AP Photo
DATA DU JOUR — “Democrats partner with political newcomers aiming to create anti-Trump wave in 2018 midterms,” by WaPo’s Ed O’Keefe and Mike DeBonis: “During the 2016 cycle [progressive group Emily’s List] spoke with about 900 women interested in running for school board, state legislature or Congress. This year, they’ve heard from more than 11,000 women in all 50 states – with a few dozen seriously considering House races.” http://wapo.st/2p6AZr7
IF YOU READ ONE THING – “Inside the Trump Marriage: Melania’s Burden,” by Evgenia Peretz in May’s Vanity Fair: “[W]oefully pliant as Melania may be, even she may have a breaking point. Over the course of reporting this story, for which her close friends declined to talk, an uneasy picture has emerged of their marital union. Melania’s unhappiness and the couple’s apparent lack of closeness are becoming more noticeable. Despite assurances from her spokesperson, Stephanie Grisham, that Melania is embracing the role of First Lady, most signs point to a distinct lack of interest. And while Grisham says Mrs. Trump plans to move to the White House once their son, Barron, ‘finishes out the school year,’ there have been indications that she is in no particular rush. … Barron, 11, who is by most accounts sweet and well behaved, a testament to Melania’s devotion as a mother. The two sometimes speak to each other in Slovenian, and until recently she consistently did drop-off and pick-up from Columbia Grammar and Preparatory. …
“Michael Cohen, Trump’s personal lawyer, joined the school’s board around eight years ago, and Trump has donated at least $150,000 to the school. … Cohen’s term on the board overlapped that of Caryn Zucker, the wife of Jeff Zucker … The Zuckers have three kids at the school, and Caryn is said to be one of Melania’s friends. … Despite official statements that Melania will move to Washington at the end of the school year, at press time the Trumps had still not announced a D.C.-area school for Barron. According to a well-placed member of the Washington education community, they had not yet applied to some of the schools one might have imagined. A St. Albans parent notes, ‘There’s been no “Barron will be going to my school”‘ sort of dish one might expect. (Grisham says, ‘They are still looking at a few schools.’)” http://bit.ly/2q1IVal
HOT ONLINE — “American Airlines’ employee suspended after row with passengers,” by Reuters’ Timothy McLaughlin: “American Airlines has suspended an employee after a video showed an altercation on one of its planes involving crew, several passengers and a crying woman carrying a young child. An American Airlines employee violently took a stroller from the woman, hitting her with it and just missing her child, Facebook user Surain Adyanthaya said in a post accompanying the video he put on the site on Friday. … ‘We are deeply sorry for the pain we have caused this passenger and her family and to any other customers affected by the incident,’ the airline said in a statement late on Friday. The woman and her family were being upgraded to first class for the remainder of their international trip, it said.” http://reut.rs/2oTLk9r … The Facebook post with video http://bit.ly/2p2FnVY
GARY COHN PROFILE – WILLIAM D. COHAN in Politico Magazine: Early on in Cohn’s career, “when he overheard a real trader [at the Commodities Exchange, Inc.] say he … had to get a cab to the airport … Cohn decided this was his chance. He asked the guy, who he did not know, if they could share a cab together to LaGuardia. The guy said yes. ‘Here’s my shot,’ he said to himself. ‘I’ve got 45 minutes, in traffic on a Friday afternoon to convince this guy that I’m hirable and need a job.’ … As they were getting close to LaGuardia, the trader asked him what he knew about options. He knew nothing about options.
“‘Everything,’ Cohn said. ‘Great,’ the guy replied, ‘I want you to come back Monday, I want you to interview. I’m trading options, it’s a brand new market that’s opening and I don’t know how to trade it and I need someone to stand behind me and tell me exactly what to do.’ ‘No problem, I’m your guy,’ Cohn told him. When he got back to Cleveland that night, he went straight to a bookstore and bought a book on options. He read it four times over the weekend-‘dyslexic guy,’ he reminded the American University audience-then went back to New York, interviewed with the traders for the job at the Comex, and got it.” http://politi.co/2ozqGYE
VALLEY TALK – “Video Shows Palantir CEO Ridiculing Trump And Slamming His Immigration Rhetoric,” by BuzzFeed’s William Alden: “More so than perhaps any other Silicon Valley startup, Palantir Technologies is poised to play a central role in the Trump era. Its data-mining technology has long been used by federal agencies, and its chairman, the billionaire Peter Thiel, emerged last year as Donald Trump’s most prominent supporter from the tech world. … But an internal Palantir video exclusively obtained by BuzzFeed News shows that [Alex] Karp, the CEO, was full of withering criticism for Trump more than a year before the election.
