It seems like it’s getting harder these days to hide the fact that you’re surreptitiously monitoring left-wing political activists. And accidentally tweeting proof of that fact sure doesn’t make it any easier.
Massachusetts state police are dealing with that reality this week after a Twitter slip-up revealed that they were keeping tabs on a number of political groups in the area. And, surprise, it was anti-Trump and anti police-brutality groups that are under the cops’ watchful eyes.
Helpfully, The Guardian recaps what went down. While tweeting a warning to residents potentially affected by the tragic gas explosions rocking the Boston suburbs this past week, the state police included a photo of a map of other areas that might require evacuation.
“Reminder: all residents of Lawrence/Andover/N[orth] Andover who have Columbia Gas must evacuate, as should anyone else who smells gas,” read the now-deleted tweet.
But it’s the photo, helpfully saved before the police realized their mistake, that tells the larger story.
It appears that whoever originally tweeted the pic — perhaps unaware that a Twitter image preview doesn’t show the full image and that you can click to expand — forgot to crop it. The photo was of a computer monitor, and several browser bookmarks are clearly visible.
The Massachusetts State Police deleted a tweet featuring this image, highlighting the houses effected by a gas explosion on the map. Can you tell why it was deleted? The police were spying on Left-Wing groups which you can see on their favorited list. pic.twitter.com/EDUEk6zU0J
Among those include bookmarks to the pages of the Coalition to Organize and Mobilize Boston Against Trump (COMBAT), Mass Action Against Police Brutality, Facebook MA Activism, and a progressive-curated calendar of anti-Trump rallies.
The police are literally keeping tabs on peaceful left-wing activist groups.
Yeah, oops.
But to hear David Procopio, the state police director of media communications, tell it, this is not at all what it looks like.
“We do not collect information about – nor, frankly, do we care about – any group’s beliefs or opinions,” he told the Guardian.
Which is totally believable. After all, who are you going to believe? Paid police spokesperson Procopio, or your lying eyes?
Maybe the Massachusetts state police should spend a little less time monitoring left-wing groups and a little more time learning the ins and outs of Twitter.
Volunteer Amber Hersel from the Civilian Crisis Response Team helps rescue 7-year-old Keiyana Cromartie and her family from Florence’s flooding in James City, North Carolina.
While Florence is, as of 12:00 p.m. ET on Saturday, now “just” a tropical storm, it has still ripped the Carolina coast with heavy winds and record-breaking rainfall, causing widespread damage for humans and wildlife alike.
Photos and videos from around the region, and particularly North Carolina, showed the power that Florence contained as it came ashore, leading to rescues across the area.
Residents of New Bern, NC and their dog are rescued from rising floodwaters caused by Hurricane Florence.
Image: Getty Images
Rescues were underway even as Florence’s heavy rains and winds continued to batter the region.
Image: Getty Images
RIGHT NOW: New York City’s Urban Search and Rescue team is in River Bend, North Carolina helping the Rhems Volunteer Fire Department evacuate and rescue people during Hurricane Florence. pic.twitter.com/dMPq8l52oA
Wildlife also found itself directly affected by Florence’s floodwaters, including these deer seen swimming through neck-deep water.
And dolphins were spotted closer than usual to shore near in Wilmington, North Carolina.
Nearly three feet of rain has fallen on portions of North Carolina, a reported record for the state for rainfall from a single storm.
Heavy rains and storm surge created destructive flooding of several feet throughout the Carolina coast.
Image: Getty Images
Boats are stacked up on each other in a marina as a result from Florence in New Bern, North Carolina.
Image: Steve Helber/AP/REX/Shutterstock
A statue reaches above Florence’s floodwaters in North Carolina.
Image: Getty Images
Sam Parks walks through flooded Water Street as Hurricane Florence comes ashore in Wilmington, North Carolina
Image: JIM LO SCALZO/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
Florence’s flooding claims a couple of cars and the first story of a house in New Bern, NC.
Image: Getty Images
Kim Adams wades through waist-deep floodwaters at her home in Southport, North Carolina.
Image: Getty Images
Meanwhile, in South Carolina, at least one gator seemed to be cool with the outer bands of wind and rain that whipped the Myrtle Beach area.
The effects of Florence won’t be fading anytime soon, either, as current forecasts have upwards of 15-to-20 additional inches of rain possible for areas of North and South Carolina will Florence’s remnants will linger for the next 48 to 72 hours.
We’ve seen the beef between the two Silicon Valley giants play out over the course of the past year, with Apple CEO Tim Cook making derisive comments about Facebook’s profiling of users, only to have Mark Zuckerberg attempt a comeback. But the war of words has escalated to action.
Starting Tuesday, reports the Associated Press, Apple’s Safari browser will update to automatically block certain types of cookies that Facebook relies on to track users as they move across the web. While this added protection will initially be limited to the iPad and iPhone, those who prefer to browse on their Macs won’t have to wait long — specifically, they’ll only have to wait one additional week.
Oh yeah, and Firefox is set to offer similar tracking protection later this year.
Notably, these protections won’t do privacy-conscious consumers any good while they’re logged into Facebook, but it will help to protect them from the social network’s ever-expanding grasp while they’re logged out.
