Chancellor Angela Merkel‘s Bavarian allies suffered their worst election result since 1950 on Sunday, bleeding votes to the far-right in a setback that immediately raised tensions within Germany’s crisis-prone national government.
The Christian Social Union (CSU) won 35.6 percent of the vote, preliminary results showed, losing its absolute majority for only the second time since 1962 – an outcome sure to stoke infighting in the conservative party, already a difficult partner for Merkel in Berlin.
“Of course, today is not an easy day for the CSU. We did not achieve a good result,” Bavarian premier Markus Soeder told a gathering of his party. “We accept the result with humility,” he said, adding that the CSU nonetheless wanted to form a stable government as soon as possible.
The result, which saw the pro-immigration Greens come second and the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) enter the state assembly for the first time, means the CSU will need to form a coalition – a humiliation for a party used to ruling alone.
The Greens, who more than doubled their share of the vote to 18.3 percent, attracted support from more liberal CSU voters and from those who traditionally vote for the left-leaning Social Democrats (SPD), who won just 9.7 percent.
“The political earthquake was in Bavaria, but the aftershocks will be felt in Berlin … Talk will increase ever more about the end of the Merkel era,” said Fred Kempe, president of the Washington-based Atlantic Council think-tank.
Without naming Merkel, SPD leader Andrea Nahles said the “poor performance” of the federal government in Berlin was one of the reasons for her party’s weak showing in Bavaria. “It’s clear that something has to change,” she said.
Thorn in Merkel’s side
CSU leader Horst Seehofer has been a thorn in Merkel’s side since her 2015 decision to open Germany‘s borders to more than one million migrants, gradually shifting his party to the right in an ultimately futile effort to counter the rise of the AfD.
Michael Weigl, political scientist at the University of Passau, said personal attacks on Merkel by Seehofer – who is the federal interior minister – and his hardline rhetoric against asylum seekers were to blame for the CSU’s weak result.
“This created a political climate of polarisation from which the Greens and the AfD benefited the most, with their clear stances on immigration,” Weigl said. “For the CSU, this strategy backfired.”
Asked if he would resign as CSU leader, Seehofer told ZDF broadcaster that he was not ruling it out but there were many reasons for the party’s weak result which now had to be analysed prudently.
The AfD won 10.9 percent of the vote, the preliminary results showed. The Free Voters, a protest party that is the CSU’s most likely coalition party, won 11.6 percent. The CSU has ruled out an alliance with the AfD.
Infighting
Divisions between Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union and the CSU – conservative sister parties – have widened further since an inconclusive national election forced them into a coalition in March with the Social Democrats.
The Bavarian election is followed in two weeks by another test for Merkel’s conservative alliance: her CDU is likely to remain the largest party but lose votes in an election in the western state of Hesse, home to the financial centre of Frankfurt.
The CDU then holds its annual congress in December, when Merkel will seek re-election as party chairwoman – a bid senior conservatives have backed despite the parliamentary party removing her ally, Volker Kauder, as leader last month.
Before the Bavarian vote, Merkel urged her CDU and CSU allies to end their infighting.
Her fourth and probably final government has already come close to collapsing twice, in arguments over immigration and a scandal over Germany’s former domestic spymaster, while simmering rows over phasing out polluting diesel cars and whether to lower taxes for the rich threaten to boil over.
“Now, all eyes are on the next state election in Hesse,” said Kempe, at the Atlantic Council. “If things go badly there, the calls for Merkel to step down will increase.”
That number came in after barely a year and a half after Tesla started producing the car. Its sedan Model S and SUV Model X didn’t come close to that type of production number in that amount of time.
The achievement comes after a rough “production hell” year with Tesla missing its goals and hitting several roadblocks. Tesla overall pretty much caught up to Mercedes-Benz in third-quarter sales, according to MarketWatch. That’s 64,727 Teslas sold compared to 66,542 Mercedes vehicles. Tesla has its Model X and Model S, along with the more affordable Model 3.
The boost in Tesla orders comes before the Monday cut-off for a hefty federal tax credit. Car orders made by Monday are eligible for $7,500 refund, while anyone buying a Tesla afterward can get $3,750. Then after mid-2019 the credit shrinks to $1,875 before disappearing entirely.
Delivering all these vehicles is another story and something even CEO Elon Musk has apologized about.
Sorry for difficulties delivering your Tesla due to high volume! Critical to show that environmentally sustainable is financially sustainable.
Dave Grohl and friends are up to their usual tricks and treats, this time inviting 10-year-old Collier Cash Rule on stage in Kansas City, Missouri to jam out with the band and, whatdoyaknow, Collier just so happens to be a Metallica expert.
Answering Grohl’s challenge, Collier jumps into the familiar riff that opens Metallica’s “Enter Sandman.” After some chit-chat with Grohl, Collier than ripped out the opening lines of “Welcome Home (Sanitarium).”
It’s not the first time Grohl has been blown away by a fan’s talent and you’d be forgiven in being just a little suspicious of how spontaneous these guest artist visits really are.
