It was in the midst of Hurricane Florence that Amy Fiscus, a New York Times national security editor, tweeted:
NPR interviewed a Robert Mueller as a man on the street in the hurricane and I briefly had a heart attack
— Amy Fiscus (@amyfiscus) September 12, 2018
Special Counsel Robert Mueller runs a famously tight ship. His unwillingness to leak material or talk about the investigation he leads beyond what he says in court frustrates journalists—even as it induces a certain admiration—and it has created an air of great mystery around his investigation. Yet it turns out that NPR isn’t the only news outlet publishing comments by guys named Robert Mueller. While D.C.’s most famous Mueller is notoriously silent, all over the internet, Robert Muellers are dishing on all kinds of subjects.
“Bob Mueller recalls the time early in his career when he had four job offers at the same time,” NorthJersey.com reported in a story about the retirement of the Lakeland Regional High School basketball team’s part-time coach. That Mueller has been a mentor and public servant who decided in July that it was time to step away from the game after a long and illustrious career. Apparently no longer able to handle the demands of the court, he wasn’t waiting for President Trump to remove him. Mueller is reported to have declared of 2018—ironically enough—that “it was a great year” and that he thought “it would be a great way to go out.”
The court battles won’t be the same without him.
Robert Mueller has also been talking tech—and even talking tech in the context of UAE. (Quite a coincidence considering that the special counsel is reportedly investigating certain matters involving the United Arab Emirates): “UAE is a leader in adopting innovative technology and processes, and at Qube we are proud to bring our IT as a System to this region,” a gentleman named Robert Mueller is quoted as saying by MarketScreener. …
How the Koch brothers built the most powerful rightwing group you’ve never heard of
Americans for Prosperity is a little-known, billionaire-funded organization that has pushed US politics to the right. How did it happen?
Koch brothers and their influence on American politics.
The cries of “Shame! Shame! Shame!” rang throughout the marbled walls of the Wisconsin state assembly chamber. Disgusted Democratic politicians, some of whom had been up for over 60 hours by this point, punctuated their chants by throwing papers – and even drinks – at their fellow Republicans. Police officers had to be summoned to physically separate one Democratic representative yelling “Cowards!” across the aisle.
The source of this confrontation, in the early hours of February 2011, was an unprecedented push by Wisconsin Republicans, led by the state’s newly elected Republican governor, Scott Walker, to slash the union rights held by most public workers. Walker argued that budget woes in the state necessitated the shift, and barrelled forward to eliminate the rights of virtually all public-sector workers to collectively bargain with government and to allow government employees to opt-out of paying dues to their unions.
At first blush this might seem like a years-old local issue in a US state that rarely lights up the international headlines. Yet events in Wisconsin are crucial to understanding how a little-known, billionaire-funded organization, called Americans for Prosperity (AFP), has tilted American politics to the right. It is intertwined with, and rivals in size, the Republican party itself.
Where did Walker’s ultra-conservative labor agenda come from? As a candidate, Walker barely mentioned collective bargaining or union busting. And we know this plan did not come from voters. Before the legislation popped up on the agenda, Wisconsinites generally supported collective bargaining. Nationally, only about 40% of American adults favor curbs to public sector bargaining rights, and in Wisconsin, this minority level of support was about the same.
Instead, to understand what happened in Wisconsin – and what is happening in states across the country – we need to look to the underappreciated organization that is at the center of the political network created and directed by the billionaire conservative industrialists, Charles and David Koch. …
In the future, you’ll never have to leave your neighborhood
THE FUTURE OF CITIES
Building communities that provide us with everything we need.
This story is part of What Happens Next, our complete guide to understanding the future. Read more predictions about the Future of Cities.
Any good dystopian writer knows that opportunity tends not to be evenly distributed. At the heart of most cities is a glittering epicenter, accessible only to those who can afford it. How far you live from that epicenter often has an inverse relationship with opportunity. As the skyscrapers recede into the distance, housing becomes more affordable—but also less likely to provide a view of those chances for a more fulfilling life.
In the city’s center, people stroll in landscaped gardens, enjoying the positive impact of nature, exercise, and socialization on their mental health and well-being. But for those living on the outskirts, that epicenter can feel distant, separated by slashes of motorways.