Which, if you’re someone who’s concerned about Facebook’s rather blithe view of your privacy, then you should definitely log out (or may just delete your account).
Specifically, many of the websites you visit have Facebook “Like” or “Share” buttons embedded in the pages. The buttons, according to the AP, can contain cookies that allow Facebook to keep tabs on you — even if you’re not logged into the social network. Apple’s Safari update will, at least theoretically, allow your browser to determine which cookies are needed for things like noting that you’re signed into your email versus just straight up collecting data on you.
If the cookie falls into the latter category, Safari will block it.
Similar protection currently exists in the form of add-ons like the EFF’s Privacy Badger, but the move by Apple to make it a default for its browser will no doubt contribute to a massive expansion of the practice of blocking Facebook cookies.
And that’s a fact that is sure to annoy Zuckerberg, although we don’t think the Facebook CEO’s protestations will bother Tim Cook too much. We imagine he has all the friends he currently needs.
As the remnants of what was once Hurricane Florence continues spinning inland, dropping massive amounts of rain and causing damage and widespread flooding, stories of survival are beginning to emerge from the Carolina coast. Including that of a kitten who is literally a “Survivor.”
It all began with this photo from Charlotte Observer reporter Andrew Carter on Friday evening, showing Robert Simmons, Jr. of New Bern, North Carolina being rescued with his kitten.
The kitten’s name? “Survivor.”
Meet Robert Simmons. Was stuck in his house since last night, when floodwaters began to rise in New Bern. A boat came and rescued him just now. He was sad to leave his father but left with his kitten hugging his neck. Cat’s name: Survivor, Simmons said. #HurricaneFlorence2018pic.twitter.com/vRR3lANDJe
Simmons told Carter he’s only had the kitten for a few weeks and even the name might have been a spur of the moment thing. Writes Carter for the Observer:
Simmons said he’d had the cat for weeks, and yet when asked what the cat’s name was, Simmons gave an answer that almost sounded scripted, and too good to be true. Perhaps he’d improvised in the moment.
Simmons’ story is gut-wrenching, not just for the details of the damage to his home and his neighborhood, but because of the realization that this story could be told thousands of times over from just this storm alone.
Check out the full story, which is definitely worth a read.
Leave it to the mind behind Carpool Karaoke to bring together a pairing like Good Charlotte and Dr. Phil.
Yes, in a skit for his Late Late Show, James Corden brought in the television shrink in an attempt to elevate the pop-punk vets from Good Charlotte to “Great Charlotte” and the pairing was… interesting!
Things went even one step further when a (fake) tattooed Phil joined the band on stage for their performance, the kind of partnership that, on paper, seems utterly strange but, in execution, manages, somehow, to work!
Plus, it gives us the greatest Dr. Phil tweet of all time.
Here’s to Corden’s next pair-up, which will hopefully be Dr. Oz and Avril Lavigne.
As Schefter noted, Bell has now forfeited $1.7 million of the $14.5 million salary that the franchise tag provides.
Bell’s absence is not technically considered a holdout because the veteran is not currently under contract, but he will not be in uniform for Week 2 regardless of the label.
The Steelers placed the franchise tag on Bell for the second consecutive year as the two sides were unable to come to an agreement on a long-term deal. While he reported nine days before the season opener a year ago, he has yet to sign the franchise tender this time around, nor has he given a timeline on when he will do so.
And that has ruffled feathers in the locker room.
“If you don’t want to be here, it is what it is, hold out 10 games, as a team we’re totally fine,” Pittsburgh center Maurkice Pouncey said last week, per KDKA 2. “This is a team sport and we all know that. I really thought he was going to be here, obviously he proved a lot of us wrong.”
Another offensive lineman also voiced his displeasure with the running back.
“What do you do? here’s a guy who doesn’t give a damn, I guess so we’ll treat it as such. I just hate it came to this,” guard Ramon Foster said, per the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette‘sEd Bouchette. “He’s making seven times what I make twice as much as Al (Villanueva) is making and we’re the guys who do it for him.”
Bell appears to be willing to sacrifice money in the short term in order to earn more down the road. League rules prohibit tagged players from negotiating extensions with teams at this point in the year.
The veteran piled up more than 400 touches last year while serving as the team’s No. 1 back (321 carries) and a major threat out of the backfield (85 receptions). Of course, a heavy workload puts him at greater risk for injury.
Without Bell in Week 1, Pittsburgh turned to second-year running back James Conner, who ran for 135 yards, two touchdowns on 31 carries in a 21-21 tie against the Cleveland Browns. He also lost a fumble in the game. He will likely once again receive the majority of the snaps in the backfield next to quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
Khan al-Ahmar, occupied West Bank – Tucked away behind a motorway, Khan al-Ahmar is almost invisible.
The village, which has been home to Palestinian Bedouins for more than 60 years,doesn’t appear on official maps.
It’s easy to drive by without noticing it.
But now Khan al-Ahmar has become very visible both locally and internationally – a symbol of what’s happening in the occupied West Bank.