Either way, though, they’re extremely entertaining, so who are we to argue?
With Butler seemingly staying put for the time being, Charania also reported the four-time All-Star is “expected to play” in Minnesota’s regular-season opener Wednesday against the San Antonio Spurs.
This article will be updated to provide more information on this story as it becomes available.
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On Friday evening, Natalie Portman delivered a stirring speech at Variety’s “Power of Women” event that resonated beyond the audience as video of the speech spread across the internet, delivering the message of “Time’s Up.”
Beginning with a blistering condemnation of Harvey Weinstein — “Harvey Weinstein, the man whose name has become synonymous with ‘serial rapist,’ might never suffer any legal consequences” — Portman transitioned to a discussion on the lack of gender parity in the entertainment industry and beyond.
She meticulously dispels the myth women leave the workforce across all industries to focus on families: “There are too many that don’t choose to have children, do not yet have children, or have grown children to account for the gaping lack of women in leadership positions in almost every industry.”
And there was plenty of discussion of harassment in the workplace, the fallout from such harassment, and the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund which was used to help Melanie Kohler to defeat a defamation suit brought by director Brett Ratner, whom Kohler accused of rape.
Portman’s powerful speech resonated with viewers who took to Twitter to share their thoughts and admiration.
San Salvador – Maria Barrera remembers the moment the news of Archbishop Oscar Romero’s murder reached the town of El Rosario.
“My body went cold,” Barrera recalls. “I cried because we were left without our pastor.”
Romero was killed by members of a death squad while performing mass at the Church of the Divine Providence in San Salvador on March 24, 1980.
His death sent shockwaves throughout El Salvador, which was experiencing the start of a civil war that would last more than a decade and leave 75,000 people dead and thousands more disappeared.
The day before his death, Romero publicly denounced the violence carried out by the country’s armed forces against civilian populations during a mass at the National Cathedral.
“In the name of God … I beg you, I beseech you, I order you to stop the repression,” he said.
On Sunday, nearly four decades later, Romero, along with six others including Pope Paul VI, was made a saint.
Tens of thousands, including Barrera, marched through San Salvador as part of procession of celebration that ultimately arrived to the National Cathedral. Thousands remained through the night to listen to the Pope Francis’s declaration, which occurred at 2:00am (08:00GMT) in El Salvador.
A woman carries an image of Saint Romero during the march on Saturday [Jeff Abbott/Al Jazeera]
Barrera describes the time she met Romero as a teen. The now 63-year-old had lunch with him on a visit to her village of El Rosario, Cuscatla in 1978.
“He was very humble,” she says.
“I knew he would be declared a saint,” Barrera tells Al Jazeera. “I’m honoured and privileged to say that I once ate with this saint.
Tears of joy, cheers, and shouts of “your people made you a saint” filled the Gerardo Barrios plaza on Sunday in front of the Cathedral as Pope Francis declared Romero a saint.
Similar vigils occurred in parishes across El Salvador in commemoration of the canonisation of Romero, including at the Church of the Divine Providence in San Salvador, where Romero was murdered.
Romero was the voice of those who did not have a voice. He was with the poor. He became a saint because his people had already declared him a saint. He is the saint of the poor of the world.
Maria Barrera
Romero’s path to sainthood began in 2015, when Vatican theologians declared him a martyr, saying he was killed “in hatred of the faith”.
The Church then looked to verify a miracle attributed to Romero, which was confirmed and the canonisation process started, despite deep opposition from some within the Vatican who viewed Romero’s life and symbolism after his death too political.
‘On the side of the people’
Romero was deeply loved by the poor of El Salvador and of Latin America for whom he dedicated much of his life. During the canonisation ceremony, Pope Francis praised Romero for being “close to the poor and to his people”.
Archbishop Oscar Romero calls on the international community to put pressure on the government to end repression in El Salvador [File: Getty Images]
“This is a moment of pride for Latin America,” says Elvia Cazun, a 38-year-old nun who has worked in the Monseñor Romero Historical Center for the last four years. “[He was] someone who lived the experiences of the people,” she tells Al Jazeera “A pastor must be at the side of the people in their suffering.”
Barrera says he liked to be on the same level of the people he served.
“If he was told that he would be given food that is better than the others, he never wanted it,” she recalls. “He wanted to eat what all the others were eating,” she adds.
Romero’s concern for the poor began after seeing the realities of migrant labourers who travelled to San Miguel for the coffee harvest.
“He saw the poverty that the laborers faced,” says Cazun. “From this moment, he accompanied them.”
In the course of the beginning of the civil war, which lasted from 1979 through 1992 and left more than 75,000 people dead and thousands more disappeared, he became an outspoken critic of the violence against El Salvador’s poor, as well as the rampant inequalities in the country.
“Romero was concerned for the situation of the people,” Barrera tells Al Jazeera. “People arrived from small villages to tell him that there was repression. He stood in solidarity with the people and denounced these injustices.”
