Members phkrause Posted February 27 Author Members Share Posted February 27 February 26, 2024 By David Leonhardt Good morning. We’re covering Biden’s forthcoming immigration policy — as well as Michigan, Israel and “Abbott Elementary.” President Biden at the border in 2023. Doug Mills/The New York Times An about-face President Biden has come to recognize that the surge of undocumented immigration during his presidency is a threat to his re-election. He knows that most voters are unhappy about the increase. So are mayors and governors who have been left to deal with an expensive and often chaotic situation — such as in Denver, the subject of a recent Times story. Biden and his advisers have already settled on one strategy to reduce his political vulnerability. They plan to remind voters that congressional Republicans this month blocked a bipartisan bill that would have strengthened border security. Even though many Republicans favored the bill’s policies, they defeated it at Donald Trump’s behest, largely to avoid solving a problem that has hurt Biden politically. Given the blatantly partisan nature of the Republicans’ decision, it’s reasonable for Biden to emphasize it during his campaign. But I would be surprised if he could eliminate his vulnerability on immigration merely by criticizing Republican intransigence. Why? Biden is the president, after all, and a president has significant authority to shape immigration policy even without new legislation. Biden himself has been aggressive about using this authority — albeit to loosen immigration policy rather than tighten it. During his first months in office, he expanded asylum and paused deportations. He also expanded a policy known as parole, which the law says should be used “only on a case-by-case basis.” Last year, Biden used parole to admit more than 300,000 people. These policies, combined with Biden’s welcoming rhetoric during the 2020 campaign, contributed to the migration surge. (John Judis went into more detail in a recent Times Opinion essay, as did David Ignatius in a Washington Post column.) The changes signaled to migrants that their chances of being able to enter and remain in the U.S. had risen. Many migrants, as my colleague Miriam Jordan has written, are “certain that once they make it to the United States they will be able to stay. Forever. And by and large, they are not wrong.” Source: U.S. Customs and Border Protection | By The New York Times At times, Biden administration officials have tried to downplay or even deny that their policies have contributed to the migration increase. Yet the officials’ recent actions suggest that they may not even believe their own denials. The clearest sign is that the administration is now considering policies that would undo some of its initial loosening of immigration rules. One potential policy would restrict people’s ability to claim asylum if they first crossed into the U.S. illegally, rather than using the established asylum process. To justify the policy, Biden would likely cite the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act, which allows the president to suspend immigration for anyone “detrimental to the interests of the United States.” Whatever Biden decides, I suggest you keep in mind three pieces of context. Presidential power First, recent history suggests that a president’s immigration policies are significant enough to matter. Migration surged after Biden took office — and it has fallen when he has put in place more modest policies to restrict undocumented immigration. One example: After the Biden administration persuaded Mexico to enforce its own immigration laws more forcefully in December, the number of people illegally crossing the southern border fell 50 percent in January. Policy changes like these have both direct and indirect effects on migration. When migrants believe they are unlikely to be able to enter the U.S. and remain in the country, fewer attempt to do so. Legal challenges Second, if Biden acts to restrict migration, advocates for a more open immigration policy will probably challenge him in court. Many of these advocates believe that the U.S., as a rich country, has a moral obligation to admit migrants from poorer countries even if the migrants don’t have legal permission to enter. The outcomes of these legal challenges would be uncertain, but there is reason to believe at least some of Biden’s actions would stand. The Supreme Court, when upholding some Trump immigration restrictions in 2018, ruled that the 1952 law “exudes deference to the president in every clause.” Even if judges block some measures, the initial announcement of the policies could still slow migration by signaling to people that the Biden administration had become more serious about border security. Republican claims Third, you should still be skeptical of Republican claims that Biden can do whatever he wants about the border. Mike Johnson, the speaker of the House, has suggested as much on several occasions. In truth, while a president has significant flexibility to set immigration policy, that’s not the same as complete autonomy. The policies passed by Congress matter, too. The bipartisan bill that Republicans defeated would have paid for, among other things, the hiring of border agents and immigration judges who could have reduced the enormous backlog of cases. These resources would have allowed the government to evaluate asylum applications more quickly — and reject applicants without good claims. Without the additional resources, more migrants will remain in the U.S. for months or years while their cases slowly wind through the courts. The bottom line: Biden does have the power to reduce the very high migration levels of the past three years. And it’s true that he has been slow to do so. It’s also true that an enduring solution to the country’s immigration problems will require Congress to pass legislation. Related: Last fall, “The Daily” went to Texas to explain how people who live near on the border think about immigration. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT THE LATEST NEWS Politics The Supreme Court will hear arguments today in two cases on free speech. Justices could define what rights social media companies have to limit what their users post. The White House staff is divided over the administration’s Israel policy and concerned by questions about Biden’s age. Read Peter Baker’s reporting from the West Wing. Ronna McDaniel, the leader of the Republican National Committee, said she would step down next week. Congressional leaders failed to pass legislation to keep the government funded past Friday and avoid a partial shutdown. Most voters, including Republicans, said protecting access to contraception was “deeply important” to them, a poll found. “Cop city”: Georgia has charged protesters who oppose the construction of a police training center with domestic terrorism offenses. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer Erin Schaff/The New York Times This year, Michigan’s Democratic governor, Gretchen Whitmer, faces an electoral test that could be critical for her future: delivering her battleground state for Biden. Michigan Republicans, in a new hybrid system, will use tomorrow’s primary and a nominating convention on Saturday to award presidential delegates. Here’s how it works. Some Arab Americans and longtime Democrats in the state are turning against Biden because of the war in Gaza. New York City Sury Espine with her son at their new apartment in Central Islip, New York. Jeenah Moon for The New York Times New York City’s $25 million plan to house 1,250 migrant families has barely eased the burden on its shelter system. Flaco, the owl who became a beloved sight in the city after escaping Central Park Zoo last year, died after apparently striking a window. About a billion birds will die that way in the U.S. this year. War in Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that around 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed in the war with Russia. The U.S. estimates the total is more than twice that. A Senate aide is under investigation after he made frequent visits to Ukraine and provided what he said was $30,000 in sniper gear to its military. Israel-Hamas War The Israeli military said that its raid of a major hospital in southern Gaza was over and that it had detained 200 people. Benjamin Netanyahu said that any cease-fire deal would delay but not prevent an Israeli ground invasion of Rafah. He framed the operation as essential to eliminating Hamas. An active-duty Air Force airman set himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington. He was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries. Other Big Stories The New York Times Most people of Middle Eastern and North African descent are classified as “white” in U.S. census data. These graphics show how many actually identify. With its pandemic funding gone, America’s child care industry is struggling with inflation and staff shortages. The morality of I.V.F. divides conservative Christians: Catholic teaching expressly forbids it, while Protestants tend to be more open to it. An American couple went missing while sailing off the coast of Grenada. The authorities there are investigating whether escaping prisoners might have harmed them. AT&T will offer a $5 credit to customers affected by an outage that left thousands without service last week. Opinions Texas is right in its Supreme Court case: Tech giants need to be regulated, Tim Wu writes. Gail Collins and Bret Stephens discuss Trump’s big South Carolina primary win and Biden’s State of the Union address next week. Here are columns by David French on Christian nationalism and Michelle Goldberg on the Michigan Democratic primary. Discover more of the insight you value in The Morning. The Times is filled with information and inspiration every day. So gain unlimited access to everything we offer — and save with this introductory offer. MORNING READS At the first-ever Florida Man Games. Jason Andrew for The New York Times Florida Man Games: The competition featured a mullet contest, a mud duel and an “evading arrest” obstacle course. Fashion: What does it mean to dress like an American? Trick shots: TikTok creators work for hours, sometimes days, on seconds of content. Metropolitan Diary: The salad worm. Lives Lived: Lee Hoyang, professionally known as Shinsadong Tiger, wrote and produced upbeat, catchy hits that defined the style of K-pop in the early 2010s. He died at 40. SPORTS Women’s sports: For the first time, female professional softball players in Latin America have their own league. N.F.L.: Russell Wilson told the “I Am Athlete” podcast that he hopes to remain with the Broncos, despite being benched for the final two games last season. M.L.B.: Cody Bellinger is set to return to the Chicago Cubs on a three-year, $80 million contract, ending his free agency. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT ARTS AND IDEAS “The Adoration of the Kings.” via Sotheby's What’s in a name?: “The Adoration of the Kings,” a 17th-century Nativity scene, was sold in 2021 by Christie’s for $992,000. Two months ago, the work fetched $13.8 million at Sotheby’s, based on expert opinions that it was painted by Rembrandt. The price rise is illustrative of how authenticity trumps aesthetics when it comes to the value of a painting and the power of connoisseurs. See why some experts believe “Adoration” is a work by the Dutch master — and why others aren’t convinced. More on culture A classroom scene. Gilles Mingasson/Disney Unlike other scripted TV shows, “Abbott Elementary” uses its child actors sparingly and lets them, right or wrong, act like themselves. Two weeks into his stint, Jon Stewart has done what seemed impossible: He has made “The Daily Show” relevant again, Jason Zinoman writes. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Cyd Raftus McDowell. Throw together this warming spicy tomato white bean stew in only 30 minutes. Read an updated guide to Covid symptoms and treatments. Game with these headsets. Drink water out of a filtered bottle. Take our news quiz. GAMES Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangrams were alligator and litigator. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku and Connections. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. — David Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Continue reading the main story Editor: David Leonhardt Deputy Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, Sean Kawasaki-Culligan, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Ashley Wu News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Quote phkrause By the decree enforcing the institution of the papacy in violation of the law of God, our nation will disconnect herself fully from righteousness. When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near. {5T 451.1} Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members phkrause Posted February 28 Author Members Share Posted February 28 February 27, 2024 Good morning. Donald Trump talks a lot about inflation while campaigning. Today, my colleague Jeanna Smialek looks at how his policies might affect inflation if he wins. — David Leonhardt By Jeanna Smialek Economics Reporter We’re also covering Gaza, NATO and the moon. Donald Trump Doug Mills/The New York Times The up and up If there is a simple political truth, it’s that voters hate inflation. If there’s another, it’s that they also hate the policies that snuff it out. Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign highlights the tensions between these two truths. The former president has blasted President Biden for the rise in prices over the past few years. But Trump also criticizes high interest rates — the Federal Reserve’s key tool for lowering inflation. And the second-term agenda he is proposing contains few policies that economists believe would reduce inflation. In fact, some would risk pushing prices higher. Those include higher tariffs, which could raise costs for American consumers. Trump has also pledged to deport many undocumented immigrants, which could cause labor shortages that lift prices on food and other items. And while Trump has not laid out his plans in sufficient detail for economists to judge how his agenda as a whole would affect inflation, there’s little to suggest that his policies would stamp out price increases. “I certainly don’t think it’s a disinflationary agenda,” said Michael Strain, director of economic policy studies at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. Inflation solutions? The White House is not primarily responsible for controlling inflation. That’s the Fed’s job. The central bank uses interest rates to keep inflation low: Higher rates can cool the economy and bring down prices, and vice versa. Fed officials make decisions independently of a president’s administration. But government taxing, spending and regulatory decisions can influence how quickly prices rise, partly by stoking — or slowing — demand. Research suggests that pandemic relief packages contributed to the recent inflation burst by elevating consumption, for instance. Trump has said that inflation would be lower under his watch and that more gas production could curb inflation, suggesting that America should “drill, baby, drill.” But U.S. crude oil production already reached record levels last year, and oil drilling permitted on public land is up under Biden. Beyond that, pump prices are driven by big global forces rather than by administration policy. “The president doesn’t have a lot to do with what happens in the oil patch,” said Tom Kloza, a founder of Oil Price Information Service. Inflationary plans Some of Trump’s plans could push prices up. Take tariffs. Trump has floated tariffs of 60 percent or more on Chinese goods, along with a 10 percent markup for imports from around the world. It’s hard to guess exactly how tariffs would act on consumer prices: Foreign producers could eat some of their cost, and currency adjustments could dim their impact. But if U.S. importers bear cost increases — which seems to have happened during the first Trump administration — they could pass them onto consumers by raising prices on affected goods. Trump’s proposed tariffs are much more extensive than those imposed during his presidency, making them a big economic wild card. Still, they could bring just a one-time price bump, some economists said, rather than ongoing increases — which is what we mean when we say “inflation.” Another Trump campaign pledge risks a more ongoing effect: “the largest domestic deportation operation in American history.” The details and feasibility of the plan remain unclear, but the disruption could be big. An estimated eight million undocumented workers in the U.S. make up a substantial chunk of the work force in sectors like field work and hospitality. If companies encountered sudden and gaping labor shortages, they would face a choice: either produce less (which would lift prices as consumers competed for fewer goods) or raise wages to attract employees (which could in turn prod companies to charge more). “This would definitely have an inflationary impact,” said Thierry Wizman, an economist at Macquarie, though how much “really depends on the extent.” Silver lining If there’s one way Trump could reduce inflation, it could be through deregulation, a few Republican economists told me. Businesses facing less red tape might pass their cost savings along to consumers. But it’s unclear how much of an impact that would have, because regulation cost estimates vary and Trump’s plans are not fleshed out. His campaign did not respond to a request for comment. If there’s good news here, it’s that inflation is already receding: After jumping to 9.1 percent in the summer of 2022, consumer prices climbed a much more modest 3.1 percent in the year that ended last month. American consumers may not be as spooked by inflation when November’s winner takes office. But based on what Trump has proposed so far, there’s little to suggest that his policies would alleviate price increases — and some reason to think that they could exacerbate them. For more The Fed is expected to cut interest rates this year. That’s already becoming an election issue. Stubborn housing inflation complicates the Fed’s decision about when to lower rates. There’s not much that Biden can do unilaterally to cut the prices of consumer staples. But the Federal Trade Commission is bolstering his efforts. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT THE LATEST NEWS Middle East Biden said negotiators were close to a deal to release hostages held by Hamas in exchange for a pause in the fighting in Gaza. Israeli officials signaled that the agreement could involve releasing some Palestinians convicted of major terrorism charges. The prime minister of the Palestinian Authority tendered the resignation of his government. The U.S. and Arab states have encouraged the authority to overhaul itself to persuade Israel to let it govern Gaza after the war. After American strikes, Iran’s proxies in Iraq and Syria have limited their attacks. NATO and Russia Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orban, in Parliament. Denes Erdos/Associated Press Sweden will join NATO after Hungary’s Parliament voted to accept it. Vladimir Putin may not have calculated that his war could lead to a bigger NATO. Read Steven Erlanger’s analysis. The Russian military is willing to absorb huge losses to make small gains in Ukraine. 2024 Election Both parties have presidential primaries in Michigan today. Here’s what to watch for. Manhattan prosecutors asked a judge for a gag order on Trump to protect jurors and witnesses in his hush-money criminal trial. “He’s about as old as I am”: Biden joked about Trump’s age during an appearance on “Late Night With Seth Meyers.” Supreme Court The Supreme Court heard challenges to laws in Florida and Texas that would limit internet companies’ ability to moderate content. Several justices seemed receptive to tech companies’ argument that the laws — enacted after Facebook, Twitter and YouTube banned Trump and other conservatives — violate the First Amendment. Courts have blocked the laws for now. Most Supreme Court justices seemed open to returning the cases to lower courts and keeping the laws on hold in the meantime. Read more takeaways. More on Politics The Federal Trade Commission sued to block Kroger from buying Albertsons, another grocery chain, saying it would hurt competition. Without a spending bill, federal agencies will start shutting down this weekend. Biden and congressional leaders will meet today. New Mexico’s attorney general will examine how Meta’s paid subscription service attracts predators, a move prompted by a Times investigation into girl influencers on Instagram. A Venezuelan migrant was arrested over the death of a nursing student. The arrest made a Georgia community the latest flashpoint in immigration politics. Health Lead-tainted applesauce poisoned hundreds of children in the U.S. last year. The contaminated snack slipped through gaps in the food-safety system, our investigation found. A cyberattack on Change Healthcare, a major insurer, has disrupted prescriptions at pharmacies across the U.S. and for military service members overseas. Education Ruth Gottesman, the donor. David Dee Delgado for The New York Times Tuition at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx will be free for all students after a former professor donated $1 billion. Mayor Eric Adams abandoned plans to expand free preschool for 3-year-olds in New York City, leaving many families with huge child care costs. Other Big Stories An image captured by Odysseus during landing. Intuitive Machines Odysseus — the first American spacecraft to land on the moon since 1972 — is likely to die soon. It touched down sideways, limiting its ability to send images back. Japan’s birthrate fell to a new low last year, Reuters reports. Opinions We don’t yet know why a nonbinary teen died in Oklahoma. But we do know right-wing leaders in the state have vilified people like them, Margaret Renkl writes. Marriage is more important than ever for individuals and for the country, Brad Wilcox argues in a conversation about modern conservatism. Here are columns by Paul Krugman on rural decline and Pamela Paul on impeachment. Discover more of the insight you value in The Morning. The Times is filled with information and inspiration every day. So gain unlimited access to everything we offer — and save with this introductory offer. MORNING READS Jen Gorgano and Mike Stillman outside her childhood home in Commack, N.Y. Tony Cenicola/The New York Times Moving back: Some first-time homeowners are buying their childhood houses. Tipping and Gen Z cooks: The Times spoke to 30 chefs about the challenges of running a restaurant today. Lives Lived: Roni Stoneman was a virtuoso banjo player in the renowned Appalachian string band led by her father. But her greatest claim to fame came in the 1970s, when she joined the cast of “Hee Haw” and proved herself to be a rustic comedian. Stoneman died at 85. SPORTS Women’s soccer: Mexico stunned the Americans, 2-0, in the final group game of the Gold Cup last night. The goals were the first Mexico has scored against the U.S. team since 2010. N.B.A.: The Detroit Pistons’ coach, Monty Williams, criticized league referees after a close loss against the New York Knicks, calling the officiating “an abomination.” Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT ARTS AND IDEAS Dronme Davis, a formerly plus-size model who lost weight. Amandla Baraka for The New York Times Body talk: Plus-size influencers are a source of affirmation for their followers, helping them embrace their own bodies. What happens, then, when these influencers lose weight? Followers, especially younger ones, can sometimes feel disillusioned and betrayed. “If you’re going to be out there using your body to make a living, and position yourself as a brand,” one follower said, “I think you can’t expect the community around you to not react.” More on culture Olivia Rodrigo fans. OK McCausland for The New York Times At opening night of Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts World Tour, her fans wore lavender and screamed. See pictures. A music producer accused Sean Combs, once known as P. Diddy, of sexual misconduct. It is the latest in a series of allegations against the hip-hop mogul. Jon Stewart discussed the Israel-Hamas war on “The Daily Show.” THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … Matt Taylor-Gross for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne. Cook creamy chicken and noodles in one pot. Read out loud. It may improve your memory, focus and mood. Learn origami. GAMES Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangram was billboard. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku and Connections. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. P.S. Conor Dougherty, who covers housing for The Times, is asking to hear from readers: What kinds of housing pressures do you face, and how have they affected your life? Share your stories here. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Continue reading the main story Editor: David Leonhardt Deputy Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, Sean Kawasaki-Culligan, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Ashley Wu News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Quote phkrause By the decree enforcing the institution of the papacy in violation of the law of God, our nation will disconnect herself fully from righteousness. When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near. {5T 451.1} Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members phkrause Posted February 29 Author Members Share Posted February 29 February 28, 2024 By David Leonhardt Good morning. We’re covering the new clarity about college admissions — as well as Michigan, Gaza and nepo models. Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. Kenny Holston for The New York Times Diversity before the court After the Supreme Court banned race-based affirmative action last year, many people in higher education worried that it would be only the first in a series of decisions that reduced diversity at selective schools. In particular, university administrators and professors thought the court might soon ban admissions policies that gave applicants credit for overcoming poverty. Such class-based policies disproportionately help Black, Hispanic and Native students. For now, though, these worries appear to be misplaced. And the future of admissions at selective colleges and high schools has suddenly become clearer. In today’s newsletter, I’ll explain. The Texas model The situation has become clearer because the Supreme Court last week declined to hear a lawsuit against a public magnet school in Northern Virginia — Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, known as T.J. Until recently, T.J. admitted students based on a mix of grades, test scores, student essays and teacher recommendations. This process led to a student body that looked very different from the area it served. About 5 percent of T.J. students were Black or Hispanic, even though the surrounding area is about 37 percent Black or Hispanic. The school also enrolled few low-income students of every race, as Richard Kahlenberg of Georgetown University has noted. Only 2 percent of Asian students at T.J. came from low-income families, compared with 20 percent of Asian students in the surrounding area. In 2021, though, T.J. switched to a new admissions policy. It was modeled after a bipartisan plan that Texas created in 1997, under Gov. George W. Bush. In T.J.’s version, the school filled most of its freshman class by accepting the top 1.5 percent of students at every public middle school in the area. The underlying idea is simple enough. Many communities in the U.S. are economically and racially homogenous. But a policy that accepts the top students from every community can create diverse classes. The policy is defensible on meritocratic grounds because it rewards teenagers who excel in every environment — and on political grounds because it gives all communities access to desirable schools. Once T.J. changed its policy, the school became much more diverse. The share of students from low-income families rose to 25 percent from 2 percent. Racial diversity also increased: Source: Fairfax County Public Schools | By The New York Times “I love T.J.,” Kaiwan Bilal, one of the students accepted under the new policy, told The Washington Post. “It’s even better than I expected, better than my parents told me it would be.” Bilal also said that he was struck by the school’s diversity. The SAT connection Not everyone favors these changes, of course, and a group of parents and conservative legal activists sued to stop them. Their argument revolved around intent: They said that because T.J. had adopted the new policy with the goal of increasing racial diversity, it was illegal, even though it did not use racial preferences. In higher education, many people viewed the lawsuit with alarm. If the Supreme Court ruled against T.J., almost all class-based programs would have been at risk. Racial diversity would most likely plummet, especially in the wake of the ban on race-based policies. But the court didn’t rule against T.J. Instead, it effectively endorsed class-based programs by refusing even to hear the T.J. case. Only two justices, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, dissented. The news has a connection to another story in higher education: the return of the standardized test requirement at some colleges. Last week, Yale announced that it would again require test scores from applicants, joining Dartmouth, M.I.T., Georgetown and Purdue, among others. At selective colleges like these, standardized test scores predict academic performance better than high school grades, research shows. A crucial part of the test requirement, however, is that colleges give applicants credit for overcoming disadvantage. The colleges don’t expect top students from struggling high schools to do as well on the SAT as private school students. Lower-income students, after all, have been running with the wind in their faces. “We know society is unequal,” Sian Beilock, Dartmouth’s president, told me. “We’re looking for the kids who are excelling in their environment.” Last week’s announcement by the Supreme Court means that schools (including those that don’t require test scores) can feel comfortable taking economic disadvantage into account. Matching public opinion There is also a broader significance. In these politically polarized times, I know that many liberals distrust the motivations of conservatives (and vice versa). After the Supreme Court — which is dominated by conservative justices — banned racial preferences, some liberals assumed that it might start a yearslong campaign against diversity. For now, though, cynicism seems unjustified, at least on this issue. Most justices are neither universally in favor of nor universally opposed to diversity programs. Context matters. As it happens, the court has also chosen a position that matches public opinion: Most Americans support class-based admissions policies and (as my colleague German Lopez has explained) oppose race-based policies. T.J.’s new policy, as Kahlenberg wrote in the journal National Affairs, is “doing what America has been pining after for a quarter-century: pursuing racial and economic diversity without the use of racial preferences.” Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT THE LATEST NEWS Michigan Primary Donald Trump beat Nikki Haley in the Republican primary, 68 percent to 27 percent. President Biden won the state’s Democratic primary. Read takeaways. The war in Gaza influenced voting. About 13 percent of Democratic voters cast ballots for “uncommitted” after activists suggested doing so to protest Biden’s policies. (By comparison, about 11 percent voted “uncommitted” when Barack Obama ran for re-election.) The figure suggests that many Arab and Muslim voters may oppose Biden in November. They’re a small share of the electorate, but every vote matters in a close election, The Times’s Nate Cohn writes. More on Politics At the White House. Anna Rose Layden for The New York Times After meeting with Biden, congressional leaders expressed optimism about averting a partial government shutdown this weekend. An effort to disqualify the prosecutors leading the case against Trump in Georgia hit a possible setback: A witness said he didn’t know when the two lawyers had started a relationship. New York Democrats rejected a congressional map drawn by a bipartisan commission. They put forward their own, which would strengthen Democrats’ chances in the House. The U.S. Army is cutting 24,000 positions as it shifts from fighting terrorism to countering threats from China and Russia. Israel-Hamas War Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu differ in how they’re describing the war. Biden implies peace is possible; Netanyahu says the war will be long. Hamas officials suggested that they were not close to agreeing to release some hostages in exchange for a cease-fire in Gaza. Biden said earlier that he hoped for a deal by the weekend. The U.S. will provide more humanitarian funding in Gaza and the West Bank as part of the push for a cease-fire. Janet Yellen, Biden’s Treasury secretary, urged Netanyahu to reinstate Palestinians’ work permits and restore economic ties with the West Bank. War in Ukraine Russia warned NATO against a ground intervention in Ukraine after provocative comments from Emmanuel Macron, France’s president, on the topic. The Russian military is willing to accept a high death toll among its own soldiers. Russia may have lost more troops taking Avdiivka, a small city, than died in more than a decade of fighting in Afghanistan. More International News In India, a zoo official gave two lions the names of a Hindu goddess and a Muslim emperor. He was punished. See photos from a European sauna marathon in The Washington Post. Health More gay men are taking H.I.V. prevention medication, but fewer are using condoms. Four eye ointments sold at Walmart and CVS are being recalled because of a potential risk of infections. Other Big Stories Macy’s will close about 150 stores in the coming years but expand its upscale Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury chains. Severe weather briefly grounded flights in Chicago. Track the storms. Wildfires prompted evacuations in Texas and Oklahoma. Opinions New York City is scary for birds like Flaco the owl. But so is freedom, Carl Safina writes. We publish new editions of old books to appreciate their place in history, Apoorva Tadepalli writes. Here are columns by Bret Stephens on why Nikki Haley is right to stay in the race and Thomas Edsall on falling birth rates and future voters. Discover more of the insight you value in The Morning. The Times is filled with information and inspiration every day. So gain unlimited access to everything we offer — and save with this introductory offer. MORNING READS In Scotland. Stuart Sinclair Not-so-golden ticket: A company promised families an immersive Willy Wonka experience. They got an empty warehouse and a few jelly beans. Today’s Great Read: What makes your favorite TV characters tick? Look to their mothers. Recycling: Personal medical devices like inhalers, EpiPens and Covid-19 tests can easily accumulate. See if they can be recycled. Fashion pioneer: Meet a man who built a business selling undergarments to male cross-dressers and transgender women in the 1970s, when doing so was more taboo. Lives Lived: Bruce Newman oversaw Newel Galleries, a go-to destination in Manhattan for antique hunters with deep pockets. His customers included Jackie Kennedy and Barbra Streisand. He died at 94. SPORTS N.B.A.: Max Strus hit a 59-foot buzzer beater to give Cleveland an important win over Dallas. Men’s college basketball: The unranked B.Y.U. upset No. 7 Kansas on the road. It was the Jayhawks’ first home loss of the season. Soccer: The U.S. men’s team will play a friendly against Brazil. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT ARTS AND IDEAS Lennon Gallagher, son of the Oasis rocker Liam Gallagher, in a Burberry show. Henry Nicholls/Getty Images Nepo models: Scarlet Stallone, a daughter of Sylvester, walked her first runway for Tommy Hilfiger. Eve Jobs, a daughter of Steve, has modeled for Louis Vuitton and Michael Kors. Lila Moss, the daughter of Kate, is a Victoria’s Secret recruit. The casting of celebrities’ children — long common for Hollywood — seems to be catching on in fashion, Elizabeth Paton writes, as luxury brands find that big names can increase online engagement. More on culture “Mary Poppins” Silver Screen Collection/Hulton Archive/Getty Images The British film authorities raised the rating of “Mary Poppins” to PG because it contains racist language. A jury in New York found two men guilty in the 2002 killing of Jam Master Jay, the D.J. of Run-DMC. Late night hosts chided Biden for talking about Gaza while eating ice cream. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … Julia Gartland for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Michelle Gatton. Add liquid to this pasta gradually, the way you would for risotto. Create a room so cozy, it feels like a hug. Subscribe to a wine club. Move your home office outside. GAMES Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangram was unzipped. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku and Connections. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. — David Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Continue reading the main story Editor: David Leonhardt Deputy Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, Sean Kawasaki-Culligan, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Ashley Wu News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Quote phkrause By the decree enforcing the institution of the papacy in violation of the law of God, our nation will disconnect herself fully from righteousness. When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near. {5T 451.1} Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members phkrause Posted February 29 Author Members Share Posted February 29 February 29, 2024 Good morning. The last few years have been great for energy production. In today’s newsletter, my colleague Jim Tankersley, an economics correspondent in Washington, explains why you don’t hear President Biden talking much about the boom. — David Leonhardt By Jim Tankersley We’re also covering the Supreme Court, Mitch McConnell and surrealism. A natural gas flare near Pecos, Texas Paul Ratje A muffled boom A junior White House economist made a chart last year — the sort of chart that previous presidents might have put in a campaign ad. It shows that U.S. energy production, from wind and solar to oil and gas, has boomed under President Biden. The nation is closer than ever to a goal that presidents have pursued for decades: true energy independence. The Times has recreated the chart, using the same data: Source: Ryan Cummings, Energy Information Administration | Data goes through November 2023. | By The New York Times The Biden administration has never published that chart. The president isn’t bragging about record oil and gas production. His reluctance highlights a political problem for him and other Democrats. Biden wants to phase out oil and gas eventually to fight global warming. But domestic oil and gas production is expanding on his watch. That brings political benefits: It helps reduce energy costs, and polls show Americans largely support it. But more drilling also means more pollution — and more fury from young progressive voters. “It is a tough balancing act,” said Ryan Cummings, the economist who created the energy chart. “You want to reduce emissions, but you need a bridge to get there.” Frack, baby, frack Republicans and fossil-fuel groups have accused Biden of waging “war” on American energy because he wants to halt America’s greenhouse gas emissions in a quarter century. But no president has overseen energy production like Biden has. He loves to talk about part of that story: how the United States is producing more power from renewables, including a surge in solar power accelerated by the climate law he signed in 2022. It’s the other half of the story he shies away from: the increased production of oil and natural gas. For decades, America’s oil wells seemed to be slowly drying up. The country’s daily oil production fell by half from the early 1970s to the 2008 financial crisis. Oil imports rose. Hydraulic fracturing — fracking, a process that allows drillers to access oil and gas reserves that were previously too expensive to tap — changed that. Production rebounded. It reached record highs when Donald Trump was president. The United States was suddenly selling more oil than any other country and exporting more than it imported. Under Biden’s watch, the U.S. broke that record last fall. The country also set records for natural gas output. In the first half of 2023, the United States was the world’s largest exporter of liquefied natural gas. Those developments have strengthened Biden’s hand in foreign policy: Europe has been able to replace much of the gas it once imported from Russia during the war in Ukraine. And oil prices have stayed relatively low, even as Saudi Arabia and other countries cut production to increase profits. The political bind But all that production has brought Biden grief from environmental groups, which successfully pushed America to join nearly 200 nations last year in agreeing to phase out fossil fuels. Climate activists are a key plank of Biden’s liberal base. So are young voters — and polls show that climate change is among the most important issues motivating them this year. Under pressure from those groups, Biden said last month that he would pause approval of new natural-gas export terminals. But other Democrats, including a new Democratic polling group called Blueprint, have pushed Biden to tout record drilling. They say it will help him attract independent voters — the sort of people past candidates wooed with promises of energy independence. In one way, Biden has embraced the drilling boom: gasoline prices. He released oil from America’s strategic reserve around the invasion of Ukraine. He has since boasted that the move helped reduce gas prices that hit $5 a gallon in June 2022. In private conversations, Biden and his team can be frank. They say that keeping oil and gas flowing in the short term can ease the path to a no-emission energy future by shielding working-class consumers from high prices that might turn them against climate policies. Biden told me as much in 2021, when I asked at a news conference about the tension between his efforts to lower gas prices and emissions at the same time. He said it was important to keep gas prices down because they had a “profound impact” on working-class families. “So,” he added, “I don’t see anything inconsistent with that.” Related: Conservatives want the next Republican president to end restrictions on emissions and repeal Biden’s signature climate law. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT THE LATEST NEWS Supreme Court The Supreme Court agreed to hear Trump’s claim that he is immune from prosecution, delaying a federal criminal case involving his actions on Jan 6. The court scheduled arguments for late April. The court’s decision to hear the case reduces the chances of a verdict in the criminal trial before Election Day. Trump’s actions suggest he wants to delay the trial. Read Alan Feuer’s analysis. In a separate case, an Illinois judge ordered Trump’s name removed from the state’s primary ballot over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The Supreme Court’s ruling on whether states can disqualify Trump is pending. The court seemed split over a challenge to a Trump-era ban on bump stocks, attachments that let semiautomatic rifles fire at speeds rivaling machine guns. Mitch McConnell Senator Mitch McConnell Kenny Holston/The New York Times “It’s time for the next generation”: Mitch McConnell will step down after November as the Senate Republican leader, a position he has held for a record 17 years. McConnell had a serious fall last year and has had episodes where he momentarily froze in front of the media. His support for more aid to Ukraine, leadership style and relationship with Trump have left him out of step with his party. Three Johns — Thune, Cornyn and Barrasso — top the list of his potential replacements. The late night hosts discussed McConnell’s decision. Congress Congressional leaders reached a deal on a short-term spending bill to avert a government shutdown this weekend. Senate Republicans blocked a bill that would protect I.V.F. and other fertility treatments nationwide after Alabama’s top court ruled that frozen embryos are children. Migration The border in Arizona. Rebecca Noble for The New York Times Illegal crossings have fallen in the last month, but the migrant crisis still defines life on the border. Read about residents and workers in Arizona. Trump and Biden will both visit the Texas border today, a rare convergence on the campaign trail. Republican lawmakers in Georgia are pushing to toughen immigration detention laws after the murder of a college student. More on Politics A judge rejected Trump’s offer of a $100 million bond as he tries to pause the $454 million penalty in his civil fraud case. Trump said he might have to sell properties to pay. Hunter Biden denied involving his father in his business and criticized Republicans’ impeachment inquiry as a “political pursuit” in closed-door testimony. Biden’s allies are optimistic that no other Democratic primary will present the same challenges as Michigan, where the “uncommitted” option drew over 100,000 votes after a protest campaign over his handling of the war in Gaza. Israel-Hamas War The Gazan health ministry said more than 30,000 people had been killed in the war since Oct. 7. The ministry’s toll does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Many experts say it may be an undercount. Dozens of family members of hostages held by Hamas began a four-day march from the Gaza border to Jerusalem, pushing for Israeli leaders to reach a deal to release them. Israeli reservists are returning from the war to a divided country. Inspired by the unity they experienced in the army, many are organizing for political change. A U.S. airman lit himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy this week to protest the war. Read about his road from an isolated Christian community to leftist and anarchist activism. International Near Avdiivka, Ukraine. Lynsey Addario for The New York Times Russia’s capture of the city of Avdiivka shifted the front line in Ukraine westward. Nearby, farmers, miners and their families are poised to flee. Ghana’s Parliament passed a bill that would jail people who identify as L.G.B.T.Q. or organize gay advocacy groups. Business Apple spent a decade working on a car before the project was killed this week. Internal disagreements meant the effort sputtered for years. Biden has ordered an investigation into security threats from Chinese electric cars with internet connectivity. The F.A.A. asked Boeing for a “comprehensive action plan” on quality control after a panel came off one of the company’s jets in flight last month. Other Big Stories Older Americans should get a dose of the latest Covid vaccine this spring, the C.D.C. recommended. Wildfires in Texas have consumed houses, burned vast ranch lands and forced evacuations across the Panhandle. Opinions Carlos Lozada read the 880-page plan that would guide a second Trump term. It treats the law as an obstacle to conservative power, he writes. Here is a column by Jamelle Bouie about the pressure on Trump to nationalize fetal personhood. Discover more of the insight you value in The Morning. The Times is filled with information and inspiration every day. So gain unlimited access to everything we offer — and save with this introductory offer. MORNING READS Josephine Carozzo celebrated her 100th and 24th birthday on Feb. 29, 1996. Gary Friedman/Los Angeles Times, via Getty Images Happy birthday: Leap day babies get to celebrate once every four years. Today is their day. Font nerds, rejoice: After 17 years of Calibri, Microsoft Word has a new default typeface: Aptos. Ice cream, oils and drinks: So many products were once infused with the cannabis-derived compound CBD. Has its moment passed? Lives Lived: The outsider artist Melvin Way began his career in the basement of a notorious and violent New York City homeless shelter. Some of his drawings are now in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. He died at 70. SPORTS College basketball: Caitlin Clark has broken the A.I.A.W. large school scoring record with a career total of 3,650. M.L.B.: The Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto impressed in his first spring training appearance. College football: The new playoff system could change again in two years; officials are homing in on a 14-team bracket. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT ARTS AND IDEAS James Baldwin Jean-Regis Rouston/Roger Viollet via Getty Images A guide to Baldwin: James Baldwin wrote with grace across genres: essays, novels, short stories, songs, children’s literature, drama, poetry, even screenplays. The author Robert Jones Jr. has advice for those seeking an entry point. His picks include: “Go Tell It on the Mountain,” a semi-autobiographical account of the Black American journey from the South to the North. “Nearly biblical in its tenor, it is a kind of gospel.” “Sonny’s Blues,” a novel about two brothers in Harlem, a teacher and a jazz pianist. “Baldwin explains to us, in ways that are wholly astonishing, the nature of music itself.” “The Devil Finds Work,” Baldwin’s most underrated book, an essay collection about his love affair with movies. Read more recommendations. More on culture Surrealism revolutionized culture. This year, exhibitions around the world celebrate the movement’s 100th birthday. The comedian Richard Lewis, known for his sarcastic stand-up and his starring role on “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” died at 76. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … Linda Xiao for the New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini. Stir together a high-comfort, low-fuss lemony pearl barley soup. Play a game with the family. Buy a smart smoke detector. GAMES Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangram was backroom. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku and Connections. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. P.S. Today’s print front page is the last to be drawn by Tom Bodkin, The Times’s chief creative officer, who is retiring after 46 years. Tom has regularly designed the paper’s front page over the decades, always by hand, using pencil on green paper. Here is today’s version: Tom Bodkin/The New York Times Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Continue reading the main story Editor: David Leonhardt Deputy Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, Sean Kawasaki-Culligan, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Ashley Wu News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Quote phkrause By the decree enforcing the institution of the papacy in violation of the law of God, our nation will disconnect herself fully from righteousness. When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near. {5T 451.1} Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members phkrause Posted March 3 Author Members Share Posted March 3 March 1, 2024 By David Leonhardt and Ian Prasad Philbrick Good morning. We’re covering the Republican fascination with Vladimir Putin — as well as the U.S.-Mexico border, Gaza and the subway. Vladimir Putin Arash Khamooshi for The New York Times Enemy or ally? Large parts of the Republican Party now treat Vladimir Putin as if he were an ideological ally. Putin, by contrast, continues to treat the U.S. as an enemy. This combination is clearly unusual and sometimes confusing. It does not appear to stem from any compromising information that Putin has about Donald Trump, despite years of such claims from Democrats. Instead, Trump and many other Republicans seem to feel ideological sympathies with Putin’s version of right-wing authoritarian nationalism. They see the world dividing between a liberal left and an illiberal right, with both themselves and Putin — along with Viktor Orban of Hungary and some other world leaders — in the second category. Whatever the explanation, the situation threatens decades of bipartisan consensus about U.S. national security. Already, House Republicans have blocked further aid to Ukraine — a democracy and U.S. ally that Putin invaded. Without the aid, military experts say Russia will probably be able to take over more of Ukraine than it now holds. If Trump wins a second term, he may go further. He has suggested that he might abandon the U.S. commitment to NATO, an alliance that exists to contain Russia and that Putin loathes. He recently invited Russia to “to do whatever the hell they want” to NATO countries that don’t spend enough on their own defense. (Near the end of his first term, he tried to pull American troops out of Germany, but President Biden rescinded the decision.) Trump has also avoided criticizing Putin for the mysterious death this month of his most prominent domestic critic, Aleksei Navalny, and has repeatedly praised Putin as a strong and smart leader. In a town hall last year, Trump refused to say whether he wanted Ukraine or Russia to win the war. There are some caveats worth mentioning. Some skepticism about how much money the U.S. should send to Ukraine stems from practical questions about the war’s endgame. It’s also true that some prominent Republicans, especially in the Senate, are horrified by their party’s pro-Russian drift and are lobbying the House to pass Ukraine aid. “If your position is being cheered by Vladimir Putin, it’s time to reconsider your position,” Senator Mitt Romney of Utah said last month. But the Republican fascination with Putin and Russia is real. The Putin-friendly faction of the party is ascendant, while some of his biggest critics, like Mitch McConnell, who announced this week that he would step down this year as the Republican Senate leader, will soon retire. (We recommend this article — in which Carl Hulse, The Times’s chief Washington correspondent, explains that while McConnell sees the U.S. as the world’s essential force, a growing number of Republicans do not.) In the rest of today’s newsletter, we’ll walk through the evidence of this shift. Ukraine aid The Senate has passed an additional $60 billion in aid to Ukraine, with both Republican and Democratic support. But the House, which Republicans control, has so far refused to pass that bill. House Speaker Mike Johnson, who is close to Trump, has not allowed a vote on the bill even though it would likely pass if he did. A few Republicans have gone so far as speak about Ukraine and its president, Volodymyr Zelensky, in ways that mimic Russian propaganda. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene has accused Ukraine of having “a Nazi army,” echoing language Putin used to justify the invasion. Military experts say that if Ukraine does not receive more U.S. aid, it could begin losing the war in the second half of this year. “Not since the first chaotic months of the invasion, when Russian troops poured across the borders from every direction and the country rose up en masse to resist, has Ukraine faced such a precarious moment,” wrote our colleagues Andrew Kramer and Marc Santora, who have been reporting from Ukraine. (Related: Ukrainians who live to the west of the recently captured Avdiivka are poised to flee in the face of a Russian onslaught.) Alexander Smirnov House Republicans hoping to impeach President Biden have repeatedly promoted information that appears to have been based partly on Russian disinformation. One example: The Republicans cited an F.B.I. document in which an informant accused Biden and his son, Hunter, of taking $5 million bribes from the owner of Burisma, a Ukrainian gas company. But federal prosecutors have now accused the informant, Alexander Smirnov, of fabricating the allegation to damage Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign. Smirnov has told the F.B.I. that people linked to Russian intelligence passed him information about Hunter Biden. A federal judge has ordered Smirnov detained and called him a flight risk. Tucker Carlson Tucker Carlson is not a Republican Party official, but he is an influential Trump supporter, and Carlson has often echoed Russian propaganda. At least once, he went so far as to say he hoped Russia would win its war against Ukraine. Last month, Carlson aired a two-hour interview with Putin in which Putin made false claims about Ukraine, Zelensky and Western leaders with little pushback from Carlson. In a separate video recorded inside a Russian grocery store, Carlson suggested life in Russia was better than in the U.S. (Watch Jon Stewart debunk those claims here.) Republican voters The shift in elite Republican opinion toward Russia and away from Ukraine has influenced public opinion. Shortly after Russia invaded, about three-quarters of Republicans favored giving Ukraine military and economic aid, according to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. Now, only about half do. Republican voters are also less likely to hold favorable views of Zelensky. In one poll, most Trump-aligned Republicans even partly blamed him for the war. Republicans also support NATO at lower rates than Democrats and independents, a shift from the 1980s. More on the war “Donald Trump views himself as a Putinesque, dictatorial figure,” Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic House leader, has said. “We should believe him that he wants to go down this road.” Jeffries also told The Times how he hoped Ukraine aid could pass. The Biden administration is considering giving Ukraine weapons from Pentagon stockpiles even though it lacks money to replace them, a short-term bid to aid Ukraine until Congress acts. Putin warned that direct Western intervention in Ukraine would risk nuclear war, alluding in a speech to the French president’s recent comments about sending NATO troops there. Trump plans to meet next week with Viktor Orban, Hungary’s right-wing prime minister. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT THE LATEST NEWS The Border At the border. Kenny Holston/The New York Times; Doug Mills/The New York Times President Biden and Donald Trump each visited the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas. Speaking in Brownsville, Biden urged Republicans to “show a little spine” and pass a bipartisan border security bill, inviting Trump to join him in supporting it. “The United States is being overrun,” Trump said in Eagle Pass, about 300 miles away. He also blamed Biden for the death of a Georgia nursing student; the authorities have charged an undocumented immigrant with her murder. The two events were about more than immigration policy; they spoke to the competing visions of power and presidency at stake in November, Shane Goldmacher writes. A federal judge blocked a Texas law that would let state and local police expel migrants, siding with the Biden administration. More on Politics Congress passed a short-term spending bill to avert a partial government shutdown this weekend. Biden is expected to quickly sign it. Katie Britt, Alabama’s first elected female U.S. senator, will deliver the G.O.P. response to Biden’s State of the Union address next week. A former U.S. ambassador who is accused of working for decades as a secret agent for Cuba said he would plead guilty. Israel-Hamas War In Gaza City. Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Gazan officials said that more than 100 Palestinians were killed and more than 700 injured near a convey of aid trucks. Palestinian and Israeli officials gave differing accounts of the events. Gazan officials said that Israeli forces opened fire at a crowd waiting for aid. The Gazan health ministry called it a “massacre.” The Israeli military attributed most of the deaths to a stampede. A spokesman said that soldiers fired warning shots in the air before firing only “when the mob moved in a manner which endangered them.” This map shows where the chaos unfolded. More International News In Moscow. Alexander Nemenov/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Mourners gathered in Moscow for the funeral for the Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny. Colombia’s main international airport has become a hub for African migrants hoping to reach the U.S. Some Iranian voters, disaffected and angry at the government after violent crackdowns, are vowing to boycott this week’s elections. Brian Mulroney, the former prime minister of Canada who helped negotiate NAFTA, died at 84. Climate In Texas. Desiree Rios for The New York Times More than one million acres have burned in the Texas Panhandle — the state’s largest wildfire on record. Judges in Idaho, Montana and Nevada have recently given their states more power to protect dwindling groundwater supplies. The Biden administration said it would, for now, exempt existing gas-fired plants from new regulations that would require plants to capture their carbon dioxide emissions before 2040. Business Nine grandchildren of Walt and Roy Disney publicly expressed support for Disney’s C.E.O. and its current board, as an activist investor wages a proxy battle for board seats. Oprah will step down from the board of Weight Watchers, months after she revealed she was taking weight-loss medication. The news of her departure sent the company’s shares into a tailspin. Other Big Stories An administrator at Columbia University’s Irving Medical Center was accused of plagiarizing large sections of his doctoral dissertation. The City of Ferguson, Mo., agreed to pay $4.5 million to settle a federal lawsuit that accused it of wrongfully jailing people for traffic tickets and other minor offenses. Opinions Black Americans often can trace their ancestry back only a few generations. Genealogy now has the tools to go back further, Edda Fields-Black writes. Here are columns by John McWhorter on why Black English shouldn’t be only for Black people and Michelle Goldberg on Gretchen Whitmer’s political success in Michigan. Discover more of the insight you value in The Morning. The Times is filled with information and inspiration every day. So gain unlimited access to everything we offer — and save with this introductory offer. MORNING READS Tending to an “end destination” sign. Christopher Payne for The New York Times TLC: Inside the repair shop where New York City subway cars go to get a makeover. Preservation: Alcatraz is facing deterioration. A new 3-D map could help preserve its history. “Who TF Did I Marry?”: A 50-part TikTok series about a woman’s short-lived marriage is made for TikTok’s middle-aged users. Lives Lived: Richard Abath was a night watchman whose decision to allow two thieves disguised as Boston police officers into the Gardner Museum in 1990 enabled the greatest art heist in history. He died at 57. SPORTS Women’s basketball: Caitlin Clark announced that she would enter the W.N.B.A. Draft and forgo the opportunity to return to Iowa for a fifth year. N.F.L. Draft: A player who spent much of his childhood homeless is expected to be drafted this April. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT ARTS AND IDEAS Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides and Zendaya as Chani in “Dune: Part Two.” Niko Tavernise/Warner Bros. Return to Arrakis: “Dune: Part Two” is in theaters this weekend. The film is the second part of a trilogy directed by Denis Villeneuve and based on the epic sci-fi series by Frank Herbert. The first installment was a hit with critics and at the box office, and Manohla Dargis, The Times’s chief critic, has high praise for “Part Two.” She writes: Set in the aftermath of the first movie, the sequel resumes the story boldly, delivering visions both phantasmagoric and familiar. Like Timothée Chalamet’s dashingly coifed hero — who steers monstrous sandworms over the desert like a charioteer — Villeneuve puts on a great show. The art of cinematic spectacle is alive and rocking in “Dune: Part Two,” and it’s a blast. Read Manohla’s review here. More on culture Sally Rooney will publish a new novel, titled “Intermezzo,” in September, The Cut reports. Late night hosts discuss the Supreme Court’s decision to consider Trump’s immunity claim. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … Kate Sears for The New York Times Make a simple, five-ingredient Turkish yogurt cake. Stream movies on Mubi, an art-house alternative to Netflix. Ride out the end of winter with these video games. Take our news quiz. GAMES Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangram was plaudit. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku and Connections. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. — David and Ian Correction: Yesterday’s newsletter misstated the length of the book detailing conservatives’ plans for Trump’s second term. It is 887 pages, not 880. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Continue reading the main story Editor: David Leonhardt Deputy Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, Sean Kawasaki-Culligan, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Ashley Wu News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Quote phkrause By the decree enforcing the institution of the papacy in violation of the law of God, our nation will disconnect herself fully from righteousness. When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near. {5T 451.1} Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members phkrause Posted March 4 Author Members Share Posted March 4 March 2, 2024 By Melissa Kirsch Good morning. We know that happiness is to be found in taking our time and being present. How can we slow down and stop rushing our way through life? María Jesús Contreras Hurry up and wait Racing to catch a subway train recently, I tripped on the stairs leading to the platform, steadying myself only barely by grabbing the arm of an unsuspecting and rightfully alarmed fellow passenger. I sustained no major damage — a scraped knee, a bruise on my thigh I’d discover a week later. These injuries were, I told myself in the aftermath, well deserved. I’d disregarded one of my precepts for personal happiness, the one that stipulates, “Most misery is caused by rushing.” My fall was the most basic evidence of this, a frying-pan-over-the-head reminder that running late and reckless from one place to the next puts one at risk of a spill. But there was also all the incidental unhappiness I’d incurred and inflicted in the lead-up: I’d been rushing to get out of the house, which put me in a foul mood. I’d been impatient with everyone I encountered on the way to the subway, adding some measure of unpleasantness to their mornings. We rush because we’re late. We also rush because we want to move quickly away from discomfort. We rush to come up with solutions to problems that would benefit from more sustained consideration. We rush into obligations or decisions or relationships because we want things settled. Worrying is a kind of rushing: It’s uncomfortable to sit in a state of uncertainty, so we fast-forward the tape, accelerating our lives past the present moment into fearsome imagined scenarios. A friend and I remind each other regularly of a radio news segment she heard years ago. The reporter concluded the story, about a mess of delays on the Long Island Rail Road, with the line, “These commuters are ready for this day to be over, once and for all.” Of course the message was the commuters wanted to get home and have dinner and go to bed already. But the finality of “once and for all” made it sound as though the commuters were so fed up that they wanted to end that day and all days. Or, as my friend wrote: “Certainly at one point the day will definitely be over once and for all for each of us. Is that what we’re rushing toward?” This obsession with being done with things, of living life like an endless to-do list, is ridiculous. I find myself sometimes having a lovely time, out to dinner with friends, say, and I’ll notice an insistent hankering for the dinner to be over. Why? So I can get to the next thing, who cares what the next thing is, just keep going. Keep rushing, even through the good parts. In Marie Howe’s poem “Hurry,” she describes running errands with a child in tow. “Hurry up honey, I say, hurry,” she urges, as the little one scampers to keep up. Then she wonders: “Where do I want her to hurry to? To her grave? / To mine? Where one day she might stand all grown?” This is not novel advice, to stop and smell the roses, to be here now, to slow down. But it’s not easily heeded. Our culture, now as ever, rewards hustle. The Silicon Valley maxim “Done is better than perfect” can be constructive when applied to procrastination. But we bring it to bear on situations in which “done” is not necessarily a desirable goal. Since my subway incident, I’ve been trying to notice when I’m rushing, physically and psychologically. “Where are you going?” I ask myself. “And why are you in such a hurry?” That pause helps put a little space between here and there, and might, with any luck, avert future misery. For more “It’s not as if any of us wants to live like this, any more than any one person wants to be part of a traffic jam or stadium trampling or the hierarchy of cruelty in high school — it’s something we collectively force one another to do.” From 2012, Tim Kreider on the trap of busy-ness. The art of slowing down in a museum. One way to slow down: observe without documenting. “There is so much to be done, and yet the temptation is to just sit in the sun and listen to the hickory nuts falling.” Nature makes a good argument for ceasing our rushing. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT THE WEEK IN CULTURE Film and TV The comedian Richard Lewis in 2014. Michael Schwartz/WireImage Richard Lewis died this week at 76. He delivered jokes with rollicking energy, giving his Jewish neurotic persona a nervy cool, The Times’s Jason Zinoman writes. Lewis and Larry David, born days apart at the same Brooklyn hospital, became archrivals, then best friends, before playing frenemies on “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” Leah McSweeney, a former star of “The Real Housewives of New York City,” sued the show’s network and Andy Cohen, a top producer. She claimed that “dark secrets,” “psychological warfare” and frequent cocaine use created a “rotted workplace culture.” Arts Two filmmakers criticized Israel at the Berlin International Film Festival last weekend, stirring a debate about antisemitism in Germany’s arts sector. Joan Jonas’s work combines video, performance, folklore, sculpture and ecology. At 87, she is still working, and still defying categorization. Almost 40 years after the artist Ana Mendieta died in a fall from a New York City apartment window, writers and filmmakers continue to revisit the tragedy. Her family would rather focus on her art. Fashion Iris Apfel was in her 80s when the fashion world took notice of her brash bohemian style, and her eclectic wardrobe formed a hit exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She died at 102. Spotted on the runways (and streets) of Milan Fashion Week: surprising celebrities and flashes of red. A new campaign for the fashion brand Reformation stars Monica Lewinsky. In the Fashion Chatter column, Ruth La Ferla spoke with Lewinsky about her new gig. More Culture The soprano Lise Davidsen, who has triumphed in works by Tchaikovsky and Strauss, cements her stardom in a new production of Verdi’s “La Forza del Destino” at the Metropolitan Opera, the Times critic Zachary Woolfe writes. At 70, Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth is releasing a blistering new solo LP, finding new fans on TikTok and making art that continues to surprise. A remastered version of Star Wars: Dark Forces, a popular 1995 video game, came out this week. It will remind players that before “Star Wars” became a corporate empire, it was a rich source of gaming creativity, Calum Marsh writes. Goo Hara was one of South Korea’s most popular musical artists. Her suicide, one of several among young Korean stars in recent years, has exposed a darker side to the country’s entertainment industry. THE LATEST NEWS Outside Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on Thursday. Agence France-Presse — Getty Images The U.S. will airdrop humanitarian aid into Gaza, President Biden said. He lamented the “tragic and alarming” deaths of scores of Palestinians near a convoy of aid trucks this week. Thousands of Russians attended the funeral service of the dissident Aleksei Navalny, with some chanting “no to war” and “peace for Ukraine,” in a major display of dissent. A Colorado paramedic convicted in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain, a young Black man, received a five-year prison sentence. Oregon is recriminalizing hard drugs, only three years after the state removed penalties for drug possession. Lawmakers hope the change will reduce overdose deaths, which have surged. CVS and Walgreens, the largest U.S. pharmacy chains, will start selling the abortion pill mifepristone this month, easing access for patients in states where abortion is legal. A businessman pleaded guilty to trying to bribe Senator Bob Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, by giving his wife a Mercedes-Benz. Menendez and his wife have pleaded not guilty to bribery charges. Elon Musk sued OpenAI and its chief executive, Sam Altman, accusing them of putting profits ahead of the public good in developing artificial intelligence. Discover more of the insight you value in The Morning. The Times is filled with information and inspiration every day. So gain unlimited access to everything we offer — and save with this introductory offer. CULTURE CALENDAR By Alexis Soloski 📺 “The Regime” (Sunday): “Mildred Pierce” and “Mare of Easttown” crowned Kate Winslet the queen of HBO mini-series. Now she can add another title: despot. In this absurdist show from Will Tracy, a “Succession” writer, Winslet stars as the ruler of a Central European principality, a bleach-blond autocrat in an endless parade of bodycon dresses. 📚 “The Hunter” (Tuesday): Thriller obsessives like me might pine for another entry in Tana French’s “Dublin Murder Squad” series (the last one, “The Trespasser,” was published in 2016). But French, a consummate suspense writer, has traded the city for the countryside: Her new book, a companion to her 2020 novel “The Searcher,” returns to the village where a former Chicago detective is pursuing an eventful retirement. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT RECIPE OF THE WEEK Christopher Simpson for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne. By Melissa Clark Slow Cooker Honey-Soy Braised Pork With Lime and Ginger The end of February doesn’t necessarily signal the end of blustery cold nights, and in much of the country, March is still prime time for simmering cozy winter stews. Sarah DiGregorio’s honey-soy braised pork with lime and ginger is made in a slow cooker, which means you’ll be able to savor its meaty perfume all day long as it gently bubbles away. The meat emerges fall-apart tender, with a rich, caramelized sauce zipped up with lime and freshly grated ginger. Serve it over rice or noodles or in lettuce cups for a satisfying, warming weekend meal — and then be grateful for the leftovers. They’ll make for a deluxe and instant midweek dinner to fight the chill. REAL ESTATE Connor Krone with Harry near his new apartment in the city. Andrea Mohin/The New York Times The Hunt: He tested his $450,000 budget all over New York. Would it be Williamsburg, Hell’s Kitchen or the South Bronx? Play our game. What you get for $2 million: A Beaux-Arts mansion in St. Louis, a Spanish-style home in Pasadena and a stone house in Washington. Where to start: Irondequoit, N.Y., a suburb of Rochester, topped a study of the best places in the U.S. for younger buyers. LIVING Cole Brauer Samuel Hodges Solo sailing: As Cole Brauer speeds to the finish of a solo race around the world, she is using Instagram to blow up sailing’s elitist image. Prenuptial party: A three-day pre-wedding ceremony for the son of one of India’s richest men raises the bar for extravagant festivity. (Rihanna was in attendance.) All she wrote: A German manufacturer rereleased a much-celebrated limited-edition ink. The fanfare soon turned into drama in the fountain pen community. ADVICE FROM WIRECUTTER Start your spring cleaning Spring cleaning looks great on paper: a chance to delve into the messiest corners of your life and emerge with a completely fresh space, just in time for sunnier skies. But in practice, it can be overwhelming. Our advice? Start by decluttering. Take inventory of your things and cull the excess now, so that you’re streamlining the actual cleaning come spring. Wirecutter’s experts have recommendations for closet-organizing gear, a storage system for your car, and more. Or join our Decluttering Challenge for six days of tips to help you tidy your busiest spaces. — Brittney Ho GAME OF THE WEEK Max Verstappen at a race in Japan last year. Chang W. Lee/The New York Times Bahrain Grand Prix: The Formula 1 season begins this morning. The Athletic’s experts expect Max Verstappen to dominate the field again this year. Even if he does, though, there are plenty of story lines to follow, including a potential breakout year for the sport’s only American racer, Logan Sargeant, and a new team for the fan favorite Daniel Ricciardo. And if you’re new to the sport — perhaps drawn in by an addictive documentary series — Madeline Coleman’s series “Between the Racing Lines” is helpful for understanding race day, including why D.R.S. is so controversial and how drivers get in physical shape to compete. Today at 10 a.m. Eastern on ESPN. More on sports LeBron James is already the leading scorer in N.B.A. history. Tonight he has a shot to become the first player to reach 40,000 career points. Ahead of the N.H.L. trade deadline next week, The Athletic highlighted one change each team could make. Scott Van Pelt’s late-night “SportsCenter” is a safe harbor from the endless manufactured outrage of modern sports media, Jonathan Mahler writes in The Times Magazine. NOW TIME TO PLAY Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangrams were ineffable and infallible. Take the news quiz to see how well you followed this week’s headlines. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku and Connections. Thanks for spending part of your weekend with The Times. — Melissa Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Continue reading the main story Editor: David Leonhardt Deputy Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, Sean Kawasaki-Culligan, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Ashley Wu News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Quote phkrause By the decree enforcing the institution of the papacy in violation of the law of God, our nation will disconnect herself fully from righteousness. When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near. {5T 451.1} Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members phkrause Posted March 4 Author Members Share Posted March 4 March 3, 2024 By Desiree Ibekwe Good morning. Travelers are racing to see parts of the world that may soon vanish. A gondola at the Mer de Glace. Darren S. Higgins for The New York Times Melting away A lot of climate discussion revolves around time. Lines rise across charts predicting the next century. Scientists set deadlines for the coming decades. Each month seems to bring news of a new heat record. The sense that time is running out can be heady. As the Earth warms, natural wonders — coral reefs, glaciers, archipelagos — are at risk of damage and disappearance. This has motivated some travelers to engage in “last-chance tourism,” visiting places threatened by climate change before it’s too late. “For thousands of years, humans have raced to be the first to scale a peak, cross a frontier, or document a new species or landscape,” Paige McClanahan writes in a piece for The Times. “Now, in some cases, we’re racing to be the last.” A vanishing glacier One such destination is the Mer de Glace, the largest glacier in the French Alps, where thousands of people go each year to ski. (Early tourists included Mary Shelley and Mark Twain.) The glacier, like many others, is melting rapidly. A new, higher lift opened recently to stay closer to the retreating ice. And a study published in the journal Science last year found that around half of the world’s glaciers will have melted by the end of this century, even if nations stick to the goals of the Paris climate agreement. “For someone who doesn’t know how it used to be, it’s a beautiful scene,” a visitor to the glacier told Paige. “But when you know the difference, it really is sad.” Pros and cons There is some evidence that visiting an ecosystem threatened by climate change could lead people to become more aware of their impact on the environment. In a 2020 survey conducted by researchers at the Mer de Glace, 80 percent of visitors said that they would try to learn more about how to protect the environment, and 77 percent said they would reduce their water and energy consumption. Some tourist spots have leaned into education. In Peru, officials renamed a trek to the Pastoruri glacier “La Ruta del Cambio Climático,” or “The Route of Climate Change.” And at the Mer de Glace, an exhibit about climate change — called the Glaciorium — is set to open later this year. There are some, however, who question of the value of last-chance tourism. Visiting fragile environments can do more harm than good. Some people travel to Antarctica because they fear it is being destroyed. But, as Sara Clemence highlighted in a piece in The Atlantic last year, travel there requires a lot of fuel, while visitors can introduce disease and damage wildlife. And research by Karla Boluk, an academic from the University of Waterloo, found that a majority of last-chance tourists to two sites in Canada were unwilling to pay extra to offset the carbon footprint of their trip. “There’s an ethical paradox of last-chance tourism,” Boluk told The Times, “and it involves the moral question of whether travelers acknowledge and respond to the harm they promote.” Read Paige’s full story here. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT THE LATEST NEWS 2024 Election Trump supporters. Veasey Conway for The New York Times Donald Trump leads President Biden by 5 percentage points among registered voters nationwide, according to a new Times/Siena poll. Only a quarter of voters think the country is moving in the right direction, the poll found, and a majority think the economy is in poor condition. Biden’s age also poses a threat: Most voters who supported him in 2020 now believe he is too old to lead the country effectively, the poll found. Trump won Republican caucuses in Michigan, Missouri and Idaho. Texas’ governor and attorney general hope to bring down incumbent Republicans in Tuesday’s primary and shift the state further right. More on Politics Trump has said little about the war in Gaza, a reflection of the anti-interventionist shift he has brought to Republican politics — and his personal feelings about Benjamin Netanyahu. Local politicians in recovery for drug addiction are embracing honesty about their pasts. Israel-Hamas War U.S. Air Force cargo planes dropped 38,000 ready-to-eat meals into Gaza. An Israeli airstrike near a hospital in Rafah killed at least 11 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Israel is reluctant to fill the leadership vacuum in northern Gaza. Experts say that gangs or Hamas members could fill the gap. Read Patrick Kingsley’s analysis. International A greenhouse in Gasan-myeon. Jun Michael Park for The New York Times South Korea is increasingly dependent on foreign workers, who routinely face predatory employers and inhumane conditions. Pakistan’s Parliament chose a former prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, to fill the role again. His government faces questions of legitimacy after accusations of military interference in elections. After years of declining vaccination rates, Britain is experiencing a measles outbreak. The authorities in Russia long sought to portray Aleksei Navalny as inconsequential, while vilifying him in a way that suggested the opposite. Little has changed since his death. Education The University of Florida has terminated all positions associated with diversity, equity and inclusion to comply with new state regulations. The University of Idaho, preparing for a drop in the college-age population, plans to take over the University of Phoenix, a for-profit online school known for misleading claims and low graduation rates. Weather In Miami, Texas. Desiree Rios for The New York Times Cattle ranchers across the Great Plains face an uncertain future after wildfires. Thousands are without power after a winter storm brought snow to California and Nevada. Rains in California have temporarily resurrected a lake in Death Valley, The Washington Post reports. Other Big Stories New York City trash. DeSean McClinton-Holland for The New York Times Trash in New York City blocks sidewalks, feeds rats and spills into the street. Fixing the problem requires trade-offs. A firefighter in Kentucky rescued a driver from a truck that was dangling off the side of a bridge. See a video. LeBron James became the first player in N.B.A. history to score 40,000 career points. THE SUNDAY DEBATE Should Michigan’s protest vote worry Biden? Yes. That 100,000 Michigan voters vented their discontent with Biden, many over his handling of Israel’s invasion of Gaza, is a problem for him. “The Biden campaign has to deal with how the president’s policy could impact his re-election effort,” USA Today’s Sara Pequeño writes. No. There are more moderates who agree with Biden’s policies than there are progressives who disagree with him. “It would be a mistake to think that shifting his policy to the left would be a net gain for him,” John Halpin writes for CNN. MORE OPINIONS Josephine Sittenfeld has been journaling for decades. Apple’s new Journal app is a weak substitute for the real thing, she writes. Much of Israel’s war is what a justifiable campaign against a terrorist enemy inevitably looks like, Ross Douthat argues. Here are columns by Maureen Dowd on the speech she hopes Biden gives this week and Nicholas Kristof on the U.N.’s double standard for Israel. Discover more of the insight you value in The Morning. The Times is filled with information and inspiration every day. So gain unlimited access to everything we offer — and save with this introductory offer. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT MORNING READS In Alderney. Cristina Baussan for The New York Times Hidden history: Alderney, a windswept island in the English Channel, feels like a remote haven. During World War II, it was a site of Nazi atrocities. Thank you very much: As a boy in Pakistan, Airaj Jilani idolized Elvis. Decades later in the U.S., he still has his passion — and his impeccable impersonation. Vows: Their corporate speak turned into a language of love. Lives Lived: Nancy Wallace helped transform the Bronx River from a watery graveyard for automobiles and appliances into an urban greenbelt for New York City. She died at 93. THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE Tonje Thilesen for The New York Times Why go to a great steakhouse? For the food, sure, but also for the dinner theater. Criterion has succeeded in Hollywood by creating the anti-algorithm: Film lovers trust its heavily curated catalog to show them beautiful, strange, complex movies. The Ethicist: My dad cut my brother out of his will. Should I secretly split my inheritance? TALK | FROM THE MAGAZINE Yejin Choi Photo illustration by Bráulio Amado By David Marchese The A.I. industry continues to boom, and to poke at our anxieties. In late 2022, I spoke with the pioneering researcher Yejin Choi, who works on developing common sense and ethical reasoning in A.I. Can you explain what “common sense” means in the context of teaching it to A.I.? It’s the unspoken, implicit knowledge that you and I have. It’s so obvious that we often don’t talk about it. You and I know birds can fly, and we know penguins generally cannot. So A.I. researchers thought, we can code this up: Birds usually fly, except for penguins. But in fact, newborn baby birds cannot fly, birds covered in oil cannot fly. The point being, exceptions are not exceptional, and you and I can think of them even though nobody told us. It’s not so easy for A.I. What’s most exciting to you right now about your work in A.I.? I’m excited about value pluralism. Another way to put it is that there’s no universal truth. A lot of people feel uncomfortable about this. As scientists, we’re trained to be very precise and strive for one truth. Now I’m thinking, well, there’s no universal truth — can birds fly or not? Moral rules: There must be some moral truth. Don’t kill people, for example. But what if it’s a mercy killing? Then what? How could you possibly teach A.I. to make moral decisions when almost every rule or truth has exceptions? A.I. should learn exactly that: There are cases that are more clean-cut, and then there are cases that are more discretionary. Instead of making binary, clean-cut decisions, it should sometimes make decisions based on This looks really bad. Or you have your position, but it understands that, well, half the country thinks otherwise. Read more of the interview here. BOOKS Franco Zacha New fiction: “Wandering Stars,” the follow-up to Tommy Orange’s “There There,” follows the descendants of a massacre on Native Americans over a century and a half. Our review calls it a towering achievement. Our editors’ picks: In “The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels,” readers sift through texts, emails and more to discover the story behind a series of occult deaths. Times best sellers: “The Chaos Agent,” the 13th book in Mark Greaney’s Gray Man series, is new this week on the hardcover fiction best-seller list. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … Check in on your emotional well-being. Clean your dog’s bed. Feel safer with a smart security device. THE WEEK AHEAD What to Watch For North Dakota holds Republican caucuses tomorrow. Then it’s Super Tuesday. Sixteen states have primary elections or caucuses, including California, where Representatives Katie Porter and Adam Schiff are competing for a Senate seat. Biden will make the State of the Union address on Thursday. International Women’s Day is Friday. Congress’s deadline to avert a government shutdown is Friday. Trump is scheduled to host Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orban, at Mar-a-Lago on Friday. What to Cook This Week Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Sue Li. Prop Stylist: Sophia Eleni Pappas In this week’s Five Weeknight Dishes newsletter, Emily Weinstein suggests making Eric Kim’s five-ingredient peanut butter noodles, which she calls “a Parmesan-tossed classic in the making.” Her other suggestions include an orange-glazed baked salmon, a one-pan crispy chicken and chickpeas and a cheesy and spicy black bean bake. NOW TIME TO PLAY Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangram was grownup. Can you put eight pieces of history — including the printing press, chemotherapy and Frida Kahlo — in chronological order? Take this week’s Flashback quiz. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku and Connections. Thanks for spending part of your weekend with The Times. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Continue reading the main story Editor: David Leonhardt Deputy Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, Sean Kawasaki-Culligan, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Ashley Wu News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Quote phkrause By the decree enforcing the institution of the papacy in violation of the law of God, our nation will disconnect herself fully from righteousness. When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near. {5T 451.1} Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members phkrause Posted March 4 Author Members Share Posted March 4 March 4, 2024 By David Leonhardt Good morning. We’re covering the Trump campaign and the Supreme Court — as well as Kamala Harris, tech regulation and the “Dune” popcorn bucket. The Supreme Court Tierney L. Cross for The New York Times A question of timing For six weeks in June and July 2022, a House committee held public hearings about the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. During those hearings, millions of Americans heard new details about the efforts by Donald Trump and his supporters to overturn the 2020 election result. Less than four months later, Americans voted in the midterm elections — and rejected many of Trump’s favorite candidates. Republicans whom he had backed in primaries performed about five percentage points worse on average in the general election than other Republicans, a Times analysis found. The difference was large enough to decide several races. The message seemed clear. Americans may be politically divided and (as I’ve written before) dissatisfied with both the Democratic Party’s liberalism and President Biden’s performance. But when voters focus on the anti-democratic behavior of Trump and his allies, a small but critical slice becomes less willing to vote for them. This history feels particularly relevant after the Supreme Court issued a decision last week that will delay Trump’s federal trial for election subversion. The court agreed to hear Trump’s claim that he is immune from prosecution because the alleged crimes occurred while he was president. The justices scheduled arguments about his immunity claim for April, which is likely to push back the start of any trial until at least September. The court’s move reduces the chances of a trial verdict before Election Day. A benefit to Trump In doing so, the court has almost certainly helped Trump’s campaign. He has made clear that delay is central to his strategy for fighting the cases against him. And for obvious reason: If he becomes president again, he can order the Justice Department to end any federal case against him. The delays also make it more likely that he will become president again. The public will be less focused on his attempts to overturn the 2020 election if he isn’t on trial for them. Polls have also found that a significant share of Trump’s current supporters claim they will not vote for him if he is convicted. As Nate Cohn, The Times’s chief political analyst, said to me: “The possibility that Trump would be convicted of federal crimes by the election was one of the better reasons to think the race could shift toward Biden. That’s looking less likely now, especially as the D.C. case seemed like the fastest and clearest path to a conviction.” And as my colleagues Alan Feuer and Maggie Haberman wrote, “Trump’s delay strategy seems to be working.” (Two other cases — a Georgia trial involving his attempts to overturn the result and a federal trial involving his handling of classified documents — have moved even more slowly. The charges in a fourth case — a New York trial set to start this month, involving hush money to conceal a sexual affair — may not seem as serious to many voters.) The Supreme Court is not the only reason that the cases are moving slowly. Prosecutors in both federal cases and the Georgia case have moved with less urgency than some legal observers thought was savvy. And the Supreme Court justices will no doubt argue that they are merely following a reasonable timetable for an important case. But the court has acted very quickly when dealing with past cases related to elections, including in Bush v. Gore in 2000. This year, by contrast, the justices have made two different decisions that have pushed back Trump’s trial for election subversion. No, then yes First, the justices rejected a request in December from Jack Smith, the special prosecutor, that they immediately consider Trump’s claim of immunity. The case was so important, Smith said, that only the Supreme Court could resolve it and should not wait for an appeals courts to hear it first. The justices said no to Smith. Second, after the appeals court ruled against Trump, the justices agreed last week to hear his challenge — and scheduled the hearing for late April, almost two months from now. “The schedule the court set could make it hard, if not impossible, to complete Mr. Trump’s trial before the 2024 election,” Adam Liptak, who covers the Supreme Court for The Times, wrote. (I recommend this article by Adam, in which he explains the relevant history, such as Bush v. Gore.) In a newsletter last week, I argued that the Supreme Court’s recent decision on diversity and high school admissions offered a reason for Americans to be less cynical about the court. On that subject, the justices seemed to be following a consistent principle across several cases. Sometimes that principle disappointed the political left, and sometimes it disappointed the right. Last week’s decision feels different. When urgent action could help a Republican presidential candidate in 2000, the court — which was also dominated by Republican appointees at the time — acted urgently. When delay seems likely to help a Republican presidential candidate in 2024, the court has chosen delay. The combination does not make the court look independent from partisan politics. For more The Supreme Court looks poised to rule today on Trump’s eligibility to hold office. In his civil cases, Trump has at times ignored his lawyers’ advice. At his upcoming criminal trial, the stakes will be higher. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT THE LATEST NEWS Middle East Kamala Harris Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images Vice President Kamala Harris called for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, saying that Hamas should agree to a deal for a six-week pause. Harris is expected to meet with Benny Gantz, a top Israeli war cabinet official, at the White House today to discuss the deal and humanitarian aid. Aid trucks coordinated by Israel failed to deliver most of their supplies to northern Gaza after people in central Gaza overwhelmed and emptied them. A leaked report by the U.N.’s aid agency for Palestinians accused Israel of abusing hundreds of Gazans captured during the war. A British cargo ship sank in the Red Sea, weeks after being damaged by a Houthi missile attack. The fertilizer it carried poses an environmental risk, U.S. officials said. The war is changing the relationship between secular Israelis and the ultra-Orthodox, some of whom are now considering military service. Business A global wave of regulations is forcing tech companies like Meta, Microsoft and Google to change their products. Apple’s App Store now looks different from country to country. Many Americans now live roughly twice as far from their offices as they did before the pandemic. Remote work is partly responsible, a study found. A looming election at a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga could be pivotal in the United Automobile Workers’ effort to organize the whole industry. Regulators in Ohio fined CVS more than $1.5 million over problems including understaffing and improper drug security. 2024 Elections Super Tuesday and the State of the Union are this week. Expect a preview of the tone of the general election. Nikki Haley won the D.C. Republican primary. It is her first primary win. “The two most different candidates”: In North Carolina, a mild-mannered Democrat and a Republican firebrand are running for governor. The race is expected to be close. International In Punjab, India. Atul Loke for The New York Times India launched a cricket league for women, allowing girls to dream of a career in sports. Gangs attacked two of Haiti’s prisons, including the largest, and let inmates escape. Mexican forensic specialists came to the U.S. to learn about testing corpses for a fentanyl overdose. Many Colombians still use “sumercé”— a relic of colonial times meaning “your mercy.” They say the term signifies respect. Other Big Stories Kacey Poynter’s 2-year-old son was born with significant brain impairment. Kaiti Sullivan for The New York Times States like Indiana are ending or curtailing programs that pay relatives of seriously ill people to care for them. The former president of Honduras is facing drug trafficking charges in New York. For Hondurans, the trial is a rare chance for national justice. Opinions Tim McDonagh A brilliant flash, screams, and then darkness: W.J. Hennigan imagines what dropping a nuclear bomb today would mean for the world — and how world leaders can alleviate the threat. (Hennigan’s essay is the start of a series called At the Brink. Read an introduction by Kathleen Kingsbury, The Times’s Opinion editor.) Gail Collins and Bret Stephens discuss Mitch McConnell and 2024 election polling. Here’s a column by David French on why Elon Musk is so important to Trump supporters. Discover more of the insight you value in The Morning. The Times is filled with information and inspiration every day. So gain unlimited access to everything we offer — and save with this introductory offer. MORNING READS At Rancho Cucamonga High School. Najee Gordon for The New York Times Teens and taxes: At a high school in California, students help run a tax-return clinic. Origins: Scientists are fascinated by Denisovans, a group of humans that split from the Neanderthal line and then, after thousands of years, went extinct. Peak millennial: 1990 and 1991 babies are shaping the U.S. economy. Forty floors of graffiti: Skyscrapers in Los Angeles were a financial failure that many people had ignored — until graffiti artists tagged their windows. Odysseus: Why is it so hard to land upright on the moon? Metropolitan Diary: Alone on a bench after 51 years. Lives Lived: Robert M. Young’s subjects as a documentary director included civil rights sit-ins, sharks and the war in Angola. He died at 99. SPORTS Caitlin Clark Matthew Holst/Getty Images Another record: Iowa’s Caitlin Clark has scored the most points in N.C.A.A. history — men’s or women’s. She scored her 3,668th with a free throw. Broadcasting: The sports journalist Chris Mortensen was, for N.F.L. watchers of a certain age, the defining insider of his generation. He died at 72. College softball: The Oklahoma Sooners lost after a 71-game winning streak. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT ARTS AND IDEAS Iris Apfel at home in 2011. Chester Higgins Jr./The New York Times A full life in full looks: Iris Apfel, who referred to herself as a “geriatric starlet,” died on Friday at 102. Apfel, an interior designer, came to the fashion world late in life and went on to set trends in her 80s and 90s with her irreverent ensembles. “She did not have much truck with stealth wealth or quiet luxury or the old axiom that elegance is refusal,” the Times fashion critic Vanessa Friedman writes. “She believed, rather, in the virtues of muchness, of giving free rein to your inner extremism and letting your fashion freak flag fly.” See more images of Apfel’s looks. More on culture The “Dune” popcorn bucket is supposed to look like a sandworm. It looks like something else. Shane Gillis hosted “S.N.L.,” years after it fired him. Kanye West has topped the Billboard charts. Are pop culture pariahs making a comeback? THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … Beatriz Da Costa for The New York Times. Food Styling: Rebecca Jurkevich. Make the mega-viral feta pasta recipe in one pan. Follow expert tips for cooking chicken. Go key free with a smart lock. Store dry foods in these containers. Take our news quiz. GAMES Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangrams were elephant and pentathlete. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku and Connections. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. — David Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Continue reading the main story Editor: David Leonhardt Deputy Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, Sean Kawasaki-Culligan, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Ashley Wu News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Quote phkrause By the decree enforcing the institution of the papacy in violation of the law of God, our nation will disconnect herself fully from righteousness. When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near. {5T 451.1} Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members phkrause Posted March 5 Author Members Share Posted March 5 March 5, 2024 By David Leonhardt Good morning. We’re covering Big Tech and a trans-Atlantic crackdown — as well as Donald Trump, Israel and Jupiter’s ocean moon. At an Apple Store in Manhattan. George Etheredge for The New York Times The new trustbusters In today’s newsletter, I want to help you understand the emerging crackdown on big technology companies. The European Union yesterday imposed a $2 billion fine on Apple, and regulators in the U.S. are pursuing cases against Amazon, Google, Facebook and perhaps Apple. These legal cases are often complex, and I know that some readers find them hard to follow. But the underlying ideas can be clearer than the details. My goal today is to give you a framework for making sense of a major economic and political story. The cycle Almost 15 years ago, a law professor named Tim Wu published a book called “The Master Switch” that helped me to understand this issue. In the book, Wu used a term — “the cycle” — to describe what happened after a new form of communication arrived, be it the telephone, radio or internet. Initially, he explained, new communication industries are diffuse, dominated by small players. The barriers to entry are low. In the early days of radio, amateur stations proliferated, much as the early internet was quirky and offered few opportunities for profit. Over time, though, the new industry tends to become concentrated for a reason: Almost every form of communication depends on a network of users. And larger networks are inherently more valuable than smaller networks. Once a radio station becomes popular, more people want to listen to it so they can know what other people are hearing, and more companies want to buy advertisements. The same is true with the internet: If all my friends have an Instagram account, I’ll want one, too. This cycle is reinforcing, causing large companies to grow even larger. It’s part of what economists call “increasing returns to scale.” But consolidation brings a major downside for a society. Communication businesses can become monopolies, with the power to set prices and control society’s discourse. For most of the 21st century, regulators in the U.S. and other countries allowed technology companies to grow ever larger. (Consider this statistic: The combined stock market value of Amazon, Apple, Microsoft and the parent companies of Facebook and Google has more than doubled since just the end of 2019.) Only recently have regulators have begun to step in. The Biden administration has made antitrust enforcement in the technology sector a top priority. “The president knows that vibrant capitalism depends on strong competition,” Lael Brainard, Biden’s top economic adviser inside the White House, said yesterday. “Competition lowers prices, raises wages and levels the playing field for small businesses.” One sign of the change is Wu himself. When he published “The Master Switch” in 2010, he was a professor at Columbia University. Four years later, he ran a doomed campaign for lieutenant governor as a critic of Gov. Andrew Cuomo and concentrated corporate power. Since then, however, both Democratic and Republican policymakers have become more concerned about Big Tech — and Wu is no longer just a gadfly. After President Biden took office in 2021, he appointed Wu as an adviser. Bipartisan concern The new U.S. and European regulatory efforts focus on the power that technology companies derive from the vast networks they run. The E.U.’s $2 billion fine on Apple, for example, cites the company’s practice of charging fees of up to 30 percent to other companies that sell services through the App Store. Apple has sometimes refused to allow these companies, like Spotify, to advertise cheaper alternatives to the same services. Apple has the power to do so because it knows that many consumers are loath to leave the iPhone network. As part of the E.U.’s actions, Apple has agreed to make some changes. Other companies are promising changes as well, many tied to a new E.U. law, the Digital Markets Act. The Biden administration has also sued Amazon, Google and Facebook. For more explanation, I recommend this article by my colleagues Adam Satariano and David McCabe. The antitrust crackdown on Big Tech has bipartisan appeal at a time when few issues do. William Barr, who was attorney general under both Donald Trump and George H.W. Bush, has accused Apple of using an arsenal of anticompetitive tactics. Senator J.D. Vance, an Ohio Republican, has praised Lina Khan — Biden’s most prominent antitrust regulator — as “one of the few people in the Biden administration that I actually think is doing a pretty good job.” The technology companies generally deny that they have behaved anti-competitively (and Apple is appealing the E.U.’s $2 billion fine). The companies argue that the solution to any monopoly is the free market and that they remain vulnerable to new rivals that can disrupt their networks. This argument has some validity, because new technologies can sometimes break open dominant networks. Television did it to radio, and TikTok may do it to Instagram. But history isn’t entirely on the companies’ side. Frequently, dominant companies eliminate threatening rivals by buying them, as Google did with YouTube and Facebook did with Instagram and WhatsApp. That’s why the only entity with the power to tame a monopoly is often a national government. It happened with the railroads and oil trusts more than a century ago and with AT&T in the 1980s. It’s too early to know whether a new era of trustbusting has begun, but governments are trying harder to confront Big Tech than they were a few years ago. More on antitrust As Google confronts two Justice Department antitrust cases, it is settling smaller lawsuits. JetBlue and Spirit Airlines canceled their planned merger. Federal regulators had blocked the deal in court, and the companies decided not to appeal. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT THE LATEST NEWS Supreme Court The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Trump can remain on Colorado’s ballot in today’s primary, ending efforts in several states to disqualify him for insurrection. It did not take a position on whether Trump’s role in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack amounted to insurrection, as other courts had found. The ruling settled ballot questions but hardened political divisions. The decision was the court’s most important concerning a presidential election since Bush v. Gore, The Times’s Adam Liptak wrote. Read highlights from the ruling. 2024 Election Trump won the North Dakota Republican caucuses with 85 percent of the vote. It’s Super Tuesday: Fifteen states vote for presidential candidates today. Here’s what to watch for. “Collective amnesia": Voters’ memories of the tumult of the Trump presidency are fading or evolving. In a New Yorker profile, Biden expressed confidence that he would defeat Trump. “I’m the only one who has ever beat him. And I’ll beat him again.” A slice of voters view Biden as a transformative president who deserves a second term. “It’s driving me crazy that people don’t see it,” one said. More on Politics Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization’s former C.F.O., pleaded guilty to lying to investigators in Trump’s civil fraud case. Texts and emails show the Trump campaign’s fake electors plot aimed at sowing enough confusion to overturn the election in Congress, rather than at winning in court. A federal judge issued a mixed decision in a case challenging Arizona voting laws. She upheld rules requiring proof of citizenship but limited how voters can be disqualified. Arizona’s governor vetoed a bill that would have let the state police arrest undocumented immigrants. Israel-Hamas War A U.N. report found signs that militants sexually assaulted Israeli women during the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack. The report also found clear evidence that hostages in Gaza had been sexually assaulted and tortured. Vice President Kamala Harris met with Benny Gantz, a top Israeli official, at the White House and pushed for a deal to return hostages and pause the fighting in Gaza. Since the war started, Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 30,000 people. Here are some of their stories. Asia Lora Nagai has been stopped repeatedly by the Japanese police. Noriko Hayashi for The New York Times In Japan, three foreign-born residents sued the government over the conduct of the police, starting a conversation about racial profiling. China’s leaders announced a robust growth goal of 5 percent for this year, but only modest measures to achieve it. South Korea’s government said it would suspend the licenses of thousands of doctors who began striking nearly two weeks ago. Europe At the Palace of Versailles. Thomas Padilla/Associated Press France adopted a constitutional amendment that makes abortion access a “guaranteed freedom,” responding to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade. Russia is increasingly using warplanes to drop powerful guided bombs on Ukrainian positions near the front line, intensifying an air war. Business and Economy Four former Twitter executives sued Elon Musk for $128 million, accusing him of withholding severance payments after he fired them. The first U.S. over-the-counter birth control pill will be available in stores and online soon. Several states are considering lifting wages for tipped workers. Read how this shift has affected wages and prices in D.C. Other Big Stories Europa NASA Europa, Jupiter’s ocean moon, was thought to be habitable. A study suggests that it generates less oxygen than some astronomers expected. Jack Teixeira, a Massachusetts Air National Guardsman, pleaded guilty to posting secret intelligence reports online. He could serve 16 years in prison. A New York City official said Rikers Island is not likely to close by August 2027, the deadline set in law. The city has made little progress on building four smaller jails to replace it. Bicycle deaths in New York City, despite a rate trending downward for years, reached a 23-year high last year. Most of the cyclists died while riding electric bikes. Opinions Religious faith, sports references and tangible results: Democratic candidates win in red and purple states when they separate themselves from their party, Frank Bruni writes. Here are columns by David French on the Supreme Court’s decision not to disqualify Trump and Paul Krugman on Republicans’ dystopian rhetoric. Discover more of the insight you value in The Morning. The Times is filled with information and inspiration every day. So gain unlimited access to everything we offer — and save with this introductory offer. MORNING READS Yellow iboga fruit. Alamy Ibogaine: Research suggests a powerful psychedelic can ease the agony of opioid detox and prevent relapse. It’s used in other countries, but remains illegal in the U.S. Purple reign: Archaeologists uncovered an ancient factory for one of history’s most luxurious, and smelliest, dyes — made from snails’ guts. March Meowness: A Massachusetts library will forgive members for lost or damaged items. They just need to present a picture of a cat. Lives Lived: Juli Lynne Charlot, needing something to wear to a Hollywood Christmas party, invented the poodle skirt on a whim. Its voluminous fabric that flared prettily when the wearer twirled made it a huge hit in the 1950s. Charlot died at 101. SPORTS N.F.L.: The Denver Broncos officially released the quarterback Russell Wilson after two disastrous years. Moving on: Jason Kelce, the beloved Philadelphia Eagles lineman, announced his retirement, though he’ll likely remain on a screen near you. Men’s college basketball: The N.C.A.A. is expected to cap any future expansion of its annual tournament at 76 teams, an official said. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT ARTS AND IDEAS One of Frankey’s creations. Yvonne Mak Dutch delights: If you visit Amsterdam, you are likely to encounter the work of the artist Frank de Ruwe, known as Frankey. He turns unassuming spots in the city into something more playful — a dragon affixed to a steam pipe, a surfer riding a curved awning. He spoke to The Times about his work: In the press, your street art pieces are called “urban interventions.” What does that term mean to you? I just want to make people smile with my work, that’s the greater good. A 6-year-old and a 90-year-old can smile at the same thing; it’s amazing that you brighten someone’s day with just one object. It’s so easy to be a bit more friendly in the streets, and I think that’s what I’m doing. See more of Frankey’s work here. More on culture In Bloomfield, N.J. Bryan Anselm for The New York Times The diner booth featured in the finale of “The Sopranos” sold at auction for $82,600. London is saying goodbye, for now, to a beloved, overstuffed walrus. Jon Stewart mocked a new Trumpism — “bigrant” crime, a portmanteau for “Biden migrant crime” — on “The Daily Show.” THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Griddle a ham, turkey and cheese sandwich and dust it with confectioners’ sugar to make a Monte Cristo. Sign up for a decluttering challenge. Keep these essentials in your medicine cabinet. GAMES Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangrams were cognate and cotangent. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku and Connections. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. — David Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Continue reading the main story Editor: David Leonhardt Deputy Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, Sean Kawasaki-Culligan, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Ashley Wu News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Quote phkrause By the decree enforcing the institution of the papacy in violation of the law of God, our nation will disconnect herself fully from righteousness. When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near. {5T 451.1} Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members phkrause Posted March 6 Author Members Share Posted March 6 March 6, 2024 Nate Cohn, our chief political analyst, takes over the newsletter this morning to tell you about Super Tuesday and look ahead to the general election campaign. — David Leonhardt By Nate Cohn Chief political analyst Good morning. We’re also covering the Red Sea, Bitcoin and Kate, Princess of Wales. Donald Trump and President Biden. Taylor Baucom for The New York Times and Kent Nishimura for The New York Times A 2020 repeat It’s Biden vs. Trump. It’ll be a few weeks before they have enough delegates to clinch their nominations, but after yesterday’s Super Tuesday results — in which those candidates won at least 14 states each — the primaries are effectively over. The general election is about to begin. On paper, Biden ought to be the favorite. He’s an incumbent president with a strong economy and an opponent facing trial for multiple alleged crimes. Yet according to the polls, Trump begins the general election campaign in the lead. Over the last four months, he has led nearly every poll in Michigan, Nevada, Arizona and Georgia, along with the states he carried in 2020 — enough to give him 283 electoral votes and the presidency. This is not what many expected from a Biden-Trump rematch, especially after Democrats were resilient in the midterms and excelled in special elections by campaigning on issues like democracy and abortion. Biden’s unpopularity But Biden’s job approval rating is stuck in the upper 30s, and voters simply don’t look upon him favorably the way they once did. Nearly three-quarters of voters, including a majority of Democrats, say he is too old to be an effective president. In the end, Biden might well prevail by capitalizing on issues like abortion and democracy. Historically, early polls are not especially predictive of a final outcome. Many voters aren’t yet paying close attention, and there will be every opportunity for the Biden campaign to refocus the electorate on more favorable issues once the general election campaign gets underway. The events of the next eight months may well, too; from the effects of a gradually improving economy to the circumstances on the border and in conflicts abroad. But even though the early polls aren’t necessarily predictive, they’re still worth taking seriously. Voters know these candidates very well. Biden is the president, Trump is a former president, and both candidates have been in public life for decades. And based on all that voters have seen, they are saying they do not like Biden and don’t think he’s a very effective president. This is not a small matter. Democrats have won a lot of elections lately, but not like this. Ever since Hillary Clinton lost in 2016, Democrats have followed a simple playbook: nominate acceptable, mainstream candidates and count on voters to reject right-wing Republicans. Biden himself was such a candidate back in 2020, and even then he defeated Trump by only a slim margin — less than a percentage point in the pivotal battleground states. His basic strategy has stayed the same, but his favorability rating is 14 points lower. The polls suggest that Biden’s weakness is concentrated among the less engaged, less educated segment of the electorate, including many young, Black and Hispanic voters who traditionally vote for Democratic candidates. Democrats have fared well in recent midterm and special elections, but Biden’s dissenters represent a small share of the electorate in these low-turnout races. Many more will vote this November. Could Biden recover? There might be a kernel of good news for Biden hidden in his extreme weakness among less engaged voters: His campaign can hope they are simply not paying close attention, and might return to Biden’s side once voters tune into the race. My colleague Claire Cain Miller, for instance, interviewed a voter who said abortion was the most important issue, but blamed Biden for the loss of abortion rights in America. That’s exactly the kind of voter a campaign can hope to sway. Biden can also hope that Trump will loom larger in the minds of voters as the election nears. Trump’s strength in the polls is not because voters like him; he’s viewed about as unfavorably as he was four years ago. In fact, his ratings numbers are almost exactly where they stood before the last election. Many voters may look back fondly on the state of the economy during his term, judging it positively against post-pandemic inflation and Biden. On the other hand, a majority of voters say they believe Trump has committed serious federal crimes. Trump’s persistent unpopularity sets up an agonizing choice for millions of voters who liked and backed Biden in the last election but now find themselves left to choose between two candidates they dislike; a group sometimes known as “double haters.” It also sets up a challenging election for pollsters, as these voters probably have more volatile preferences. Many of them may not come to a firm decision until they absolutely have to — at the ballot box. No one can say what these voters will do come November. Many might ultimately choose not to make a decision at all, whether by staying home or voting for a minor-party candidate. What we know is that today’s double haters were essential to Biden’s victory in 2020, but they are not fans of him today and enough of them now tell pollsters they support Trump to give him the lead. That’s worth taking very seriously. More on the presidential primaries Nikki Haley Ruth Fremson/The New York Times Nikki Haley is expected to exit the race this morning, The Wall Street Journal reports. Yesterday, she beat Trump in a single state, Vermont, 50 percent to 46 percent. Trump criticized Biden and didn’t mention Haley in his election-night speech. Biden tied the Democratic caucus in American Samoa with a virtually unknown candidate, Jason Palmer. He’s a Maryland technology entrepreneur who campaigned on a promise to improve the Samoan education system. In Minnesota, 19 percent of Democrats cast ballots for “uncommitted” to protest Biden’s Israel policy, a larger share than in Michigan last week. Super Tuesday also demonstrated one of Trump’s potential weaknesses in the general election, Politico reports: He struggled with well-educated suburban voters. About 9 in 10 voters in the Republican primaries in Virginia and North Carolina were white. These charts in The Washington Post show how people voted by age, gender and race. Stephen Colbert discussed Super Tuesday on “The Late Show.” More Super Tuesday races In the North Carolina governor’s race, Republicans nominated Mark Robinson, the Trump-aligned lieutenant governor, who has called homosexuality “filth.” He’ll face Josh Stein, the state’s Democratic attorney general. In California, the race for the late Dianne Feinstein’s Senate seat is set: Adam Schiff, a Democratic congressman who led Trump’s first impeachment, will face Steve Garvey, a Republican former baseball star. Texas Democrats nominated Colin Allred, a House moderate and former N.F.L. linebacker, to challenge Senator Ted Cruz. Read more takeaways from the elections. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT THE LATEST NEWS More on Politics Senator Kyrsten Sinema, an Arizona Democrat-turned-independent, won’t seek re-election. She said that bipartisan compromises were “not what America wants right now.” Trump, seeking donors, met with Elon Musk, who has echoed Republican criticisms of Biden. A new federal indictment charged Senator Bob Menendez, the New Jersey Democrat, and his wife with obstruction of justice. He denied the accusation. The Education Department fined Liberty University, the evangelical Christian college, $14 million for problems including mishandling sexual assault cases. Victoria Nuland, the State Department’s third-ranking official and a Russia hawk, is retiring. Louisiana’s governor hopes to crack down on crime, including by limiting parole. Critics say his new laws resemble failed policies of the past. Middle East A deal to free hostages in return for a six-week pause in the fighting in Gaza is “in the hands of Hamas,” Biden said, adding, “We need a cease-fire.” Trump said that the Israeli military should “finish the problem” in Gaza and did not take a clear position on a cease-fire, NBC reports. Three vital internet cables under the Red Sea aren’t working, and it’s not clear who or what damaged them. Some suspect the Houthis, who have denied responsibility. The U.S. airdropped more ready-to-eat meals into Gaza and said it planned further drops. War in Ukraine At a training ground in eastern Ukraine. Lynsey Addario for The New York Times Outnumbered and low on ammunition: Ukrainian soldiers describe the brutal retreat from Avdiivka in the east. The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for a Russian general and admiral, accusing them of war crimes in Ukraine. Ukraine’s first lady declined a State of the Union invitation, The Washington Post reports. More International News In Cairo. Fatma Fahmy for The New York Times Egyptians are buying and selling gold as their currency plunges and inflation eats away at their savings. British newspapers are trying to balance privacy concerns with a desire for royal stories as people speculate over the well-being of Kate, Princess of Wales. Venezuelan officials set the date of the presidential election for July. But the top opposition figure is banned from the ballot. Business and Technology The price of Bitcoin reached a new high of more than $69,000. New investment products have fueled a comeback after the cryptocurrency’s value plummeted in 2022. Thousands of people couldn’t use Facebook and Instagram during a global outage of about two hours. A cyberattack has left hundreds, if not thousands, of U.S. hospitals and doctors’ offices unable to receive payments for treatments. Other Big Stories Queens, New York. Victor J. Blue for The New York Times Thousands of Chinese migrants are arriving in New York City via Mexico. Scholars rejected a proposal to declare the start of the “Anthropocene” — a new chapter in Earth’s history defined by humanity’s impact on the planet. A Philadelphia man wrongly convicted of murder was freed after more than 30 years in prison. See photos of his release. The Iditarod sled dog race in Alaska got off to a messy start: a five-time champion killed a moose to protect himself and his dogs. Opinions Lorgia García Peña resented her father for rarely saying “I love you.” Now she understands the love behind his silence. Self-described progressives who deny the powerful evidence that Hamas committed widespread rape on Oct. 7 pave the way for future atrocities, Bret Stephens writes. Here are columns by Thomas Friedman on America’s shadow war with Iran and Ross Douthat on Super Tuesday. Discover more of the insight you value in The Morning. The Times is filled with information and inspiration every day. So gain unlimited access to everything we offer — and save with this introductory offer. MORNING READS In Fritch, Texas. Desiree Rios for The New York Times Rescues: Elite teams of veterinarians are traversing Texas to save animals big and small from wildfires. Holocaust Museum: A new institution in Amsterdam is the first to tell the full story of the persecution of Dutch Jews during World War II. Ask Well: Hydrogen water is said to reduce inflammation and boost mood. Does it live up to the hype? Lives Lived: Antoine Predock was an Albuquerque-based architect who became internationally acclaimed for buildings that resonated with the landscape of the American Southwest. He died at 87. SPORTS Viewership: Caitlin Clark’s record-breaking game received the biggest regular-season TV audience in women’s college basketball for 25 years. Men’s college basketball: Dartmouth players voted to form a union, a landmark in the movement to recognize college athletes as employees. N.B.A.: The bench player Dean Wade spurred the Cleveland Cavaliers to an unexpected come-from-behind win over the Boston Celtics. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT ARTS AND IDEAS Leonard Bernstein in 1962. Sam Falk/The New York Times American maestros: In 1958, Leonard Bernstein was named music director of the New York Philharmonic. His appointment blazed a trail for American conductors and showed that they could compete with their European counterparts. Seven decades later, few American conductors are at the helm of the nation’s largest and most prestigious orchestras. Pursuing a career in Europe is, for some, more fruitful than staying at home. More on culture In an Instagram post yesterday, Taylor Swift urged her 282 million followers to vote in the primaries, though she didn’t endorse a candidate. A beauty brand flew 30 social media influencers on a private jet to paradise. Many observers were not amused. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Chris Lanier. Prop Stylist: Carla Gonzalez-Hart. Roast chicken with potatoes, then top it all with arugula and a garlic yogurt. Spot the signs of hearing loss. Donate your old clothes. GAMES Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangram was armadillo. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku and Connections. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Continue reading the main story Editor: David Leonhardt Deputy Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, Sean Kawasaki-Culligan, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Ashley Wu News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Quote phkrause By the decree enforcing the institution of the papacy in violation of the law of God, our nation will disconnect herself fully from righteousness. When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near. {5T 451.1} Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members phkrause Posted March 7 Author Members Share Posted March 7 March 7, 2024 By David Leonhardt Good morning. We’re covering the Hungarian prime minister’s visit with Trump — as well as news about Nikki Haley, Benny Gantz and Gabriel García Márquez. Viktor Orban, Hungary’s prime minister. Denes Erdos/Associated Press Orban in Florida Tomorrow in Florida, Donald Trump will host Viktor Orban, the prime minister of Hungary, whom Trump often praises. “He is a very great leader, a very strong man,” Trump has said. “Some people don’t like him because he’s too strong.” In a recent newsletter, I spoke with some of my colleagues covering Trump’s campaign about what a second term might look like. Another way to understand how he may govern is to examine his affinity for Orban. In today’s newsletter, I talk to Andrew Higgins, who writes about Hungary as The Times’s bureau chief for East and Central Europe. Tucker as a model David: People often describe Orban as autocratic. But he’s not a ruler who jails or kills his opponents. Can you describe how he suppresses dissent? Andrew: Hungary under Prime Minister Orban is far from being a police state like Russia or Belarus. As an opposition legislator said to me last week in Budapest, it is more of a “propaganda state” in which Orban’s governing party, Fidesz, controls the media landscape. Orban does not jail his opponents or have them beaten up the way Vladimir Putin does, but he has relentlessly squeezed the space available for critical voices by getting business cronies to buy up independent media and starving the few others of advertising revenue. Fidesz-controlled outlets treat critics as traitors and deviants. He has also funded a raft of friendly research institutes and a university that help flood the zone with pro-government views. When speaking at a 2022 gathering of American conservatives in Budapest, Orban hailed Tucker Carlson as a model of how media should work: “There should be shows like his day and night — or, as you say, 24/7.” In Hungary, that goal has been achieved. David: Orban originally won a democratic election. But he has also changed the rules to stay in power. How so? Andrew: He is a master of playing democracy against itself. Orban always presents himself as representing the democratic will of the Hungarian people. That boast is in some ways justified: His party has won four general elections since 2010, and he has been in power longer than any democratically elected E.U. leader now in office. But the playing field is far from even (as this Times article explains). Orban’s party, Fidesz, has gerrymandered. It has allowed voters to register in districts where they don’t live. It spies on government critics. Fidesz also uses the government to shape and skew public opinion. One example: “national consultations,” pseudo-democratic exercises in which citizens are sent questionnaires with loaded questions. The government recently announced that 99 percent of Hungarians rejected the E.U.’s policy on immigration. The question, however, asked people whether they wanted “migrant ghettos” in Hungary. Most people didn’t return the questionnaire, but Fidesz has trumpeted the result on billboards. The message is that the government represents the will of all but a tiny minority of the people — and which side do you want to be on? Mavericks vs. ‘boring’ David: Ideologically, what do Trump and Orban have in common? And do they have any big disagreements? Andrew: Their affinity with each other is more stylistic than ideological. They share a “let’s just rock the boat” contrarianism. “I like mavericks,” Orban said a few days ago, explaining why he respects Trump so much. Orban mocked fellow leaders as “more and more boring.” Today, their biggest points of policy overlap are immigration and Russia. Both men have homed in on public unease at uncontrolled immigration and the risk of war, possibly a nuclear one, if the West gives Ukraine more weapons. One big issue on which they diverge is China. Orban has put China at the center of his “Eastern Opening,” to build tighter ties with Asia. As other countries have soured on China, Hungary has become its last reliable political partner in the E.U. and a destination for huge Chinese investments in electric car and battery factories. David: What do you think Americans mulling the prospect of a second Trump term can learn from Orban’s years in power? Andrew: Hungary is a small country with only around 10 million people — and only 34 years of democratic elections — so Orban’s model cannot be easily replicated in the United States. The U.S. has stronger independent institutions. In my view, the canary in the coal mine will be media freedom. I’ve spent years reporting in Russia, Hong Kong, China and now Eastern Europe. And media freedom and pluralism are the first things to go when autocracy takes hold. Journalists, of course, are prone to overstate their own importance, but I was in Moscow when Vladimir Putin came to power. The first clear sign that Russia was taking the path toward today’s dictatorship was the Kremlin’s assault in 2001 on NTV, then an independent television station. It is now a propaganda bullhorn. Or look at China. Of all the slogans chanted by student protesters in Tiananmen Square in 1989, the most persistent — and most unsettling for the Party — was “Press Freedom.” Autocratic rulers are afraid of criticism. Related: Orban’s goal is to lead a populist and nativist rebellion against Europe’s liberal elite. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT THE LATEST NEWS 2024 Election Nikki Haley Ruth Fremson/The New York Times Nikki Haley dropped out of the Republican presidential race. She did not endorse Trump. Biden and Trump both courted Haley’s voters. “There is a place for them in my campaign,” Biden said. Trump wrote that Haley “got TROUNCED” but invited her voters “to join the greatest movement in the history of our Nation.” Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader who denounced Trump after the Jan. 6 attack, endorsed him. He said Trump had earned “requisite support” among Republicans. Representative Dean Phillips ended his long-shot campaign against Biden. Phillips endorsed the president. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has enough signatures to qualify for the November ballot in Nevada, his campaign said. Democrats fear that Kennedy’s independent bid will benefit Trump. Voters — nearly 20 percent of whom dislike both Biden and Trump — must process the reality of a rematch. More on Politics In Montgomery, Ala. Mickey Welsh/The Montgomery Advertiser, via Associated Press Alabama passed legislation to protect I.V.F. It retreated from a state Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos are children. The House voted to fund about half the government through the fall. The measure now heads to the Senate. Biden will give his annual State of the Union address tonight. He honed it with aides — and prepared for Republicans hecklers — for hours. The State of the Union didn’t always happen at night, feature guests or have so many partisan disruptions. See how the speech has changed. Gun Violence The gunman who committed Maine’s deadliest mass shooting had profound brain damage, a laboratory found. Veterans exposed to repeated blasts have had similar brain damage. The armorer on the Alec Baldwin film “Rust” was convicted of involuntary manslaughter. She loaded a live round into the gun that killed the cinematographer. Israel-Hamas War The Houthis, the Iran-backed militia, claimed responsibility for an attack that killed three people on a commercial ship near Yemen. The Houthis have been targeting ships in solidarity with Hamas for months; these were the first deaths. Hamas has asked for a promise of a permanent cease-fire after a release of all hostages in stages, but Israel has refused, officials said. Benny Gantz, an Israeli cabinet official, is Benjamin Netanyahu’s political rival. His trips to the U.S. and Britain show his influence. Russia and Ukraine At Aleksei Navalny’s grave. Maxim Shipenkov/EPA, via Shutterstock The grave of Aleksei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader who died last month, has become a pilgrimage site for people to honor — and mourn — his vision of a free Russia. Russian missiles struck Odesa, in southern Ukraine, as Volodymyr Zelensky met with the Greek prime minister there. Ukrainians are aiding their army with crowdfunding and raffles. China U.S. prosecutors charged a former Google engineer with stealing A.I. secrets and uploading them to a company based in Beijing. China installed more solar panels last year than the U.S. ever has. Read more about China’s solar ambitions. Chinese companies are spending huge sums advertising to Americans on social media. Other Big Stories Gov. Kathy Hochul will send National Guard troops and state police officers to patrol the New York City subway. Major crimes on the system are up 13 percent this year. Last month was the hottest known February worldwide, the ninth straight month to set a heat record. A man in Germany received 217 Covid vaccine doses over two and a half years. Scientists said he appeared to have no adverse effects — and very robust immunity. Opinions Only the president can decide to launch a nuclear weapon. This level of unchecked power goes against American values, W.J. Hennigan argues. Trump’s conquest of the Republican Party matters to every American, the Times editorial board writes. Here are columns by Nicholas Kristof on how red and blue states left students behind and Pamela Paul on poor D.E.I. policies in higher education. Discover more of the insight you value in The Morning. The Times is filled with information and inspiration every day. So gain unlimited access to everything we offer — and save with this introductory offer. MORNING READS A honeycreeper. John Murillo Green honeycreeper: This bird, spotted on a farm in Columbia, exhibits a rare condition known as bilateral gynandromorphism — it is half male, half female. “Crime of the century”: DNA testing has revived scrutiny of the Lindbergh baby’s kidnapping. Biopics: Many Oscar contenders this year are about real people. How much influence should the subjects have? Lives Lived: Josette Molland joined the French Resistance as a student, survived imprisonment in Nazi forced-labor camps and later painted scenes of the harsh treatment she witnessed there. She died at 100. (See her paintings here.) SPORTS Cole Brauer Richard Mardens Sailing: Cole Brauer became the first American woman to sail solo around the world. Read this Times profile of her journey. Soccer: The U.S. women’s national team slogged through awful field conditions to win a 2-2 tie on penalty kicks against Canada in the Gold Cup semifinals. N.H.L.: The Vegas Golden Knights traded for the Calgary Flames defenseman Noah Hanifin. Men’s college basketball: Khaman Maluach, a South Sudanese teenager compared to the N.B.A. star rookie Victor Wembanyama, committed to play at Duke next year. Emotional announcement: The Kelce brothers have made crying in sports cool. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT ARTS AND IDEAS Shira Inbar Sleep-cation: Modern hotels want to be more than just a place to crash. At many, a good night’s sleep is now the main attraction. The Park Hyatt hotels in New York and Chicago feature suites with A.I.-assisted mattresses from Bryte that adjust as you sleep. At the Mandarin Oriental this month, the hypnotherapist Malminder Gill is offering sleep consultations, with an option for a private bedside session to help you drift off. “I tiptoe out,” Gill said. “I know that sounds really bizarre.” More on culture Gabriel García Márquez between his two sons. Steve Pyke/Getty Images Gabriel García Márquez, the Colombian Nobel laureate, wanted his last novel destroyed. His sons are about to publish it. Late night hosts discussed Nikki Haley’s exit. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne. Prop Stylist: Megan Hedgpeth. Fulfill your carbonara craving with this easy pasta with bacon and eggs. Cook on these skillets. Raise your garden bed with these Lego-like blocks. Get ready for the solar eclipse on April 8. Do these five exercises, even if you hate them. They really are good for you. GAMES Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangram was benevolent. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku and Connections. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. — David Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Continue reading the main story Editor: David Leonhardt Deputy Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, Sean Kawasaki-Culligan, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Ashley Wu News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Quote phkrause By the decree enforcing the institution of the papacy in violation of the law of God, our nation will disconnect herself fully from righteousness. When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near. {5T 451.1} Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members phkrause Posted March 8 Author Members Share Posted March 8 March 8, 2024 By German Lopez Good morning. We’re covering the State of the Union speech — as well as Sweden, the subway and secret doors. President Biden Doug Mills/The New York Times The president’s case A year ago, few economists believed that President Biden could come before Congress and make the boast that he did last night: “I inherited an economy on the brink,” he said. “Now our economy is literally the envy of the world.” Back then, many experts expected a recession. They worried that America’s central bank, the Federal Reserve, would have to crush the economy to reduce inflation. Instead, unemployment is near its lowest point in half a century. Wages have risen faster than prices. Inflation has come down to more manageable levels. Before the biggest audience he’ll address until his nomination convention this summer, Biden was able to argue he had saved America from economic ruin. Today’s newsletter will look at the surprisingly strong state of the economy — and Biden’s role in its rebound. (Below, we also cover other highlights from last night’s speech.) Yes, Biden may claim too much credit. Presidents don’t control the U.S. economy. But they also tend to receive too much blame when it struggles. And Biden’s approval ratings are weak partly because Americans have been unhappy with the high inflation of the past few years. Central to his campaign for re-election is an effort to persuade voters that the economy has turned a corner. Biden’s contribution Here is the case in favor of Biden’s handling of the economy: Compare it with the slow recovery that followed the 2007-8 financial crisis. In response to that recession, the federal government underreacted. Congress passed stimulus measures that many economists now say were too small. Inflation didn’t rise, but the unemployment rate remained above 5 percent for nearly seven years after the downturn ended. With Covid, the government avoided the same mistake. Congress passed multiple stimulus measures under Donald Trump and then another, the American Rescue Plan, after Biden took office. All of this was more than triple the size of the measures for the previous recession, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. It worked: Unemployment fell below 5 percent after less than a year and a half. Millions of Americans got jobs years earlier than they would have if the federal government had reacted as meagerly as it did before. And the U.S. has grown faster than its peers, as this chart by my colleague Ashley Wu shows: Sources: Office of National Statistics (U.K. data); St. Louis Federal Reserve (others) | Data is through the fourth quarter of 2023. | By The New York Times “America is rising,” Biden said last night. “We have the best economy in the world.” Biden’s critics counter that the government actually overreacted to the Covid recession — and helped spur inflation as a result. The stimulus efforts flooded Americans and businesses with cash. That led to higher demand for a finite supply of goods and services, and prices rose. The Federal Reserve then had to step in and raise interest rates to lower inflation. In the past, similar moves led to recessions. But the central bank has so far succeeded in executing what it called a “soft landing”: It has cooled the economy just enough to tame prices but not enough to cause a downturn. Year-over-year inflation is now around 3 percent, down from a peak of 9 percent in 2022. And unemployment has not increased. Americans have barely felt a landing, let alone a hard one. For Biden’s supporters, this is vindication. Yes, the couple of years of higher inflation were painful. But the economy has moved back on track much faster than it did after the financial crisis. Will it help Biden? Politically, the economy’s strength should be good for Biden. Solid growth historically carries presidents to re-election. Yet many Americans do not feel the good news. Biden’s approval rating is low. Consumer sentiment has improved in the past year, but it’s below historical averages, surveys show. Americans remain upset about higher prices, particularly for food and housing, even if they have subsided. And many people are focused on other issues: chaos at the U.S.-Mexico border, Israel’s war in Gaza and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “It doesn’t make news, but in a thousand cities and towns, the American people are writing the greatest comeback story never told,” Biden said yesterday. Biden’s advantage is time. There are still eight months until the election. Before then, Americans may come to appreciate the strong economy. Inflation could fall further. Perhaps new federal investments in American-made computer chips, infrastructure and clean energy will start to have a bigger effect on voters’ livelihoods. Biden’s ability to win a second term may depend on it. More from the speech On 2024: Biden criticized Trump (whom he referred to as “my predecessor”) throughout the speech, including for praising Vladimir Putin, for lying about the 2020 election and for trying to “pull America back to the past.” On help for Gaza: Biden announced that the U.S. military would build a floating pier off the enclave’s coast to let ships deliver aid. On Israel’s military: Biden said Israel had a “fundamental responsibility” to protect civilians. But, he added, “Israel has an added burden because Hamas hides and operates among the civilian population like cowards.” On his age: Biden addressed concerns with a joke. “I know I may not look like it, but I’ve been around a while,” he said. Then he added, “The issue facing our nation isn’t how old we are, it’s how old are our ideas.” On a second term: He discussed policies he would pursue, such as giving first-time home buyers a tax credit, capping all prescription drug costs and restoring abortion rights nationwide. On junk fees: Biden touted his administration’s plan to cap most credit card late fees at $8 a month. Trade groups sued to block it yesterday. Read more takeaways from the speech and a fact check. More on the crowd Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene Doug Mills/The New York Times The speech exemplified the raucous nature of modern American politics, The Times’s Peter Baker wrote: “Republicans jeered and booed. Democrats chanted, ‘Four more years,’ as if it were a campaign rally.” Biden addressed the recent killing of a Georgia nursing student after Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Trump ally, taunted him to do so. He held up a pin with the student’s name, Laken Riley. Biden also referred to the Venezuelan migrant charged in the killing as “an illegal.” Some Democrats criticized him for using that word. Despite the interruption, Speaker Mike Johnson was largely successful at keeping Republicans from intervening. See his silent facial expressions. George Santos, the New York Republican expelled from Congress last year, attended the speech. As a former member, he has lifetime floor privileges. Commentary on the speech Watching the State of the Union in Washington. Shuran Huang for The New York Times “The most important thing about this State of the Union was not the content but the delivery,” Jamelle Bouie writes in Times Opinion. “Biden was combative, energized and feisty — and partisan.” (Opinion writers tallied Biden’s best and worst moments.) His speech was “more like something one would hear at the D.N.C.,” The Cook Political Report’s Amy Walter writes. “Democrats will be pleased,” Matthew Continetti writes in The Washington Free Beacon. “But I am also skeptical it will persuade independents and working-class men and women of all races that Biden has the answers to America’s problems.” State of the Union addresses are often fleeting. But in rare cases they make a lasting impact, G. Elliott Morris of 538 notes. “Biden may get a real boost.” Stephen Colbert recapped Biden’s performance on “The Late Show.” Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT THE LATEST NEWS New York City In New York City. Adam Gray for The New York Times Some New Yorkers criticized Gov. Kathy Hochul after she deployed the National Guard and the State Police in the subway. You can say no if the National Guard asks to search your bag. Here are your rights. The Manhattan district attorney accused some public workers of being involved in a scheme to steal the personal information of homeless people to file for fraudulent benefits. A man who became a champion of rehabilitation after leaving prison was charged with murder. International Sweden formally joined NATO. Its membership is a blow to Putin. Russia-linked websites disguised as U.S. news pages — with names like the New York News Daily — spread misinformation about Ukraine. In Haiti, gangs control access to the main airport and seaports. Read more about the violence there. Education Brown University, joining other colleges, will again require applicants to submit standardized test scores, ending a Covid-era “test optional” policy. High school students will take a fully digital SAT this weekend for the first time. The new test, an hour shorter than before, is meant to reduce stress. (Try some sample questions.) Business Mira Murati, OpenAI’s chief technology officer, played a significant role in her boss Sam Altman’s temporary ouster. Read more about the internal conflict. Rivian, a struggling electric vehicle company, will halt construction of a $5 billion factory in Georgia. Weather Strong winds moved a lake in Death Valley two miles north. Forecasters are concerned that coming rain could flood cities including Atlanta. Other Big Stories The TikTok celebrities Janette Ok and Imani Carrier. Shuran Huang for The New York Times Lawmakers proposed a bill that would require TikTok’s Chinese parent to sell it or face a U.S. ban. TikTok encouraged users to call Congress and complain. The Senate passed bipartisan legislation to expand compensation for victims of nuclear contamination caused by the government. It heads to the House. A year after breaking off an engagement, Rupert Murdoch, 92, is engaged again — to someone else. It would be his fifth marriage. Opinions To end a sentence with a preposition is natural to English, so why aren’t we supposed to? Rules against it have always been elitist, John McWhorter writes. Here are columns by Michelle Goldberg on the antisemitism of the Republican candidate for North Carolina governor and David Brooks on the confidence of Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt. Discover more of the insight you value in The Morning. The Times is filled with information and inspiration every day. So gain unlimited access to everything we offer — and save with this introductory offer. MORNING READS Calliope gets a bottle. Jason Gulley Planes, cranes and automobiles: Orphaned manatees were returned to the wild after three years. Follow their journey. Malaysia Airlines: Flight MH370 disappeared a decade ago. Here’s what we know today. House over spouse: The Times spoke with 88 people about how they divided their homes after a divorce. Lives Lived: Buddy Duress, a small-time heroin dealer living on the streets of the Upper West Side, became a sensation in the New York film scene in the 2010s, helping to start the careers of Josh and Benny Safdie. He died at 38. SPORTS N.H.L.: The Pittsburgh Penguins traded the winger Jake Guentzel to the Carolina Hurricanes hours before today’s deadline. N.B.A.: The Minnesota Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns is out indefinitely with a meniscus tear in his left knee. Dog sledding: Dallas Seavey, a five-time Iditarod champion, killed a moose that had become entangled with his team. Race officials penalized him for not gutting the moose well enough. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT ARTS AND IDEAS Lanna Apisukh for The New York Times Hidden passages: Whether the goal is to foil burglars, tuck away extra storage or simply add some whimsy, secret doors are having a moment. When building her new home in Dallas, Tabitha Kane, co-host of a true-crime podcast, added a faux fireplace that spins to reveal a secret room whenever a family member touches a biometric scanner. “It makes the house more fun,” she said. More on culture Akira Toriyama in 1982. Jiji Press/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Akira Toriyama, who was one of Japan’s leading authors of comics and most famous for the highly successful manga and anime franchise “Dragon Ball,” died at 68. Mike Tyson, 57, will fight Jake Paul, the 27-year-old YouTuber turned boxer. The bout will air on Netflix in July. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Bake homemade Pop-Tarts with an easy cream-cheese dough. Follow these tips to feel rested when the clocks spring forward on Sunday. Forget to turn off the lights? It’s OK. Take our news quiz. GAMES Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangram was untucked. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku and Connections. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. — German Correction: Yesterday’s newsletter misspelled the name of Colombia. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Continue reading the main story Editor: David Leonhardt Deputy Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, Sean Kawasaki-Culligan, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Ashley Wu News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Quote phkrause By the decree enforcing the institution of the papacy in violation of the law of God, our nation will disconnect herself fully from righteousness. When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near. {5T 451.1} Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members phkrause Posted March 10 Author Members Share Posted March 10 March 10, 2024 By Kim Severson Good morning. Cabbage, a staple of cuisines around the world, is having a star turn on the American culinary scene. Shawn Michael Jones for The New York Times Head of the class In a world in which it’s hard for a vegetable to get a break, cabbage is winning. Cabbage has been a global culinary workhorse for centuries. (China grows the most; Russia eats the most.) It has fed generations of American immigrants. But now, a vegetable that can make your house smell like a 19th-century tenement has become the darling of the culinary crowd. In the words of my mother-in-law: Cabbage, who knew? Like so many American food trends, fancy cabbage dishes first started turning up in restaurants on the coasts a few years ago. But they are fast spreading across the country. One chef has compared this cabbage mania to the hoopla over bacon in the 1990s. In Denver, Sap Sua sprinkles a charred cabbage wedge with anchovy breadcrumbs. Cabbage is bathed in brown-butter hollandaise at Gigi’s Italian Kitchen in Atlanta. At Good Hot Fish in Asheville, N.C., shredded green cabbage stars in a pancake punched up with sorghum hot sauce. For a story in The Times, I spoke with farmers, chefs and food critics and ate cabbage in three cities, seeking to understand how the vegetable earned this moment in the spotlight. In today’s newsletter, I’ll explain what I found. Kimchi and Caraflex A cabbage dish at Chi Spacca in Los Angeles. Michelle Groskopf for The New York Times The trajectory of a food trend in the United States can sometimes be easy to trace. A French chef introduces the heavily salted butter caramels of Brittany to the elite of the American food world, pastry chefs at expensive restaurants start to play with the idea, and before you know it, you’re ordering a salted caramel cold brew from Dunkin’. But tracking down Cabbage Zero, the one that started the current cruciferous renaissance, is not as easy as tipping a hat to Roy Choi for wrapping kimchi and bulgogi in a corn tortilla, thus kicking off the Korean taco craze. Kimchi, whose main ingredient is cabbage, has helped the cause. Its meteoric rise among cooks and diners who weren’t raised in Korean households has been buoyed by the interest in all things fermented and gut-friendly (much to the chagrin of some purists, who hate what they refer to as “hipster kimchi”). There was even a spike in sauerkraut and kimchi sales when people thought fermented cabbage might ward off Covid. Cabbage can also thank brussels sprouts, the gateway Brassica that worked its way onto menus after the chef David Chang started pan roasting it with bacon at Momofuku Noodle Bar in 2004. None of this would be happening without farmers, of course. A decade or so ago, farmers who sell largely to restaurants began to grow more specialty cabbages, like the small, tender Caraflex, often called the conehead or arrowhead because of its pointy tip. Chefs looking to create dishes for a new, plant-forward world discovered that coneheads looked gorgeous when quartered and sauced on a plate, and were easy to braise, roast or char. A big year The trend is still going strong. Leaves of purple cabbage are enlisted to swaddle mapo tofu at Poltergeist, the current culinary fascination in Los Angeles. At Superiority Burger in New York City, cabbage is gently enrobing sticky rice studded with tofu and braised mushrooms. Of course, most of the cabbage Americans eat is still in the form of coleslaw or, to a lesser degree, sauerkraut. And the Department of Agriculture notes that the amount of cabbage Americans eat measured per capita is about six pounds. In 2000, it was closer to nine. Still, among the food-forward, cabbage fever is rising. “I think 2024 is going to be a really exciting year in cabbage,” the celebrity farmer Lee Jones, of the Chef’s Garden in Huron, Ohio, predicted. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT THE LATEST NEWS Israel-Hamas War Canada and Sweden will resume payments to the main U.N. agency in Gaza. They and other nations paused funding after Israeli accusations that a dozen of the agency’s employees were involved in the Oct. 7 attacks or their aftermath. The U.S. military both provides Israel with munitions and delivers humanitarian aid to Palestinians under bombardment. It’s a rare situation. Read Helene Cooper and Eric Schmitt’s analysis. Israel's ties with Arab countries have frayed during the war, but its relationship with the United Arab Emirates — while increasingly strained — remains. An image of a skeletal 10-year-old boy, Yazan Kafarneh, has circulated widely on social media and made him the face of starvation in Gaza. War in Ukraine A commander of a Ukrainian artillery platoon. As Ukraine struggles against Russian assaults, more women are enlisting in the army. In October 2022, intelligence suggested that Moscow could use a nuclear weapon in Ukraine. Interviews with U.S. and foreign officials reveal the depth of fear. Russia made quick gains in the days after capturing the eastern city of Avdiivka. But the push has now lost momentum. More International News In northern Brazil. Bruno Kelly/Reuters Rains should be drenching the Amazon by this time of year. Instead, a drought has led to wildfires in areas that usually do not burn. Irish voters rejected changes to the Constitution that would have removed language about women’s duties being in the home. China is using propaganda channels that once promoted the one-child policy to encourage people to have more babies. See how the messages have changed. Politics Kari Lake has reached out to the Arizona Republican establishment — including people she has attacked in the past — for support in her Senate bid. New York’s governor, Kathy Hochul, has forbidden National Guard soldiers who are searching bags in the New York City subway from carrying long guns. Business Elon Musk runs a charity that has made him eligible for tax breaks. Donations have often supported his own interests. The Justice Department is thought to have opened a criminal investigation into Boeing after a plane panel blew out during a flight in January. Other Big Stories Julie Burkhart Joanna Kulesza for The New York Times Julie Burkhart runs the only abortion clinic left in Wyoming. It has been protested and set on fire. Several Kansas City Chiefs fans who attended a playoff game in January suffered frostbite that required amputations. THE SUNDAY DEBATE Did Biden’s State of the Union address make the case to re-elect him? Yes. Announcing his plan for a temporary pier in Gaza to deliver aid and reiterating the need for a two-state solution “may go a long way to alleviate the hesitation many voters feel about supporting Biden in November,” Roxanne Jones writes for CNN. No. Biden’s address catered mostly to Democrats and antagonized Republicans, including some Supreme Court justices. “There was nothing here for Nikki Haley voters, or Republicans who don’t want a second Trump term,” The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board writes. MORE OPINIONS Emmanuel Todd is a celebrated academic who predicted the fall of the Soviet Union. Now he foresees the defeat of the Western order, Christopher Caldwell explains. “Manifesting,” or the art of willing what you want into existence, deludes believers into thinking poverty is a choice, Tara Isabella Burton writes. To reduce car accidents and protect deer, daylight saving time should become permanent, Laura Prugh writes. Here are columns by Ross Douthat on explaining Biden’s unpopularity and David Brooks on why Trump gets away with so much. Discover more of the insight you value in The Morning. The Times is filled with information and inspiration every day. So gain unlimited access to everything we offer — and save with this introductory offer. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT MORNING READS The founders of the brokerage Open House Austin. Katherine Squier for The New York Times Investment: Single women are buying houses — and learning how to profit more from them. Thailand: Visit Lampang, which is off the normal tourism circuit. Work Friend: Don’t drown in a dead-end job. Vows: Their first attempt at a wedding was interrupted by the groom’s torn aorta, followed by open-heart surgery. So they tried again. Lives Lived: Dr. Anthony Epstein’s research alongside his doctoral student Yvonne Barr uncovered the first virus found capable of causing cancer in humans, now known as Epstein-Barr. Epstein died at 102. THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE Jack Davison for The New York Times As a young star Kate Winslet endured Hollywood’s brutal treatment of women. Now she’s putting her resilience and grit on full display. The Alabama Supreme Court’s decision on I.V.F. has put the principle of “fetal personhood” on a collision course with political reality. Letter of recommendation: Dump your hometown sports team and become a fair-weather fan. TALK | FROM THE MAGAZINE Mamadi Dambouya for The New York Times By David Marchese I spoke with the actor Jeremy Strong about life after HBO’s hit series “Succession” and his role in a new Broadway adaptation of playwright Henrik Ibsen’s “An Enemy of the People.” Now that you’ve had the experience of being in a zeitgeist-y show with “Succession,” how are you thinking about the balance between what you want to achieve artistically and moving forward careerwise? I’ve always been interested in stories that are rooted in our world and the times we live in. Not necessarily because I’m the most conscientious citizen; it’s because that is the terrain where the greatest stakes are and the greatest drama is. Maybe those things will be good for my career. May I ask a broader question about actors? I’ve done these interviews with Julia Roberts, Tom Hanks, Nicole Kidman. I often ask about how they manage their career. Do you find that people give a disingenuous answer? I don’t know if I would say disingenuous, but almost everybody gives a version of an answer that is similar to the one you gave: I want to do the work I feel good about, and if there’s overlap between that and the career goals, then that’s great. But you don’t Forrest Gump your way into a degree of success that puts you in the 1 percent of actors. That’s true. It’s very intentional. So then why do actors seem to not want to talk about that? Is it gauche? Can I give you a very Jeremy Strong answer? Aren’t all the answers Jeremy Strong answers? They are. There’s this wonderful book by Alma Mahler Werfel. She was with Mahler and Klimt. She wrote that she observed this ongoing tension between what she called the loving soul and the calculating soul. The calculating soul only led so far. So there’s a desire in me and maybe in others to align with only that other part of myself. Read more of the interview here. BOOKS Slowing down: Cal Newport offers life hacks for producing high-quality work while working less. “3 Shades of Blue”: A new book examines the lives of Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Bill Evans — and the album they made. Our editors’ picks: “Ordinary Human Failings,” about an ambitious London tabloid reporter and a murdered child, and eight other books. Times best sellers: “Burn Book,” Kara Swisher’s look at the tech industry, debuts on our hardcover nonfiction best-seller list. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … Grow citrus indoors. Learn how to photograph a solar eclipse. (There’s one on April 8.) Try a juicer. THE WEEK AHEAD What to Watch For Daylight Saving Time started today. The Academy Awards ceremony is this evening. Ramadan is expected to begin this evening. Georgia, Mississippi and Washington have primary elections on Tuesday. Hawaii’s Republican caucus is also on Tuesday. The European Union is expected to vote on A.I. regulations on Wednesday. Russia’s presidential election begins on Friday. Vladimir Putin is running as an independent, instead of as the leader of his party, United Russia. He’s still expected to win. What to Cook This Week Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. For those without time to spare for cleanup, in this week’s Five Weeknight Dishes newsletter Emily Weinstein suggests a simple one-pot spaghetti dish, which features cherry tomatoes and kale. Other recipes that she recommends include skillet ginger chicken with apricots, 30-minute kharra masala fish and sheet-pan sausages and brussels sprouts with honey mustard. NOW TIME TO PLAY Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangram was thruway. Can you put eight pieces of history — including paper money, Amelia Earhart and secret Vatican escapes — in chronological order? Take this week’s Flashback quiz. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku and Connections. Thanks for spending part of your weekend with The Times. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Continue reading the main story Editor: David Leonhardt Deputy Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, Sean Kawasaki-Culligan, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Ashley Wu News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Quote phkrause By the decree enforcing the institution of the papacy in violation of the law of God, our nation will disconnect herself fully from righteousness. When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near. {5T 451.1} Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members phkrause Posted March 11 Author Members Share Posted March 11 March 11, 2024 SUPPORTED BY By David Leonhardt Good morning. We’re covering the fourth anniversary of the Covid pandemic — and also news on Benjamin Netanyahu, Ukraine and the Oscars. The Paramount Theater in Seattle on March 13, 2020. Andrew Burton for The New York Times March 11, 2020 Four years ago today, society began to shut down. Shortly after noon Eastern on March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared Covid — or “the coronavirus,” then the more popular term — to be a global pandemic. Stocks plummeted in the afternoon. In the span of a single hour that night, President Donald Trump delivered an Oval Office address about Covid, Tom Hanks posted on Instagram that he had the virus and the N.B.A. announced it had canceled the rest of its season. It was a Wednesday, and thousands of schools would shut by the end of the week. Workplaces closed, too. People washed their hands frequently and touched elbows instead of shaking hands (although the C.D.C. continued to discourage widespread mask wearing for several more weeks). The worst pandemic in a century had begun. Today, on the unofficial fourth anniversary, I’ll update you on where things stand. The true toll Covid’s confirmed death toll — more than seven million people worldwide — is horrific on its own, and the true toll is much worse. The Economist magazine keeps a running estimate of excess deaths, defined as the number of deaths above what was expected from pre-Covid trends. The global total is approaching 30 million. This number includes both confirmed Covid deaths and undiagnosed ones, which have been common in poorer countries. It includes deaths caused by pandemic disruptions, such as missed doctor appointments that might have prevented other diseases. The isolation of the pandemic also caused a surge of social ills in the U.S., including increases in deaths from alcohol, drugs, vehicle crashes and murders. Eliana Marcela Rendón cries as her grandmother, Carmen Evelia Toro, died. Victor J. Blue for The New York Times Globally, Covid ranks among the worst killers since 1900. AIDS, for example, is estimated to have killed about 40 million people, but over a half century rather than only four years. The 1918 flu killed somewhere between 20 million and 50 million people. Among high-income countries, the U.S. has had one of the highest Covid tolls. The excess-death rate here, as a study by Jennifer Nuzzo and Jorge Ledesma of Brown University notes, has been much higher than in Canada, Britain, Germany, France, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Japan, South Korea or Australia. In addition to deaths from the virus, long Covid — which scientists still don’t understand — has afflicted many people. Red Covid The U.S. has fared so poorly for multiple reasons. Our medical system is scattered and uniquely expensive. Covid tests were hard to find here. And the U.S. failed to protect many residents of nursing homes, who were vulnerable because of the extreme age skew of Covid’s effects. The biggest problem for the past three years, however, has involved vaccines. Initially, many lower-income Americans, as well as Black and Latino Americans, couldn’t easily find vaccines. The Biden administration largely solved these access gaps in 2021. But a new problem then emerged: Many Americans, especially political conservatives, were skeptical of the vaccines despite overwhelming evidence of their effectiveness. To this day, more than 30 percent of self-identified Republicans have not received a Covid vaccine shot, compared with less than 10 percent of Democrats. You can see the tragic effects of vaccine skepticism in this chart, by my colleague Ashley Wu, which compares the death rates in red and blue counties: Sources: C.D.C. Wonder; Edison Research | Data excludes Alaska. | By The New York Times The chart tells two important stories. First, note that before vaccines were available, the cumulative death toll was similar in red and blue America. Although blue America wore masks more often, closed schools for longer and stayed home more, those measures turned out to be less successful than many liberals believed. Why? Masks do work. But mask mandates tend to make little difference over extended periods. People simply won’t wear masks all the time in public for months on end. Remember the absurdity of restaurant diners wearing masks while walking to their table — and then taking them off to eat? While many liberals exaggerated the value of pandemic restrictions, they were right about the vaccines. After vaccines became available, a huge partisan gap in Covid deaths opened. Even today, when most Americans have had the virus and have some natural immunity as a result, unvaccinated people are at much more risk. Consider that about 95 percent of recent Covid-related hospitalizations in the U.S. have occurred among people who had not received an updated vaccine. This chart, based on data from Washington State, helps show the protective power of vaccines, especially for the elderly: Source: Washington State Department of Health | By The New York Times Because so many Republicans remain unvaccinated, the partisan gap in Covid’s toll has continued to widen over the past year: Sources: C.D.C. Wonder; Edison Research | Data excludes Alaska. | By The New York Times The indirect costs For many young Americans, Covid’s biggest toll has come from the indirect costs. Human beings are social creatures, and the pandemic’s disruption and isolation created problems from which we still have not recovered. Some of the ills I mentioned above — such as vehicle deaths and murders — have fallen from their Covid highs but remain above their prepandemic levels. Among the biggest costs has been learning loss. Students have begun to recover some of the pandemic losses from long school closures but have a long way to go in most states: Source: COVID-19 School Data Hub | Data for California, Oregon and Michigan are from 2019, 2022 and 2023. | By The New York Times Four years ago, our world changed. As a society, we are not close to fully recovered. Our advice: If you’re older and haven’t recently gotten a vaccine shot, I hope you’ll consider getting one. And here’s a Times guide to treating Covid if you get it. It remains a serious illness today, akin to a more severe version of the flu. Related: In the last four years, scientists have unraveled some of the biggest mysteries about Covid. Read how it spreads and what’s behind the strange symptoms. Continue reading the main story A MESSAGE FROM APPLE CARD Daily Cash back. Without limits. Earn up to 3% unlimited Daily Cash back on every Apple Card purchase. See how it adds up. Apply now THE LATEST NEWS Israel-Hamas War Public tensions between President Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu escalated over the weekend. Biden, in an MSNBC interview, said Netanyahu was “hurting Israel more than helping Israel.” Netanyahu dismissed Biden’s assertions as “wrong” in a Politico interview. Some Palestinian Muslims fear that Israel might impose additional restrictions during Ramadan on access to Al Aqsa Mosque, part of an area that is sacred for both Muslims and Jews. Politics Biden will propose his 2025 fiscal budget today. The plan has almost no chance of becoming law but will serve as a policy platform for the election. New York’s attorney general has openly celebrated her victories in cases against Trump and the N.R.A. She has infuriated some on the right. International Dutch Air Force F-16 fighters in 2018. Horacio Villalobos/Corbis, via Getty Images Ukraine could deploy F-16 warplanes as soon as July. Despite NATO promises, delivering the jets and training pilots has been difficult. Kensington Palace released a photo of Kate, Princess of Wales, to dispel rumors about her well-being. But news agencies said the image had been manipulated, and some noticed that she does not appear to be wearing her wedding ring. In Haiti, gangs have attacked state institutions and expanded their territory. Food, water and fuel are limited. Indonesia will investigate how two pilots fell asleep during a flight. The plane briefly went off course. Education Virginia will end legacy admissions at public universities. Students took the first all-digital SAT. Some exams had brief technical glitches. Business Jool Baby, a brand of children’s products, has recalled about 63,000 infant swings that were sold at Walmart stores. The swings were a suffocation risk. Cars gather data about drivers' speed. Automakers have shared that data, and insurance companies can use it to raise rates. More restaurants now charge a fee for diners who cancel or miss reservations. Sometimes it costs as much as the meal. Other Big Stories Grieving families have been challenging the use of “overdose” to record drug fatalities, which they believe blames victims for their death. A woman was struck by a subway train in Manhattan and had both feet amputated after her boyfriend shoved her onto the tracks, the police said. The leaders of Hacienda, a prominent New York sex club, preach a gospel of continuous consent. Former members say the group didn’t keep them safe when things went wrong. Opinions For five decades, atomic veterans were forbidden to tell anyone about their experiences, including with nuclear tests. Ariel Kaminer shares her uncle’s story. As a doctor, Daniela Lamas doesn’t fear Covid as she once did. But she carries its grave lessons forward. Bret Stephens and Gail Collins discuss the State of the Union. Here are columns by David French on why Nikki Haley supporters should vote for Biden and Ezra Klein on Biden’s successful State of the Union address. Discover more of the insight you value in The Morning. The Times is filled with information and inspiration every day. So gain unlimited access to everything we offer — and save with this introductory offer. MORNING READS A potentially new species of deep-sea squid. Ocean Census/NIWA Underwater: Scientists discovered 100 new marine species in New Zealand. A new era: A Queens food court that influenced how New Yorkers eat Chinese food has reopened after a four-year renovation. Olympics: Legal challenges and endless appeals mean some athletes have waited years for their medals. Silent corridors and “no excuses”: Super strict schools are on the rise in England. A Word Through The Times: Celestial bodies have “influence.” So do advertisers and a TikTok personality known as Pookie. Metropolitan Diary: New Haven pizza, delivered by train. Lives Lived: Paolo Taviani, who with his brother Vittorio made some of Italy’s most acclaimed films of the last half century, mixed neorealism with a lyrical, almost magical sense of storytelling. He died at 92. SPORTS N.F.L. deals: Former Seahawks and Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson plans to sign with the Steelers, and Baker Mayfield agreed to a three-year, $100 million contract extension to remain with the Buccaneers. Women’s college basketball: South Carolina won the S.E.C. tournament championship over L.S.U. The game had a brawl in the fourth quarter. ARTS AND IDEAS Christopher Nolan Amir Hamja/The New York Times And the award goes to: Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” took home seven Oscars at last night’s awards, including best picture. Nolan won best director for the movie and Cillian Murphy was named best actor for his performance as the title character. The best actress award went to Emma Stone for “Poor Things.” Lily Gladstone of “Killers of the Flower Moon” was considered a strong contender for the prize. “Lily, I share this with you,” Stone said onstage. (“Barbie” won one award — best original song — of the eight it was nominated for.) See the full list of winners. More on the Oscars Taking in the Kenergy. Amir Hamja/The New York Times Ryan Gosling took the stage in a sparkly pink suit to perform “I’m Just Ken,” the nominated song from “Barbie.” The Ukrainian director of “20 Days in Mariupol” won for best documentary and used his speech to protest the war. The Oscars honored Aleksei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader, during an in memoriam segment. The host Jimmy Kimmel kept it safe and John Cena presented the award for best costume design seemingly in the nude. Read more about the night. Take a look at the best (and the not-so-best) red carpet outfits. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … Roasted broccoli with crispy cheddar. Nico Schinco for The New York Times Roast broccoli with Cheddar until it becomes crispy. Organize your fridge. Take our news quiz. GAMES Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangram was upfield. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku and Connections. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. — David Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Editor: David Leonhardt Deputy Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, Sean Kawasaki-Culligan, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Ashley Wu News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Quote phkrause By the decree enforcing the institution of the papacy in violation of the law of God, our nation will disconnect herself fully from righteousness. When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near. {5T 451.1} Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members phkrause Posted March 14 Author Members Share Posted March 14 March 14, 2024 By German Lopez Good morning. We’re covering the threat that Ukraine faces this year — as well as TikTok, Haiti and deathbed visions. Ukrainian soldiers. Tyler Hicks/The New York Times Ukraine’s armory For two years, Ukraine has relied on American weapons to fight Russian invaders. It has bombarded Russian lines with U.S. artillery, destroyed tanks with Javelin missiles and stopped aerial attacks with Patriot launchers. But American support has sharply declined. House Republicans have blocked additional aid to Ukraine, and the Biden administration cannot send many more weapons. (The $300 million package announced this week will likely help Ukraine for only a few weeks.) Ukraine has already felt the consequences. Over the past month, Russia made some gains after it took the eastern city of Avdiivka, once a Ukrainian stronghold. Intelligence officials warned Congress this week that Ukraine’s losses signal what is to come from an undersupplied war effort. Ukraine retreated because it ran out of artillery shells, the Biden administration said. These weapons have played a major role in the war; Ukraine has used them to deter and weaken Russian attacks before close combat. But with limited supplies, Ukraine’s leaders sacrificed Avdiivka to save munitions for more strategic territory, such as the Black Sea coastline and the country’s northeast. The chaotic retreat that followed left Ukrainian troops and civilians vulnerable. By The New York Times Russia does not have the same problem. Despite Western sanctions, its economy is humming along. It is producing weapons and supplying its troops. Its allies, particularly North Korea and Iran, have helped fill gaps. Ukraine’s allies across Europe have not picked up most of the slack as American support has dwindled. European countries have promised to build up their military spending to protect themselves and one another, but that process will take years. Ukraine might not have that long. Today’s newsletter will examine what the war may look like if Ukraine does not receive more American support. Growing risk For now, the war is at a stalemate, despite Avdiivka. Ukraine probably has enough supplies to hold off most Russian attacks for weeks, perhaps months. Analysts already doubted that Ukraine could carry out large offensives this year, even if it had received more aid. In the longer term, America’s diminished support will likely force Ukraine to cede more land. Russian forces currently hold about 20 percent of Ukraine’s former territory, and they want more. Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, recently talked about seizing what remains of Ukraine’s coastline, which would strangle Ukraine’s ability to send and receive shipments through the Black Sea. He also wants to take the rest of the eastern region of the Donbas, where Russia supported a separatist movement before the war. A mother and daughter in eastern Ukraine. David Guttenfelder for The New York Times In the past, Ukraine has made Russia’s victories costly. Russia endured tens of thousands of casualties to take the city of Bakhmut, which both sides called a “meat grinder.” Ukraine needed plenty of munitions to parry Russia’s attacks in the city for months. Today, it would run out of supplies quickly and have to flee — and Russia would suffer less for its victory. Knowing that, Russia might become more willing to push. In other words: Russia wants, and could get, more chances like Avdiivka. “Without more aid, those chances rise,” my colleague Julian Barnes, who covers the war, told me. “With an aid package, the Ukrainians will have a much better chance of solidifying their defenses, holding the line. And in some places, they may be able to retake territory.” No substitute The United States is not Ukraine’s only ally, but it is the only one with the willingness and means to supply Ukraine’s war effort. Many European nations lack a political tradition of arming other countries. They have sent Ukraine some impressive weapons, like German tanks and Swedish shoulder-fired missiles. But “they cannot pump out munitions,” Julian said. “They cannot produce large numbers of artillery shell rounds — the No. 1 thing Ukraine needs.” So it falls on the U.S. to supply Ukraine. President Biden and the Senate have already backed more funding. House Republicans refuse to bring it to a vote. This situation — in which narrow domestic politics could end American support for a war effort — is unusual, said Stacie Goddard, an international security expert at Wellesley College. The U.S. has abandoned war efforts in the past, typically after battlefield defeats or as the public loses trust in a cause. Neither is true for Ukraine. The war is at a stalemate, but Ukraine is not losing. And most Americans still support providing aid. Related: Read more about what a Ukraine peace deal might look like. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT THE LATEST NEWS TikTok Representative Mike Gallagher, a lawmaker who backs the TikTok bill. Kent Nishimura for The New York Times The House passed a bipartisan bill that would force TikTok’s Chinese owner to sell the app or face a U.S. ban. The bill heads to the Senate, where some lawmakers oppose it. TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, would need to decide whether to sell all of the app or just its U.S. business. Read more about a potential sale. A ban is more likely if TikTok can’t find a buyer. The price may be tens of billions of dollars. TikTok asked dozens of influencers to travel to Washington. Some met with lawmakers and posted videos with the hashtag #KeepTikTok. TikTok’s algorithms are more of a security threat than who owns the company, David Sanger writes. “This is like iPhone ‘Footloose,’ and there’s no Kevin Bacon to save us”: The late-night hosts discussed the possible ban. More on Politics A Georgia judge threw out six of the 41 criminal counts against Donald Trump and his allies in the election interference case there. He said the charges weren’t specific enough. Hunter Biden rejected House Republicans’ request that he testify next week. He called their impeachment inquiry into his father a “circus act.” At an event in Wisconsin, Biden criticized Trump for floating Medicare and Social Security cuts. “I will never allow it to happen,” Biden said. A Democratic group is airing an ad for a Trump-endorsed Republican in Ohio. It’s a sign that Democrats think Trump’s candidate would be easier to beat. Israel-Hamas War The Israeli military said it had bombed an aid warehouse in Rafah and killed a Hamas commander; the United Nations said the strike had also killed at least one aid worker. The military also said it had killed a senior Hamas operative in an airstrike in Lebanon. More than a million civilians have fled to Rafah, in southern Gaza. As they search for shelter and food, they worry Israel may soon invade there, too. A group of engineers risk their lives to restore Gaza’s phone networks. Read about their work. International Geert Wilders Ramon Van Flymen/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Geert Wilders, a hard-right leader who won the last Dutch election, said he would forgo becoming prime minister — for now. The move may increase his chances of forming a right-wing coalition. The European Union will ban imports such as some beef and books that have been linked to deforestation. Developing countries have expressed outrage. Haiti’s prime minister held on to power for years as gangs terrorized the country. He agreed to step down after the gangs united. Wildfires threaten Chile’s Pacific Coast, just weeks after other blazes in the area killed more than 100 people. Education The botched rollout of a new student aid form caused officials to miss 70,000 emails. A nonbinary teenager in Oklahoma died by suicide a day after a fight in a high school girls’ bathroom, a medical examiner determined. Other Big Stories In Washington, D.C. Kent Nishimura for The New York Times The National Park Service plans to remove around 140 iconic cherry trees in Washington, D.C., to build taller sea walls to protect the Jefferson Memorial. An uncrewed rocket launched by Space One, a private Japanese space company, exploded seconds after takeoff. See the video. Prosecutors charged three men with firearms trafficking as part of the investigation into the Kansas City shooting after the Super Bowl. California is prosecuting people who supply fatal doses of fentanyl. Family Dollar will close about 1,000 stores. Opinions The 2021 shooting death of a cinematographer on the set of “Rust” underscores Hollywood’s disregard for gun safety, Kaj Larsen writes. For years, universities educated future citizens in whatever ways they saw fit. They need to stick to this mission, Pamela Paul argues. A year after her daughter Orli’s death, Sarah Wildman considers how being a mourning parent has become her identity. After decades of inattention, legislators are finally writing laws to support child-care workers, Jessica Grose writes. Here are columns by Charles Blow on Georgia’s primaries and Nicholas Kristof on Biden’s opportunity to embrace populism. For readers of The Morning, enjoy exceptional savings for a limited time. Take advantage of the complete Times experience with our sale. Save on your first year of unlimited access to news, Games, Cooking and more. Subscribe now. MORNING READS In Paris. Simbarashe Cha/The New York Times Street style: Some of the best looks at Paris Fashion Week weren’t on the runways. At peace: What deathbed visions teach us about living. Happy Pi Day: The mathematical ratio is the perfect symbol for our species’ long effort to tame infinity. Social Q’s: “How do I get my unemployed brother out of my father’s house?” Tiny battles: Some New Yorkers are fighting over control of tree beds on public streets. For some it’s a rare chance to connect with nature in the city. Lives Lived: Paul Alexander spent most of his life confined to a yellow iron lung after he was paralyzed by polio at age 6. Living in the machine did not stop him from going to college and practicing law for 30 years. He died at 72. SPORTS Abbey Hsu and Lia Sammaritano on a stop during their road trip. Lia Sammaritano College basketball: Columbia’s Abbey Hsu survived a mass shooting and lost her father to Covid. Now, after a gap year and a healing road trip, she’s the Ivy League player of the year. N.F.L.: Calvin Ridley agreed to lucrative free agent terms with the Tennessee Titans. Because of a rare contract clause, it will cost the Falcons a high draft pick. M.L.B.: The San Diego Padres acquired Chicago White Sox pitcher Dylan Cease. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT ARTS AND IDEAS “Toilette,” an installation by Carolyn Lazard. Charlie Rubin for The New York Times The state of art: The Whitney Biennial opens its 81st edition this month. It is New York’s most prominent showcase of new American art. Three critics previewed the show. “Their biennial is small, with just 44 artists,” Jason Farago writes. He also said it is “resolutely low-risk” and “visually polite.” More on culture Nazi collaborators took a Dutch masterwork from a British Jewish couple. A court in the Netherlands said the couple’s relatives should get it back. They’re still waiting — 17 years later. Neil Young said his music is returning to Spotify. He removed songs in 2022 to protest the company’s deal with Joe Rogan. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … Jenny Huang for The New York Times Make one-pot pasta with ricotta and lemon that comes together in about 15 minutes. Treat and prevent hangnails. Get work done on an iPad. Start thinking about your child’s Easter basket. GAMES Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangram was guilted. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku and Connections. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. — German Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Continue reading the main story Editor: David Leonhardt Deputy Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, Sean Kawasaki-Culligan, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Ashley Wu News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Quote phkrause By the decree enforcing the institution of the papacy in violation of the law of God, our nation will disconnect herself fully from righteousness. When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near. {5T 451.1} Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members phkrause Posted March 15 Author Members Share Posted March 15 March 15, 2024 By David Leonhardt Good morning. We’re covering a new Times Magazine story on affirmative action — as well as Russia’s election, the Palestinian Authority and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. In Washington, D.C., in 2022. Shuran Huang for The New York Times Upwardly mobile Two economists — Ran Abramitzky of Stanford and Leah Boustan of Princeton — embarked on an ambitious project more than a decade ago. They wanted to know how the trajectory of immigrants to the United States had changed since the 1800s. To do so, Abramitzky and Boustan collected millions of tax filings, census records and other data and analyzed upward mobility over time. Their findings, published in a 2022 book titled “Streets of Gold,” received widespread attention. The data showed that recent immigrant families had climbed the country’s ladder at a strikingly similar pace to immigrant families from long ago, even as the profile of those immigrants has changed. “The American dream is just as real for immigrants from Asia and Latin America now as it was for immigrants from Italy and Russia 100 years ago,” Abramitzky and Boustan wrote. As in the past, immigrants themselves tend to remain poor if they arrive poor, as many do. But as in the past, their children usually make up ground rapidly, regardless of where they come from. Within a generation or two, immigrant families resemble native families in economic terms. (See graphics that explain the research.) The findings were surprising partly because the American economy has been so disappointing over the past few decades. Overall upward mobility has declined sharply. Immigrants and their descendants, however, have been a glorious exception. For a mix of reasons — including their willingness to move to U.S. regions with strong economies — immigrant families have kept climbing society’s ladder. This encouraging pattern obviously challenges the dark view of recent immigrants that conservatives sometimes offer. Yet it also challenges one part of the liberal consensus — about affirmative action. Until the Supreme Court banned race-based affirmative action last year, many beneficiaries were descendants of recent immigrants, from Latin America, Africa and elsewhere. But if immigrant families are making progress more than the average American family, did they need affirmative action? And now that the old policy is gone, which groups of Americans are truly vulnerable? Fairness vs. diversity I thought about these questions while reading a new Times Magazine essay on affirmative action by my colleague Nikole Hannah-Jones. She tells the story of the policy’s beginnings in the 1960s and makes a point that is sometimes forgotten. When John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson created affirmative action, they did not do so in the name of diversity. Only later did diversity become the policy’s main rationale, largely because of a 1978 Supreme Court decision. Affirmative action was created in the name of fairness — to address the oppression of Black Americans. That oppression has spanned not only centuries of slavery, but also policies that continued into the 20th century, such as segregation of jobs, schools and neighborhoods and whites-only mortgage subsidies. The white-Black wealth gap remains so large today partly as a result. As Johnson said in 1965, “You do not take a person who, for years, has been hobbled by chains, liberate him, bring him to the starting line of a race, saying, ‘You are free to compete with all the others.’” Or as Martin Luther King Jr. said, “A society that has done something special against the Negro for hundreds of years must now do something special for him.” President Lyndon Johnson speaking at Howard University in 1965. William J. Smith/Associated Press At the time, the U.S. was about 95 percent white or Black and only about 5 percent Asian or Latino. In 1965, though, a new immigration law passed, leading to a surge in immigrants. Soon, affirmative action grew to include many of them and their descendants. It became a program of “diversity and inclusiveness and not racial justice,” Nikole writes. Progressive groups, she notes, began to use the term “people of color.” There are certainly arguments for this approach. Many immigrants did, and do, experience discrimination. Of course, the same was once true of Irish, Italian and Jewish immigrants, and their families nonetheless climbed society’s ladder. The research by Abramitzky and Boustan shows Asian and Hispanic immigrants are following a similar path. (Affirmative action itself has been too narrow a policy to be a major reason, and some versions of it already excluded Asian Americans before the Supreme Court decision.) The continued existence of anti-Asian or anti-Hispanic hate — or antisemitism, which is on the rise, as Franklin Foer documents in The Atlantic — is outrageous. But it does not necessarily justify affirmative action for these groups. All of them fare markedly better on many metrics than Black Americans, or Native Americans, who have also endured centuries of oppression. Consider life expectancy: Source: C.D.C. | Data from 2022. | By The New York Times What now? Affirmative action is a thorny issue, and reasonable people will have different views. Whatever your view, Nikole’s essay highlights a point worth mulling: The demise of the old version of affirmative action is likely to affect some of its previous beneficiaries much more than others. Given this country’s treatment of Black and Native Americans, they are at particular risk. For more: I recommend you make time for the essay this weekend. In it, Nikole suggests a version of affirmative action specifically for the descendants of enslaved people. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT THE LATEST NEWS Israel-Hamas War Chuck Schumer Kent Nishimura for The New York Times Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader, said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was an obstacle to peace and urged Israel to hold a new election. The Palestinian Authority’s president named an adviser to be prime minister, defying international pressure to pick an outsider. U.S. officials aren’t expecting much from the new prime minister. Israel has supported getting more aid into Gaza, but humanitarian organizations say the new initiatives are insufficient. Russia In St. Petersburg, Russia. Anatoly Maltsev/EPA, via Shutterstock Russia has an election this weekend. Vladimir Putin is all but assured another term. Before the vote, Russia has intensified online censorship using techniques pioneered by China. Trump Trials Prosecutors proposed delaying Donald Trump’s criminal trial in Manhattan. They want to review new documents. The federal judge overseeing Trump’s classified documents trial rejected an effort by his lawyers to dismiss the case. All four criminal cases against Donald Trump have issues that have delayed the start of trials. More on Politics Trump backtracked on comments he made suggesting that he was open to cutting Social Security and Medicare. He told Breitbart News that he wouldn’t “jeopardize or hurt” either program. Peter Navarro, a Trump adviser, must report to prison for defying a congressional subpoena to testify in the House’s Jan. 6 inquiry, an appeals court ruled. Vice President Kamala Harris visited a Planned Parenthood clinic in Minnesota. It was believed to be the first official visit by a vice president to an abortion clinic. Trump has growing support among Latinos. Business Blastoff! Chandan Khanna/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images SpaceX’s Starship, the biggest rocket ever to fly, completed most of its latest test flight but didn’t survive re-entering Earth’s atmosphere. NASA hopes to use the rocket’s design in coming moon missions. TikTok would have a huge price tag. Investors might join together to buy it. Taiwan is trying to build an alternative to Starlink, Elon Musk’s satellite internet service. Gun Violence A jury found a Michigan father guilty of involuntary manslaughter for failing to stop his son before a school shooting. His wife was convicted of the same charge last month. Read about other cases in which parents have been found criminally liable after a shooting by their child. A man was shot on a subway train in Brooklyn after getting into a fight with another passenger during rush hour. He is in critical condition. Other Big Stories Severe storms believed to be tornadoes hit Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. Sports Illustrated’s last print magazine will be in May, employees were told. Opinions The reinstatement of SAT requirements is antiracism in action, John McWhorter writes. One of the unavoidable sadnesses of life is that friends drift away for no particular reason, Frank Bruni writes. Here are columns by David French on antisemitism on college campuses and Paul Krugman on the threat to Social Security and Medicare. For readers of The Morning, enjoy exceptional savings for a limited time. Take advantage of the complete Times experience with our sale. Save on your first year of unlimited access to news, Games, Cooking and more. Subscribe now. MORNING READS A carpet python. David Maurice Smith for The New York Times Boom time: A warmer planet means reptiles aren’t slowing down as much in the winter — which means more business for Australia’s snake catchers. Marketplace: Gen Z is on Facebook, but mainly for the deals. 36 Hours in Sarasota: Head to a beach with expansive views of the Florida Gulf, try gator and visit an impressive museum complex. Lives Lived: Dan Wakefield was a prolific and acclaimed writer, producing novels, journalism, essays, criticism, screenplays and, in a memoir, an account of his path from faith to atheism and back again. He died at 91. SPORTS Blonds, having more fun. Luke Schmidt, Bauer Hockey and MSHSL Hockey hair: At Minnesota’s state hockey tournament, high school players competed for the best “salad” and “flow.” N.F.L.: The Los Angeles Chargers traded wide receiver Keenan Allen to the Chicago Bears after Allen refused to take a pay cut. N.H.L.: A shipment of commemorative Jaromir Jagr bobbleheads was stolen, the Pittsburgh Penguins announced. Tennis: A “bee invasion” delayed the quarterfinal match between Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev at Indian Wells. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT ARTS AND IDEAS Cracking up: These are 22 of the funniest books since “Catch-22,” as chosen by three Times book critics. Why “Catch-22”? The 1961 novel “gave writers permission to be irreverent about the most serious stuff — the stuff of life and death,” the critics write, setting off a new era of humor in literature. Their list includes: “Tales of the City,” by Armistead Maupin (1978) “Heartburn,” by Nora Ephron (1983) “Lightning Rods,” by Helen DeWitt (2011) See the full list. More on culture Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, debuted an Instagram account and announced what appears to be a new kitchen and lifestyle brand. The San Francisco Symphony’s maestro said he would step down, citing differences with the orchestra’s board. A “Squid Game” actor was found guilty in South Korea of sexual misconduct. “What’s still a mystery is why a bunch of top secret documents were taken by a president who, by all accounts, does not read”: Jimmy Kimmel joked about Trump’s trials. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Serve dinner in 30 minutes with this lemony shrimp and bean stew. Make the most of your walks. Show someone that they’re loved with a care package. Buy a hot tub. (Why not?) Take our news quiz. GAMES Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangrams were bathing and inhabiting. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku and Connections. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. — David P.S. Today marks Wordle’s 1,000th puzzle. To celebrate, the Empire State Building lit up in Wordle’s signature colors. Correction: Yesterday’s newsletter misstated the age of Paul Alexander, who died after spending most of his life in an iron lung. He was 78, not 72. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Continue reading the main story Editor: David Leonhardt Deputy Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, Sean Kawasaki-Culligan, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Ashley Wu News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Quote phkrause By the decree enforcing the institution of the papacy in violation of the law of God, our nation will disconnect herself fully from righteousness. When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near. {5T 451.1} Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members phkrause Posted March 17 Author Members Share Posted March 17 March 16, 2024 By Melissa Kirsch Good morning. Spring officially begins this week. For those of us who’ve been white-knuckling our way through winter, it can’t arrive soon enough. María Jesús Contreras Season opener When does spring begin? For some, it’s the second Sunday in March, when we turn our clocks forward by an hour in the United States. For others, it’s when they first realize they’ve finished dinner and it’s still light out, or when the first crocuses poke up through the snow. Is it when you can go outside without a jacket and not feel a chill? When you pack away the down bedding and down jackets for another year? In the Northern Hemisphere, the vernal equinox will officially take place this Tuesday, March 19, at 11:06 p.m. Eastern. This year, impatient as ever for winter to end, I decided to skip my usual routine of fidgety calendar watching and see if I couldn’t do something to hasten spring’s arrival. It’s only a three-hour flight from La Guardia (rainy, cold) to West Palm Beach (sunny, 81 degrees, slight breeze), and from there an hour’s drive to Clover Park in Port St. Lucie, the spring training home of the New York Mets. Even with the traffic of more than 7,000 fans descending on the ballpark (a subway series matchup with the Yankees, a hot ticket) and the few extra minutes you’ll need to make a quick change from jeans to sundress in a CVS parking lot, if you leave New York before dawn you can easily make the trip from winter to spring with enough time to grab a Nathan’s hot dog before the first pitch. Sitting in the stands, watching baseball on a day so balmy as to have been cooked up in a lab to make a visiting New Yorker question all her life choices, it felt laughable that one might sit at home and wait for spring to arrive. Here in Port St. Lucie on a Tuesday afternoon, weeks before the season’s official start, cheery fans were decked out in team merch, drinking Modelo Especial tallboys and snacking on peanuts, reeling off stats, heckling the players. Here, spring was already happening. Baseball devotees are known to anticipate the onset of spring with a special fervor. In February 1971, John Hutchens wrote in The Times, “He is beginning to emerge from his cotton‐wool haze, the hopelessly addicted baseball fan for whom life — if that’s the word for it — has amounted to nothing much since the last play of the 1970 World Series.” This is the kind of hyperbolic perspective on the seasons I identify with. I’m not a die-hard baseball fan, but I know the agony of which Hutchens writes, the way life seems to be on hold during the winter months. Jerry Kraus, a snowbird from Utica, N.Y., who works at Clover Park during spring training, seemed to have the right idea, leaving the Northeast for Florida when the weather gets dicey. He was so in sync with the springtime vibe that he caught a foul ball right in his hand. (Baseball’s not Jerry’s only sport; he runs a Wordle league in which participants are given rules for letters they’re not allowed to use for their first word. On the day I met him, the rule was “No worries,” so your first guess couldn’t contain the letters W, O, R, I, E or S.) In his 1990 book “Men at Work: The Craft of Baseball,” George Will tsk-tsked descriptions of the game as “unhurried” or “leisurely,” calling such observations “nonsense on stilts.” For the players, he writes, “there is barely enough time between pitches for all the thinking that is required.” But for this casual spectator, “no worries” could be baseball’s official motto. Being outdoors in the sunshine and fresh air, things do feel slower and easier. The fretting slows down. I love that baseball has long been considered America’s national pastime. A pastime is something that makes the passing of time pleasant. Isn’t that what we’re longing for in the winter months? Something that makes time not just tolerable but enjoyable? By the time I left Florida, it was pouring rain and even a little chilly. How was I supposed to take springtime home with me, I wondered petulantly. It was still raining in New York when I landed. Spring isn’t just weather, of course, and it certainly makes no promises about rain. I’m trying to resist cliché, to keep from saying something akin to “spring is a state of mind,” even though I wish it were. I went looking for spring and I found it where spring breakers find it every year, already in full, exuberant swing in the Sunshine State. My own official shedding of woolen garments and denunciation of seasonal funk will occur on Tuesday, when spring finally arrives. But having experienced 24 hours of spring’s full pageant, my own little preseason, I feel slightly pacified. Perhaps I can be patient as spring establishes itself, offer the season a little grace as it clicks into place. (N.Y.C. temperature as I write this: 36 degrees, but there’s definite blue among the clouds.) For more “It’s been a dark winter of worries, but the wildflowers are blooming and the birds are singing again.” Margaret Renkl welcomes spring. Major League Soccer is trying to organize large-scale training camps marketed to fans. The Athletic’s spring training coverage. The M.L.B.’s new pants are see-through. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT THE WEEK IN CULTURE Music South by Southwest 2024 Adam Davis/EPA, via Shutterstock Dozens of musicians and panelists withdrew from this year’s South by Southwest festival, which ends today, to protest the involvement of the U.S. military and defense contractors. Kacey Musgrave’s new album, “Deeper Well,” is about gratitude. “Musgraves may be contented, but she’s not complacent,” Jon Pareles writes in his review. Olivia Rodrigo invited a reproductive care organization to distribute free emergency contraception and abortion information at her “Guts” world tour, Variety reports. Film and TV Barry Keoghan, Paul Mescal and Cillian Murphy: Irish hunks are having a moment in Hollywood. “High & Low: John Galliano” captures the fashion designer’s prodigious talent while raising industry wide issues that go beyond just Galliano’s story, Rhonda Garelick writes. A24 announced it will rerelease the movies Ex Machina, Hereditary and Uncut Gems in IMAX, Vulture reports. Gerald Levin, a former Time Warner chief executive, died at 84. He was an architect of the company’s failed merger with AOL, considered the worst corporate marriage in U.S. history. The Royal Family Jack Plunkett/Invision, via Associated Press A federal judge dismissed a defamation lawsuit against Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, brought by her half sister, who had accused Meghan of falsely disparaging her. The extended absence of Kate, Princess of Wales, and King Charles’ cancer diagnosis: See a timeline of the family’s tumultuous past few months. Other Big Stories Elon Musk called off Don Lemon’s partnership with X, a day after the two conducted an interview. Lemon said he had asked Musk about his business ventures and reported drug use. James Conlon, the musical director of the Los Angeles Opera, will step down in 2026, his 20th year in the role. The athletic apparel company Outdoor Voice is closing all its stores on Sunday. The brand became popular for its Instagram-friendly aesthetic. The actress Olivia Munn said she had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer last year and undergone a double mastectomy. A colorful unionizing effort at the Medieval Times has come to an end, The Huffington Post reports. The small online literary magazine Guernica retracted an Israeli writer’s essay about finding common ground with Palestinians, after it led to staff resignations. THE LATEST NEWS Politics Jefferson Siegel for The New York Times A judge delayed Donald Trump’s Manhattan criminal trial, which had been scheduled to begin this month, until at least mid-April. Nathan Wade resigned as a prosecutor on the Georgia criminal case against Trump. A judge had ruled that Fani Willis, who had a relationship with and hired Wade, could continue to lead the case if Wade quit. Mike Pence, Trump’s former vice president, said he would not endorse Trump for president, citing “profound differences.” International An attack near aid trucks in Gaza killed or wounded dozens of Palestinian civilians. Gazan officials blamed Israeli forces, while Israel blamed Palestinian gunmen. Separately, an aid ship carrying food reached the Gaza coast. Jared Kushner said he was close to finalizing real estate deals in Albania and Serbia, pursuing business abroad even as Trump, his father-in-law, seeks the presidency. Militants with the terrorist group Al Shabab stormed a hotel close to Somalia’s presidential palace this week, leaving three people dead and injuring 27. Other Big Stories Federal prosecutors asked that Sam Bankman-Fried, the former cryptocurrency mogul convicted of fraud, receive up to 50 years in prison. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for this month. Most adult migrants will now have to leave New York City homeless shelters after 30 days. Migrant families with children can still stay for 60 days or more. The man who shot another rider in the head on the New York City subway, causing mass panic, appears to have acted in self-defense and is not likely to be charged, the authorities said. For readers of The Morning, enjoy exceptional savings for a limited time. Take advantage of the complete Times experience with our sale. Save on your first year of unlimited access to news, Games, Cooking and more. Subscribe now. CULTURE CALENDAR By Alexis Soloski 📚 “James” (Tuesday): Last year, Percival Everett’s “Erasure,” a milestone in the author’s varied, brainy, slippery career, became the basis for the lacerating publishing satire “American Fiction.” Now Everett returns with a new novel, a reconsideration of an American fiction staple, “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” This version puts Jim, not Huck, at the center of the raft. Can you step into the same Mississippi twice? 📺 “3 Body Problem” (Thursday): An epic spanning more than 400 years and a couple of solar systems, Cixin Liu’s Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy was never an easy prospect for adaptation. But D.B. Weiss and David Benioff, the producers behind “Game of Thrones,” know something about unwieldy source material. Joined by Alexander Woo, they’ve transformed the first book into a thrilling, hurtling series for Netflix. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT RECIPE OF THE WEEK Sang An for The New York Times By Melissa Clark Chocolate Guinness Cake You don’t need an excuse to bake Nigella Lawson’s deeply fudgy chocolate Guinness cake. But St. Patrick’s Day is as fine an excuse as any. The stout gives the cake a pleasing burnt-sugar bitterness that’s echoed by the bittersweet cocoa powder, and enriched with sour cream. The top is crowned by a softened, fluffy cream cheese frosting, which you might — as Maria, a reader, suggests in the recipe notes — spike with a little Irish cream liqueur. Bake it today to serve tomorrow; this moist, rich cake gets even better as it sits. REAL ESTATE Jeanine Molock moved to the Philadelphia area. Michael Persico for The New York Times The hunt: A New York academic decamped to the Philadelphia area with $500,000, and a townhouse in mind. Which home did she choose? Play our game. What you get for $550,000: An A-frame cabin in Grand Gorge, N.Y.; a recently renovated 1915 bungalow in Columbus, Ohio; or a 1911 house in Wenonah, N.J. Lower fees: A powerful real estate trade group, the National Association of Realtors, agreed to eliminate its commission rules as part of a legal settlement. The change will likely reduce the cost of selling a home. LIVING Designing bags for Hermès. Maxime La for The New York Times In pursuit of the Birkin: A bag designer at Hermès has the fun and formidable challenge of creating a new masterpiece. Fitness fads: Viral online exercise challenges like the 75 Hard might get you in shape in the short run, but may not help you build sustainable and healthy habits. Cultural fit: The private members’ club Soho House is opening a new outpost in Portland. Some residents are confused. Traditions: Mariachi, a Mexican wedding standard, is evolving for a new age. ADVICE FROM WIRECUTTER Replace your household essentials Spring-cleaning season is a good time to check in on some essentials around your home that may be past their prime. Your toilet brush, for instance, should be replaced every few months, or when you see the bristles start to bend. Your toothbrush? Every three months. And your smoke alarm should be replaced 10 years from the date it was manufactured. Here’s our full guide to when and why you should make some swaps. — Elissa Sanci GAME OF THE WEEK N.C. State’s DJ Burns Jr., in his team’s upset win over Duke. Geoff Burke/USA TODAY Sports Men’s college basketball: The N.C.A.A. tournament brackets will be revealed tomorrow night. Before then, you can check out some of the top teams in their conference tournaments. Here are a few to watch today (all times Eastern). ACC: N.C. State wasn’t on the March Madness bubble before this tournament started. Now, after a string of upsets, they’re one win away from a bid. It won’t be easy, though, as they face likely No. 1 seed North Carolina. 8:30 p.m., ESPN Big 12: This was the country’s best conference this season, and Houston was its best team. They play Iowa State today; after seeing both teams’ intense defenses, you may be tempted to pencil them in for a deep run in your bracket. 6 p.m., ESPN Big East: UConn won a national championship last year, but they haven’t won this tournament since 2011. They’ll try to get it done tonight at Madison Square Garden against likely No. 2 seed Marquette. 6:30 p.m., Fox NOW TIME TO PLAY Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangram was victimize. Take the news quiz to see how well you followed this week’s headlines. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku and Connections. Thanks for spending part of your weekend with The Times. — Melissa Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Continue reading the main story Editor: David Leonhardt Deputy Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, Sean Kawasaki-Culligan, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Ashley Wu News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Quote phkrause By the decree enforcing the institution of the papacy in violation of the law of God, our nation will disconnect herself fully from righteousness. When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near. {5T 451.1} Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members phkrause Posted March 17 Author Members Share Posted March 17 March 17, 2024 By Billy Witz Good morning. The N.C.A.A. basketball tournaments begin this week. Here’s why the brackets could be more unpredictable than ever. Indiana State playing Murray State. Joseph C. Garza/Tribune-Star, via Associated Press Picking a winner Happy Selection Sunday! Green beer and lucky leprechauns aside, today is one of America’s great (unofficial) holidays. It’s the day the 68-team brackets for the N.C.A.A. men’s and women’s basketball tournaments are revealed. Tonight’s unveiling of the matchups may bring back a feeling you haven’t had since digesting the prompt for that 10th grade U.S. history essay: What in the world do I make of all this? Did Duke get a favorable draw? What’s the path for my school? Which No. 12 seed looks like a Cinderella? Where the heck is McNeese State? Is Cream Abdul-Jabbar in the field? And how come the Fairfield women’s team is called the Stags? No matter how much basketball you’ve studied since November — poring over KenPom ratings, streaming games from obscure conferences, reciting the eight-player rotations of the Purdue men and the South Carolina women before you go to bed — there is so much uncertainty when it comes to filling out your bracket. Picking winners has never been simple — remember, over all these years, there has never been a perfect bracket — but recent changes to the sport have made it more unpredictable than ever. I’ll explain them in today’s newsletter. New rules Three years ago, under mounting legislative and judicial pressure, the N.C.A.A. changed two major rules. It allowed athletes to make money from so-called name, image and likeness payments, and it eased restrictions on players transferring from one school to another. Those changes — prompted in part by a Supreme Court ruling that weakened the N.C.A.A.’s authority — have upended the top levels of college sports. Nahiem Alleyne of the St. John’s Red Storm. Sarah Stier/Getty Images Transfers happen through a system known as the portal, which works something like an online dating service: If players want to change schools, they put their names in the portal, and coaches at other schools can then recruit them. With the introduction of N.I.L. payments, those recruiting offers now come with a payday — at least, one that can be handled above the table. This has created something akin to free agency in college sports. Consider Nahiem Alleyne. He played for Virginia Tech in the 2021 and ’22 tournaments, won a national championship at Connecticut last season, and is now trying to go again with St. John’s this year. He is hardly an outlier. Celeste Taylor starred for Texas when it reached the Elite Eight in 2021. She got to the second round last year with Duke. Now, she’s trying to carry Ohio State to its first women’s Final Four since 1993. This year’s field All this tumult has coincided with the rise in attention on the women’s game — turbocharged by the popularity of Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, whose offensive wizardry makes her games appointment viewing. In fact, many of the sport’s most compelling story lines this year are in the women’s tournament. Last week’s bench-emptying brouhaha between the defending champion, L.S.U., and top-ranked South Carolina adds some spice — especially if the two meet again in the Final Four in three weeks. Can South Carolina, with an entirely new starting lineup, do what last year’s team could not: add a championship to an unbeaten regular season? Does Geno Auriemma, the coach of UConn, have one more title run left in his injury-ravaged team? Will Oregon State, left behind when its fellow Pac-12 schools abandoned the conference last year, make a run to the Final Four? The men’s tournament might lack the dramatic story lines or the star power of the women’s, but it could make up for that with unpredictability and dramatic finishes, thanks to a field that is more balanced top to bottom. A year ago, two unheralded programs — San Diego State and Florida Atlantic — staged a Final Four thriller, which ended with Lamont Butler’s sinking a go-in-or-go-home jumper at the buzzer to send San Diego State to the championship. This year, both upstarts will be back in the field. So will Purdue and its 7-foot-4 center Zach Edey, who hopes to avoid being slew by another David after last year’s loss to No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson. And UConn, which last year won its fifth title in the last quarter century — more than blue-blooded Kentucky, Kansas, Indiana and U.C.L.A. combined — is a fitting avatar for the moment. With all the changes to college sports, is such unpredictability the new normal? It may be too soon to say. But one bit of advice when filing out brackets this week: It’s best to use pencil. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT THE LATEST NEWS Russia A polling station in Moscow. Nanna Heitmann for The New York Times Today is the last day of Russia’s presidential vote. Vladimir Putin is expected to win, as the Kremlin limits opposition. Experts worry he could use a victory to crack down even further on dissent and escalate the war in Ukraine. Street demonstrations are banned, but some of Putin’s critics hope to cast protest votes for other candidates. Read more takeaways. 2024 Election Claims by Donald Trump’s allies that they are being censored online have hurt the effort to filter election disinformation. Trump continues to project a dark view of the country. He said some migrants were “not people” and predicted a “blood bath” if he loses. President Biden’s campaign has a significant cash advantage over Trump’s. Read how the Trump campaign is trying to raise money. Israel-Hamas War A family preparing to break their Ramadan fast in the ruins of their house. Agence France-Presse — Getty Images People in Gaza are struggling to celebrate Ramadan, a time of religious devotion and fasting. See photos from the enclave. A maritime shipment of aid reached Gaza for the first time since the war began. Other Big Stories In southwestern Iceland. Icelandic Coast Guard, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images A volcano erupted in southern Iceland with little notice, the latest in a string of eruptions in the area. A man was keeping an alligator illegally in his pool in New York and sometimes let people swim with it, the authorities said. A recent legal settlement could change the rules for buying and selling houses, including relators’ commissions. THE SUNDAY DEBATE Should Congress force a sale of TikTok? Yes. TikTok is dangerously influential and collects the data of millions of Americans. Users’ calls to representatives to complain about the ban “only added to the image of TikTok as an entity that can be used to manipulate Americans,” Frida Ghitis writes for CNN. No. TikTok has the same privacy problems that prospective buyers like Meta or Google do. “Forcing TikTok to sell would not solve the problems that lawmakers claim they are trying to address,” The Times’s Julia Angwin writes. FROM OPINION Mexico has a chance to elect its first Jewish president. The candidate’s ascent represents a shift in the role of minority groups in Mexico, Ilan Stavans argues. Apps skewed our perception of dating and made us treat people like commodities, Magdalene J. Taylor writes. Here is a column by Nicholas Kristof on Biden’s options to save lives in Gaza. For readers of The Morning, enjoy exceptional savings for a limited time. Take advantage of the complete Times experience with our sale. Save on your first year of unlimited access to news, Games, Cooking and more. Subscribe now. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT MORNING READS In Modesto, Calif. Rachel Bujalski for The New York Times Driving with Mr. Gil: An 82-year-old retired professor in California found a new calling — offering free driving lessons to women from Afghanistan. Exclusive: Phoebe Philo, who has been called “the Chanel of her generation,” sat down with The Times for her first formal interview in a decade. Flight connection: A facility at J.F.K. transfers animals like Icelandic ponies and dogs from the occupied West Bank. How to hustle: He burned close friends, big corporations and even his subletter. Skiing: Aspen has 153 new acres of terrain — and lots of Champagne. Vows: Melanie White sold Drew Trotter nine pairs of jeans. She also won his heart. Lives Lived: Larry Parker, an accident and personal injury lawyer, was visible in Los Angeles with billboards and television commercials that promised he’d “fight for you.” He died at 75. THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE A graduation ceremony at Howard University. Michael A. McCoy for The New York Times Affirmative action was an ideal of the civil rights era. A conservative effort to embrace “colorblindness” helped bring it to an end. (See the article’s author, Nikole Hannah-Jones, explain what she learned from her reporting.) A reporter tagged along as his goldendoodle, Steve, enjoyed a stay at a luxury dog hotel. TALK | FROM THE MAGAZINE Guerin Blask for The New York Times By David Marchese The Talk column is coming to an end. Beginning in late April, my Q. and A.s will be part of a new Times franchise called The Interview, which I will host along with Lulu Garcia-Navarro. In the meantime, I’ll be sharing some of my favorite past conversations in the newsletter — like this one, with the primatologist Jane Goodall. The stories you tell about the planet and conservation have to do with instilling hope. But all we have to do is look around to see the persuasiveness of stories built on fear and anger. Have you ever wondered if tapping into those emotions might be useful? No. It’s one of my big complaints when I talk to the media: Yes, we need to know all the doom and gloom because we are approaching a crossroads, and if we don’t take action it could be too late. But traveling the world I’d see so many projects of restoration, people tackling what seemed impossible and not giving up. Those are the stories that should have equal time, because they’re what gives people hope. If you don’t have hope, why bother? There are plenty of unanswered questions about primate behavior. In your mind, does the same apply to humans? You’re asking me, “Do you understand human nature?” Do you? Definitely not. But there are people, for example strict materialists or religious fundamentalists, who have schematics that they feel afford them an understanding of all human behavior. Religious fundamentalism is one of the strangest things. But if you look at every major religion, the golden rule is the same: Do to others as you would have them do to you. These fundamentalists are not actually preaching about the fundamental principles of the religion that they are talking about. Do you know why people are drawn to you? The thing is, there are two Janes. There’s this one who’s sitting here talking to you. Then there’s that icon. All I can do is try and live up to that image that people have created. Read more of the interview here. BOOKS “I suppose this book is my way of breaking free,” writes Christine Blasey Ford. Aubrey Trinnaman for The New York Times “One Way Back”: Christine Blasey Ford is telling her story in a memoir after she testified that Brett Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted her in high school. Conscious: She’s an A.I. sex robot, and she’s becoming sentient. Our editors’ picks: “The Freaks Came Out to Write,” an oral history of The Village Voice, and six other books. Times best sellers: RuPaul’s memoir “The House of Hidden Meanings” is a No. 1 debut on the hardcover nonfiction list. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … Fill Easter baskets with these gifts. Use this cheap but effective weeding tool. Watch “The Effect” in New York. THE WEEK AHEAD What to Watch For Today is St. Patrick’s Day. Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Kansas and Ohio hold primary elections on Tuesday. Reddit is expected to make its initial public offering on Thursday. A summit of European Union leaders begins on Thursday. Louisiana and Missouri hold primary elections on Saturday. Meal Plan David Malosh for The New York Times Spring is so close we can taste it. To celebrate, Emily Weinstein has collected five dinner recipes that feature dill, which she calls “the springiest herb.” That includes ginger-dill salmon, a favorite of the NYT Cooking team, which is served atop a breezy citrus salad with avocado (and more dill). NOW TIME TO PLAY Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangram was headpiece. Can you put eight pieces of history in chronological order? Take this week’s Flashback quiz. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku and Connections. Thanks for spending part of your weekend with The Times. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Continue reading the main story Editor: David Leonhardt Deputy Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, Sean Kawasaki-Culligan, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Ashley Wu News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Quote phkrause By the decree enforcing the institution of the papacy in violation of the law of God, our nation will disconnect herself fully from righteousness. When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near. {5T 451.1} Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members phkrause Posted March 18 Author Members Share Posted March 18 March 18, 2024 SUPPORTED BY By David Leonhardt Good morning. We’re covering the significance of a real estate industry settlement — as well as Vladimir Putin, pandemic school closures and Irish crushes. In New Jersey. Tony Cenicola/The New York Times ‘They laughed at me’ Free-market economic theory suggests that the American real estate market should not have been able to exist as it has for decades. Americans have long paid unusually high commissions to real estate agents. The typical commission in the U.S. has been almost 6 percent, compared with 4.5 percent in Germany, 2.5 percent in Australia and 1.3 percent in Britain. As a recent headline in The Wall Street Journal put it, “Almost no one pays a 6 percent real-estate commission — except Americans.” If housing operated as an efficient economic market should, competition would have solved this problem. Some real estate brokers, recognizing the chance to win business by charging lower commissions, would have done so. Other brokers would have had to reduce their own commissions or lose customers. Eventually, commissions would have settled in a reasonable place, high enough for agents to make a profit but in line with the rest of the world. That didn’t happen. Instead, an average home sale in the U.S. has cost between $5,000 and $15,000 more than it would have without the inflated commissions. This money has been akin to a tax, collected by real estate agents instead of the government. The situation finally seems to be ending, though. On Friday, the National Association of Realtors, the industry group that has enforced the rules that led to the 6 percent commission, agreed to change its behavior as part of an agreement to settle several lawsuits. The settlement is important in its own right. Americans now spend about $100 billion a year on commissions. That number will probably decline by between $20 billion and $50 billion, Steve Brobeck, the former head of the Consumer Federation of America, told my colleague Debra Kamin. There is also a broader significance to the settlement. It’s a case study of a central flaw in free-market economic theory. That theory suggests that capitalist competition can almost always protect consumers from businesses that charge too much. To be clear, competition is indeed a powerful force that frequently makes both consumers and businesses better off. That’s why capitalist economies have such a better record than communist or socialist economies. Just look at South Korea and North Korea. (Are you familiar with the satellite images that compare the two Koreas at night?) Or consider the recent economic struggles of Venezuela. Market competition, however, isn’t the panacea that free-market advocates claim. Sometimes, businesses can amass enough economic power to squash competition — as real estate brokers did. Power meets power Decades ago, the National Association of Realtors set the standard commission at 6 percent, to be split between an agent representing the seller and an agent representing the buyer. If a home seller tried to negotiate, an agent would often issue a veiled threat: You won’t find a good seller’s agent to work with you, and buyers’ agents won’t show your house to clients. Joanne Cleaver, for instance, tried to negotiate with agents when selling her house last year in Mint Hill, N.C., a suburb of Charlotte. “They laughed at me,” Cleaver told The Times. The Realtors’ hardball tactics succeeded because they operate much of the network that’s crucial to the housing market, such as the database of listings. They could keep out agents who would have competed on price. In Chicago. Jamie Kelter Davis for The New York Times The solution to this concentration of economic power often requires political power — namely, antitrust enforcement by the government. After years of refusing to change their tactics, the Realtors’ agreed to a settlement now because they were vulnerable to government action. A turning point was a federal trial last year in Kansas City. The jury found that the Realtors’ association and several large members had conspired to keep commissions high and ordered them to pay at least $1.8 billion to home sellers in the Midwest. The verdict quickly led to more than a dozen other lawsuits. The Justice Department has also been investigating the Realtors. The new trustbusters That investigation is part of Washington’s new focus on the problems with concentrated economic power. Since the 1980s, antitrust enforcement has been unfashionable in the U.S. Free-market economic theory has been ascendant instead. But the results of this laissez-faire era have been disappointing for most Americans. Businesses have grown larger, and corporate profits have surged. Incomes and wealth for most Americans have grown only slowly. In response, both liberals and conservatives have recently shown an interest in antitrust (as I described in a recent newsletter). The Biden administration has embarked on a competition agenda to reduce credit card fees, drug prices and more. The administration has become more aggressive about challenging mergers, too. Some Republicans also worry that big business has become too powerful. This new movement remains in its early stages, and it’s too soon to know how successful it will be. But the real estate settlement looks like the movement’s biggest victory yet. For more: The Times explains how the process of selling a home may change. Continue reading the main story A MESSAGE FROM APPLE CARD Reboot your credit card. Apply now to see your credit limit offer without impacting your credit score. Terms apply. Apply now THE LATEST NEWS Russia Vladimir Putin Alexander Zemlianichenko/Associated Press Vladimir Putin won another six-year term. The election was the least transparent in recent Russian history. Before he died, the opposition leader Aleksei Navalny called on his supporters to go to the polls at midday yesterday to protest. Many did. Putin spoke about Navalny publicly for the first time since his death, which Putin described as an “unfortunate incident.” Many Russians support Putin, but it’s not clear what they would do if they had real alternatives. Read Paul Sonne’s analysis. Here are other takeaways from the vote. Israel-Hamas War Israel said it was conducting a military operation in Gaza’s largest hospital, Al-Shifa, because Hamas had returned there. Benjamin Netanyahu told CNN that Senator Chuck Schumer’s call for elections in Israel after the war was inappropriate. “We’re not a banana republic,” Netanyahu said. More International News In the Red Sea. Kenny Holston/The New York Times American sailors and pilots are fighting the Houthis in the Red Sea. See onboard their aircraft carrier, the Dwight D. Eisenhower. Niger’s junta ordered American troops to leave the country, revoking its military cooperation deal with the U.S. Gambian lawmakers will decide whether to overturn a ban on female genital cutting. Experts said such a move would undo decades of work. In the Philippines, people can make around twice the nation’s minimum wage playing crypto-earning games at internet cafes. In Serbia, Jared Kushner plans to build a luxury hotel and apartment complex. Donald Trump was interested in the site more than a decade ago. A.I. Elon Musk released the computer code behind his version of an A.I. chatbot, Grok. He has argued that such important technology shouldn’t be controlled solely by tech giants. Homeland Security will be the first federal agency to incorporate generative A.I. in its work, including to help combat drug and human trafficking. Education School closures did not significantly stop the spread of Covid and caused long-term academic harm for children, experts say. Migration to New York is affecting school enrollment. A fight over space between two schools highlights the problem. Other Big Stories Game time. Hilary Swift for The New York Times Few smartphones, some beer: In the Hudson Valley, members of the Bruderhof — a 1920s Christian pacifist movement — limit exposure to the outside world. Chicago started to evict some migrants from shelters. Officials said more than 2,000 people would be removed by the end of April. In an interview with The Times, former Justice Stephen Breyer discussed Dobbs, originalism and the decline of trust in the court. Opinions Sci-fi-like solutions to climate change, such as blocking the sun, are becoming normalized. Before we trust them, we need to learn more, Jeremy Freeman writes. The army reservist who committed a mass shooting in Maine had brain damage. The U.S. needs to protect its soldiers from injuries to protect its civilians, Daniel S. Johnson writes. Gail Collins and Bret Stephens discuss TikTok and Mike Pence. Here is a column by David French on Trump Republicans’ about-face over TikTok. For readers of The Morning, enjoy exceptional savings for a limited time. Take advantage of the complete Times experience with our sale. Save on your first year of unlimited access to news, Games, Cooking and more. Subscribe now. MORNING READS Barbara Walters with Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi in 1989. Kimberly Butler/Getty Images Collection: People recently browsed and bought attire owned by Barbara Walters, the trailblazing TV news anchor. Raunchy Christians: A surprising number of evangelicals are rejecting modesty and turning toward the risqué. Chasing powder: At the Alta resort in Utah, anyone over 80 skis free. Relationships: Many young people are tired of dating apps. Metropolitan Diary: When the city stopped talking. Lives Lived: Margaret Grade was a neuropsychologist who made a sharp career pivot and opened a cozy, eclectic California inn that served farmers as well as film stars. She died at 72. SPORTS March Madness: UConn, last year’s champion, was named the No. 1 overall seed in the men’s N.C.A.A. tournament. In the women’s bracket, undefeated South Carolina is No. 1. Women’s bracket: Iowa is a No. 1 seed, but experts say it has a particularly tough draw. Caitlin Clark’s squad may have to face L.S.U., which beat her team in last year’s championship, to reach the Final Four. Go deeper: The Athletic broke down strengths and weaknesses for all 68 teams in the men’s field and the women’s field. Join our pool: We’ve made groups on ESPN’s Tournament Challenge for readers of The Morning to compete with one another. Here are links for the men’s and women’s tournaments. The winners will receive a Times-themed prize. (After you’ve completed your brackets, let us know with this Google form so we can contact you if you win.) Continue reading the main story A MESSAGE FROM APPLE CARD Reboot your credit card. Apply now to see your credit limit offer without impacting your credit score. Terms apply. Apply now ARTS AND IDEAS Paul Mescal, left, and Andrew Scott. Ryan Pfluger for The New York Times Big Irish energy: Irish actors have starred in some of the biggest movies of the past year — including “Oppenheimer” and “Saltburn.” In doing so, Paul Mescal, Andrew Scott, Cillian Murphy and Barry Keoghan have ushered in a moment for Irish crushes. TikTok is now full of videos analyzing why, as one said, “Irish men just hit different.” Read more about the internet’s latest infatuation. More on culture At the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston. Tony Luong for The New York Times Decades ago, two men stole a Vermeer and three Rembrandts in the largest art theft in history. Today, the frames still hang empty. Paul Simon, the singer and songwriter, invited a filmmaker to capture the making of his album “Seven Psalms.” Simon struggled on camera because he was losing his hearing. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … David Malosh for The New York Times Pan-sear chicken with a garlicky, lemony anchovy sauce. Score these deals at REI. Limit your exposure to forever chemicals. Take our news quiz. GAMES Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangrams were nonapology and polygonal. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku and Connections. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. — David P.S. On the inaugural episode of the podcast “The Liberal Patriot with Ruy Teixeira,” David Leonhardt talked about the 2024 campaign and more. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Editor: David Leonhardt Deputy Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, Sean Kawasaki-Culligan, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Ashley Wu News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Quote phkrause By the decree enforcing the institution of the papacy in violation of the law of God, our nation will disconnect herself fully from righteousness. When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near. {5T 451.1} Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members phkrause Posted March 20 Author Members Share Posted March 20 March 20, 2024 By German Lopez Good morning. We’re covering a growing challenge for the U.S. economy — as well as the Supreme Court, Hong Kong and supersonic travel. In New York. Todd Heisler/The New York Times Peak population Since its inception, the U.S. has relied on population growth to keep its economy pumping. New generations of native-born Americans and immigrants enter the work force; they produce goods and services and then spend their income, in a cycle that drives supply, demand and growth. They also pay taxes that fund programs like Social Security and Medicare. Over every 50-year period in U.S. history, the population has grown at least 50 percent, sometimes by far more. But that’s about to change. Americans now have fewer children than past generations did. And depending on levels of immigration, the country’s population may plateau in the coming decades. Take a look at this chart, based on census data collected by the demographer William Frey. It shows what would happen to the U.S. population in four different scenarios. In each one, the population eventually peaks. But how soon it happens depends on how much immigration the country has: Source: William H. Frey, Brookings | By The New York Times The line labeled “historical” roughly tracks the immigration trends of the previous decade. The “high” line is nearly double the historical level, and “low” is roughly half. Depending on which path the country follows, the U.S. could have decades more or decades fewer of population growth. The zero-immigration projection is unrealistic. The U.S. always has some level of immigration, including illegal entries, and no major politician is talking about banning all legal immigration. Still, that projection is helpful because it shows how important immigration is to population growth. With no more immigrants, U.S. population growth would flatline this year. Many Americans favor lower levels of immigration. They worry that new immigrants take jobs and reduce pay. They also fear that the new arrivals can change a nation’s culture. Immigration, especially the illegal kind, has fueled political instability around the world. Racism and xenophobia also play a role. But immigration has benefits. It has helped keep America’s economy ahead of its peers’ in the aftermath of the pandemic, as my colleague Lydia DePillis wrote. Without more immigrants, the economy and social programs could suffer in the coming decades. The U.S. could follow the path of other economies that have stagnated along with their population levels, such as Japan and potentially China. A global situation In Frisco, Texas. Meridith Kohut for The New York Times Of course, there is another way that the U.S. could increase its population: Americans could have more children. But that seems unlikely. Historically, people have fewer kids as they become wealthier and gain more access to birth control. Fertility rates have declined for decades, and most rich nations now fall below the so-called replacement rate of 2.1 babies for every woman. Some countries have tried to persuade people to have more children. Those attempts, in Hungary, Sweden, Singapore and elsewhere, have generally failed. They appear to get people to have children earlier, but not to have more kids. Demographers expect the world’s population to peak in the coming decades — likely around 10 billion in the 2080s, according to experts at the U.N. (For Times Opinion, the economist Dean Spears walked through several population projections.) This may not ultimately be a bad thing. Most people prefer having control over whether and when they have children. Tight labor markets could lead to wage increases. And perhaps new technologies, like artificial intelligence, could power economic growth even if the population declines, including in the U.S. But a world with a shrinking population is very different from what humans have ever seen. Since the Industrial Revolution, countries have leveraged high population growth to bolster their economies and government programs. Soon, they will no longer be able to do so. For more Do millennials not want children, or are they merely delaying having them? Read more about the issue. About two-thirds of people now live in a country or area where fertility rates are below replacement level. For more on plummeting birthrates, listen to this podcast. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT THE LATEST NEWS 2024 Elections Bernie Moreno, a Donald Trump-endorsed former car dealer, won the Ohio Republican Senate primary to challenge Sherrod Brown, a vulnerable Democrat. Read takeaways from yesterday’s primaries. Before last night, more than one in 10 Democratic voters — many of them young, Muslim or Latino — had voted against President Biden in this year’s primaries. Biden said that Trump “despises Latinos” in a Univision interview. He cited Trump’s talk of migrants “poisoning the blood” of the country. Supreme Court Looking across the Rio Grande into Mexico. Cheney Orr for The New York Times The justices declined to block a Texas law that makes it a crime for unauthorized migrants to enter the state. Hours later, a lower court effectively blocked the law and scheduled arguments for today. Federal appeals courts could review rulings by immigration judges about whether deporting someone would result in “exceptional and extremely unusual hardship,” the Supreme Court ruled. The court said a Muslim American man could move forward with a lawsuit against the government for putting him on a no-fly list after he refused to become an informant. More on Politics Laura Loomer interviewing Ayub Ibrahim, a 20-year-old Somali migrant, in Panama. Federico Rios for The New York Times Right-wing influencers are filming migrants near the Darién Gap, in Central America, and asking them pointed questions to influence opinions on immigration. Peter Navarro reported to prison to begin a four-month sentence. He is the first senior Trump aide to serve time over efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Alabama’s legislature passed a bill that would ban funding for diversity programs at public universities and limit the teaching of some topics on race and gender. Hong Kong In Hong Kong. Louise Delmotte/Associated Press Hong Kong passed national security laws that grant the authorities new powers to crack down on opposition. Residents are struggling with an identity crisis as officials embrace China. The city created a visa to lure global professionals. Most of the applicants were Chinese people seeking better jobs and greater freedom. More International News Benjamin Netanyahu said the Israeli military would send troops into Rafah, in southern Gaza, a day after Biden urged him not to invade the city. Brazil’s police recommended that Jair Bolsonaro, the country’s former president, be criminally charged in a scheme to falsify his Covid vaccination records. U.S. authorities returned 18th- and 19th-century Japanese artifacts, found in the attic of an American World War II veteran, to Okinawa. A.I. Apple and Google are discussing a deal to bring Google’s A.I. technology to iPhones. Saudi Arabia plans to create a fund of about $40 billion to invest in A.I. Other Big Stories The Biden administration will award Intel grants worth billions for U.S. semiconductor production. Bring back Concorde: Private companies want to revive commercial supersonic travel, The Washington Post reports. Two Mississippi officers were sentenced for the torture and sexual assault of two Black men during a home raid. Opinions World leaders failed to respond seriously to the war in Ethiopia. It’s time they intervene and protect women from sexual violence there, Maebel Gebremedhin writes. Many minority voters are shifting to the right. Experts are debating whether this realignment will last, Thomas Edsall writes. An Arab Mandate for Palestine, which would help modernize Gaza, is the only path forward for the enclave, Bret Stephens argues. Here’s a column by Lydia Polgreen on Islamophobia toward a judicial nominee. For readers of The Morning, enjoy exceptional savings for a limited time. Take advantage of the complete Times experience with our sale. Save on your first year of unlimited access to news, Games, Cooking and more. Subscribe now. MORNING READS At Fashion Week. Simbarashe Cha/The New York Times Hair inspiration: Wet waves and curly mullets — these were among the best hairstyles during fashion weeks in New York, London, Milan and Paris. Classes and carcasses: A Missouri high school program teaches students to butcher animals, like deer, then cook the meat. Lives Lived: David Breashears was a mountain climber and cinematographer. He reached the summit of Mount Everest five times, including for a 1998 film that became the highest-grossing IMAX documentary ever. Breashears died at 68. SPORTS In South Korea. Jun Michael Park for The New York Times M.L.B.: The baseball season begins today in South Korea, where the Los Angeles Dodgers and their new superstar, Shohei Ohtani, face the San Diego Padres. Superfans: In South Korea, a baseball game is a sustained sensory overload, with drummers, dancers and a different fight song for each player. March Madness: The women’s tournament is taking center stage this year, Nicole Auerbach writes, with the brightest stars and the most intriguing story lines. Men’s college basketball: Colorado State advanced in the N.C.A.A. tournament after a blowout win over Virginia to headline the event’s opening First Four matchups. Join us: If you haven’t joined our bracket pools for Morning readers, you can do so here for the men’s and women’s tournaments. (And let us know you did with this Google form.) Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT ARTS AND IDEAS A scene from “The Girls on the Bus.” HBO In her image: Hillary Clinton has influenced television’s depiction of female presidential candidates. Examples include Geena Davis in the short-lived series “Commander in Chief” and Robin Wright in “House of Cards.” Many of these imaginings, Amanda Hess writes, used elements of Clinton’s public image, depicting them as either ultracompetent or morally flexible. (Notably few were actually elected to the presidency in their fictional world.) That may be starting to change. “The Girls on the Bus,” a new Max offering, tries to represent female politicians without reference to Clinton. Read more about the show. More on culture Speculation online about Kate, Princess of Wales, reveals an urge to question reality, misinformation experts say. “Maybe she got a bad perm and is waiting for her hair to grow out,” Jimmy Kimmel said of Kate. Hundreds of Jewish film professionals signed an open letter to denounce an Oscar speech that was critical of Israel by the “The Zone of Interest” director Jonathan Glazer. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … Armando Rafael for The New York Times Combine za’atar and creamy labneh for a tangy pasta dish. Learn to bake in five easy recipes. Inject some elegance into your kitchen with a Peugeot pepper mill. Bring these gadgets on a trip. GAMES Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangram was lavatory. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku and Connections. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. — German Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Continue reading the main story Editor: David Leonhardt Deputy Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, Sean Kawasaki-Culligan, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Ashley Wu News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Quote phkrause By the decree enforcing the institution of the papacy in violation of the law of God, our nation will disconnect herself fully from righteousness. When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near. {5T 451.1} Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members phkrause Posted March 21 Author Members Share Posted March 21 March 21, 2024 By David Leonhardt Good morning. We’re covering the rightward shift among voters of color — as well as Antony Blinken, electric cars and the Harlem Renaissance. In Long Beach, Calif. Ariana Drehsler for The New York Times A misleading story After Donald Trump won the presidency in 2016, many political scientists and pundits came forth with a simple explanation. Trump had won, they said, because of white Americans’ racial resentment. These analysts looked at surveys and argued that the voters who had allowed Trump to win were distinguished not by social class, economic worries or any other factor but by their racial fears. “Another study shows Trump won because of racial anxieties — not economic distress,” as a typical headline, in The Intercept, put it. I never found this argument to be persuasive. Yes, race played a meaningful role in Trump’s victory, given his long history of remarks demeaning people of color. But politics is rarely monocausal. And there were good reasons — including Barack Obama’s earlier success with Trump voters — to believe that the 2016 election was complex, too. Eight years later, the “it’s all racial resentment” argument doesn’t look merely questionable. It looks wrong. Skewed polls? Since Trump’s victory, a defining feature of American politics has been the rightward shift of voters of color. Asian, Black and Hispanic voters have all become less likely to support Democratic candidates and more likely to support Republicans, including Trump. In each group, the trend is pronounced among working-class voters, defined as those without a four-year college degree. (The Democrats’ performance among nonwhite voters with a college degree has held fairly stable.) By The New York Times | Source: Catalist If anything, Democrats’ weakness among voters of colors appears to have intensified since 2022. Among white voters, President Biden has about as much support as he did four years ago, Nate Cohn, The Times’s chief political analyst, has pointed out. But Biden’s support among Black, Hispanic and Asian voters has plummeted. (My colleagues Jennifer Medina and Ruth Igielnik focused on the Latino shift in a recent article.) This chart compares the 2020 results with the findings from the most recent New York Times/Siena College poll: By The New York Times | Sources: Catalist (2020) and New York Times/Siena College poll (2024) As John Burn-Murdoch, the chief data reporter at The Financial Times, wrote last week: “I think this is simultaneously one of the most important social trends in the U.S. today, and one of the most poorly understood.” This newsletter is the first of a two-part series about the development. Today, I hope to convince you that the trend is real and not simply, as some Democrats hope, a reflection of inaccurate poll numbers. In part two, I’ll look more closely at the likely causes. Young populists It’s true that polls are not the same as elections, and Biden may improve his standing by November. With far more campaign cash than Trump, Biden will have a chance to frame the election as a choice between the two, rather than a referendum on the country’s condition. But the evidence for the trend is much stronger than the 2024 polls. A decade ago, many Democrats assumed that the extremely high levels of support they received from voters of color during Obama’s presidency would continue. They haven’t. In 2022, for instance, the party’s disappointing performance among nonwhite voters helped Republicans win the national popular vote in House elections. This year, Biden may need to improve on the party’s 2022 showing — which would be vastly different from what polls now show — to win re-election. “There’s been a lot of whistling past the graveyard about this,” Nate Silver wrote in his newsletter about the trend. “Dems ought to invest more time in figuring out why this is happening instead of hoping that the polls are skewed.” A Trump rally in Greensboro, N.C. Veasey Conway for The New York Times The most helpful frame is social class. In many ways, the rightward shift of voters of color is surprising, given this country’s history of racial politics. I certainly did not expect the Trump era to feature a narrowing of racial polarization. But when viewed through a class lens, the shift makes more sense. In much of the world, working-class voters, across racial groups, have become attracted to a populism that leans right while sometimes including left-wing economic ideas, such as trade restrictions. This populism is skeptical of elites, political correctness, high levels of immigration and other forms of globalization. Today’s populists “are more diverse than the stereotypical ‘angry old white men’ who, we are frequently told, will soon be replaced by a new generation of tolerant Millennials,” Roger Eatwell and Matthew Goodwin, two British scholars of politics, have written. Indeed, Democrats today particularly struggle with young voters of color, Nate Cohn has explained. The old racial-resentment story about Trump’s victory was alluring to many progressives because it absolved them of responsibility. If Trump’s appeal was all about racism, there was no honorable way for Democrats to win back their previous supporters. The true story is both more challenging and more hopeful. The multiracial, predominantly working-class group of Americans who have soured on mainstream politics and modern liberalism are not all hateful and ignorant. They are frustrated, and their political loyalties are up for grabs. Related: I discuss the art of middlebrow politics in a Times review of two new books about U.S. history. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT THE LATEST NEWS Israel-Hamas War Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in the Middle East. He is there to push for a temporary cease-fire in Gaza. Benjamin Netanyahu addressed Senate Republicans remotely after Senator Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, criticized him and called for a new election in Israel. Why isn’t aid getting to people in Gaza? It’s complicated, but inspections and violence have contributed to delays. See graphics that explain the issue. More International News Leo Varadkar Damien Eagers/Reuters Ireland’s prime minister, Leo Varadkar, is resigning from his post. His resignation was a surprise. The E.U. has found a way to make Moscow pay for weapons for Ukraine: using interest earned on frozen Russian assets. A Mexican cartel is swindling retirees. Call centers offer to buy seniors’ timeshare properties then drain their bank accounts. 2024 Elections Trump said he’d likely support a nationwide abortion ban after 15 weeks of pregnancy with some exceptions, calling it a reasonable compromise. Biden’s campaign had more than twice the amount of money the Trump campaign had at the end of last month. California voters narrowly approved a $6.4 billion bond to help homeless people with mental illnesses and addiction. Democratic lawyers plan to challenge third-party candidates’ efforts to get on the ballot. They fear the candidates might siphon votes from Biden in swing states. Texas Border In Texas, near the border. Cheney Orr for The New York Times An appeals court heard arguments over a Texas law that lets the police arrest migrants who illegally enter the state. The law is blocked for now. Texas has been testing the limits of its state-run border control. Explore this stretch of the southern border to see how. The fight over the border is an example of how some states are circumventing gridlock in Washington. Other Republican states are working on immigration bills. Climate Unveiling new emissions standards. Pete Kiehart for The New York Times The E.P.A. issued new tailpipe pollution limits meant to ensure that most new cars are electric or hybrid by 2032. Fossil fuel companies are likely to challenge the regulations in court. A record-breaking heat wave hit West Africa in mid-February. Climate change made this heat 10 times as likely, a report found. Economy The Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged but signaled that it was likely to cut rates three times this year. Reddit priced its shares high for its initial public offering. The site’s journey from toxic cesspool to trusted news source is a content moderation success story, Kevin Roose writes. Other Big Stories A bipartisan bill to fund the government contains wins for both parties. Democrats reauthorized a program that fights H.I.V. worldwide; Republicans secured cuts to foreign aid. A group of politically connected lawyers made millions from one of the largest Medicaid settlements in history, a Times investigation found. The U.S. hit a new low in the World Happiness Report — 23rd place — in large part because of unhappiness among people under 30. Opinions Oprah’s special on weight loss highlighted how the industry is rebranding. Telling people obesity is a disease and not their fault changes decades of messaging, Tressie McMillan Cottom writes. New York’s governor wants the subway system to be safe. She should start with making stations accessible for disabled people, Julie Kim writes. Senegal’s president, who refuses to leave office, threatens the country’s hard-won stability, Boubacar Boris Diop writes. Here is a column by Pamela Paul on the funny stories behind our injuries. For readers of The Morning, enjoy exceptional savings for a limited time. Take advantage of the complete Times experience with our sale. Save on your first year of unlimited access to news, Games, Cooking and more. Subscribe now. MORNING READS Bronze Age remains in England. Cambridge Archaeological Unit Preserved remains: This is what village life was like in Britain 3,000 years ago. Mental health: Climate cafes are offering a place for Americans to discuss their anxiety about the changing planet. Antique: A British woman bought a brooch at a fair. She didn’t know how much it was worth. Talking or yapping? TikTok has repurposed an old term. Lives Lived: Martin Greenfield made suits for presidents, movie stars and athletes. For years, none knew the origin of his expertise: He learned to sew at Auschwitz. Greenfield died at 95. SPORTS M.L.B.: The Dodgers fired Ippei Mizuhara, translator for superstar Shohei Ohtani, after the player’s representatives accused Mizuhara of “massive theft” to use Ohtani’s money for gambling purposes. March Madness: The first round of the men’s tournament tips off at noon Eastern. Sixteen games will air today. (Before the first game begins, you still have time to join The Morning’s bracket pools for the men’s and women’s tournaments. Let us know you did with this Google form.) N.F.L.: Mike Williams signed a one-year contract with the New York Jets yesterday; a breakfast sandwich may have convinced him. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT ARTS AND IDEAS The painting “Barbecue” by Archibald J. Motley. Estate of Archibald John Motley Jr How it started: A century ago tonight, a dinner party in New York set in motion one of the most influential cultural movements of the 20th century. Charles S. Johnson and Alain Locke, two Black academic titans, gathered the brightest of Harlem’s creative and political scene to mingle with white purveyors of culture. The relationships formed that night would soon blossom into the Harlem Renaissance. At the time, little was written in the news media about the party. But Veronica Chambers, a Times journalist, and Michelle May-Curry, a curator in Washington, D.C., have reconstructed the evening. They used rarely seen letters and other archival material. More on culture Pattie Boyd and Eric Clapton. John Rodgers/Redferns, via Getty Images Letters from a love triangle: Eric Clapton’s handwritten messages, being auctioned this week, shed light on how Clapton wooed Pattie Boyd away from George Harrison. Late-night hosts joked about Trump and March Madness. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … Armando Rafael for The New York Times Serve seared boneless chicken thighs over a bed of herbs, browned whole garlic cloves and greens. Buy a classic white T-shirt. (For men and women.) Use the best tumbler. GAMES Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangram was fanciful. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku and Connections. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. — David Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Continue reading the main story Editor: David Leonhardt Deputy Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, Sean Kawasaki-Culligan, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Ashley Wu News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Quote phkrause By the decree enforcing the institution of the papacy in violation of the law of God, our nation will disconnect herself fully from righteousness. When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near. {5T 451.1} Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members phkrause Posted March 22 Author Members Share Posted March 22 March 22, 2024 By David Leonhardt Good morning. We’re covering the reasons that some voters of color no longer support the Democratic Party — as well as Ukraine, Apple and California. In Cleveland, Miss. Rory Doyle for The New York Times Peer pressure The political scientists Chryl Laird and Ismail White used a creative strategy several years ago to study the voting patterns of Black Americans. Laird and White took advantage of the fact that some surveys are conducted through in-person interviews — and keep track of the interviewer’s race — while other surveys are done online. In the online surveys that Laird and White examined, about 85 percent of Black respondents identified as Democrats. The share was almost identical during in-person surveys done by non-Black interviewers. But when Black interviewers conducted in-person surveys, more than 95 percent of Black respondents identified as Democrats. It is a fascinating pattern: Something about talking with a person of the same race makes Black Americans more likely to say they are Democrats. As Laird and White concluded, voting for Democrats has been a behavioral norm in Black communities. People feel social pressure from their neighbors, relatives and friends to support the Democratic Party. Similar social pressure exists in other communities, of course. A liberal who attends a white evangelical Southern church — or a conservative who lives in an upscale Brooklyn neighborhood — knows the feeling. And Laird and White emphasized in their 2020 book, “Steadfast Democrats,” that Black Americans have behaved rationally by sticking together. It has allowed them to assert political influence despite being a minority group. Consider that President Biden’s vice president and his only Supreme Court pick are both Black. Still, the political unity of Black Americans is surprising in some ways. “Although committed to the Democratic Party, African Americans are actually one of the most conservative blocs of Democratic supporters,” White and Laird wrote. One important thing about behavioral norms, though, is that they can change. If voting Republican becomes more acceptable in Black communities, the number of moderate and conservative Black Americans who do so could rise quickly. Ideology vs. identity This newsletter is the second in a two-part series on the recent rightward shift of Black, Asian and Hispanic voters. Today, I want to look at possible explanations. The first is the social dynamic that White and Laird described. It also applies to Asian and Hispanic voters. Across minority groups, voting Republican recently seems to have become more acceptable. “Nonwhite Americans who previously may have voted Democrat for identity-based reasons are increasingly likely to vote more sincerely according to their conservative ideology,” Emily West, a political scientist at the University of Pittsburgh, told Thomas Edsall of Times Opinion. By The New York Times | Source: Gallup The second explanation is that today’s Democratic Party is out of step with the views of many voters of color, especially working-class voters. On some issues, the problem fits a simple right-left framing: Democrats are to the left of most voters. Even when elected Democrats are more moderate, the party’s image is shaped by highly educated progressives who have an outsize voice because they dominate higher education, the entertainment industry and parts of the media and nonprofit sectors. It’s worth remembering, as the Pew Research Center has reported, that the most liberal slice of Americans is disproportionately white: By The New York Times | Source: Pew Research Center Voters of color are often more moderate. They are more religious on average than progressive Democrats. Most voters of color favor tighter border security. Many support expansions of charter schools or vouchers. Many favor both police reform and more policing. Many support civil rights for trans Americans — but not allowing all athletes to choose whether they participate in female or male sports. Racial minorities, as Marc Hetherington of the University of North Carolina told Thomas Edsall, “are much more tradition-minded and authority-minded” than white Democrats. Top: Voting forms in Los Angeles. Bottom: A polling site in Austin, Texas. Top, Jenna Schoenefeld for The New York Times; bottom, Ilana Panich-Linsman for The New York Times Other political issues are more nuanced than a right-left framing. Ro Khanna, a Democratic congressman from California, has suggested that voters of color may be frustrated with his party’s lack of a bold economic vision, and that’s plausible. Many working-class voters lean to the right on social issues and to the left on economic issues (but not so far left as to be intrigued by socialism). They favor a higher minimum wage, trade restrictions and expanded government health insurance. Biden favors these policies, too. But Democrats have come to be seen as the party of the establishment, my colleague Nate Cohn notes. Many working-class voters see Democrats as socially liberal defenders of the status quo. Republicans, especially Donald Trump, increasingly seem to represent change, as ill-defined as that change may be. Political diversity My list here isn’t exhaustive. (Here is Nate’s list.) Some voters of color, like white voters, also seem frustrated by recent price increases and worried about Biden’s age. And voters of color are obviously a politically diverse group, who include many liberals and who have a wide array of views. But that’s the point. Many Democrats have imagined people of color to be a uniform, loyal, progressive group, defined by their race. They are not. The party will have a better chance to win their votes if it spends more time listening to what these voters believe. Related: I tell the story of modern U.S. immigration policy in an episode of Freakonomics Radio called “What both parties get wrong about immigration.” Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT THE LATEST NEWS War in Ukraine In Ukraine. Tyler Hicks/The New York Times Civilians collect bodies from the front lines in Ukraine. See photos of their work. Despite sanctions, the West still depends on Russia for products like titanium, The Washington Post reports. Israel-Hamas War Antony Blinken, the secretary of state, has arrived in Israel. It is his final stop on a Middle East tour in pursuit of a cease-fire in Gaza. House Speaker Mike Johnson said he would invite Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress. What is antisemitism? A Columbia University task force would rather not say. More International News Vaughan Gething Ben Birchall/Press Association, via Associated Press In Wales, Vaughan Gething became the first Black person to lead a national government in Europe. Luis Rubiales, the former Spanish soccer head who kissed a female player against her will, faces arrest as part of an investigation into accusations of corruption and money laundering. The U.S. is trying to keep its troops in Niger after a junta said troops had to leave. Business The Justice Department sued Apple and accused it of violating antitrust laws by creating a smartphone monopoly. As the U.S. considers banning TikTok, India is a case study: A few years ago, the country blocked the platform. Users just moved to other sites. Reddit shares rose 48 percent in the company’s first day of trading. 2024 Elections The Republican senate candidate Bernie Moreno, right, with Donald Trump. Maddie McGarvey for The New York Times This year, Republican Senate nominees are very rich. The party sought candidates who could finance their own campaigns to counter Democrats’ fund-raising advantage. Electric vehicles are central to Biden’s strategy to combat climate change. Trump has escalated his criticism of the cars. Trump’s new fund-raising deal with the Republican National Committee ensures that donations first go to the PAC that pays his legal bills before going to the party. No Labels, the centrist group that has pledged to run a third-party presidential campaign, has failed to recruit a candidate. Deadlines to appear on state ballots are approaching. Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey, who faces federal bribery charges, said he wouldn’t seek re-election as a Democrat. He left open the possibility of running as an independent. More on Politics Congress aims to pass a bill today to fund the government through September. Without an agreement, a partial government shutdown will begin at midnight. Sixteen Republican-led states sued the Biden administration over its decision to stop approving permits for new natural gas terminals. Shortly before the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, Trump told Mike Pence that certifying Biden’s 2020 election victory would be “a political career killer,” according to an aide. Other Big Stories Surgeons in Boston transplanted a genetically engineered pig kidney into a patient. Doctors hope the procedure will someday make dialysis obsolete. In Mississippi, six officers were sentenced for torturing people. Their cases revealed details of a sheriff’s department that encouraged deputies to use extreme violence. Opinions Growing support for the Republican Party among racial minorities could be a good thing for American politics, David French writes. The United States and the press should do everything in their power to win the release of the two American journalists in Russian prison, the Times editorial board writes. For Republicans, the key to winning the Senate is to make sure Trump feels appreciated. So far, it’s working, Michelle Cottle writes. Here is a column by Paul Krugman on why Ohio voters like Trump. For readers of The Morning, enjoy exceptional savings for a limited time. Take advantage of the complete Times experience with our sale. Save on your first year of unlimited access to news, Games, Cooking and more. Subscribe now. MORNING READS Play time. Interact Animal Lab For the birds: Some parrot owners have turned to children’s mobile games to keep the pets engaged. Ghost Army: A special group of American troops waged psychological war on the Germans in World War II. Only a few survive. Lawsuit: The National Park Service is trying to go cashless in some locations. Visitors who want to be off the grid have objected. Today’s Great Read: He was arguably the world’s most famous psychedelic researcher. Was he a true believer? Lives Lived: M. Emmet Walsh always made an impression, no matter how small the part, as a character actor in films like “Blade Runner” and “Knives Out.” He died at 88. SPORTS N.C.A.A. tournament: Oakland, a No. 14 seed, beat No. 3 seed Kentucky. Oakland’s Jack Gohlke hit 10 3-pointers (and attempted no 2-pointers). More upsets: Three No. 11 seeds — Duquesne, N.C. State and Oregon — also took down higher-seeded opponents. Read more about the upsets. Busted brackets: A total of 2,400 Morning readers entered our men’s tournament pool. After one day, no perfect brackets remain. M.L.B.: Shohei Ohtani and the Dodgers refused to comment a day after a betting scandal involving the player’s former translator. Basketball: The G League Ignite — once an innovative path for high school prospects to reach the N.B.A. — will shut down after this season. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT ARTS AND IDEAS The Monterey Bay Aquarium. Jason Henry for The New York Times Affordable beauty: California’s Monterey Peninsula connotes wealth, with exclusive spots like the Pebble Beach golf courses and towns like Carmel-by-the-Sea. But it is possible to enjoy the beautiful seaside area without depleting your bank account, writes Elaine Glusac, The Times’s Frugal Traveler columnist. She suggests visiting in winter — “a quiet and thrifty time of year” — and enjoying parks and preserves. You can find unsung hotels in the old part of Monterey, like the Hotel Abrego ($130 a night), with an easy walk to the lively downtown area. And splurge on the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which is worth the $60 admission. More on culture In Sun Valley, Calif. Jenna Schoenefeld for The New York Times The Free Blockbuster project, which sets up neighborhood DVD lending libraries, has an answer to viewers’ streaming fatigue. The novelist Lorrie Moore won a National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction for “I Am Homeless if This Is Not My Home.” Read more about the book. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … Armando Rafael for The New York Times Top these delicious doubles with mint-cilantro chutney or tamarind sauce. Cultivate a healthier relationship with your phone. Wear a good raincoat. Snuggle into a throw blanket. Take our news quiz. GAMES Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangrams were detoxified and toxified. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku and Connections. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. — David P.S. Jess Bidgood is rejoining The Times to lead the On Politics newsletter. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Continue reading the main story Editor: David Leonhardt Deputy Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, Sean Kawasaki-Culligan, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Ashley Wu News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Quote phkrause By the decree enforcing the institution of the papacy in violation of the law of God, our nation will disconnect herself fully from righteousness. When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near. {5T 451.1} Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members phkrause Posted March 23 Author Members Share Posted March 23 March 23, 2024 By Melissa Kirsch Good morning. What happens when we re-encounter cultural artifacts that were deeply important to us and they’ve changed, or we have, or both? María Jesús Contreras Happy returns There’s a scene in Andrew Haigh’s recent film “All of Us Strangers” where we see Adam, played by the Irish actor Andrew Scott, working on a screenplay to the strains of Fine Young Cannibals’s 1985 ska track “Johnny Come Home.” He types the scene heading: “EXT. SUBURBAN HOUSE 1987.” An establishing shot. We’re going back in time. Adam rises from his desk and goes to the next room, where he drags a bin of memories out from under the bed. Cassette tapes, ragged toys, an album of faded photos. “Johnny Come Home” is one of those songs that evokes the ’80s so acutely for me that I was already experiencing flashbacks to my own adolescence before Adam began to excavate his. I hear it and I’m returned to my childhood bedroom: the boombox with dual tape players, pink wall-to-wall carpet, a diary with a lock. I hadn’t listened to Fine Young Cannibals in many years, but returning to their self-titled album now, I was curious to see if it would arouse the same emotions (anticipation mixed with melancholy). It didn’t do exactly that. I still loved the album, still felt moved to bop along and croon the lyrics, but I felt distant from it, as if a pane of glass had been erected between me and my younger self. Each of us has these signal cultural artifacts. They are Those Albums — the records and CDs and playlists we listened to so deeply and constantly that we fused with them, skin and guts and heart. What happens when we re-encounter them later, when we’ve certainly changed, and perhaps they have too? I jumped into the deepest ocean of such a scenario recently when I went to see “Illinoise,” Justin Peck and Jackie Sibblies Drury’s stage interpretation of Sufjan Stevens’s 2005 concept album “Illinois,” at the Park Avenue Armory. (It opens on Broadway on April 24.) When “Illinois” came out, I was a ripe target for its indie-rock Americana and majestic storytelling. I played it for what felt like a year straight. Even if I couldn’t quite sing along with its elaborate orchestrations, refrains from that album lodged in me. Lyrical scraps would flash unbidden, like hallucinations, in the decades to follow. (“Are you writing from the heart?”; “I fell in love again / All things go.”) And so, meeting “Illinois” again, all these years later, I was a little nervous. The work had been transformed, from an intimate album I’d listened to on an iPod with corded earbuds that didn’t stay put into a lavish stage production with sets, actors, choreography. The stakes felt curiously high: Would someone else’s reinterpretation of the album land for me? Would the public spectacle cheapen my private affection for it? When I mentioned to my friend Tom that I was going to see the show, he was apprehensive: “That album is of monumental importance in my life,” he said, adding, “If it’s not perfect, it would ruin me.” “Illinoise” at the Park Avenue Armory in New York. Sara Krulwich/The New York Times My experience of the performance didn’t ruin me or the sacredness of the album, thankfully. I was delighted by the delicate interpretation, the way the show’s creators had created a coherent narrative from the collection of songs, agreeing with the Times theater critic Jesse Green that, with “the verbal dials turned way down, and the physical and musical ones way up, the calibration of information, from dreamy to piercing, is pretty much perfect.” One risk of reacquainting ourselves with an album we’ve loved is coming face to face with who we were when we identified so closely with the work: our younger selves and their (sometimes embarrassing) tastes. I was sharply aware in the early aughts of the criticism that Sufjan Stevens’s work was too precious and twee, and when I remember how susceptible I was to its wiles, I feel bashful, like I’m seeing myself lampooned in a “Portlandia” sketch. That mix of nostalgia and novelty in meeting our old favorites again, when they’ve changed and we’ve changed too — it’s a complicated compound! Sometimes, we’re surprised. I was transported by my reunion with “Illinois,” excited to go home and listen to the album again, to add this new encounter to my archival experiences. I’d hoped for a similar renewal when, last fall, I went to see Liz Phair’s 30th-anniversary performance of the album “Exile in Guyville,” another of Those Albums for me. I had expected an audience as excited to dance deliriously and sing along to every lyric as I was. But instead I was met with a crowd that felt cool and quiet, and a performance that, perhaps because of my vertiginous expectations, I didn’t connect with. I left sort of bummed out, still longing for the cathartic homecoming. I got it, eventually, from the original source: at home, volume on high, singing my heart out in a long, scalding shower, that reliable theater of connection and rebirth. For more “‘All of Us Strangers’ acts as a prism through which loneliness and its manifestations are refracted, like colorful light onto a wall,” writes Alissa Wilkinson. “It feels like the album wants you to live your life to it,” the playwright Jackie Sibblies Drury, who worked on the story of “Illinoise,” told Melena Ryzik. In her dance review, the critic Gia Kourlas wrote that “Illinoise” is “drowning in sentimentality.” Why live concerts make us so nostalgic. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT THE WEEK IN CULTURE Film and TV Atlanta, 1997. Jean Shifrin/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, via Associated Press “Freaknik: The Wildest Party Never Told,” an HBO documentary, delves into an event that defined spring break for Black college students in the 1980s and 1990s. The characters in “3 Body Problem,” a new show from the makers of “Game of Thrones,” lack dimension, but the series’ scale “may leave you too starry-eyed to notice,” James Poniewozik writes in his review. A third — and final — “Downton Abbey” movie is on the way, the actress Imelda Staunton told the BBC. A documentary detailed accounts of a problematic working environment at Nickelodeon. Dan Schneider, a former longtime producer accused of inappropriate behavior, apologized. Art An investigation by The Guardian found that three Damien Hirst sculptures, which his company had dated to the 1990s, were actually made in 2017 by Hirst’s employees. Last year, a professor’s 30-year dream of assembling a complete set of Katsushika Hokusai’s series “Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji” was realized. This week, the prints went up for auction. Music The cast and chorus of the Met Opera’s production of Puccini’s “Turandot” sang from an improvised set after a technical glitch. Shakira’s latest album, “Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran,” deals with her divorce. “If life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. That’s what I did with this album,” she told The Times. “Wait, was that Lil Nas X?” The rapper joined the New York City half marathon at the last minute. Fashion Nadja Wohlleben/Reuters; Getty Images Kristen Stewart has embraced “naked dressing.” The bare looks confront viewers with ideas of female sexuality while “undermining the whole circus of branded celebrity dressing,” Vanessa Friedman writes. South Dakota’s governor, Kristi Noem, has undergone a total makeover in recent years. Strategists say that her new, more glamorous look is meant to appeal to Donald Trump. The Belgian designer Dries Van Noten announced his retirement from his namesake brand. Men’s wear aficionados are in mourning. More Culture The “Succession” actor Jeremy Strong stars in a Broadway revival of Henrik Ibsen’s “An Enemy of the People.” Our critic attended a preview. A new Banksy mural in London — painted behind a cherry tree that had its branches sawed off — was defaced, NPR reports. Jonathan Eig won a prize from the New-York Historical Society for his biography of Martin Luther King Jr. THE LATEST NEWS Russia Concert Attack A Russian National Guard soldier in front of the venue, Crocus City Hall, after the attack. Associated Press Several gunmen dressed in camouflage attacked a concert venue near Moscow, killing at least 93 people and injuring more than 100, Russian officials said. A branch of the Islamic State, ISIS-K, claimed responsibility. U.S. officials confirmed the claim, and said they had told Russia’s government this month that the group was planning an attack. The Kremlin said that 11 people had been detained in connection with the attack, including four who it alleged were directly involved. Other Big Stories Catherine, Princess of Wales, announced that she has cancer. She did not specify what kind, though she said doctors discovered it after her abdominal surgery in January. Trump’s social media company, which operates Truth Social, merged with a shell company. The deal could raise Trump’s wealth by billions, giving him cash to pay his legal bills. China and Russia vetoed a U.S. resolution at the U.N. Security Council that called for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza. Congress passed a bill to fund the federal government through September, sending it to President Biden. For readers of The Morning, enjoy exceptional savings for a limited time. Take advantage of the complete Times experience with our sale. Save on your first year of unlimited access to news, Games, Cooking and more. Subscribe now. CULTURE CALENDAR By Andrew LaVallee Arts & Leisure Editor 🎵 “Cowboy Carter” (Friday): Perhaps you’ve heard there’s a new Beyoncé album coming? “Cowboy Carter,” the megastar’s foray into country music, drops Friday, and like virtually everything Beyoncé does, it will be An Event. While you wait, “Texas Hold ’Em” and “16 Carriages,” two early releases, can tide you over. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT RECIPE OF THE WEEK Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times By Melissa Clark Mushroom-Spinach Soup In New York, our stride into mild spring weather has been momentarily halted by an icy, wintry blast. That means now is a good moment to simmer up a cozy pot of soup, preferably one that’s still light, bright and filled with vegetables. My mushroom-spinach soup with cinnamon, coriander and cumin is just right for a chilly weekend. It’s brothy and warming, filled with plenty of leafy green spinach and anchored by savory, seared mushrooms and shallots. The spices add a heady, earthy aroma that makes this a bit different from many other vegetable soups. Make it soon, before the warm weather settles in; salad season will be here before you know it. REAL ESTATE Lindsey, Milo and Meghan Zero. Adam Amengual for The New York Times The hunt: A young family from Santa Barbara, unable to afford a single-family home near their jobs, decided to look at a mobile-home park near the beach. Which home did they choose? What you get for $1.5 million: A three-bedroom condo in San Francisco; a Craftsman bungalow in Tampa, Fl.; or a six-bedroom Victorian house in Providence, R.I. LIVING Eiko Ojala Why we age: Scientists are investigating how our biology changes as we get older — and whether there are ways to stop it. “Anti-weddings”: For people who want to get married but don’t want to plan a classic wedding, one planner offers a solution: “love parties.” Stereotypes: Male fitness instructors have a reputation for being girlfriend stealers. How true is it? Trainers weigh in. ADVICE FROM WIRECUTTER A spring style staple Spring is on the march, which means it’s time to shed those cocooning winter layers and lighten your wardrobe. What better way to greet the season than with the ultimate sartorial blank slate: a white T-shirt. Wirecutter’s style experts spent six months testing dozens of tees to find four standouts in a range of styles and prices. My personal favorite — an ultra-soft, slightly cropped crewneck — anchors delicate cardigans, baggy jeans and bold accessories with equal aplomb. Lately I’ve been wearing it peeking out from behind a men’s sweatshirt; as the temperatures rise, I’ll be pairing it with flowy skirts and white sneakers. — Zoe Vanderweide GAME OF THE WEEK Duke and Richmond on Day 1 of the women’s tournament. Kirk Irwin/Getty Images March Madness: We’ve reached the best weekend of the year for college basketball fans, with games running continuously over the next two days. Below are a few highlights from today’s lineup (all times Eastern). Women Caitlin Clark makes her tournament debut, with her Iowa Hawkeyes 37-point favorites over Holy Cross. 3 p.m., ABC Florida Gulf Coast, a No. 12 seed, is on a 22-game winning streak. There’s upset potential as they take on Oklahoma. 4 p.m., ESPN News Men Michigan State and North Carolina, which both looked excellent in the first round, meet in Charlotte. 5:30 p.m., CBS Oakland, the No. 14 seed that upset Kentucky, has a chance to extend its run against No. 11 seed N.C. State. 7 p.m., TBS NOW TIME TO PLAY Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangrams were believing, beveling and bevelling. Take the news quiz to see how well you followed this week’s headlines. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku and Connections. Thanks for spending part of your weekend with The Times. — Melissa Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Continue reading the main story Editor: David Leonhardt Deputy Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, Sean Kawasaki-Culligan, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Ashley Wu News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Quote phkrause By the decree enforcing the institution of the papacy in violation of the law of God, our nation will disconnect herself fully from righteousness. When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near. {5T 451.1} Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members phkrause Posted March 24 Author Members Share Posted March 24 March 24, 2024 By David Leonhardt Good morning. The Times has a new game, and we walk you through it. Pulling them together I still hear from readers who learned about the Connections game from this newsletter and now play it every day. Today, I want to tell you about The Times’s newest game, called Strands. It’s another quick, entertaining way to exercise your brain. Strands is a word search with a few twists. Each day, the puzzle has a theme, and your job is both to find the one word that describes the theme as well as a handful of examples. In today’s newsletter, I’ll walk you through a puzzle from this past week — and then link to today’s, so you can try for yourself. A lucky ‘vogue’ The first twist is that Strands allows the letters in a word to travel in multiple directions. The second letter can be above the first letter, while the third letter might be at a diagonal from the second. As an example, look at the upper-left corner of the grid from Thursday, and you can see that T-H-I-S is a potential word. You begin in the very corner, go across to the H, down to the I and over to the S: The second twist is that each puzzle starts with a brief, and slightly mysterious, description of the theme. The description for the puzzle here was “What’s the issue?” You may be a better puzzler than I am, but I am rarely able to recognize the theme based only on the mysterious description. That’s OK, because the third twist in Strands is that there is a way to receive hints. If you highlight any three words, even words that have nothing to do with this puzzle, Strands will then give you a hint. On Thursday, for example, I wasn’t sure what “What’s the issue?” meant, but I did notice the obvious word on the top line: “thigh.” Once I highlighted it, Strands told me I was a third of the way toward a hint. At this point, I got lucky. The second word I noticed was “vogue” — and it turned out to be one of the words that was part of the solution. Strands highlighted it in blue as a result. The combination of “vogue” and “issue” gave me a good sense of what the puzzle theme might be: the names of magazines. I went looking for the names of other well-known magazines and found “people” (in the lower right) and “time” (in the upper left). The final twist with Strands is that the name of the theme itself — “magazine,” in this case — is in the puzzle, and it always stretches from the grid’s left column to its right column, or vice versa. I find that focusing on unusual letters can be helpful in Strands, and I used the z in “magazine” to find it. I then focused on the v and spent a minute or two working out “seventeen.” The last word had me harking back to grade school: “highlights.” Here’s the full solution: Today’s puzzle Now it’s your turn. Below is an image of today’s puzzle. You can play it here. I hope you enjoy your Sunday. A programming note: I’m off this week, and my colleagues will be writing The Morning in my absence. I’ll be back in your inboxes on Tuesday, April 2. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT THE LATEST NEWS Russia Concert Attack Mourners in Moscow. Nanna Heitmann for The New York Times Russia began a national day of mourning for victims of a terrorist attack on a suburban Moscow concert venue that killed at least 133 people. U.S. officials said the attack was carried out by ISIS-K, an Islamic State affiliate. In a televised address, Vladimir Putin signaled some Ukrainian involvement, a charge that Kyiv has denied. The Islamic State has long threatened to strike Russia for helping Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, stay in power. The attack shatters Putin’s promise of security to Russians, Anton Troianovski writes. Israel-Hamas War In Kiryat Shmona, Israel. Sergey Ponomarev for The New York Times “You don’t leave a home”: A few Israelis remain in an evacuated zone along the northern border with Lebanon, where the country is fighting Hezbollah. In Gaza, people struggle to count the dead because many bodies are trapped beneath rubble. More International News In India. Saumya Khandelwal for The New York Times Women cutting sugar cane in India for companies like Coca-Cola can’t afford to take time off. Some undergo hysterectomies. China’s dispute with Taiwan is playing out in the sea around Kinmen, a small Taiwanese-controlled island, where two Chinese men died as they fled Taiwan’s Coast Guard. A Ukrainian soldier was trapped inside a bunker for 41 days. Read his story. Kate, Princess of Wales’s cancer announcement — in its frankness and emotion — recalled Queen Elizabeth’s message after the death of Princess Diana, Mark Landler writes. Politics President Biden signed a $1.2 trillion spending package, ending the prospect of a government shutdown. While the coronavirus pandemic has largely receded from public attention, its shadow continues to play a role in voters’ pessimism and distrust in public institutions. Other Big Stories Jasmin Paris Jacob Zocherman Jasmin Paris became the first woman to complete the Barkley Marathons, a footrace that requires participants to navigate 100 miles of rugged Tennessee terrain in no more than 60 hours. People don’t tend to take the medication prescribed to them. But anecdotally, doctors have said that new obesity drugs might be an exception. NASA is recruiting a new class of astronauts. THE SUNDAY DEBATE Is Apple a monopoly? No. If consumers don’t want Apple’s products, they could purchase Android phones, which make up the other half of the U.S. market. “Apple has been hugely successful, but not universally so,” The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board writes. Yes. The Department of Justice antitrust lawsuit targets a company that has long exploited both consumers and workers. Apple alongside Google and its Android phones have become “a duopoly that undermines the very rule of law,” Aidan Smith writes for Common Dreams. FROM OPINION People think of their political views as a sign of morality. In reality, they are largely influenced by class, Neil Gross argues. Bring trash-talking back to baseball, and restore it to its former glory, Rafi Kohan writes. Limits on prescription opioids will leave patients with fewer options for pain relief, Shravani Durbhakula argues. Here are columns by Ross Douthat on electric cars and the 2024 election, and Nicholas Kristof on the victims of deepfake pornography. For readers of The Morning, enjoy exceptional savings for a limited time. Take advantage of the complete Times experience with our sale. Save on your first year of unlimited access to news, Games, Cooking and more. Subscribe now. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT MORNING READS Hudson the dog. Erin Schaff/The New York Times Warm hearts, cold noses: Families affected by a mass shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville have turned to dogs for healing. Joan Jonas: The artist’s work shines at MoMA. See photos of the show. A Great Read: A Times correspondent sent his 13-year-old to a school in the Australian wilderness where students don’t have access to the internet or phones. Here’s what his family learned. Vows: An unexpected DM helped lead to love. Lives Lived: David Harris was a former Air Force bomber pilot who became the first Black pilot hired by a major commercial airline in the U.S. He died at 89. THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE In Mona. Christopher Gregory-Rivera for The New York Times Why have immigrants and pilgrims been drawn for centuries to Mona Island? One writer went to find out. The perfumer Hilde Soliani makes feral scents that evoke oysters and opera houses. The Ethicist: “Should I confront our former minister over his plagiarized sermons?” TALK | FROM THE MAGAZINE Herman Daly Photo illustration by Bráulio Amado By David Marchese I’ll be part of a new Q. and A. franchise, The Interview, that’s launching in late April. Before then I’m sharing some of my favorite past interviews. Here’s one with the late economist Herman Daly, who lamented our unending pursuit of economic growth. Historically we think that economic growth leads to higher standards of living, lower death rates and so on. So don’t we have a moral obligation to pursue it? In ecological economics, we’ve tried to make a distinction between development and growth. When something grows, it gets bigger physically by accretion or assimilation of material. When something develops, it gets better in a qualitative sense. It doesn’t have to get bigger. But how would a country continue to raise its standard of living without growing its G.D.P.? It’s a false assumption to say that growth is increasing the standard of living in the present world because we measure growth as growth in G.D.P. If it goes up, does that mean we’re increasing standard of living? If you subtract for the deaths and injuries caused by chemical pollution, wildfires and many other costs induced by excessive growth, it’s not clear at all. You’ve spent a lifetime arguing rationally for your ideas. But growth is still king. Is that disappointing? My duty is to do the best I can and put out some ideas. Whether the seed that I plant is going to grow is not up to me. It’s just up to me to plant it and water it. But you’re asking about disappointment. I get a lot of criticism in the sense of “I don’t like that; that’s unrealistic.” I don’t get criticism in the more rational sense of “Your presuppositions are wrong” or “The logic which you reason from is wrong.” That is a disappointment. Read more of the interview here. BOOKS Allie Sullberg Tom Hanks: The actor reviewed a children’s novel about a typewriter. He’s a typewriter enthusiast. School visit: A Bronx teacher wrote an impassioned email to the author Tommy Orange. Orange dropped everything to visit the students who inspired it. Our editors’ picks: “Grief Is for People,” a memoir about losing a friend to suicide, and seven other books. Times best sellers: Marilynne Robinson won a Pulitzer in 2005 for her novel “Gilead.” Her latest book, “Reading Genesis,” is a new addition to the hardcover nonfiction list. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … Find New York City’s cherry blossoms. Make a good photo book. Garden with these tools. Let us help you find your next novel. THE WEEK AHEAD What to Watch For Senegal’s presidential election begins today. (Read about the chaos surrounding the vote.) The deadline for Trump to post a $454 million bond in New York is tomorrow, after he lost the civil fraud case against him. The Supreme Court hears arguments Tuesday on the F.D.A.’s approval of mifepristone, a drug used in abortions in the U.S. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the independent presidential candidate, is expected to announce his vice-presidential pick on Tuesday. The Sweet Sixteen round of the N.C.A.A. basketball tournament begins on Thursday for the men’s field, and Friday for the women’s. Meal Plan Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini. In this week’s Five Weeknight Dishes newsletter, Emily Weinstein offers recipes to add to your spring cooking bucket list. One recommendation: The perfect March meal of mushroom and ginger rice, which crosses the coziness of one-pot rice with bright ginger and plump mushrooms. NOW TIME TO PLAY Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangram was cogwheel. Can you put eight historical events — including the first king of England, Florence Nightingale and “The Great Wave” — in chronological order? Take this week’s Flashback quiz. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku and Connections. Thanks for spending part of your weekend with The Times. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Continue reading the main story Editor: David Leonhardt Deputy Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, Sean Kawasaki-Culligan, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Ashley Wu News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Quote phkrause By the decree enforcing the institution of the papacy in violation of the law of God, our nation will disconnect herself fully from righteousness. When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near. {5T 451.1} Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members phkrause Posted March 25 Author Members Share Posted March 25 March 25, 2024 Good morning. We’re covering the Moscow concert attack, Gazan children and Cape Town. In Carbondale, Ill. Erin Schaff/The New York Times An important abortion case By Emily Bazelon Staff Writer, NYT Magazine How safe is it to take abortion pills? The F.D.A., the nation’s authority on drug regulation, says that it’s very safe. But the agency’s judgment is the topic of a sweeping challenge that the Supreme Court will hear tomorrow. The case could curtail Americans’ access to mifepristone, the first pill taken in a two-drug regimen for a medication abortion. Pills now account for most abortions in the United States. Increasingly, people take the medications at home. About 14,000 medication abortions per month are now prescribed online, with pills sent through the mail. In today’s newsletter, I’ll explain how the suit against the F.D.A. seeks to shut down this form of access and impose other restrictions. A decision in the plaintiff’s favor would change the landscape of abortion not state by state, like the effects of the 2022 ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, but across the country. Post-Roe America The abortion opponents who sued the government in tomorrow’s case, F.D.A. v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, are frustrated by how common abortion has remained. Since the high court struck down Roe, 16 states have banned or severely restricted the procedure. In those places, some women who would have ended their pregnancies are carrying them to term, as my colleagues Margot Sanger-Katz and Claire Cain Miller have explained. But the total number of abortions across the country has not fallen. It may actually have increased. That’s in large part because of abortion pills, which the F.D.A. first approved in 2000. “In the six months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe, the rise in the supply of pills outside of clinics significantly made up for the reduction in abortions otherwise,” said Abigail Aiken, a professor of public affairs at the University of Texas at Austin with a new study on the topic. In some states, CVS and Walgreens recently started dispensing mifepristone along with misoprostol, the second abortion pill, in stores with a prescription. Outside the Supreme Court in June. Haiyun Jiang for The New York Times The F.D.A. laid the foundation for these changes. In 2016, it let nurses and others prescribe mifepristone. It also permitted patients to take the pill 10 weeks into pregnancy, extending the limit from seven weeks. In 2021, the F.D.A. allowed providers to send mifepristone by mail, lifting a rule that had required an in-person medical visit. “Study after study has shown that when mifepristone is taken in accordance with its approved conditions of use, serious adverse events are exceedingly rare,” the F.D.A. said in its Supreme Court brief. The F.D.A.’s judgment The plaintiffs in today’s case, a coalition of anti-abortion physicians and medical groups, say the F.D.A. is wrong. They fault the agency’s collection of data and argue that some complications go unreported, creating an incomplete picture of risk. Last year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit agreed, ruling that the F.D.A.’s database of adverse events was “insufficient” and thus its decisions in 2016 and 2021 were invalid. The F.D.A. says that it is using its standard system for reporting drug complications — and that it has reviewed extensive research showing that mifepristone is safe, including to take at home. Its job, the agency argues, is not to “act based on perfect data, which seldom exists” but rather to “act reasonably based on the information available.” (And in February, a journal retracted two studies highlighting purported risks of mifepristone.) Because the F.D.A. followed its standard approval process, a victory for abortion opponents could undermine its authority to determine whether any drugs are safe. The case has unsettled the pharmaceutical industry. Congress intended the F.D.A., not the courts, to be the “expert arbiter of drug safety,” drug companies and investors argued in a brief. They said the Fifth Circuit created “an impossibly rigid new standard for drug approval.” Another question is whether the plaintiffs are even allowed to challenge the F.D.A. As a rule, litigants have to show that they have been harmed by an action to sue over it. The anti-abortion physicians say they may have to provide emergency care to women with incomplete abortions or other complications from taking mifepristone. The Fifth Circuit ruled this was enough, based on the likelihood that it could happen. But Supreme Court precedent rejects a statistical conception of standing. The plaintiffs also argue that they would be harmed by feeling that they had to help complete an abortion against their conscience. The government says that this conception of harm is hypothetical. The F.D.A.’s regulations for mifepristone, after all, don’t require any doctor to do anything. What happens next? If the F.D.A. loses, it’s unclear what will happen. Providers in the U.S. could still prescribe and ship misoprostol, the second abortion pill. Taken in higher doses without mifepristone, misoprostol is 88 percent effective, according to one study; the two-drug regimen is 95 percent effective or more. Misoprostol-only abortions also tend to include more hours of pain and cramping, with more side effects like nausea and diarrhea. So the upshot could be more physical discomfort for American women. Packages of medical abortion pills in Peabody, Mass. Sophie Park for The New York Times Another possibility is that more people will order the standard combination of mifepristone and misoprostol from foreign suppliers, though that market isn’t really legal. Whatever the court decides, the future of medication abortion is in the hands of the voters as well. The president decides who runs the F.D.A. The agency has continued or expanded access to mifepristone under the past five presidents. That includes Donald Trump. But with Roe overturned and control of the F.D.A. up for grabs in 2024, there’s much more pressure to restrict abortion pills than there was before. Related: In states where abortion is legal, doctors are sending abortion pills to tens of thousands of women in states where it is illegal. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT THE LATEST NEWS Russia Concert Attack At a district court in Moscow. Alexander Zemlianichenko/Associated Press Russia charged four men from Tajikistan with terrorism. They are suspected of killing at least 137 people in an attack at a concert hall near Moscow. The men looked battered in their court appearances, and one arrived in a wheelchair. Videos of the officials torturing them spread on social media. “They shot at everything that moved”: Survivors recounted a scene of chaos and terror. ISIS claimed responsibility. But Russian state media has pushed the idea that Ukraine was behind the attack. ISIS-K, an ISIS affiliate that American officials have linked to the attack, has global ambitions. Read more about the group. Israel-Hamas War In Bologna, Italy. Nariman El-Mofty for The New York Times The Times joined 16 injured Gazan children and their families as they traveled to Italy for treatment. See the photos. Al-Shifa, Gaza’s largest hospital, is under a siege by the Israeli military. Israel says the operation is targeting Hamas leaders; patients and doctors are still inside. More International News Ready, set, garçon! Dimitar Dilkoff/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Ahead of the Olympics, Paris revived a tradition: a race for waiters. The dominance of the iPhone in China appears to be waning as consumers turn to Chinese rivals like Huawei. Pope Francis skipped a Palm Sunday speech. The decision added to concerns about his health. An 80-year-old academic who has never held public office wants to challenge the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, in July’s election. The Wall Street Journal spoke with her. The police in Brazil arrested three men in connection with the notorious assassination of Marielle Franco, a gay Black councilwoman who fought corruption in Rio de Janeiro. Senegal voted in an election that its president, Macky Sall, tried to call off. Politics President Biden has promised to raise taxes on corporations and the wealthy. In office, he has actually cut taxes overall. Donald Trump is expected to appear in a Manhattan courtroom today to seek another delay to his hush-money criminal trial. Tammy Murphy, New Jersey’s first lady, dropped out of the race for Robert Menendez’s Senate seat. Senator Lisa Murkowski, a veteran Republican from Alaska, told CNN that she would not vote for Trump and did not rule out the possibility of leaving the party. Other Big Stories A 21-gun salute in Columbus, Ga. Alyssa Pointer for The New York Times Albert King, a Black soldier killed by a white military police officer, was buried in an unmarked grave in 1941. Yesterday, he received a full military funeral. Karen Bass, the mayor of Los Angeles, has cleared homeless encampments and moved thousands of people into motels. Read more about her efforts. Opinions As a professional rock climber, Beth Rodden embraced pain. After injuries, she learned how to rest, she writes. Israel must confront and defeat Hamas in Rafah. But the country still needs a welfare strategy for Palestinians, David Brooks writes. Gail Collins and Bret Stephens discuss political fatigue and immigration. Here are columns by David French on how politics is different online and Maureen Dowd on a politically incorrect Democratic strategist. For readers of The Morning, enjoy exceptional savings for a limited time. Take advantage of the complete Times experience with our sale. Save on your first year of unlimited access to news, Games, Cooking and more. Subscribe now. MORNING READS At an Ethiopian restaurant in Cape Town. Samantha Reinders for The New York Times 36 Hours in Cape Town: Visit a restaurant in the Black township of Khayelitsha and explore a contemporary African art museum. Underwater: New technology and climate change have ushered in a golden age of shipwreck discoveries. A Great Read: A five-year stay at the New Yorker hotel cost him only $200.57. Now it might cost him his freedom. Cut to the chase: Some couples, aware of how difficult conception can be, are opting to do I.V.F. first. Metropolitan Diary: A cabby’s cameo. Lives Lived: Shani Mott was a scholar of Black studies at Johns Hopkins University whose examinations of race and power in America extended to her city and even to her own home. She died at 47. SPORTS Men’s tournament: Texas A&M hit a buzzer-beater to reach overtime against No. 1 seed Houston, but Houston pulled away and won 100-95. See the shot. Top seeds advance: All four No. 1 and No. 2 seeds reached the men’s Sweet Sixteen. That has happened only four times since 1985. Women’s tournament: Top-seeded South Carolina continued to roll, beating North Carolina 88-41. Two other favorites, Iowa and UConn, both play tonight. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT ARTS AND IDEAS John Galliano MUBI, via Associated Press Back in fashion: The former Dior designer John Galliano fell from grace in 2011 after a drunken antisemitic rant. Thirteen years later, as the creative director for Maison Margiela, his work is again being celebrated. The documentary “John Galliano, High & Low” charts his rise and fall. It appears to represent the end of Galliano’s time in the wilderness, the Times critic Vanessa Friedman writes, and reflects “a shift away from the era of outrage, particularly in fashion.” More on culture Zendaya in “Dune: Part Two.” Warner Bros. Language constructors for the “Dune” movies created an extensive vocabulary and specific grammar rules. Kevin Hart received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … Armando Rafael for The New York Times Skip the broth for this spicy take on ramen with mushrooms and tofu. Live in harmony with your messy partner. Work out at your desk with a treadmill. Take our news quiz. GAMES Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangram was cordial. And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku and Connections. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. P.S. David Leonhardt is off this week. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Continue reading the main story Editor: David Leonhardt Deputy Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, Sean Kawasaki-Culligan, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Ashley Wu News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Quote phkrause By the decree enforcing the institution of the papacy in violation of the law of God, our nation will disconnect herself fully from righteousness. When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near. {5T 451.1} Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.