Khan al-Ahmar is in Area C of the occupied West Bank, which is under full Israeli control.
In order to build anything, Palestinians living in the area need a permit rarely issued by Israeli authorities.
In 2009, the Palestinians built a school in Khan al-Ahmar with Italian help. It’s the village’s only “permanent” structure. But this is an overstatement – the school is a ramshackle structure, just like the rest of the village.
Now, this decades-old village, which was never recognised, will be demolished by Israel.
WATCH: Palestinians hold sit-in over plan to demolish Khan al-Ahmar (2:02)
Currently, Khan al-Ahmar’s residents are in limbo, not knowing when the bulldozers will come.
Sara Abu Dahuk, 40, is one of them. She sits in her house, made of corrugated iron sheets and rope. It doesn’t look like it could survive a breeze, yet alone desert conditions, but it has – until now.
She is uncertain of her future and it prays on her mind all day long.
“We are just really tired. Life has changed for us,” she says.
“We used to go with our sheep and tend to them, but now we don’t even leave the village unless there’s an emergency. I am concerned about my children. What is their future? My son does not sleep at night, for fear of the Israelis. Whenever I think about the the day the Israelis will come, I don’t know how I will cope, or what I should pack.”
Abu Dahuk has a small bag already packed with the family’s documents and other paperwork. Like many others, she doesn’t know what else to pack. It’s difficult to do so when you don’t want to leave your home.
‘The waiting is the most difficult thing’
Not knowing when the bulldozers will come, while knowing that the legal battle has been lost, has had an effect on the mindset of this community.
Nisreen, Abu Dahuk’s 15-year-old daughter, wanted to be a teacher but those plans are now on hold.
“We go to sleep in fear of the Israelis coming. I don’t even know if there will be school in the morning. The waiting is the most difficult thing.”
The Israelis have planned for a Jewish settlement, according to a plan known as E1, which has been around since 1994.
E1 seeks to expand the illegal, under international law, Israeli settlement of Maa’le Adumim. Israeli settlers are encouraged by the government to move to the occupied West Bank.
The settlements have all the services they need – water, gas, internet, and in some cases private roads running through Palestinian land.
In contrast, residents of villages such as Khan al-Ahmar don’t have access to even basic services, are refused building permits, are subject to harassment by settlers and are governed not by civilian rule but by Israeli military rule.
As they wait for the bulldozers, Khan al-Ahmar’s residents know the machines will destroy their homes quickly. They say they will fight them when they come, and the determined looks on their faces suggest that they will.
But there’s also a resignation that time has run out; that it’s not a matter of if, but when.
The only fight Khan al-Ahmar’s residents have left is not saving the ramshackle structures housing them, but a refusal to leave this village, the only home they have known for more than six decades.
The Emmy-winning composer of Thrones, Westworld, Jack Ryan and more is in the midst of another national – actually, international – concert tour, but when it comes to prepping for Season 8, theorizing is one thing he won’t do.
“I’m the worst person to ask!” he tells Mashable in a phone interview. “People ask me ‘What’s your favorite scene?’ or like my favorite to write, and it’s so hard because I feel like as the composer for the show I need to treat all the characters and all the themes as equally as possible. You know, it’s like you love all the kids the same – and so same with me trying to predict the ending or saying I would love to see this character on the throne. I literally just freeze and go ‘I don’t know.’”
It’s rare for a Hollywood composer to work on the same project for as long as Djawadi has, but that’s the beauty of television; it’s a multi-layered project and an ongoing, evolving task that shifts with each season.
“Musically speaking you can get to establish a theme and you can just push the limits of that theme and just every season,” Djawadi says. He points to Westworld Season 2, to the new music created for Dolores when simply changing her Season 1 theme didn’t sufficiently relay her character’s transformation.
Djawadi hasn’t started on Thrones Season 8 yet, but he’s wrapped up in tour for the time being. As much as he enjoys traveling the world and conducting his music in massive arenas, he likes to joke that at some point he has to go back to his day job – you know, writing music.
“I always had this vision of doing this kind of a tour but I didn’t know if it was going to work or not,” he says of the Game of Thrones concert experience. “It’s an interesting hybrid; it’s an orchestral/instrumental show, but it’s not a classical concert, and it’s a contemporary show with pyro and big amplification in the arena, but it’s not a rock concert. So where do you place this?”
“This being the final season, I would say I’m dying to find out what’s gonna happen.”
Finding a genre didn’t end up being a big concern when Thrones‘ first concert tour filled arenas worldwide. The experience – which Mashable covered in detail – is unexpectedly immersive; a multi-sensory visit to Westeros that enhances the fan experience unlike anything else.
“I was so pleasantly surprised how much fun people had at the concerts,” Djawadi says. “That’s really something I wanted the audience to have is just fun – seeing their favorite show, enjoying the music, and you’re really submerged in this world.”
He compares the second tour to a house remodel: “Once you start, you go ‘Oh, might as well do the bathroom,’ and ‘Now we can do the bedroom,’ and that happened a little bit on this,” he says. “We were like, ‘Oh, let’s add new pyro,” and there may be a stunt that involves lifting a violinist 35 feet into the air.
