Iran Will Respond to Israeli Attack, But How? - The Friday AM Quickie 4/12/24
I seem to be in a minority, but the Fallout streaming series didn't grab me. Shogun held my attention though. Jacob's back Monday! - Corey
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THE BIG NEWS
World Tour: Mexico Asks U.N. to Expel Ecuador
- Vietnamese Court Imposes Death Sentence on Corrupt Property and Banking Tycoon Who Kept $4 Billion in Cash in Her Basement Truong My Lan, 67, rose from selling cosmetics in a market stall to plundering billions through rampant bribery and her illicit control of a Saigon bank, "eroding people's trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and State," the judge wrote. via the Washington Post and the Associated Press.
- Iran Tells U.S. It 'Aims to Avoid Major Escalation' in Responding Through Proxies to Israeli Surprise Attack on Consulate In diplomatic meetings in Oman, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian "also sought assurances that the United States would not get involved in the event of a 'controlled attack' on Israel by Iran - a demand which the United States rejected." via Reuters, the Wall Street Journal, Al Jazeera and the Washington Post.
- NATO Commander Warns Russia's Army Is 15 Percent Bigger Than It Was 2 Years Ago as Ukraine Runs Short of Troops and Ammo "The severity of this moment cannot be overstated. If we do not continue to support Ukraine, Ukraine could lose," U.S. Gen. Christopher Cavoli told the Senate Armed Services Committee yesterdayt. via Politico and the AP.
- 'Alarming': Bogota Enacts Water Rationing Amid Severe Drought The Chuza reservoir, which helps provide around 70 percent of the Colombian capital's water, is at less than 17 percent capacity, the lowest point in 40 years. via BBC News.
- Human Rights Groups Join House Democrats in Calling for Tighter Controls on Florida Ports to Stop Arms Trafficking to Haiti "We have to do everything we can as Americans to not continue to support the gangs by giving them the ammunitions they need to terrorize the Haitian people," Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, the only Haitian-American in Congress, said yesterday, joined by fellow Democratic Reps. Ayanna Pressley and Cori Bush as well as human rights groups. via Reuters.
- Mali's Junta Bans News Media from Covering Politics "The clampdown on the media followed a similar action on Wednesday, when the junta ordered the suspension of all activities by political parties until further notice, citing a a need to preserve public order." via the AP.
- Hong Kong Denies Entry to Press Freedom Advocate Seeking to Observe Trial of Pro-Democracy Publisher "We have never experienced such blatant efforts by authorities to evade scrutiny of court proceedings in any country, which further highlights the ludicrous nature of the case against Jimmy Lai, and the dire erosion of press freedom and the rule of law in Hong Kong," Reporters Without Borders said of the six-hour detention of its Taiwan-based advocacy officer Aleksandra Bielakowska. via Al Jazeera and the Guardian.
- Argentine Labor Federation Announces May 9 General Strike Against Milei Meanwhile, white supremacist billionaire Elon Musk had his first meeting with Argentina's AnCap crackpot President Javier Milei to discuss lithium mining, among other things. via Reuters and the WSJ.
MORE STORIES TO WATCH
'If I Did It' Author O.J. Simpson Dies of Cancer
Professional football star-turned-actor and TV pitchman Orenthal James Simpson, who was found liable by a civil jury for the bloody 1994 death of his abused ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, but acquitted of murdering her and her friend Ron Goldman, died of cancer on Wednesday night at 76. Live coverage of the bizarre slow-motion police chase of Simpson's white Ford Bronco, followed by his televised murder trial, is widely credited for the creation of "reality TV," the cultural phenomenon that later helped bring Sick F*ck Donald Trump to power. Perceptions of the Simpson trial differed sharply based on race. While some Black people defended Simpson's innocence based on misconduct by racist cops established at trial, Los Angeles Times columnist Erika Smith recalls, "there also were plenty of Black people privately joking that the LAPD had 'just framed a guilty man.'" Polls show the racial divide in perceptions of Simpson's guilt has narrowed with time, perhaps due to the 2007 publication of his confessional "fictional memoir," "If I Did It," his loss in the civil case, and his later incarceration for armed robbery. "I think in the barbershops today, Black people are saying, 'he got away with it, but the police got away with killing a lot more of us,'" James Lance Taylor, a politics professor at the University of San Francisco, in Simpson's home city, tells the Washington Post.