“In a Palantir staff meeting in August 2015, the video shows, Karp derided Trump’s ‘fictitious wealth,’ called him a bully, and condemned his campaign rhetoric on deporting immigrants. He also said he had given Trump a brush-off. ‘I’ve had the rare opportunity to meet Trump, which I turned down – I mean, this is off the record – but like, I don’t respect – like, I respect nothing about the dude,’ Karp said in a roughly 45-minute-long ‘beer sync’ talk that ranged widely, from company news to his own life philosophy.” With a 9-min. video http://bzfd.it/2p6eMt4
****** A message from UC Davis: Even before they arrive, our world’s littlest members are already benefiting from UC Davis innovation at our Fetal Care and Treatment Center. The center is home to three of the nation’s top authorities on fetal intervention, including the first woman in the world to perform open fetal surgery.
The center is part of UC Davis Children’s Hospital, which offers families the highest level of care for virtually every pediatric health condition. UC Davis also conducts more than 1,000 research and clinical trials annually, often supported by federal funding, that result in cost-saving, effective and safe treatments for patients all over the world. Learn more about how we bring hope to patients and families at 21stcentury.ucdavis.edu. ******
TIM ALBERTA on PAT BUCHANAN — “‘The Ideas Made It, But I Didn’t'”: “If not for his outsize ambition, Pat Buchanan might be the closest thing the American right has to a real-life Forrest Gump, that patriot from ordinary stock whose life journey positioned him to witness, influence and narrate the pivotal moments that shaped our modern world and changed the course of this country’s history. He has known myriad roles-neighborhood brawler, college expellee, journalist, White House adviser, political commentator, presidential candidate three times over, author, provocateur-and his existence traces the arc of what feels to some Americans like a nation’s ascent and decline.
“He was 3 years old when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harborand 6 when Harry Truman dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Now 78, with thick, black glasses and a thinning face, Buchanan looks back with nostalgia at a life and career that, for all its significance, was at risk of being forgotten-until Donald Trump was elected the 45th president of the United States.” http://politi.co/2pOKoBs
MEDIAWATCH — “‘The mission was to bring down Bill O’Reilly’: The final days of a Fox News superstar,” by WaPo’s Manuel Roig-Franzia and Ben Terris: “The accuser was wavering. She wanted to go public, to tell the world about her claims that the Fox News megastar Bill O’Reilly ogled her at their workplace and suggestively called her ‘hot chocolate.’ But Perquita Burgess was afraid, her attorney Lisa Bloom said. Afraid of Twitter trolls and other haters. Afraid that a powerful man would ruin her life for daring to cross him. So, Bloom invoked civil rights history to say the words that finally persuaded Burgess, a former Fox temp worker who is African American.