Image: courtesy of ramin djawadi
When it comes to that day job, Djawadi is far from burnt out. He changed his own game with Season 6’s “The Light of the Seven,” a piece unlike anything Thrones had ever done before. In Season 7, he kept it fresh by doing the opposite, by subtly introducing new themes that only hint at what’s to come.
“You don’t want to fall into ‘Oh now they’re gonna do something drastic,’ … you don’t try to repeat something from the previous season,” he says.
It was for precisely that reason that Djawadi worked backward to introduce the most significant new theme of Season 7: Jon and Daenerys’ love theme. Djawadi actually wrote the full version from the final episode first, then went back and planted more “sparse” versions in the other moments those two share throughout the season. You’ll hear it stirring when Jon asks her about dragon glass; a more fully formed version sneaks in north of the wall when Daenerys rescues Jon’s team from the Army of the Dead.
Djawadi is excited for Thrones Season 8, and he’s content to take his time. He’s here for the story, like the rest of us, and to see what new themes he’ll be able to create. “Is it uplifting or dark or exciting?” he asks. “Whatever it is, I just have to see what will come my way.”
So will we. Game of Thrones returns in 2019, and the concert is currently touring the U.S.
Iraqi legislators have elected a speaker of parliament, paving the way for the formation of a new government after months of uncertainty in the wake of an inconclusive election.
Mohammed al-Halbousi, a Sunni politician and the former governor of Anbar province, won 169 votes in a secret ballot conducted at Saturday’s session of the 329-seat assembly, according to reports.
Aged 37, he will be the youngest speaker of parliament in Iraq’s history.
The vote came nearly two weeks after the newly elected assembly’s first meeting, during which legislators failed to pick a speaker and two deputies as they were unable to determine which competing bloc had the most parliamentary seats.
By custom, Iraq’s parliamentary speaker is a Sunni, the prime minister is a Shia and the president a Kurd.
‘A lot can change’
Iraq has been in political limbo since the May 12 ballot, which was marred by allegations of fraud and a low turnout.
After a vote recount was completed in August, the bloc led by populist Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr retained its lead with 54 seats. The Iran-affiliated Fateh alliance, which is led by Hadi al-Ameri, came in second with 48 seats, while incumbent Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi’s bloc remained in third place, with 42 seats.
Ahead of the parliament’s September 3 meeting, Sadr and Abadi formed an alliance and claimed they had a majority of the seats. However, this was contested by former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who allied with Ameri.
A coalition government needs a majority of parliamentary seats – at least 165. The bloc with the most members appoints the prime minister and presides over the formation of the next government.
The result of Saturday’s vote indicated that the pro-Iran bloc led by Ameri looked positioned to take the lead after the election of Halbusi, whom it backed.
Al Jazeera’s Rob Matheson, reporting from Iraq’s capital, Baghdad, said “Halbusi has received strong support from the Shia contingence within the parliament” but added that “there’s a lot that can change” over the next few days.
“Everyone is going to be watching very carefully about how the government is gradually going to form, and we’ll have a far clearer picture by the end of this week,” added Matheson.
Halbusi’s two deputies were expected to be chosen later on Saturday.
NEW … THE HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN is running full-page newspaper ads in Maine and Alaska, urging Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski to oppose BRETT KAVANAUGH’s nomination to the Supreme Court. Anchorage Daily News … Bangor Daily News … Maine Sunday Telegram
ELANA SCHOR, BURGESS EVERETT and ELIANA JOHNSON on the KAVANAUGH BOMBSHELL: “The decades-old sexual misconduct charge detonated at the most critical juncture of Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation battle — sending Republicans into damage control mode and leaving Democrats unsure how or whether to capitalize. …
“But after a tense 24 hours of speculation and partisan tussling over what one top Republican called ‘wholly unverifiable’ allegations, Kavanaugh remained exactly where he started: neither closer to nor farther away from the 50 votes needed to give President Donald Trump a second high court justice in two years. The two swing-vote GOP senators who hold Kavanaugh’s fate in their hands, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, made no comment Friday on an anonymous woman’s charge. …
“Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) plans to press ahead with a Thursday committee vote on Kavanaugh, and GOP sources said that nothing short of public skepticism from Collins or Murkowski would upend the party’s plans for a final Supreme Court confirmation vote this month on the full Senate floor.” POLITICO
LATEST ON FLORENCE … “7 dead in NC as Florence, an ‘uninvited brute,’ brings heavy flooding and power outages,” by Jane Stancill, Lynn Bonner and Tammy Grubb in the Raleigh News and Observer: “Hurricane Florence began a slow-motion assault on North Carolina on Friday that continued Saturday morning with catastrophic storm surge and torrential rains that will continue for days.
“Seven deaths have been blamed on the storm, which made landfall at Wrightsville Beach [on Friday] at 7:15 a.m., with maximum sustained winds of 90 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. By late afternoon, the winds had died down and Florence was reclassified a tropical storm.