Public transportation often points inward in a spoke-and-wheel configuration, emphasizing that there is just one truly desirable destination. People of the peripheries must commute back and forth, below ground and along highways, on trains and buses, losing time for friends and family, relaxation, leisure, culture, and sports. The fable of city life is out of reach, lost in the sprawl.
Instead of focusing on city centers, we should reconfigure the infrastructure of the outskirts. The result could see the end of such epicenters: a future where we identify as much with our hyper-local neighborhoods as we do with the greater metropolis. …
5 Disturbing Pop Culture Misunderstandings
Life is full of misunderstandings. This is even more true for entertainers, whose lives are much stranger — and stupider — than ours. In fact, sometimes these misunderstandings go way past “Oh, I didn’t know that I had to pay my taxes every year” and move into the realm of the extreme, the absurd, and the downright fatal. Look at how …
5. Tupac’s Pals Only Thought They Smoked His Ashes
Rapper Tupac Shakur was a real, fleshy man before he graduated to hologrammathy, and when he was alive he ran with a group called the Outlawz. Like any good crew, the Outlawz loved Tupac, and when he was murdered, they wanted to honor his memory. This meant smoking him, as one does. For context, Tupac rapped the line “smoke my ashes” in the song “Black Jesus,” which his crew took as a literal last request.
Tupac was cremated, and according to Outlawz member E.D.I. Mean and others, the very next day they went to the beach to send their friend off in style with chicken wings, drinks, and most importantly some pot. This was the most important part because they rolled up Tupac’s ashes in the weed and smoked it. At least, that’s what they thought until Tupac’s mother disputed the claim that any of her son’s ashes left her possession. And so the obvious question became “Uh, whose ashes did you smoke, then?”
A statement from E.D.I. Mean implies that the cremains were either someone else’s that they had merely mistaken for Tupac’s (obtained from … where?), or maybe not ashes at all? Either way, the fact remains that they smoked what they believed were specifically identified human remains and later learned that was not the case. This raises so many questions, and no one is talking. Where did they get the ashes from? Why did they think they were Tupac’s? Did they smoke a stranger? There are many possible answers, and none of them are good. …
Clueless man tries to bathe feet in Yellowstone hot spring
He ignored warnings, jumped barricades to enter thermal area.
The geyser basins of Yellowstone National Park are clearly marked with signs warning people to stay off the geyser basins.
With good reason. People have been boiled alive in the park’s thermal springs.
But, every so often, some doofus thinks he knows better than the National Park Service.
The most recent incident occurred Sept. 14. An unidentified man jumped barricades and was caught on video using the thermal hot springs to give himself a foot spa.
Stunned tourists, appalled by the brazen flouting of park regulations — not to mention the inherent danger — yelled at the man and implored him to get back on the trail.
“Just as my family and I arrived at the thermal pool, we see this guy cross over the barricades and head straight for the water,” the woman who recorded the video said. …
Ted Cruz Spotted On Flight Looking At Photo Of Senate Rival Beto O’Rourke
The snapshots, circulated by Politico Playbook, surfaced after the Texas Republican was heckled out of a Washington restaurant.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) was snapped on a flight from Texas to Washington looking at a webpage with what appears to be a photo of Rep. Beto O’Rourke, the Democrat trying to unseat him in November’s midterm election.
Per Politico: Ted Cruz was spotted on his phone on a flight back from DC looking at a photo of Beto O'Rourke.
via @playbookplus pic.twitter.com/Gx4NeBWUaB
— andrew kaczynski
(@KFILE) September 25, 2018
(@KFILE) Cruz was photographed aboard the flight early Monday checking out a picture of O’Rourke on his phone, according to Politico Playbook. Cruz, once predicted to be a re-election shoo-in, is now locked in a neck-and-neck battle with the likeable Democrat.
The snapshots made waves on social media, with many making snarky remarks:
Beto should hop on a plane and watch Fincher's film Zodiac. https://t.co/Ji1wzDz5It
— Alan Zilberman (@alanzilberman) September 25, 2018
Ted Cruz studies Beto to try and figure out what this likability thing is and if he can steal it. https://t.co/7JlVeS9Sm7
— Molly Jong-Fast (@MollyJongFast) September 25, 2018
lol this would be the saddest series of events if it happened to a remotely decent person pic.twitter.com/889jsjeGAv
— luke oneil
(@lukeoneil47) September 25, 2018
(@lukeoneil47) …
Video Goodnesses
and not-so-goodnesses
and not-so-goodnesses
While Washington battles over when, and how, Brett Kavanaugh’s accusers should be heard, one woman is getting a new chance to speak out about her own story — almost three decades later.