“‘Do you think Rosa Parks decided she was not going to do what she needed to do because people were going to say nasty things to her?’ Bloom said, citing the heroine of the Montgomery bus boycott. ‘This is your time.’ She also explained to her client in stark terms what she hoped to accomplish: ‘The mission was to bring down Bill O’Reilly.'” http://wapo.st/2ozoel5
CLICKER – “The nation’s cartoonists on the week in politics,”edited by Matt Wuerker – 15 keepers http://politi.co/2oyilnY
GREAT WEEKEND READS, curated by Daniel Lippman:
–“Eyewitness to a Title IX Witch Trial,” by Laura Kipnis in the Chronicle of Higher Ed: “Attending the disgraced philosophy professor Peter Ludlow’s dismissal hearing was like watching someone being burned at the stake in slow motion … Yes, Ludlow was guilty, but not as charged. His crime was thinking that women over the age of consent have sexual agency, which has lately become a heretical view on campus, despite once being a crucial feminist position. Of course the community had to expel him. That’s what you do with heretics.” http://bit.ly/2ocXrPZ
–“The Benefits of Solitude,” by Michael Harris in The Walrus: “Our society rewards social behaviour while ignoring the positive effects of time spent alone.” http://bit.ly/2p4lDnc (h/t ALDaily.com)
–“How Young Muslims Define ‘Halal Dating’ For Themselves,” by NPR’s Neha Rashid: “They have religious restrictions that limit physical contact in premarital relationships. They chose to focus more on developing their emotional intimacy, with the occasional hug or kiss.” http://n.pr/2pNu1rW (h/t Longreads.com)
–“House of Cads: The psycho-sexual ordeal of reporting in Washington,” by Marin Cogan in a February 2013 TNR: “Over a round of overpriced margaritas at Washington’s Lauriol Plaza, the fund-raiser turned to [a] reporter and asked suggestively, ‘Would you ever sleep with a source for a story?’ She replied: ‘If I did, it would be with someone much higher up the command chain than you.'” http://bit.ly/2pNJ3xG
–“America’s Most Political Food,” by The New Yorker’s Lauren Collins: “The founder of a popular South Carolina barbecue restaurant was a white supremacist. Now that his children have taken over, is it O.K. to eat there?” http://bit.ly/2pMA0u7
–“Our Climate Future Is Actually Our Climate Present,” by Jon Mooallem in the NYT Magazine: “How do we live with the fact that the world we knew is going and, in some cases, already gone?” http://nyti.ms/2p4ycPp
–“Jonathan and Aaron,” by Michael Rosenberg in Sports Illustrated: “No one but Aaron Hernandez will ever fully grasp how a millionaire tight end came to gun down a friend three summers ago. But Aaron’s older brother, Jonathan, was there from day one, and he witnessed all the little moments, all the poor choices, all the unwise associations that led to murder. That perspective cost Jonathan his way of living-but that’s O.K. He understands.” http://on.si.com/2oShZvW
–“‘This is a War and We Intend to Win,'” by Wes Enzinna in Mother Jones: “The rise and fall of a violent anti-racist group provides a glimpse into an underground movement that’s poised to explode in the Trump era.” http://bit.ly/2p4lgZO
–“Snowden’s Box,” by Jessica Bruder and Dale Maharidge in Harper’s Magazine: “The human network behind the biggest leak of all.” http://bit.ly/2oyj3BJ
–“Tuesdays with Saddam,” by Lisa DePaulo in the June 2005 GQ — per Longform’s description: “The diary of a Scranton, PA National Guardsmen tasked with guarding the highest profile prisoner in U.S history: a surprisingly amiable Saddam Hussein.” http://bit.ly/2oyfLhQ
–“Becoming a ‘Proper Jew’ in the Kitchen,” by Annette Gendler in Tablet Magazine: “After I converted to Judaism, I learned how to make gefilte fish-two different ways, from two different women.” http://bit.ly/2p0bBBg
–“Buying a $500 House in Detroit: bidding on the soul of my city” – The Guardian: “At 23, Drew Philp bought a crumbling Detroit house at an auction and spent years making it livable again. In the process, he also learned to look out for his neighbors.” http://bit.ly/2oSfpWR
–“Free the Roses,” by Sarah Nicole Prickett in Hazlitt: “A frost in mid-April can blight a rose before it fully lives. By summer the bloom cycles are easier to control, and begin when the gardener deadheads the roses, inducing new life. This delicate internal clock is one thing that makes the rose a dread metaphor for romantic love.” http://bit.ly/2pZXhrF (h/t TheBrowser.com)
–“The History of Maldon Salt, the Stuff You Already Put on Everything,” by Nick Paumgarten in Bon Appetit: http://bit.ly/2pNJXuc
–“The Afterlife of F. Scott Fitzgerald,” by Joe Gioia in The Millions: “Benzedrine got him up in the morning; Nembutal tucked him in. A steady intake of cork-filtered cigarettes, coffee, Coca-Cola and pans of chocolate fudge rounded out the medications. Two mild heart attacks anticipated a massive third, which quickly ended things.” http://bit.ly/2oy1WjG
Playbookers
SPOTTED: Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch last night at Tunnicliff’s in Eastern Market with three staffers sitting at a table near the back … Bush 43 alum Nat Wienecke, former assistant Commerce secretary and now SVP for the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, and David Bowsher, partner in charge of Adams and Reese and former deputy Commerce general counsel, last night at BLT Prime.