“But the heavy rain continued, topping 15 inches in many places along the coast by early Saturday morning. As the storm slowly moves westward Saturday into Sunday, rivers and creeks across central and eastern North Carolina are expected to leave their banks, with record or near-record flooding on the Cape Fear, Northeast Cape Fear and Neuse rivers. … In Wilmington, a mother and her infant died and the child’s father was injured when a tree fell on their home.” Raleigh News and Observer
THE PRESIDENT and VP Mike Pence are getting a hurricane update this afternoon at 1:30 p.m.
— “In Pictures: Florence Unleashes Fury on Carolinas” — Bloomberg:16 pix on one page
THE PRESIDENT again cast doubt on the 3,000-person death toll in Puerto Rico. At 10:05 p.m. last night: “‘When Trump visited the island territory last October, OFFICIALS told him in a briefing 16 PEOPLE had died from Maria.’ The Washington Post. This was long AFTER the hurricane took place. Over many months it went to 64 PEOPLE. Then, like magic, ‘3000 PEOPLE KILLED.’ They hired….”
… at 10:23 p.m.: “….GWU Research to tell them how many people had died in Puerto Rico (how would they not know this?). This method was never done with previous hurricanes because other jurisdictions know how many people were killed. FIFTY TIMES LAST ORIGINAL NUMBER — NO WAY!”
— TRUMP QUOTE: “Mr. Trump cited economic gains, rising consumer confidence and a strengthening military as proof of a successful tenure and said, ‘I’ve had nothing but victories, so it’s sad that somebody you can’t take to Washington for obvious reasons wants to write a book.’ He added: ‘We’re hitting new records every day.’”
MORE ON MANAFORT …
TRUMP on Manafort, to the WSJ: “Mr. Trump has denied any wrongdoing, and in a brief telephone interview Friday said that the Manafort case had nothing to do with him. ‘I got hit with an artificial witch hunt that should never have happened,’ Mr. Trump said.” WSJ
— “Manafort Plea Deal Casts New Scrutiny on Lobbyists He Recruited,” by NYT’s Ken Vogel: “[E]ven some people at the lobbying firms he recruited saw the nonprofit group, the European Center for a Modern Ukraine, as a sham, according to new evidence laid out by prosecutors when they unveiled a plea agreement with Mr. Manafort in federal court in Washington on Friday.
“An employee at one of the firms, the Podesta Group, referred to the European Center for a Modern Ukraine in an email as the ‘European hot-dog stand for a Modern Ukraine.’ The employee dismissed it as ‘a fig leaf on a fig leaf,’ its written attestation that it was not controlled or funded by Ukraine’s pro-Russian president at the time, Viktor F. Yanukovych, or his party, which Mr. Manafort represented.
“A co-founder of the Podesta Group, Tony Podesta, told his team to operate on the understanding that Mr. Yanukovych ‘is the client,’ while an employee at the other firm, Mercury Public Affairs, called the claim that the nonprofit was independent from Mr. Yanukovych ‘nonsense,’ comparing it to ‘Alice in Wonderland.’” NYT
— “Federal prosecutors weigh charges against Democratic powerbroker in Manafort-linked probe,” by CNN’s Erica Orden and Evan Perez: “Federal prosecutors in New York are weighing criminal charges against former Obama White House counsel Greg Craig as part of an investigation into whether he failed to register as a foreign agent in a probe that is linked to former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, according to sources familiar with the matter.
“In addition, these sources said, prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York are considering taking action against powerhouse law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, where Craig was a partner during the activity under examination. Prosecutors are considering a civil settlement with the firm or a deferred prosecution agreement with Skadden.” CNN
— JOSH GERSTEIN, “Manafort’s deal reins in a pardon’s impact”: “The plea deal special counsel Robert Mueller granted to Paul Manafort on Friday appears built to be pardon-proof. That doesn’t mean President Donald Trump won’t try to legally absolve Manafort anyway, a step the president has considered taking for months. But Friday’s events mean Trump’s ability to contain the legal damage from his former campaign chairman is now severely limited. Two new factors appear to stymie the impact of a potential Trump pardon for Manafort. The first is that Manafort is already talking.” POLITICO
NYT’S ANDREW KRAMER in KIEV: “How a Ukrainian Hairdresser Became a Front for Paul Manafort”: “At first glance, what happened to Yevgeny G. Kaseyev hardly seems like misfortune.
“Without his knowledge, he says, unknown individuals set up multiple companies in his name and deposited tens of millions of dollars into those companies’ bank accounts. ‘Sometimes it seems fun,’ Mr. Kaseyev, a 34-year-old hairdresser, said with a shrug during an interview. ‘I’m a secret millionaire.’
“Until the authorities came calling, that is, seeking $30 million in back taxes. One of the people who did business with a company opened under Mr. Kaseyev’s stolen identity didn’t mean anything to him. But the name certainly caught the eye of investigators in the United States: Paul J. Manafort.