In 1991, Angela Wright watched Anita Hill testify in front of an all male committee about how she had been harassed by her previous boss, Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas.
The story sounded familiar to Wright, who had worked for Thomas in the 80’s, and says she was privy to the same kind of lewd behavior and unwelcome advances.
“I was listening to her story, and it just made me want to defend her,” she said.
Wright was subpoenaed to testify at Thomas’ confirmation hearing in Washington, but was never called. Today she says, “We’re headed down the same path,” watching the character attacks on both of Kavanaugh’s accusers – Christine Ford and now Deborah Ramirez.
Four months after the Trump administration ended the practice of separating families at the US-Mexico border, there are still scores of parents and kids to be reunified. And the ACLU is tasked with one of the biggest reunification challenges: finding the 400-plus parents who were deported without their children.
According to the latest data, 254 children are still in government custody, with parents outside of the U.S. More than half of these children are waiting to be reunited, or to have their wishes communicated to the government. The ACLU, tasked by a federal judge after bringing suit against the administration, has recently been overseeing these efforts.
“When we filed this lawsuit, did I think I would be here four or five months later in Guatemala having to find these families?” Lee Gelernt, the head attorney arguing the ACLU’s case, told VICE News. “No.”
But finding deported parents, who often live in rural towns and are not trusting of cold calls, is hard to do from the U.S. And without support from the U.S. or Guatemalan governments, this work falls to local lawyers like Aroldo Palacios.
Palacios, who works part-time with one of the American NGOs that has partnered with the ACLU, has found 19 deported parents thus far. One morning earlier this month, he boarded a public bus and went to a small village close to the Mexican border to reach Erik, who was deported without his 8-year-old son in June.
VICE News goes to Guatemala to see what it takes to clean up the chaos created by zero tolerance.
THANKS to HBO and VICE News for making this program available on YouTube.
Before Donald Hall died this June, the 89-year-old American poet laureate let a filmmaker into his home in bucolic New Hampshire. In Paul Szynol’s Quiet Hours, premiering on The Atlantic today, Hall—whose prolific body of work is preoccupied with death, loss, and memory—is observed in his senescence, from the outside. Read more: https://www.theatlantic.com/video/ind…
“Quiet Hours” was directed by Paul Szynol. It is part of The Atlantic Selects, an online showcase of short documentaries from independent creators, curated by The Atlantic.
COTUS nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s high school yearbook provides a not-so-flattering paper trail in the midst of allegations of sexual assault against him, and Dulcé Sloan drops by to explain why Kavanaugh’s claims of remaining a virgin well into adulthood might not really be a virtue.
THANKS to Comedy Central and The Daily Show with Trevor Noah for making this program available on YouTube.
The opening line of Trump’s speech at the United Nations got a big laugh. Problem is, it wasn’t intended to.
FINALLY . . .
How does your brain keep the world from disappearing when you blink?
OUT OF SIGHT, NOT MIND
Gone, not forgotten.
You’re probably blinking right now, and you don’t even know it. The average person blinks up to 20 times a minute, up to 1,200 times per hour and up to 28,800 times a day. We spend about 10% of our waking hours with our eyes closed—yet we barely even notice ourselves doing it, much less that everything’s gone dark for those 400 or so milliseconds where light is shut off from the retina.
In the past, neuroscientists suggested that the solution might be in the brain—that it somehow maintains a “snapshot” that bridges these very short gaps. These in turn allow us to “observe” a stable picture of our environment without any flashes of darkness. In a new, small study published in Current Biology, researchers Caspar Schwiedrzik and Sandrin Sudmann attempt to explain where in the brain this might take place—and whether the solution might be found in the medial prefrontal cortex.
This is located directly behind the forehead in the frontal lobe, and known to play an important role in short-term memory and decision-making. To test their hypothesis, the neuroscientists implanted electrodes in the brains of six epilepsy patients. They then asked the patients about a series of dot lattices shown on a screen, while monitoring their brain activity for signs of activity in the prefrontal cortex. A further clue came in the form of a subject who had had a section of the superior frontal gyrus removed due to an earlier illness, leaving her unable to store the visual information necessary to answer their questions. …
Ed. More tomorrow? Probably. Possibly. Maybe. Not?