After his death, Romero became a symbol throughout Latin America with graffiti, signs and memorabilia lining the streets throughout major cities of El Salvador.
“Romero was the voice of those who did not have a voice,” Barrera says. “He was with the poor. He became a saint because his people had already declared him a saint. He is the saint of the poor of the world.”
‘Who is playing what role? Sometimes it could be very confusing,’ Cui Tiankai said.
Twenty-one months after President Donald Trump took office, China still does not know which of his top advisers has the most influence over the president’s handling of increasingly fraught trade tensions with Beijing, Cui Tiankai, China’s ambassador to the United States, said Sunday.
“You tell me,” Cui told “Fox News Sunday” anchor Chris Wallace, when asked which administration official can reliably speak for Trump on trade issues. “Honestly, I’ve been talking to other ambassadors in Washington, D.C. This is also part of their problem.”
Story Continued Below
“What?” Wallace asked.
“They don’t know who is the final decision-maker. Of course, presumably, the president would take the final decision. But who is playing what role? Sometimes it could be very confusing,” Cui said.
Typically, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative takes the lead in trade negotiations with other countries. But early in the administration, before U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer was confirmed, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross were put in charge of a new Comprehensive Economic Dialogue with Beijing, which was swiftly abandoned after it failed to produce big results.
Since then, Lighthizer’s office has spearheaded an investigation into China’s industrial policies and intellectual property practices that provided the legal basis for Trump to impose tariffs on more than $250 billion worth of Chinese goods.
However, Lighthizer appears to have played only a supporting role in several rounds of high-profile negotiations this year that have made little progress in narrowing differences between the two sides. That, combined with other frictions on the military and political front, has prompted talk of a U.S.-Sino cold war.
White House chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow, appearing on the Fox News show, said: “I’ll leave it to the historians about the term ‘cold war.’ But I will say this: I’ve been very involved in the trade talks with China. Those talks have been unsatisfactory. We’ve made our asks. You can’t steal American intellectual property. You can’t force technology transfers.”
White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Cui was “correct that the president is the final decision-maker.”
She also said Lighthizer is “the lead negotiator, but we have a deep bench of people with strong understanding of trade policy that are part of the team.”
Both Kudlow and Mnuchin are seen as more moderate on China, while Lighthizer, Ross and White House trade adviser Peter Navarro generally take a more hawkish line. Administration officials have previously played down reports of major internal disagreements, while acknowledging Trump encourages his aides to express different points of view.
Vice President Mike Pence recently ratcheted up the administration’s criticism in a speech that accused China of economic aggression and of trying to influence the November midterm elections by targeting its retaliation on more than $110 billion worth of American exports on farm goods and other products from states that voted for Trump in 2016.
“All these accusations are groundless,” Cui said “One of the fundamental principles in China’s policy is noninterference in the internal affairs of other countries, and we have been consistent in this position. We have a very good track record.”
He also rejected Navarro’s description of China as “a parasite of the world” that has fueled its growth at the expense of other countries.
“China has 1.4 billion people. It would be hard to imagine that one-fifth of the global population could develop and prosper not by relying mainly on their own efforts, but by stealing or by forcing some transfer of technology from others. That’s impossible,” he said.
On a more positive note, Cui said Secretary of State’s Mike Pompeo’s recent visit to Beijing was a “very good communications, at such a high level, between the two sides. And it’s very timely.”
But he criticized a pending $330 billion U.S. arms sale to Taiwan as a “very good example of U.S. interference” in the region, and defended China’s naval operations in the South China Seas against charges that his country is restricting freedom of navigation.
Still, Cui seemed to hold out the possibility of some progress when Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are in Beijing from Nov. 30 through Dec. 1 for the annual G-20 leaders meeting, although it has not yet been confirmed that they will hold bilateral talks.
In meetings at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago vacation resort in Florida in April 2017 and in Beijing last November, “it was so clear that such top-level communication played a key role, irreplaceable role, in guiding the relationship forward,” Cui said.
“There is a good mutual understanding and a good working relationship between the two [leaders]. I hope and I’m sure this will continue,” he said.
Sure, Ohio State’s marching band may be more on top of current trends with the backpack kid homage, but Iowa State’s marching band knows that the inflatable dinosaur suits can elevate any performance of the Jurassic Park theme.
During halftime of the Iowa State-West Virginia game, the ISU marching band performed John Williams’ classic theme from Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster dinosaur hit to honor the film’s 25th anniversary and added the dancing dinos as a spectacular flourish.
Now, to be fair, it’s not the first time this has happened. Just last year, the University of Michigan marching band did a very similar thing and it wasn’t lost on some viewers.
Still, Iowa State’s performance did yield plenty of magical Jurassic Park-themed responses.
