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Prisoner Swap Is a Diplomatic Triumph for Biden and Harris - The Friday AM Quickie 8/2/24

By Corey Pein —

Welcome home Evan! You really love to see it. That's it from me this week, Jacob's back Monday. - Corey

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THE BIG NEWS

World Tour: Trump Fumes as American Captives Freed

  • A 'Joyous Day': Reporter Evan Gershkovich, 15 Other Americans, Germans, and Russian Dissidents Freed in Largest Prisoner Swap Since Cold War Among the Russians traded back to Aspiring Tsar Vladimir Putin in exchange for the freedom of captive journalists, opposition figures, and others was alleged former FSB colonel Vadim Krasikov, who was serving a life sentence in Germany for murdering a Chechen exile in a Berlin park. via the Associated Press, the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times.
  • Brazil, Mexico and Colombia Call for Transparency in Venezuela's Election as US Claims Opposition Candidate Got Way More Votes Than Maduro Contrary to some early headlines, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken "did not say the United States was recognizing [opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia] as Venezuela's president." via Reuters and the Washington Post.
  • IDF Boasts About Having 'ELIMINATED' Another Al-Jazeera Correspondent in Targeted Airstrike "Al Jazeera has 'strongly' rejected 'baseless' Israeli allegations that the network’s correspondent Ismail al-Ghoul, who was killed in an Israeli attack in Gaza, was a Hamas operative." via HuffPost and Al Jazeera.
  • Starmer Vows Police Crackdown on 'Mindless Minority' of Fascist 'Thugs' Threatening British Mosques In Manchester, "asylum seeker accommodation was targeted by demonstrators carrying placards that read 'deport them, don't support them' and 'no apartments for illegals.'' In central London, demonstrators threw flares and cans while chanting 'rule Britannia,' 'save our kids' and the mantra of the previous Conservative government: 'Stop the boats.'" via BBC News and the Guardian.
  • China's Solar Subsidies Are So Lucrative New Projects Are Encroaching on Needed Farmland "Officials have tried to balance the competing demands by promoting nongguang hubu, or 'agriculture and solar complementing each other.' The idea involves encouraging 'agrivoltaic' facilities in which solar panels are installed in ways that allow the land to still be used for farming or grazing." via the WSJ.
  • Nigerian Cops Tear Gas Protesters Upset About 40 Percent Food Inflation and Tripled Fuel Prices "Last week, crowds of young Ugandans also marched through that country's capital, Kampala, to denounce alleged government corruption, and earlier this week, a court in the West African country of Ghana blocked a youth-led protest there." via Al Jazeera and the WSJ.
  • Macron's Interior Minister Blames 'Ultra-Left' Activist for French Rail Network Sabotage "A statement signed by 'an unexpected delegation' was sent to several news media outlets expressing support for the sabotage and criticising the Olympic Games as being a 'celebration of nationalism' and the oppression of peoples by nation states." via France24 and the Guardian.
  • Kazakhstan Jails Stand-Up Comedian for 'Petty Hooliganism' Alexander Merkul, the Lenny Bruce of Astana, was osentsibly sentenced to 10 days in jail for using swear words, but many believe he faced prosecution because his satirical act mocks President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev's "New Kazakhstan" program. via Eurasianet.

Future of Democracy Watch: 'They're the Weird Ones,' Trump Insists

  • 'Uncommitted' Delegates Demand a Voice for Gaza at the DNC as Black Muslim Group Endorses Harris "The Democratic Party cannot espouse the values of freedom, justice and equality at home while being the party of death and destruction abroad. The Democratic Party cannot oppose fascism at home while enabling genocide abroad," uncommitted Rhode Island delegate June Rosenbaum said on a planning call yesterday. via HuffPost and NBC News.
  • Harris Raised More in One Week Than Trump Did All Last Month "July is set to be the second straight month that Democrats had out-raised the Trump team." via the New York Times and the Associated Press.
  • 'It Will Be a Purge': Oracle Helped Project 2025 Build a MAGA Loyalty Database for Federal Employees "The swamp isn't going to drain itself," Paul Dans of the Heritage Foundation said on imprisoned Trump adviser Steve Bannon's podcast this week, even as the campaign tried to disclaim his massive policy and personnel planning effort. via ProPublica.
  • 'Tennessee 3' Democrat Gloria Johnson Will Challenge GOP Sen. Marsha Blackburn in November Meanwhile, Trump-backed fabulist House Freedom Caucus member Andy Ogles defeated a well-funded Republican challenger in the state's primary yesterday. via the AP and NBC News.