“Mr. Manafort, who worked for a decade as a political consultant in Ukraine before becoming chairman of the Trump campaign in 2016, made a deal worth hundreds of thousands of dollars with the shell company under the hairdresser’s name. It was called Neocom Systems Limited, according to a Ukrainian lawmaker.” NYT
Happy Saturday morning. SUNDAY-SHOW BABY NEWS: MARGARET BRENNAN, moderator of CBS News’ “Face the Nation,” and husband Yado Yakub on Tuesday welcomed Eamon Brennan Yakub. He was born at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C. and came in at 7 lbs., 8 oz. She told CBS: “We wanted to find a name that honors both his Irish-American and Syrian-American heritage. Eamon (pronounced Ay-mon) means guardian in Irish and, while spelled differently, also means righteous in Arabic. We picked it long ago while traveling through Ireland on a road trip.” Pic … Another pic
SPOTTED: Al Franken waiting in a long line outside on Friday to get into the Paul Simon concert at the Capital One Arena.
WASHINGTON, INC. — “Consultants sue nonpartisan group No Labels,” by WaPo’s Dave Weigel: “The nonpartisan political group No Labels, along with a number of affiliated super PACs, is facing a lawsuit from contractors who say they were stiffed for millions of dollars of work in the 2018 cycle, let go in favor of political strategists with ties to the group’s president, Nancy Jacobson — and her husband, Mark Penn.
“In the complaint, which was filed in the Supreme Court of New York this week, strategists Matthew Kalmans and Sacha Samotin say that their firm, Applecart, helped implement No Labels’s current strategy of creating PACs that can invest in primaries and general elections to boost centrist candidates; they seek $3.7 million in damages, saying that money they were owed was shunted away from them, in breach of contract. No Labels’s leaders and its affiliated strategists say that the lawsuit is without merit and that the charge that Penn was ‘calling the shots,’ as the lawsuit puts it, is baseless.” WaPo … The complaint
FOR YOUR RADAR — “U.S. Is Ending Final Source of Aid for Palestinian Civilians,” by NYT’s Edward Wong: “As part of its policy to end all aid for Palestinian civilians, the United States is blocking millions of dollars to programs that build relationships between Israelis and Palestinians, according to current and former American officials briefed on the change. The move to prevent Palestinians — including, in many cases, children — from benefiting from the funds squeezes shut the last remaining channel of American aid to Palestinian civilians.” NYT
MEDIAWATCH … CNN’S OLIVER DARCY: “New York Times amends report that improperly pinned pricey curtains on Nikki Haley”: “The New York Times on Friday said that a controversial story about curtains purchased for the new residence of the ambassador to the United Nations improperly focused on Nikki Haley.
“The newspaper recast the story to ‘reflect those concerns.’ The initial story written by reporter Gardiner Harris carried the headline, ‘Nikki Haley’s View of New York Is Priceless. Her Curtains? $52,701.’ But the original story included a comment from a spokesperson for Haley who said plans to purchase the curtains were made during the end of the Obama administration and that Haley had no say in the purchase. The story drew significant backlash on social media, prompting editors to review it.
“Following review, The Times concluded that the story had ‘created an unfair impression about who was responsible for the purchase in question.’ An editor’s note placed at the top of the revised story stated that ‘the decision on leasing the ambassador’s residence and purchasing the curtains was made during the Obama administration, according to current and former officials.’ ‘The article should not have focused on Ms. Haley, nor should a picture of her have been used … The article and headline have now been edited to reflect those concerns, and the picture has been removed.’ … Its headline was changed to say, ‘State Department Spent $52,701 on Curtains for Residence of U.N. Envoy.’” CNN … The NYT story
YOU’RE INVITED — ANNA and JAKE are headed to Columbus Thursday for a special Playbook Elections event in Ohio with REP. JIM RENACCI (R-OHIO), who is running for Senate, and DEMOCRAT RICHARD CORDRAY, who is running for governor, to discuss how the 2018 midterm elections are shaping up. RSVP
HE’S RUNNING! … @steinhauserNH1: “2020 WATCH-NEW: Sen @JeffMerkley of Oregon, a potential Democratic presidential contender who’s on a jam-packed 4-day trip to NH, his fourth #FITN visit this year, tells me he’s ‘helping to hire folks to help out with the New Hampshire campaigns’ #nhpolitics #2020election”. Video
COLUMBUS DISPATCH: “Les Wexner renounces Republican Party affiliation after Obama stops in Columbus”: “After former Democratic President Barack Obama made a quiet stop in Columbus on Thursday night, the wealthiest Republican supporter in the state told a small audience at a Downtown event that he is fed up and has quit the Republican Party.
“‘I just decided I’m no longer a Republican,’ said L Brands CEO Leslie H. Wexner, speaking during a panel discussion about civility at Miranova’s Ivory Room billed as a ‘Columbus Partnership and YPO Leadership Summit.’
“‘I’m an independent,’ he said. ‘I won’t support this nonsense in the Republican Party. I’ve been a Republican since college, joined the Young Republican Club at Ohio State.’” Columbus Dispatch
— WEXNER has given to just one candidate this cycle: NRCC Chairman Steve Stivers, who represents the Columbus area.