OUT AND ABOUT — JONATHAN ALLEN and AMIE PARNES held a party last night to celebrate “Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton’s Doomed Campaign” at “Room,” a new art exhibition and event space in Shaw operated by Swatchroom’s Maggie O’Neill and Warren Weixler. Several of O’Neill’s paintings hung on one wall, and framed photos of “Shattered” passages decorated the opposite wall. $16.80 on Amazon http://amzn.to/2pBxaY2
SPOTTED: Kevin Doughten, Bridget Wagner Matzie, Kris Viesselman, Steve Komarow, Stephanie Allen, Kate Andersen Brower, Neil Irwin, Nick Schmidle, Rick Klein, Craig Gordon, Greg Giroux, Margaret Carlson, Betsy Fischer Martin, Bob Hillman, Nick Johnston, Brooke Brower, Chris Frates, Ethan Cohen, Coral Davenport, Sarada Peri, Abby Phillip, Lois Romano, Ian Swanson, Ben Kamisar, Sarah Courtney, Jamal Simmons, Pam Stevens, former Rep. Jason Altmire (R-Pa.), Rachael Heisler, Thad Inge, Michael LaRosa, Neil Grace, Rick Klein, Sabrina Siddiqui, Francesca Chambers and Michael Moroney, Nikki Schwab, Anita Kumar, Lesley Clark, Noelle Straub, Erika Bolstad.
–Folks gathered last night in the back patio at The Gibson to drink pre-prohibition cocktails and toast springtime, Ben Chang’s birthday and Ashley Chang’s return to D.C. Guests left with custom t-shirts, matchboxes, and music compilations. SPOTTED: Anna and Brad Klapper, Nick Johnston, Neil Irwin, Bill McQuillen, Corey Dade, Cameron French, Susan Lagana, Jess Smith, Michael Crowley, Nahal Toosi, Eric Pelofsky, Evan Medeiros and Bernadette Meehan, Andrew Weiss, Anastasia Dellaccio (a birthday girl today), Lauren Culbertson, Tara Maller, Mark Stroh, Suzanne Kianpour, Mikey Hoare, James Barbour, Irene Castagnoli, Mieke Eoyang, Graham Brookie, Brad Bosserman, Kristin Lee and Kevin Griffis, Ben Shannon, Neil Grace, Shin Inouye, Andrew Bates, Tom Hardy, Clark Jennings, John Dickas.
–SPOTTED at the book party for John Aloysius Farrell and his NYT bestselling “Richard Nixon: A Life,” hosted at the Boston Globe’s Washington bureau ($23.73 on Amazon http://amzn.to/2p0zlVS ): Susan Swain, Jules Witcover, Adam Clymer, Al Hunt, Norm Ornstein, Mark Shields, Tom Oliphant, John Harwood, Carl Cannon, Susan Page and Carl Leubsdorf, Charlie Pierce, Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), Dave Weigel, Bill Hamilton, Richard Ben Veniste, Adam Kushner, Coral Davenport, Margot Sanger-Katz, Jim Oliphant, Peter Gosselin, Gordon Witkin, Michael Kranish, Kathy Tolbert, Glenn Kessler, Aaron Zitner, Chris Rowland, Vicki McGrane, Matt Viser.
TRANSITIONS — Jessica Brady , press secretary for Senate Judiciary Committee ranking Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), is leaving Capitol Hill after five years to be the director of strategic communications and external affairs at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. … Margaret Mannix starts on Monday as VP of news and content at AARP; she was previously executive editor of U.S. News and World Report. … Sarah Gadsden has joined management consulting firm Eagle Hill Consulting as an Associate. She most recently served as a political digital media specialist at NBC News. …
… Rochelle Ritchie has joined the House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee as a press advisor, after spending two years as the director of comms at the Office of the State’s Attorney for Baltimore City, where she served as the spokesperson during the Freddie Gray riots and trials. Previously, she was a TV reporter for 12 years. … Laura Lucas Magnuson has started as director of PR and comms at Morgan Lewis. She previously served as the director of media relations for the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and a foreign service officer at State.