They were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should
We had planned a field show like this during the Alamo bowl: The Field Show of How Oil is Made. All of our dinos would die and get churned into oil. Needless to say our sponsor Valero was not excited about this idea
THE PRESIDENT’S WEEK … Tuesday: PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP will have lunch with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Wednesday: There will be an 11:30 a.m. Cabinet meeting, and at 4 p.m., the president will present a Medal of Honor. Thursday: The president will go to Missoula, Mont., for a political rally. Friday: Trump will go to Mesa, Ariz., for a political rally. Saturday: The president will go to Elko, Nev., for a political rally.
THE KINGDOM SWIPES BACK … WAPO’S LOVEDAY MORRIS in ISTANBUL: “Saudi Arabia on Sunday said it rejects threats’ and political pressure over the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi in its consulate in Istanbul, a day after President Trump said there would be ‘severe punishment’ if Saudi Arabia is found to have killed the Washington Post Global Opinions columnist.
“Threatening to impose economic sanctions and repeating ‘false accusations’ will not undermine the country’s standing, said the statement on Saudi Arabia’s official press agency, which quoted an ‘official source.’ The kingdom’s government and people are ‘as glorious and steadfast as ever,’ it said.” WaPo … Full text of the statement
SUNDAY BEST … GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS spoke to LARRY KUDLOW on ABC’s “This Week”: STEPHANOPOULOS: “Your colleague, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, is under some pressure as well. He’s planning to attend this investor conference in Saudi Arabia. Many leading CEOs are pulling out of it to protest this action. Is it appropriate for him to be going to that investor conference?”
KUDLOW: “Well, by the way, it’s actually a [conference] about terrorist financing and how to stop it. So it’s a very important subject. Regarding Secretary Mnuchin — spoke to him last evening. At the moment, he is intending to go because of the importance of the issue of ending terrorist financing. But, again, along with the president and the general investigation Mr. Mnuchin will make up his mind as the week progresses and new information surfaces.”
— JAKE TAPPER had SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FLA.) on CNN’s “State of the Union”: RUBIO: “I don’t think we should continue business as usual until we know exactly what’s happened here. Because what we do know is this: he walked into that consulate and never came out. So the only two things that could’ve happened is he’s alive and somehow still in there. Or he’s dead, and the Saudis are the ones who did it. There’s no other explanation for it.
“Because if there was video of him leaving they would’ve shown it by now. As far as arms sales: I would not have said it the way the president said it. Arms sales are important, not because of the money, but it also provides leverage over their future behavior. They’ll need our spare parts, they’ll need our training. And those are things we can use to influence their behavior. But I would not take cutting that off off the table.”
— RUBIO to JOHN DICKERSON on CBS’s “Face the Nation”: “Look if you don’t sell arms, they’re going to buy them anyways. And then in the future when you want to influence Saudi behavior on another topic, you’re not going to have anything to threaten them with or anything to hold over their head.
“But to me it isn’t about the money. I don’t know if the president had just been briefed and that’s kind of how he used it or expressed it. But the bottom line is I mean there’s. The money. There’s no way. There’s no — not enough money in the world for us to buy back our credibility on human rights if — if we do not move forward and take swift action on this if in fact if and when it’s proven to be true.”
JUST POSTED … NEW WASHINGTON POST/ABC POLL … SCOTT CLEMENT and DAN BALZ: “Three weeks before critical midterm elections, voters are expressing significantly more interest in turning out than they were four years ago, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll. Enthusiasm is up across almost all demographic groups, but the increases are greater among younger adults, nonwhite voters and those who say they favor Democrats for the House.
“At the same time, President Trump’s job approval rating has risen five points after tying a record low point in August, although Democrats maintain a double-digit advantage in overall support for Congress, the poll finds.
“Four years ago, midterm voter turnout fell to its lowest level in more than half a century. Republicans were able to capitalize by expanding their House majority and taking control of the Senate. Today, with that GOP House majority at risk and some close Senate races that will determine who has control of that chamber in January, a 77 percent majority of registered voters say they are certain to vote next month or have already voted, up from a 65 percent majority in Post-ABC polls in October 2014.” WaPo
ANOTHER “60 MINUTES” SNEAK PEEK … TRUMP CALLS MATTIS “SORT OF A DEMOCRAT” WHEN ASKED IF HE WAS LEAVING THE ADMINISTRATION … LESLEY STAHL: “You have said that this administration is like a smooth running machine. And yet, we keep hearing that the White House is in chaos.” TRUMP: “It’s wrong, it’s so false. It’s fake news. Now, did — out of hundreds and hundreds of people, some I could’ve not picked. I’m changing things around. And I’m entitled to. I have people now on standby that will be phenomenal. They’ll come into the administration, they’ll be phenomenal.” STAHL: “More people going to go?” TRUMP: “Yeah. Other people will go. Sure.”