NEW ADS … RANDY BRYCE, the Democrat running to fill Paul Ryan’s seat, has a new ad calling Bryan Stiel, the GOP nominee, a liar. They are spending $150,000 on this spot. The 30-second ad
— THE NRCC has a new ad against Dean Phillips in Minnesota’s third district. The spot
VALLEY TALK — “Venture-Capital Firm Kleiner Perkins Plans to Split,” by WSJ’s Tomio Geron: “Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers is splitting in two, a surprise rupture that reflects the storied venture-capital firm’s struggle to balance making smaller bets on young startups and jumbo investments in companies on the cusp of initial public offerings. …
“The split is the firm’s most striking move in its four decades, restoring it to its smaller, early-stage roots, best known for initial bets in Google and Amazon.com Inc. The move is indicative of the changing fortunes in venture capital, as funds over the years ballooned to levels not seen since the dot-com boom and startups stayed private longer with money that in past eras would have been raised in the public markets.” WSJ
CLICKER – “The nation’s cartoonists on the week in politics,” edited by Matt Wuerker – 10 funnies
GREAT WEEKEND READS, curated by Daniel Lippman, filing from San Francisco:
— “For 40 Years, This Russian Family Was Cut Off From All Human Contact, Unaware of World War II,” by Mike Dash in Smithsonian – per Longform.org’s description: “In 1936, Karp Lykov whisked his family into the Siberian wilderness to escape Bolshevik persecution. They remained there, alone, until discovered by a helicopter crew in 1978.” Smithsonian
— “The Country’s First Climate Change Casualties,” by Elaina Plott in Pacific Standard: “Scientists predict Tangier Island could be uninhabitable within 25 years. This is the story of the people willing to go down with it—and why they’ve risked it all on Donald Trump to keep them afloat.” PS
— “A Warning From Europe: The Worst Is Yet to Come,” by Anne Applebaum in October’s Atlantic: “Polarization. Conspiracy theories. Attacks on the free press. An obsession with loyalty. Recent events in the United States follow a pattern Europeans know all too well.” Atlantic
— “The Constant Consumer,” by Drew Austin in Real Life Magazine – per Longreads.com’s description: “The world as platform: In Amazon’s dream universe, we’re all customers by virtue of existing.” Real Life Magazine
— “Americans Want to Believe Jobs Are the Solution to Poverty. They’re Not,” by Matthew Desmond in the NYT Magazine: “U.S. unemployment is down and jobs are going unfilled. But for people without much education, the real question is: Do those jobs pay enough to live on?” NYT
— “The Inside Story of Jocelyn Flores, the Tragic Teen Who Inspired XXXTentacion’s Hit,” by Tarpley Hitt in the Daily Beast: “She took her own life while visiting the rapper, who memorialized her death in a track before he was killed in a shooting.” Daily Beast
— “The Billion-Dollar Mystery Man and the Wildest Party Vegas Ever Saw,” by WSJ’s Tom Wright and Bradley Hope, adapted from their new book “Billion Dollar Whale: The Man Who Fooled Wall Street, Hollywood, and the World”: “Armed with a seemingly bottomless supply of cash, an unassuming Malaysian named Jho Low staged the ultimate extravaganza.” WSJ … $18.30 on Amazon
— “A Turbulent Mind,” by John J. Lennon and Bill Keller in the Marshall Project: “It’s not easy being an overweight, balding, Jewish schizophrenic in the New York prison system. During his 19 years at the Sullivan Correctional Facility and in Sing Sing, Andrew Goldstein has been teased and bullied by the high-functioning mental cases. Everyone inside seems to know at least the tabloid outlines of his crime. In January 1999, suffering from schizophrenia and given to explosive violence when off his medication, Andrew pushed Kendra Webdale into the path of an oncoming N train at the 23rd Street subway station.” Marshall Project
— “How the Composer George Benjamin Finally Found His Voice,” by Rebecca Mead in the New Yorker: “He was a prodigy, but became creatively blocked—until he dared to try an opera.” New Yorker
— “The New Passport-Poor,” by Atossa Araxia Abrahamian in the N.Y. Review of Books: “Casablanca is more than seventy-five years old. If released today, it would be criticized for its moralising of American nationalism, and for celebrating French colonial rule. Read as a migration narrative, Casablanca reminds us that the identification papers we carry were created not to give us freedom but rather to curtail it. While most countries no longer ask for Casablanca’s famous exit visas, all their elimination has done is remove a cudgel from the bureaucratic gauntlet. What is the use in leaving if you have nowhere to go?” NYRB
— “Sperm Count Zero,” by Daniel Noah Halpern in GQ: “A strange thing has happened to men over the past few decades: We’ve become increasingly infertile, so much so that within a generation we may lose the ability to reproduce entirely. What’s causing this mysterious drop in sperm counts—and is there any way to reverse it before it’s too late?” GQ