BIRTHWEEK (was yesterday): Will Boyington, comms director for Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) (hat tip: Caitlin Carroll)
BIRTHDAYS: Julie Whiston, outgoing WHCA executive director … Joe Pounder, president of Definers Public Affairs, president of America Rising, and the pride of Gettysburg, is 34 … Don Graham is 72 … Matt Moore, chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party … Politico’s Elana Schor … WJLA’s Jummy Olabanji … ABC News’ Arlette Saenz (h/t Jonathan Karl) … James Kvaal … McKinsey’s Elizabeth Ledet … Marisa Medrano Perez … Rep. Jody Hice (R-Ga.) is 57 … Rep. Jim Langevin (D-RI) is 53 … Shayndi Raice, WSJ Federal Reserve and economics reporter in Chicago … Brian Forde, an Obama WH OSTP alum now senior lecturer at MIT Sloan … Politico alum Matt Korade, now CQ’s deputy national security editor … Helene Cooper, NYT Pentagon reporter … Bob Reid, senior managing editor at Stars and Stripes and an AP alum … Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick, the pride of Ottawa, Canada … New Yorker’s Erica Hinsley … Ed Walsh … WashPost’s Sari Horwitz … Larry Brady … DCCC events director Krista Jenusaitis … Kombiz Lavasany, new dad, former DNC digital flack and current AFT super-strategist, is 4-0 (h/ts Elliot, Beatrice and the rest of the LaVera Strategies crew) … Wade Henderson, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights – he’s stepping down at the end of May after over 20 years with the organization … Patrick Rucker of Reuters … University of Richmond junior Isabella Gomez Torres, a Partners of the Americas alum (h/t Colby Bermel) … Rick Dykema, COS for Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, is 64 …
… Anastasia Dellaccio, WeWork’s director of public affairs for the Eastern U.S. and Canada (h/ts Ben Chang and Fran Holuba) … Zygmunt “Zygi” Wilf, real estate developer and principal owner of the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings, is 67 (h/t Jewish Insider) … Nicole Bamber, senior press manager for E! Entertainment / Esquire Network at NBCUniversal … Ed Walsh, former speechwriter for Pres. Bush, Mrs. Bush, Sec. Paulson and BC 04, is 4-0 (h/t Charlie Watkins) … Daniel Malloy, reporter and editor at OZY … Allie Medack, COS for global public policy at GM … New Hampshire’s Maureen Mooney … USAID’s Anthony Timpanaro … incoming DOT attorney Christopher Jennison … Evan Quinnell … McCain veteran Mark Braden, now of counsel at BakerHostetler … Doug Lowenstein of DSL Strategies and former president of the Private Equity Growth Capital Council … Elisabeth Goodridge, N.Y. Times newsletter editor … Adele M. Stan, columnist for the American Prospect … Walter Fields … Evan Dobelle … Lisa Davis Allison … Kyle Osborne … Yasmina Vinci, executive director of the National Head Start Association … Andrea Clarke … Britt Cocanour … David Barrett … Andrea LaRue … Logan Peyton-Massara … Chung Seto (h/ts Teresa Vilmain) … actor Jack Nicholson is 8-0 … movie director John Waters is 71 … actress Amber Heard is 31 (h/ts AP)
THE SHOWS, by @MattMackowiak, filing from Austin:
— CNN’s “State of the Union” with guest host Dana Bash: Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly … Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) … Rep. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.). Panel: Bakari Sellers, Amanda Carpenter, Neera Tanden and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.)