Progressives Prepare for Public Fight with Biden at DNC
The Associated Press reports that Arab American and Muslim groups are fully exhausted by the White House's half-hearted outreach to their communities, having concluded that President Joe Biden simply "doesn't care for the Palestinian people and their displacement." But antiwar activists are preparing to press the issue at the Democratic National Convention this summer in Chicago. "We're gearing up for a fight and we're drawing a line in the sand, though we hope it doesn't come to that," Our Revolution director Joseph Geevarghese tells NBC News. "It's in the re-election campaign's interest to minimize disruption and outside protests and the only way to do that is meaningful policy shifts" on unconditional U.S. aid to Israel. Although NBC projects there will be at least 26 "uncommitted" antiwar delegates at the convention, they aren't guaranteed a seat at the platform committee's table. Indeed, Jim Zogby – a former DNC member, Arab American leader and strategist for Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign – predicts that "the fix is in" when it comes to the party platform. In addition to Gaza, party progressives plant to push for "filibuster reform in the Senate, declaring a national climate emergency and ending private funding of elections." All worth fighting for.
QUICKEST QUICKIES
- Iowa Supreme Court Hears Arguments on Abortion Ban Ruled Unconstitutional By Lower Court Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds, who called a special legislative session last year to pass the ban, calls it "the will of the people," polls show 61 percent of Iowans believe abortion should be legal, with only 35 percent opposed. via the Des Moines Register and the Washington Post.
- Crying About 'the Left's Dark Money,' Federalist Society Mastermind Leonard Leo Rejects Senate Subpoena in Supreme Court Corruption Probe "With Leo's refusal, Democrats would be forced to hold a Senate vote if they wanted to seek enforcement of the subpoena in court — a nearly impossible task in a narrowly split chamber." via the Post.
- Trump Attacks Witnesses Ahead of Criminal Hush Money Trial in Apparent Violation of Gag Order Trump's offending Truth Social post calls key witnesses Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels "sleaze bags" and liars, which is, one law professor notes, "exactly what a gag order doesn't want you to do before trial when a potential jury could be influenced." via the Associated Press.
- RFK Jr. Fires Campaign Consultant Caught on Video Scheming for Trump Victory The campaign says the consultant, Rita Palma, who gave a presentation about how Kennedy's candidacy could create a scenario that would allow a Republican Congress to elevate Trump to the presidency, "gave an inaccurate job title and described a conversation that did not happen." via the New York Times.
SOME NUMBER
$1.2 billion
That's how much more the Federal Highway Administration has in backlogged projects than it has remaining in its emergency relief fund – and that's before the Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore. Clearing that Maryland waterway and rebuilding the bridge wipe out the remainder of the emergency fund, the Washington Post reports, requiring urgent action from Congress. Some states are still waiting for FHA funding for disasters that took place nearly 20 years ago.
ON THE SHOW TODAY
4/10: It’s Casual Friday! Sam and Emma speak with Heather Digby Parton, contributing writer at Salon.com and proprietor of the blog Hullaballoo, to round up the week in news. Then, they’re joined by Mark Bankston, partner at the law firm Farrar & Ball, to discuss a new case that he is taking up.
DON'T MISS MR CLIPS
Trump Reboots 'Bad Jews' Meme
For what it's worth, Pew says 7 in 10 U.S. Jews identify or lean Democratic.
Republicans Speak in Tongues on House Floor in Arizona
Separation of church and what?
PARTING WORDS
"In a remarkable testament to their will to be found, the mariners spelled out 'HELP' on the beach using palm leaves, a crucial factor in their discovery. This act of ingenuity was pivotal in guiding rescue efforts directly to their location."
-- U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Chelsea Garcia, who led the search and rescue mission this week that saved three castaways from the small, uninhabited Pacific island of Pikelot, approximately 100 miles from their home in the Federated States of Micronesia. The stranded mariners, all men in their 40s, were stranded for more than a week following a fishing expedition gone wrong, and subsisted on coconuts and water from a well on the island until rescuers spotted their classic SOS on the beach.
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