Unveiling the World's News
President Donald Trump—despite publicly separating himself from the Trump Organization after his inauguration—owns 17 golf courses nationwide.
So it’s maybe not surprising that his most trusted advisers are not his political allies, Cabinet members, or former lawyers-turned-fixers. According to the new book, Commander-in-Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump, they’re his indoor and outdoor caddies.
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HOUSTON, Texas—Stormy Daniels is not a comedian. She is quick to point this out as soon as she takes the stage at the Joke Joint Comedy Showcase in southeast Houston.
When her two-show, one night-only appearance was announced (though billed as a “special event” on her “comedy tour”), comedians were quick to denounce the audacity of the adult film star remaking herself as a comedian.
“Doing standup is not a reward for being famous. Please leave the weekend gigs for actual female comics,” Laurie Kilmartin, a comedian and writer for Conan, wrote on Twitter. (“I’ve been writing comedy material for over 10 yrs. Would you like me to critique your bj skills? Your whole foot fits in your mouth so you’ll prob do great,” Daniels fired back.)
When I travel, I’m often faced with a repeating dilemma: Should I forget about trying to work out during this weeklong or half week trip, or should I find a way to fit my fitness essentials alongside my work essentials into my spacially-challenged carry-on?
But after Victorinox sent me its new Connex Frequent Flyer hardside carry-on, I didn’t have to sacrifice any of my belongings to the gods of limited cabin space. Instead, the well-engineered interior compartmentalization of the Connex, paired with its compact design, meant I get to run in the dry, perfect weather Los Angeles is offering up this week. And it easily fit into the overhead compartment inside the cabin.
The tech capabilities in the Connex really shine: It’s packed with an integrated multitool inspired by the Swiss Army Knife that includes a USB port, SIM card replacement tool, ID tag, and pen (and yes, it’s all TSA-safe). The USB port gives you easy access from the outside of the case to a battery that’s connected on the inside. While the battery isn’t included, I actually prefer it this way: I know what my portable charging needs are and am free to choose the right capacity battery for me. And speaking of the TSA, you get a great TSA-approved set of zippered locks in the Connex. Its upright, 360-degree four-wheel design makes it butter smooth to operate and navigate across sidewalks and airport floors alike.
It’s Wednesday, March 20.
‣ President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House today that he thinks Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s final report on his investigation into Russian interference in the presidential election should be made public.
Here’s what else we’re watching:
Mother Russia: Maria Butina, the first Russian to plead guilty to attempting to influence American policy makers before the 2016 election, has had a bad year. She’s currently being held in a Northern Virginia detention center awaiting sentencing. But she still has powerful allies: An NGO partly funded by the Kremlin is paying her legal bills, and as Natasha Bertrand reports, “One of her backers has been trying to promote fringe separatist movements in the U.S. since well before 2016.” The mystery of Russian influence operations, and Butina’s role in them, continues.
A Segregated System: When data released by New York this week revealed that out of the 952 students accepted into the city’s elite Stuyvesant High School for the next school year, just seven were black, the city erupted in outrage. Black-student enrollment at Stuyvesant peaked in 1975, with 303 black students out of 2,536 total students. In 2000, that number dropped to 109. Last year, there were 24. This is the nth verse of the same story for elite New York schools, writes Adam Harris.
Facebook Folds: In a victory for civil-rights groups across the country, Facebook just settled in a landmark case. For years, Facebook’s platform allowed advertisers to filter home or job postings from reaching specific groups such as women, people over 55, or African Americans. Facebook was slow to change, and the groups sued. After years of negotiating, the tech giant reached a settlement and agreed to create a separate advertising portal to help prevent such discrimination. “The good news is: By the end of the year, civil-rights protections will be equal on Facebook and the media platforms that came before it,” writes Alexis C. Madrigal. “The bad news is: all the years before that was true.”
— Madeleine Carlisle and Olivia Paschal
Senator Bernie Sanders greets workers at a rally at UCLA. Members of a union representing research and technical workers walked picket lines Wednesday at University of California campuses and hospitals in a one-day strike amid a lengthening stretch of unsuccessful contract negotiations. (Richard Vogel / AP)
Americans Are Seeing Threats in the Wrong Places (Janet Napolitano with Karen Breslau)
“In the four years I led the Department of Homeland Security, I learned from the inside that the greatest threats to our safety play out differently from how political speeches and news reports might have us believe. True security means educating the public about which dangers are real and likely and which are not.”→ Read on.
The Art of a Monster (Caitlin Flanagan)
“Through this terrible man, this destroyer, poured a force that can only be truthfully described as art. Michael Jackson’s dancing is no mortal enterprise: James Brown’s shuffle, Fred Astaire’s precision, and some other element that exists so far beyond anything as simple as influence, or talent, that we can only say we know it when we see it. It’s not a gift; it’s the gift itself. The ancient question: What moral stain awaits us if we cannot abandon the art of a monster? None.”→ Read on.
Sometimes the Supreme Court Sticks to the Law (Garrett Epps)
“The Court granted certiorari in four new criminal-justice cases that, by and large, lack a strong partisan valence. These cases will involve the Court doing, well, you know, law, and in particular, cleaning up some loose ends of its criminal jurisprudence.”→ Read on.
‣This South Dakota Law Is a Gift to Bad Cops (Matthew Harwood, Reason)
‣Andrew Yang, We’ll See You on the Debate Stage (Jim Geraghty, National Review)
‣Beto O’Rourke’s Health Care Proposal Is Not Medicare for All, but It Is Ambitious (Jordan Weissmann, Slate)
‣Meet a Network of Volunteers Helping With Assisted Suicide (Katie Engelhart, The California Sunday Magazine)
‣Immigration Officials Accused of Targeting Faith Leader and Religious Groups (Jack Jenkins, Religion News Service)
‣To Revive Rural America, We Must Fix Our Broken Food System (Austin Frerick, The American Conservative)
Say It Ain’t So: Why aren’t more movies made about us journalists? In author Tom Rosenstiel’s opinion, “In political fiction at least, journalists don’t make great protagonists.”
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LOS ANGELES, California — Socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who is running for the Democratic Party’s nomination for president, appeared at a rally of over 1,000 striking workers and students outside the campus of the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) on Wednesday afternoon in a show of solidarity and a pitch for labor support.
Cartels turn social media into tools for extortion, threats and violence… (Third column, 9th story, link) Related stories:EU hits GOOGLE with $1.7 billion fine for blocking ad rivals…AMAZON pressuring brands: Lower prices or no advertising…TWITTER testing more extreme ‘shadowban’…Banks acting as shadow government… Advertise here