— “Fox News Sunday”: OMB Director Mick Mulvaney … Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.). Panel: Karl Rove, Peter Baker, Charles Lane and Kimberley Strassel … “Power Player of the Week” with activist and primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall
— NBC’s “Meet the Press”: New NBC News / Wall Street Journal poll … Reince Priebus … Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) … House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Panel: Cornell Belcher, Bob Costa, Savannah Guthrie and Peggy Noonan
— ABC’s “This Week”: Attorney General Jeff Sessions … California Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D-Cali.). Panel: Cincinnati-based radio talk show host Bill Cunningham, Stephanie Cutter, Matthew Dowd and Newt Gingrich
— CBS’s “Face the Nation”: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) … Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt) … Ohio Gov. John Kasich … Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly. Panel: Carol Lee, Jeffrey Goldberg, Reihan Salam and Mark Leibovich
— Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures”: Rep. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.) … Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) … The Heritage Foundation’s Nile Gardiner … former U.S. Amb. to South Korea Christopher Hill. Panel: Ed Rollins, Mary Kissel and Byron York
— Fox News’ “MediaBuzz”: Gillian Turner … Katie Pavlich … Mo Elleithee … Joe Concha … Tucker Carlson … tech expert Shana Glenzer
— CNN’s “Inside Politics” with John King: Panel: Jonathan Martin, Jackie Kucinich, Jeff Zeleny and Nia-Malika Henderson
— CNN’s “Reliable Sources”: Panel: The New York Times’ Emily Steel, Vanity Fair’s Sarah Ellison and Women, Action & the Media executive director Jamia Wilson … Alisyn Camerota … CNN legal analyst and former federal prosecutor Laura Coates and The Baltimore Sun’s David Zurawik. Panel: April Ryan, The Daily Caller’s Kaitlan Collins and Glenn Thrush
— Univision’s “Al Punto”: Catholic Priest and human rights activist Rev. Alejandro Solalinde … Veracruz, Mexico Governor Miguel Ángel Yunes … Bill de Blasio … former NSC senior director for the Western Hemisphere Lt. Col. Craig Deare … Scalabrini Centre of Montréal for Refugees and Immigrants director Miguel Arévalo … actor and producer Eugenio Derbez
— C-SPAN: “The Communicators”: ICANN board member George Sadowsky and Georgia Tech’s Milton Mueller … “Newsmakers” : Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.), questioned by WSJ’s Kristina Peterson and Bloomberg News’ Erik Wasson … “Q&A”: Author and historian David McCullough
— Washington Times’ “Mack on Politics” weekly politics podcast with Matt Mackowiak (download on iTunes or listen at http://bit.ly/2mGabdq: Roger Stone (live in Austin)
****** A message from UC Davis: Even before they arrive, our world’s littlest members are already benefiting from UC Davis innovation at our Fetal Care and Treatment Center. The center is home to three of the nation’s top authorities on fetal intervention, including the first woman in the world to perform open fetal surgery.
The center is part of UC Davis Children’s Hospital, which offers families the highest level of care for virtually every pediatric health condition. UC Davis also conducts more than 1,000 research and clinical trials annually, often supported by federal funding, that result in cost-saving, effective and safe treatments for patients all over the world. Learn more about how we bring hope to patients and families at 21stcentury.ucdavis.edu. ******
SUBSCRIBE to the Playbook family: POLITICO Playbook http://politi.co/1M75UbX … New York Playbook http://politi.co/1ON8bqW … Florida Playbook http://politi.co/1OypFe9 … New Jersey Playbook http://politi.co/1HLKltF … Massachusetts Playbook http://politi.co/1Nhtq5v … Illinois Playbook http://politi.co/1N7u5sb … California Playbook http://politi.co/2bLvcPl … Brussels Playbook http://politi.co/1FZeLcw … All our political and policy tipsheets http://politi.co/1M75UbX
View online
Did any of you capture Drumpf’s lies about how he and his administration are protecting water and the environment? You didn’t? Good for you. That sill SOB can’t tell the truth about anything.
Let’s do the environment and the universe a favor and impeach the fool.
@MFI – This week they allowed Round Up and over 40 proven carcinogens to be reintroduced to our livestock feed, fruits and vegetables. What a horrible time for food.
Word on the street, Porter, sez Monsanto was allowed to write its own glowing report on how safe Round Up is and some official at EPA signed on to it. Shades of old Tom Delay as House Majority Leader allowed lobbyists to write their own legislation for wingnuts to pass.
I heard that, too. Every weekday morning I get the California Today section of the NYTimes and we’re lucky most of our food comes from their
fields. Cali is as anti-Trump regulations as possible. Their Gov. Brown is a serious candidate for Pres. So is my Gov. Hick and so is Bernie.
Science might show that Mr. Sullivan is wearing a pair of my old pants.
Neighbors from Mobridge were there as well. Thank you for hosting the event. Valerie
This one’s for you marchers and scientists. https://tinyurl.com/k8kdk77
And Mobridge! Thank you, Valerie! Sorry to miss that pin on the map. I’ll add that to the text above. Thank you for coming!
With a limited capacity for cognitive dissonance, who needs science when you already have dogma and ideology?