STAHL: “But so many people — you have a kind of a record of — on turnover.” TRUMP: “I told you the story. I told you the story. We have a great — I think I have a great Cabinet. There are some people that I’m not happy with. I have some people that I’m not thrilled with. And I have other people that I’m beyond thrilled with.” STAHL: “What about Gen. Mattis? Is he going to leave?” TRUMP: “Well, I don’t know. He hasn’t told me that.” STAHL: “Do you want him to leave?” TRUMP: “I have a very good relationship with him. I had lunch with him two days ago. I have a very good relationship with him. It could be that he is. I think he’s sort of a Democrat, if you want to know the truth. But Gen. Mattis is a good guy. We get along very well. He may leave. I mean, at some point, everybody leaves. Everybody. People leave. That’s Washington.” 1-min. video
LET’S ALL BE FRIENDS … WAPO’S GABRIEL POGRUND in Richmond, Ky., and ELISE VIEBECK: “Trump celebrates McConnell, federal judicial appointments at Kentucky rally”: “President Trump on Saturday railed against the ‘Democratic politics of hatred, anger and division’ at a rally that celebrated his appointments to the federal bench and his alliance with Kentucky’s senators, especially Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R).
“With less than a month until the midterm elections, Trump traveled to Madison County to campaign for the reelection of Rep. Garland ‘Andy’ Barr (R-Ky.), a three-term congressman facing a tough race against Democratic newcomer Amy McGrath.
“‘Not everybody knows that Mitch is a great guy,’ Trump said to laughs, calling the Republican leader ‘one of the most powerful men in the world . . . there’s nobody tougher, there’s nobody smarter.’ McConnell, who typically avoids commenting on Trump’s day-to-day remarks and behavior, spoke warmly about him to the crowd.” WaPo
Good Sunday morning. AXIOS’ JONATHAN SWAN reported that PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP has chosen Pat Cipollone as his new White House counsel and that Cipollone has started to fill out the required paperwork for the job. Axios
SUNDAY BEST (cont.) …CHRIS WALLACE had CHINESE AMBASSADOR CUI TIANKAI on “Fox News Sunday”: WALLACE: “Are you clear who President Trump listens to on trade issues, whether it’s moderates like Kudlow and Mnuchin or hardliners like Navarro?” CUI: “You tell me.”
WALLACE: “You have confusion about this? I mean, that’s obviously part of your job as the Chinese ambassador, to be able to report back to Beijing who has the president’s ear.” CUI: “Honestly, I’ve been talking to ambassadors of other countries in Washington D.C. And this is also part of their problem.”
WALLACE: “What?” CUI: “They don’t know who is the final decision maker. Of course, presumably, the president will take the final decision, but who is playing what role? Sometimes it could be very confusing.”
KUDLOW also talked the economy on “Fox News Sunday” with CHRIS WALLACE: “These kinds of corrections are absolutely normal this one so far is rather moderate I think it’s about 5 percent or so 6 percent. Were still ahead year to date in the major indexes by 4 or 5%.
“The economy is in terrific shape we are in an economic boom, people thought it would be impossible. The reality is we’re clicking on all cylinders, Americans, entrepreneurs, workers are absolutely crushing it profits are rising, confidence is up blue collars are up wages are up. So I think the background for this is very positive for the stock market as I said corrections come and go and people should stay very calm over these things. It’s quite normal.”
— JOSH HAWLEY spoke with CHUCK TODD on NBC’s “Meet the Press”: TODD: “All right, final question for you. We found a clip of a TV ad you ran when you were running for attorney general in 2016. Here’s what you said in that ad. … ‘Jefferson City is full of career politicians just climbing the ladder, using one office to get another. I’m Josh Hawley. I think you deserve better.’ You, within two years, immediately ran for the U.S. Senate. What would you say to yourself in that ad?”
HAWLEY: “I would say that the future of our country is at stake. And I would say you can see it with the hearings with Justice Kavanaugh. You can see it in what we’re seeing out on the streets now. The future of this country and our way of life here is at stake. And it’s incumbent upon all of us to do all that we can. I’m trying to do my part to make sure that we fight for the future of this country and fight for Missouri. Claire McCaskill has not, but I will.”
DES MOINES REGISTER: “Capitol harassment: Lewd, intimidating conduct has created a ‘toxic’ Statehouse, staffers and lawmakers say,” by Jason Clayworth: “For more than a decade, Iowa legislators and staff members engaged in lewd and sexually aggressive behavior, creating a ‘toxic’ environment and a ‘culture of secrets’ at the state Capitol, according to detailed court depositions reviewed by the Des Moines Register.
“The depositions, taken under oath by about two-dozen lawmakers and legislative staffers, comprise more than 1,000 pages of documents previously unreleased to the public. They were part of a landmark sexual harassment case that resulted in the state of Iowa paying a $1.75 million settlement last year.
“The depositions detail more than 50 instances of inappropriate behavior that played out over years at the Capitol, including allegations that: Multiple staff members watched pornography at work, including male staffers who gathered to view a video of topless women jumping on a trampoline to the tune of ‘Jingle Bells.’