'It's a Mess': Biden Rules Protecting LGBTQ Students Take Effect, But Only in 24 States

Back in April, the Biden administration issued a rewritten Title IX regulation governing equal treatment in schools that clarifies the definition of sex discrimination to include gender identity and sexual orientation. As the Washington Post reports, the new rules "would prohibit, for instance, schools from forcing transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms that do not align with their gender identity. Schools would also be required to refer to students by the pronouns they use." Republicans sued, securing federal court injunctions in 26 states. Which means that when the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights began enforcing the new rules protecting trans students yesterday, they said they would only do so in the 24 states without injunctions – leaving perhaps the most vulnerable students exposed to discrimination and abuse. Meanwhile, the New York Times reports on potential violations of federal tax laws at one of the largest nonprofit LGBTQ advocacy groups, GLAAD. While one employee who expensed a cup of coffee was "chastised" for stealing from the cause, the nonprofit paid for chief executive Sarah Kate Ellis's skiing trips in the Swiss Alps and a $20,000 remodel of her home office, including the installation of a chandelier.

QUICKEST QUICKIES

  • Bipartisan Bill to Expand Child Tax Credit Fails in Senate, 48-44 Vermont socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders was among those voting against the bill, explaining that he supports the Child Tax Credit expansion but cannot support "giving tens of billions of dollars in tax breaks to some of the largest and most profitable corporations in America," including Lockheed Martin. via the Associated Press.
  • Intel Will Lay Off 15,000 People Despite Biden's Gift of $19 Billion in Federal Aid to Return Manufacturing Jobs to the US "Intel has been kind of earmarked for this [CHIPS Act] money. But there's a lot of infrastructure that goes into this...and then you also need to upskill the local workforce where these plants are located. And so it takes time. This is not something that happens overnight," one analyst says. via the Washington Post and the AP.
  • Sonya Massey's Mother Called 911 and Begged Police Not to Hurt Her One Day Before Her Killing Sangamon County, Illinois Sheriff Jack Campbell continues to deflect responsibility for hiring killer cop Sean Grayson despite his poor record, saying "He failed. This is his fault." via the New York Times and NBC News.
  • Writers Guild Files Union Busting Complaint Against Liberal Podcast Network Crooked Media The union is upset that many workers putting in 12-hour days struggle to earn promotions, while one staffer dating cofounder Jon Lovett got promoted three times in two years; and that the company laid off staff even as cofounder Jon Favreau purchased a $10 million Los Angeles mansion to better schmooze with celebrities. via Bloomberg News.

SOME NUMBER

$52.8 billion

That's how much American public pensions invested in privately managed funds dedicated to multifamily real estate from 2011 through last year. As the Los Angeles Times reports, those private housing investors are the very companies buying up vast swathes of residential real estate and driving massive rent increases nationwide, "exacerbating the affordability crisis" and pushing people into homelessness.

ON THE SHOW TODAY

8/2: It's Casual Friday! Sam speaks with Heather Digby Parton, contributing writer at Salon.com and proprietor of the blog Hullabaloo, to round up the week in news. Then, the MR Crew is joined by Francesca Fiorentini, host of the Bitchuation Room!

DON'T MISS MR CLIPS‌

Bill Maher WASTED and CREEPY During 'Hawk Tuah' Interview

Big yikes.

GOP Creeps TRIGGERED By Olympic Champion Simone Biles

North Carolina's Mark Robinson wants you to know he is definitely not a gymnast.

PARTING WORDS

"Kamala and I talked. I said she could pick me."

-- President Joe Biden, speaking to civil rights leaders and elected officials aboard Air Force One last Monday as they watched an MSNBC segment speculating about who Kamala Harris might pick as her running mate. "He waited a beat, then said he was joking, prompting laughter," the Washington Post reports. Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz are reportedly the top contenders.

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