I did not see any signs or hear any discussions at the march about the Borehole. I speak for no other marchers, but as I have stated in previous coverage of that topic, I support policy based on solid scientific evidence, as I do on other public policy matters…
…except for year-round school. In that case, my moral aversion to taking summer away from children takes precedence over research on academic achievement.
I had no idea Aberdeen had one of these marches, or I would have participated! I thought the closest march was down in Sioux Falls.
Anyone else notice that some folks are standing under a sign for chiropractic services?
From Wikipedia: “Chiropractic is a form of alternative medicine mostly concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of mechanical disorders of the musculoskeletal system, especially the spine. Proponents claim that such disorders affect general health via the nervous system. These claims are not backed by any evidence.”
Bone crackers are serious scientists. They understand the physical structure of your skeleton and use science to pop your joints and neck and stuff and then you feel better.
Wikipedia vs. grudznick: grudznick wins. You immediately lose any debate when your only source is Wikipedia. You immediately get a +5 when grudznick is a source, for grudznick is wise and experienced.
Side note: bone crackers and the Bone Cracker Caucus in the South Dakota legislatures are notoriously insaner than most, but they are good at the cracking part just not good at the part about voting on law bills.
Mr. H, I believe your abhorrence to year-round-school is based more on the desire to be a full time teacher and only work 9 months but get paid for 12 months. Most of the public and also I prefer year-round-school to keep teachers and kids out of our way from 8am to 3pm.
If the borehole was about science only, DOE would be going about it completely differently.
I am a advocate of year-round education, but many students already engage in a heavy schedule of academic study during the summer. Some students take summer courses, or go to Bible school. Debate students have 2-4 week camps where research and debate practice occurs. Other students have music and drama camps or science programs that they attend. Others have jobs where they learn life skills. Younger students set up lemonade stands. Others spend the time reading, learning to rock climb, at various athletic camps or playing sports. Others go to 4-H or nature study camps. Some go to stay with relatives. Some go to rodeos, powwows and other cultural events. Some babysit their siblings. Every students’ and every families’ situations are different, which is why it is difficult to find a way to have year round school.
We went to the science and climate events. Probably 5,000-10,000 participants in Madison, WI. Also, saw Bachelorette filming in town on same day.
Sorry not to get the word to you in time, Benjamin! We’re a low-budget operation. ;-)
Donald,
Science gets mixed up in politics because investments in science needed to protect the public good are not always made. Are you saying that protecting people from radioactive material is not in the public good? Or that we shouldn’t strive to find the best approach of dealing with radioactive wastes that we possibly can? Ultimately justifying the efficacy, safety, and financial feasibility of such a method is what this is about.
But as is too often the case, if one does not want to know the answer, one does not want the question asked in the first place. The borehole disposal method may actually be safe despite the political opposition, and in fact could be far more safer than leaving it on the surface. Questioning the results, or what the interpretations should be, or examining the costs would be a beneficial role that opponents could take to improve the final product.
Let’s also acknowledge that solving the problem of storing radioactive wastes would facilitate the growth of nuclear power, which is really what many oppose. In my opinion, new nuclear power is not going to occur without smaller reactors that are walk-away safe or the advanced reactors that additionally consume more of the wastes…and science plays a role in making those happen. They can actually help facilitate more renewables by replacing gas in its role of load-following.
As long as you do not call it scientific, then all is well. The boondoggle hole is for disposal just like all the rest of the ways in which we discard garbage. Only this time we are talking about nukes.
I take no issue with people spending their money on alternative therapy—I know individuals who have visited chiropractors and feel they benefited from their ministrations.
However, chiropractors have pushed some rotten legislation in South Dakota.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-04-24/lifeline-for-nuclear-in-u-s-states-seen-threatening-wind-solar
Hmmm….sounds like folks fear that if there are subsidies for nuclear, then there would be fewer dollars available to subsidize wind and solar. So nuclear subsidies are bad, and solar/wind subsidies are good. Hmmm.
Everyone agrees that more carbon gets emitted if nuclear plants are shut down. Either you burn all natural gas to produce the same (or more) power, or you burn less natural gas with renewables.
Let’s face it jerry, we all want to comment on the Dakota Free Press when we want to, not just when the power is available from solar and wind ;^).