“Staff members and lawmakers described female co-workers and lobbyists in lewd or sexually derogatory ways. For example, male legislative staffers would ‘go out in like a little pack,’ assessing the physical attributes of female lobbyists. One male legislative employee called women ‘c—-’, a vulgar term referring to female genitalia.
“A senator gossiped with a colleague that a female senator was sexually promiscuous, while another senator asked a staff member on the Senate floor about the size of her nipples. The latter senator’s drinking problems prompted a Senate leader to bring a breathalyzer to test his colleague before he spoke on the Senate floor.” DSM … Front page
JARED UPDATE … NYT, A1: “Kushner Paid No Federal Income Tax for Years, Documents Suggest: Confidential documents reviewed by The Times indicate that Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and adviser, probably paid little or no income tax from 2009 to 2016,” by Jesse Drucker and Emily Flitter: “Over the past decade, Jared Kushner’s family company has spent billions of dollars buying real estate. His personal stock investments have soared. His net worth has quintupled to almost $324 million.
“And yet, for several years running, Mr. Kushner — President Trump’s son-in-law and a senior White House adviser — appears to have paid almost no federal income taxes, according to confidential financial documents reviewed by The New York Times.
“His low tax bills are the result of a common tax-minimizing maneuver that, year after year, generated millions of dollars in losses for Mr. Kushner, according to the documents. But the losses were only on paper — Mr. Kushner and his company did not appear to actually lose any money.
“The losses were driven by depreciation, a tax benefit that lets real estate investors deduct a portion of the cost of their buildings from their taxable income every year. In 2015, for example, Mr. Kushner took home $1.7 million in salary and investment gains. But those earnings were swamped by $8.3 million of losses, largely because of ‘significant depreciation’ that Mr. Kushner and his company took on their real estate, according to the documents reviewed by The Times.
— WAPO’S AMY GARDNER: “Crackdowns on potential voter fraud fuel worries about ballot access in November”: “In Georgia, election officials have suspended more than 50,000 applications to register to vote, most of them for black voters, under a rigorous Republican-backed law that requires personal information to exactly match driver’s license or Social Security records. In Texas, the state attorney general has prosecuted nearly three dozen individuals on charges of voter fraud this year, more than the previous five years combined.
“And in North Carolina, a U.S. attorney and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued subpoenas last month demanding that virtually all voting records in 44 counties be turned over to immigration authorities within weeks — a move that was delayed after objections from state election officials. Voting rights advocates said Republicans are seizing on sporadic voting problems in an effort to disenfranchise voters of color.” WaPo
TV TONIGHT — “How the Secret Service Foiled an Assassination Plot Against Trump by ISIS: A pair of Secret Service agents assigned to protect President Trump open up about the anxieties of their jobs and a pair of credible assassination threats they stopped in Manila,” by the Daily Beast’s Marlow Stern: “[Last year] there was a plot against President Trump’s life in Manila—a shocking fact revealed in ‘United States Secret Service: On the Front Line,’ a two-hour special airing on the National Geographic Channel Sunday night.” Daily Beast … Trailer
SNL LAST NIGHT – “Kanye West Donald Trump Cold Open”: “Donald Trump (Alec Baldwin) meets with Kanye West (Chris Redd) and Jim Brown (Kenan Thompson) in the Oval Office.” 6-min video
A FEW DAYS AGO, we featured a story from the San Jose Mercury News about Susan Rice’s son at Stanford. The Stanford Daily first reported on this. Here is their story.
MEDIAWATCH – FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: TOBY HARNDEN, managing editor of the WASHINGTON EXAMINER, and the Examiner have apologized for including several paragraphs from a New York Times story about Jared Kushner’s relationship with Saudi Arabia in an Examiner story by Joel Gehrke. The Examiner is going to correct the original article and also put Harnden’s statement at the top of the article. MSNBC’s David Gura first pointed out the similarities on Twitter. Gura’s tweets with screenshots…The Examiner story…The Times story by Mark Landler, Edward Wong and Eric Schmitt
— HARNDEN’s statement: “The Washington Examiner apologizes for inadvertently including paragraphs from a New York Times story in an Examiner story about Jared Kushner and Saudi Arabia. I was editing the story. During the editing process, I put a note, in an unpublished story file, that included a section from a story by the New York Times. The note was intended to inform the reporter and give him an example of the kind of approach he could consider in the Examiner story.
“The note was not clear, however, and the reporter thought I had rewritten part of his story. The material from the New York Times was then subsequently mistakenly published in error and without any attribution. This should not have happened and the Examiner regrets this editing error.”
PASTOR BRUNSON RELEASED … CHARLOTTE OBSERVER: “‘You really fought for us,’ freed N.C. pastor tells President Trump,” by Joe Marusak and Brian Murphy: “Brunson placed his left hand on Trump’s right shoulder and asked God to ‘pour out your Holy Spirit on President Trump, that you give him supernatural wisdom to accomplish all the plans you have for this country and for him. I ask that you give him wisdom to lead this country into righteousness.’