— “Why Did America Give Up on Mass Transit? (Don’t Blame Cars.),” by Jonathan English in City Lab: “One hundred years ago, the United States had a public transportation system that was the envy of the world. Today, outside a few major urban centers, it is barely on life support. Even in New York City, subway ridership is well below its 1946 peak. Annual per capita transit trips in the U.S. plummeted from 115.8 in 1950 to 36.1 in 1970, where they have roughly remained since, even as population has grown.” City Lab
BIRTHWEEK (was Wednesday): Citadel’s David Meis (hat tip: Rowan Morris)
BIRTHDAYS: Ashley Parker, WaPo White House reporter and MSNBC contributor … Sara Fagan, partner at DDC Public Affairs … former Bush WH speechwriter John McConnell (h/t Tim Burger) … Politico Europe’s Hannah Connaghan … Christian Pinkston … Chris Lehmann … Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) is 69 … Rep. Nanette Diaz Barragán (D-Calif.) is 43 … NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik … Todd Breasseale (h/t Paul Rosen) … Ben Kamisar … CBS News producer Adam Aigner-Treworgy … Alana Russo … former Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) is 59 … Politico’s Kathryn Wolfe, Jennifer Miller and Hung-Su Nguyen … Alexandra Berg … Eliza Shapiro … Tiffany Haverly, comms director for Rep. Phil Roe (R-Tenn.) and the House Vet Affairs committee … Sabrina Rush … Justin Bryant … Sandra Alcalá (h/t Jon Haber) … Jon Gossett … Owen Pataki … Chandler Smith, comms director for the Senate Republican Conference, celebrating in Navy Yard (h/t Rodell Mollineau) … Amy Sisk (h/t Jody Serrano) … Rebecca McGrath …
… Zara Rahim, head of comms of The Wing … Tony Mauro … LCV’s Dawn Cohea (h/t Marguerita ten Houten) … Katie Thompson … David Lloyd … Elizabeth Meyer of Booz Allen Hamilton … Cat Cheney … Don Irvine … Jodi Hanson Bond, SVP of global government and industry affairs at Chubb … Bryan Doyle … Wayne King, deputy chief of staff for Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) (h/t Matt Boyle) … Mal Kline … Kristen Bor … Dave Shott (Red Sox tip: Richard Keil) … Bloomberg Opinion’s Max Berley … CNN correspondent Ryan Nobles … Veronica Lew … Nathan Hurst … Allyson Alvaré Kranz … CNBC’s Ryan Ruggiero … Theola Debose … Michael Ruby … Connie Carter … Neil Makhija … Marie Arana … Mike Lewis … Phil Zabriskie … Wayne Reynolds … Chip Rodgers … Todd Olsen … Betsy Shelton (h/t Teresa Vilmain)
THE SHOWS, by @MattMackowiak, filing from Austin:
CNN
“State of the Union”: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez … Ken Starr. Panel: Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Mary Katharine Ham, Marc Short and Karine Jean-Pierre
Fox
“Fox News Sunday”: Brock Long … Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) … Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.). Panel: Karl Rove, Jason Chaffetz, Julie Pace and and Jane Harman
NBC
“Meet the Press”: Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) … FEMA Administrator Brock Long… Bob Woodward. Panel: Yamiche Alcindor, Doris Kearns Goodwin (“Leadership: In Turbulent Times”), Rich Lowry and Peggy Noonan
ABC
“This Week”: Ken Starr … Jamie Dimon. Panel: Chris Christie, Donna Brazile, Tamara Keith and Jonathan Swan
CBS
“Face the Nation”: Brock Long … Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) … Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.). Panel: Jamelle Bouie, Jeff Goldberg, Susan Page, Ramesh Ponnuru and and Major Garrett (substitute anchor: John Dickerson)
CNN
“Reliable Sources”: Michael Avenatti … Janice Min and Jessica Valenti … Brendan Nyhan and a Amanda Carpenter … Glenn Kessler
CNN
“Inside Politics”: Margaret Talev, Eliana Johnson, Lisa Lerer and Seung Min Kim
Fox News
“Sunday Morning Futures”: Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) … Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas) … former Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.). Panel: Ed Rollins and James Freeman
Fox News
“MediaBuzz”: Emily Jashinsky … Adrienne Elrod … Sara Fischer … Charlie Gasparino … Kat Timpf … CATALINA magazine founding publisher Cathy Areu
CNN
“Fareed Zakaria GPS”: Bob Woodward … Zanny Minton Beddoes and Andrew Ross Sorkin … Ross Douthat (“To Change the Church: Pope Francis and the Future of Catholicism”)
Univision
“Al Punto”: Arantxa Loizaga … Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló … Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) and Rep. Juan Vargas (D-Calif.) … José Andres … LIBRE Initiative press secretary Wadi Gaitan, United We Dream executive director Cristina Jiménez and RNC media director Yali Núnez
C-SPAN
“The Communicators”: US Telecom president and CEO Jonathan Spalter, questioned by Ali Breland … “Newsmakers”: Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), questioned by Kate Irby and Kellie Mejdrich … “Q&A”: author and presidential historian Richard Norton Smith(“An Uncommon Man”)
MSNBC
“Kasie DC”: former North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory … Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) … Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) … Lisa Lerer … Catherine Lucey … Kimberly Atkins … Jon Ward … Maria Teresa Kumar … Emily Jane Fox
Washington Times
“Mack on Politics” weekly politics podcast with Matt Mackowiak (download on iTunes, Google Play, or Stitcher or listen at MackOnPolitics.com): former Sen. Bill Bradley (D-N.J.).
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Daily Trends Hunter 