That is why citizens are marching for science. They understand the difference between science research and wool being pulled over their eyes.
…or wool being stuffed into their eyes and ears and mouth so no observing or questioning can occur.
Robert,
You can’t teach an illogical old dog new tricks. The March for Science was to tell people like Jerry that ideological beliefs based on alternative facts will not get in the way of science.
Science and boreholes go together like trump and coherent speech.
The reasoning behind teaching an old dog a new trick has to do with wine, as an example . See some new wine does not have to body and depth needed for true honest taste or they would all taste the same. If you look at it scientifically, you can see what the science of wine making has discovered over the sands of time.
“With red wines, a high level of flavor compounds, such as phenolics (most notably tannins), will increase the likelihood that a wine will be able to age. Wines with high levels of phenols include Cabernet Sauvignon, Nebbiolo and Syrah. … These wines are ready to drink upon release and will not benefit much from aging” So, yeah, alternative facts will not solve the aging of wine anymore than a borehole is really a science project. What solves the aging of wine is to be able to recognize the difference of the wines. Regarding boreholes, you have to be able to solve the age old difference of bullcrap versus science and recognize the sources.
Sometimes we find that even the Romans had a good idea, like moderation in all things…including wine. But the Romans never had to deal with radioactive waste. Technically that may not be true….they may have handled radioactive ores and such without knowing anything about radioactivity or how to measure it. They probably also handled other heavy metals as well without any modern regulations.
The good news is that we can use the scientific method to design the borehole that is ultimately used to store waste. But that means taking and interpreting data first. So the bad news is that many do not want that scientific process to occur in the first place.
The Romans had a way called the vomitorium to solve to much drink. The only good news is that the boondoggle hole does not exist as a science project and only exists on paper for investors.
Rob and Daniel,
I have mentioned before that we need to take a hard look at the latest generation of Nuclear Power in the future with all the pros and cons of power generation that we have now. Dependable base loads based on real scientific facts that are practical. Our oceans are getting more acidic along with coral reefs being bleached which are valuable fish habitat. At what point will we reach a collapse in the food chain in our ocean?
Don’t we have a decline in Hydroelectric with dams being slowly removed since we have found them to be a negative to flushing silt from rovers and further endangering species like paddlefish and sturgeon? Look at the Missouri river south of Gavins Point Dam. It is filling in with silt.
With the stockpiling of used nuclear power plant fuel can we recycle and recapture some of that energy like France does? Are those breeder reactors? With recycling and reusing fuel will it reduce the total amount of space we will need for long term storage?
The House Energy and Commerce Committee is holding a hearing on Wednesday on the “Screw Nevada Again Bill,” otherwise known as the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 2017. Though it is mainly meant to push forward the Yucca Mountain proposal, it ought to give anyone in South Dakota pause as to what the federal government’s idea of “consent” is, because some of the provisions are meant to apply to other projects of the Department of Energy.
Two provisions are especially troubling:
(1) Within the bill is a provision that overrides any state water appropriation laws, thus requiring a state to provide such water as is needed to operate any nuclear waste facility, presumably also allowing the destruction of any aquifer. This is a stunningly arrogant projection of federal authority over state water law.
(2) “Consent” is very narrowly defined in the proposed bill. A vote of the people of the state or of the local unit of government or of tribal members would not be recognized as a means of consent or non-consent in the proposed bill. Further, the proposed bill doesn’t recognize any vote of a state Legislature for or against consent, so the bill passed last session in South Dakota that provided for a vote of the Legislature (and which Gov. Daugaard said he supported) would not be recognized as providing legal consent or non-consent. Only the Governor, the local unit of government and any Indian tribe with jurisdiction may provide “consent,” under the draft of the legislation. In other words, the public can be raped if less then 10 politicians approve. That’s a smidgeon of an improvement over current law, but it falls far short of any real “consent.”
In researching the 1984 Nuclear Waste Vote Initiative, we were able to figure out a potential way around the federal government’s pre-emption on this issue. The original bill in 1983 allowed a Governor to veto a site selection. However, the federal law was silent on how any state constructed the process by which the Governor could exercise that veto. We simply provided a vote of the people was required and the governor would have to follow the vote of the people in exercising or not exercising the veto.