“Trump also lent levity to the gathering when he later asked Brunson’s wife whom she voted for in the presidential election. She appeared to respond she voted for Trump. Andrew Brunson also responded, prompting laughter when he said, in all seriousness, that he voted for Trump by sending an absentee ballot from prison.
“Trump also thanked Turkey’s president for Brunson’s release, saying political circumstances in that country made it difficult to pull off. Trump said he thought he had Brunson all but released two months ago.” Charlotte Observer
2020 WATCH — “Kamala Harris books first trip to Iowa,” by David Siders: “The freshman senator will travel for the first time this year to the first-in-the-nation caucus state on Oct. 22-23, as she prepares for a potential presidential run. Harris, a California Democrat, will make appearances in Des Moines and Cedar Rapids, with other stops expected to be added.
“The trip will follow a visit to South Carolina, another early primary state, on Oct. 19, and to battleground state Wisconsin on Oct. 21. Following the visits to Iowa and South Carolina, Harris will have appeared in three of four early primary states this election cycle. She has yet to campaign in New Hampshire.” POLITICO
BONUS GREAT WEEKEND READS, curated by Daniel Lippman:
— “My Bodyguard, My Self,” by Jamie Lauren Keiles in Topic: “These days, it seems like everyone has a security detail. We spent a day with three men in suits to find out how it feels to be safe.” Topic (h/t Longform.org)
— “How Will Police Solve Murders on Mars?” by Geoff Manaugh in The Atlantic: “In the dry, freezer-like air and extreme solar exposure of Mars, DNA will age differently than it does on Earth. Blood from blunt-trauma and stab wounds will produce dramatically new spatter patterns in the planet’s low gravity. The Martian environment is so lethal that a murder could be disguised as a natural act. A weak seal on a space suit, an oxygen meter that appeared to have failed, could be a homicide hiding in plain sight.” The Atlantic
— “The amazing ascent of Priscilla Chan,” by Robert Safian in Quartz: “[Chan Zuckerberg Initiative] may be the world’s best-funded startup ever, with $45 billion pledged in that initial announcement, some 99% of the family’s wealth. … Among CZI’s goals: to help prevent, cure or manage all disease over the next century. (That’s right: all disease.) Oh, and at the same time, CZI wants to remake public education, pursue far-reaching immigration and criminal justice reform, and support affordable housing.” Quartz
— “Raised by YouTube,” by Alexis Madrigal in The Atlantic: “The platform’s entertainment for children is weirder—and more globalized—than adults could have expected.” Atlantic
— “The Daring Journey Across Antarctica That Became a Nightmare,” by Kim Stanley Robinson in Smithsonian in Dec. 2017: “By June of 1911 Scott’s shore team of 25 men had been at Cape Evans for half a year. On June 27 Scott’s second-in-command, Edward Wilson, took marine lieutenant Henry Bowers and zoological assistant Apsley Cherry-Garrard out with him on an attempt to reach Cape Crozier about 65 miles away. They were going to man-haul two sledges, 130 miles round trip, exposed to the coldest temperatures that anybody had ever traveled in, approaching 75 degrees below zero Fahrenheit.” Smithsonian
— “My Fiancé Jamal Khashoggi Was a Lonely Patriot,” by Hatice Cengiz in the NYT: “His ideas will reverberate from Turkey to Saudi Arabia and beyond. Oppression never lasts forever. Tyrants eventually pay for their sins.” NYT
— “Ivanka Trump’s Gurus Say Their Techniques Can End War and Make You Fly,” by Justin Rohrlich in the Daily Beast: “Celebs from Katy Perry to Ivanka say Transcendental Meditation helps them focus. The movement’s chief promises more: quasi-magical powers and the ability to steer world events.” Daily Beast
— “The Ghosts of the Glacier,” by Sean Flynn in GQ: “People have been disappearing on glaciers for as long as people have been walking on glaciers. And for most of human history, they were simply gone, vanished, entombed in a hopelessly deep, dense river of ice, carried away by a slow, grinding current. How many, no one knows, because that number is lost to time. … Except then the world got hotter, and the glaciers got smaller, and now, after decades, centuries, millennia, they’re slowly surrendering the dead. The ghosts of the past are returning, and the present is that much more haunting.” GQ
— “The New Race for Contemporary Arts Dominance in the Middle East,” by Michael Greenwald in the Belfer Center: “By investing in art and culture, the Gulf states are crafting a sense of historical prestige and a cultural narrative for their local citizens and visitors to feel and bring home. … The contest for art dominance captures the sentiment that these states have learned: control of the narrative confers true cultural power.” Belfer
— “The Channel Coyotes,” by Gavin Van Horn in Emergence Magazine – per TheBrowser.com’s description: “An accurate count of coyotes in Chicago is harder to find than coyotes themselves. I’ve heard rumours there are three thousand, possibly more. … Hundreds sport radio collars, so a good deal is known about their movements and territorial habits … What these data points tell us is that coyotes are not just on the outermost edges of the city. They are in our city center. Coyotes are willingly moving to Chicago.” Emergence
— “‘We Try to Learn Every Terrorist Attack’: Inside the Top-Secret Israeli Anti-Terrorism Operation That’s Changing the Game,” by Adam Ciralsky in November’s Vanity Fair: “Governments around the world are quietly turning to YAMAM, Israel’s special police force, for help with their most intractable security problems. And now, elite commandos publicly reveal the tactics that have made it one of the most fearsome counterterrorism units in the world.” VF
— “Americans Strongly Dislike PC Culture,” by Yascha Mounk in The Atlantic: “On social media, the country seems to divide into two neat camps: Call them the woke and the resentful. … Reality is nothing like this. As scholars Stephen Hawkins, Daniel Yudkin, Miriam Juan-Torres, and Tim Dixon argue in a report published Wednesday, ‘Hidden Tribes: A Study of America’s Polarized Landscape,’ most Americans don’t fit into either of these camps. They also share more common ground than the daily fights on social media might suggest—including a general aversion to PC culture.” Atlantic … The report
WEEKEND WEDDINGS — Brooke Ericson, chief of staff for FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly, married Shawn Donilon of the National Association of Broadcasters, at East Lynn Farm in Round Hill, Va. Pic
— “Lauren Gann, Robert Roberts” – N.Y. Times: “The couple met at Georgia Southern University, from which they graduated. The bride, 29, is a senior manager of marketing communications at Hearst in New York [and is a Fox News alum]. … The groom, 28, is an associate at Burson Cohn & Wolfe, a public relations firm in New York.” With a pic. NYT
— “Laura Cederberg, Michael Siebenaler” – N.Y. Times: “Ms. Cederberg, 36, is an assistant chief of staff in St. Paul to Gov. Mark Dayton, a Democrat. She graduated from the University of Michigan. She worked on the first senatorial campaigns for Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken, both Minnesota Democrats; she was the research director in 2012 on the campaign for Senator Mazie Hirono, a Democrat of Hawaii. … Mr. Siebenaler, 45, is a senior adviser in the Minneapolis office of United States Representative Keith Ellison, a Minnesota Democrat.” With a pic. NYT
BIRTHDAYS: Mike Feldman is 5-0 (hat tip: Joe Lockhart) … Bob Costa, national political reporter for the Washington Post, moderator of PBS’s “Washington Week,” and a political analyst for NBC News and MSNBC … Eli Lehrer, president of R Street … Peter Osnos (h/t son Evan) … Cody Keenan … Norm Ornstein is 7-0 … former White House counsel John W. Dean III is 8-0 … Dukes Wooters (h/t Ken Vogel) … Melissa Maxfield … Lorie Slass … Ira Shapiro … Tucker Foote, SVP and head of North America public policy and global trade for MasterCard (h/ts Jon Haber) … Politico’s Erin Aulov … Catherine Loper … Chris Walker … Brian Hart … Isabel Milán … Marc Dunkelman … Marco Acevedo … Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.) is 64 … J.C. Derrick … Nick Stanley … TNR’s Emily Atkin (h/t Nihal Krishan) … Daniel Castro of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (h/t the ITIF team) …
… Leigh Farris, managing director of CEO communications at Goldman Sachs (h/t Jake Siewert) … David Lehrer … former Rep. Steve Rothman (D-N.J.) is 66 … Mike Hook, COS for Rep. Chris Collins … Jack Fitzpatrick, a reporter at BGOV … Robbie Myers is 32 (h/t his DOE colleagues) … John Hanlon … Zeenat Rahman … Collin Burton … Chris May … Boston Globe’s Victoria McGrane (h/ts Annie Linskey and Lisa Lerer) … Warren Hendriks … Daniel Castro … Dave Leichtman, of Microsoft’s Defending Democracy Program, is 4-0 (h/t Ginny Badanes) … Eve Lieberman, COS for Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) … Jada Bromberg … Lauren Lyster … Sydney Lee Simons … Jason Epstein … Brian Bond … Richard Skinner … David Wallace … Michele Curtis … Anang Mittal … Saul Pink … Jerry Ceppos is 72.
Whatever’s going to happen in 2019’s follow-up to Avengers: Infinity War, it’s locked now. Filming has officially wrapped.
But as with most things Marvel, it’s not quite so simple. Directors Anthony and Joe Russo announced the completion of their work on Twitter with a hashtag and an image.
It’s the image that has people talking. What is it? What’s it supposed to be teasing? Why are you like this, Marvel?
The fanpeople of Twitter quickly seized on the image and ran it through countless filters, in the hopes of cutting down on the blinding blue light a bit to see what lies behind it. The results were… mixed?
So far, this is the only legit theory I’ve come across:
What do you think it is? Could it possibly be nothing? Just a red herring to keep diehard fans busy during the months-long wait until release?
Avengers 4 — which doesn’t even have an officially announced title yet — hits theaters on May 3, 2019.
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(@andreavis) 
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Daily Trends Hunter 
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