The Full Belmonte, 8/24/2022
Two Men Convicted in Plot to Kidnap Michigan’s Governor
The trial came months after a different federal jury did not return any convictions in the case, one of the country’s highest-profile domestic terror prosecutions.
“GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A federal jury in Michigan found two men guilty on Tuesday of plotting to kidnap the state’s Democratic governor, ending one of the highest-profile domestic terrorism cases in recent history and providing a measure of vindication to prosecutors who brought the case to trial a second time after a previous jury declined to convict.
Prosecutors presented the men, Barry Croft and Adam Fox, who face up to life in prison, as threats to democracy who planned to capture Gov. Gretchen Whitmer at her vacation home in 2020, detonate explosives to disrupt the police response and perhaps touch off a civil war in the process.
‘You can’t just strap on an AR-15 and body armor and snatch the governor,’ Nils Kessler, a federal prosecutor, said during closing arguments.
Proving the case meant persuading jurors to trust a sprawling F.B.I. investigation that embedded several federal operatives around the group. Among them were an informant who became second-in-command of a militia and an undercover agent who offered to provide explosives. Earlier this year, another jury failed to reach verdicts for Mr. Croft and Mr. Fox, and acquitted two of their co-defendants.
‘In America, the F.B.I. is not supposed to create domestic terrorists so that the F.B.I. can arrest them,’ Christopher Gibbons, a lawyer for Mr. Fox, said during closing arguments.
Defense lawyers repeatedly criticized the investigation, arguing that their clients were big talkers whose worst instincts were preyed upon by undercover F.B.I. personnel who pretended to befriend them.
Joshua Blanchard, a lawyer for Mr. Croft, blamed the government for luring his client, a truck driver, from his home in Delaware to events in Michigan and other Midwestern states where a plan was discussed. Mr. Blanchard told jurors that ‘the F.B.I. has told us that the truth doesn’t matter to them’ and that ‘this isn’t Russia.’
‘They weren’t about to let the truth get in the way of the story they want to tell,’ Mr. Blanchard said.
This trial played out amid a charged political environment, with Ms. Whitmer campaigning for re-election and F.B.I. agents searching former President Donald J. Trump’s Florida home during the week of opening arguments. Many conservatives denounced that search as a weaponization of the Justice Department and an example of F.B.I. overreach.
Mr. Trump, who was president when the F.B.I. arrested Mr. Croft and Mr. Fox, has personally cast doubt on the prosecution. In a recent speech at a conservative conference, he appeared to allude to the Michigan case, calling it ‘fake’ and saying ‘Gretchen Whitmer was in less danger than the people in this room right now, it seems to me.’
In court, defense lawyers told jurors that they had an opportunity to send a message to the F.B.I. with their verdicts. Prosecutors defended the F.B.I.’s work and said federal officials acted appropriately to head off a serious threat. Both men were convicted of kidnapping conspiracy and conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction. Mr. Croft was also convicted of possessing an unregistered destructive device.
‘The F.B.I. did stop this,’ Mr. Kessler told jurors. He added: ‘Thank God they did it before anybody got hurt or killed.’” Read more at New York Times
FBI’s Mar-a-Lago search followed months of resistance, delay by Trump
“Donald Trump’s lawyers received ominous news in an April 12 email from the National Archives: The FBI would soon examine sensitive documents the former president had reluctantly returned to the government from his Florida club three months earlier.
The communication, which has been reviewed by The Washington Post, was a crucial pivot point in the probe of Trump’s handling of classified documents that led to the dramatic search of his Mar-a-Lago Club earlier this month.
Within weeks, Trump would have new lawyers to deal with the documents, and the FBI’s attention would shift from top-secret material Trump returned to the Archives to classified items they believed he had kept in Florida. One lawyer who received the email, former White House deputy counsel Pat Philbin, would be interviewed by FBI agents who considered him a witness in the rapidly expanding investigation.
Some of Trump’s allies have blamed the rushed and haphazard packing process during Trump’s final days in office for the presence of documents the FBI found in Trump’s bedroom, office and a first-floor storage room at Mar-a-Lago on Aug. 8. But the key events that led to the FBI search took place only this year, after months of slow-rolling conflict between the former president and law enforcement agencies.
Some material recovered in the search is considered extraordinarily sensitive, two people familiar with the search said, because it could reveal carefully guarded secrets about U.S. intelligence-gathering methods. One of them said the information is ‘among the most sensitive secrets we hold.’
This account of Trump’s effort to keep the FBI from reviewing the classified material is drawn from newly released correspondence and court filings, as well the recollections of multiple people with direct knowledge of the investigation or who were briefed on events. Many of them spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the ongoing criminal probe.” Read more at Washington Post
Twitter's former head of security accused the social media company and its executives of “extensive legal violations.”Credit...Jim Wilson/The New York Times
Ex-Twitter exec blows the whistle, alleging reckless and negligent cybersecurity policies
“Twitter has major security problems that pose a threat to its own users' personal information, to company shareholders, to national security, and to democracy, according to an explosive whistleblower disclosure obtained exclusively by CNN and The Washington Post.
The disclosure, sent last month to Congress and federal agencies, paints a picture of a chaotic and reckless environment at a mismanaged company that allows too many of its staff access to the platform's central controls and most sensitive information without adequate oversight. It also alleges that some of the company's senior-most executives have been trying to cover up Twitter's serious vulnerabilities, and that one or more current employees may be working for a foreign intelligence service.
The whistleblower, who has agreed to be publicly identified, is Peiter ‘Mudge’ Zatko, who was previously the company's head of security, reporting directly to the CEO. Zatko further alleges that Twitter's leadership has misled its own board and government regulators about its security vulnerabilities, including some that could allegedly open the door to foreign spying or manipulation, hacking and disinformation campaigns. The whistleblower also alleges Twitter does not reliably delete users' data after they cancel their accounts, in some cases because the company has lost track of the information, and that it has misled regulatorsstand the true number of bots on the platform, and were not motivated to. Bots have recently become central to Elon Musk's attempts to back out of a $44 billion deal to buy the company (although Twitter denies Musk's claims).
Document: Twitter whistleblower reveals alleged security lapses, violations, fraud
Zatko was fired by Twitter (TWTR) in January for what the company claims was poor performance. According to Zatko, his public whistleblowing comes after he attempted to flag the security lapses to Twitter's board and to help Twitter fix years of technical shortcomings and alleged non-compliance with an earlier privacy agreement with the Federal Trade Commission. Zatko is being represented by Whistleblower Aid, the same group that represented Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen.
John Tye, founder of Whistleblower Aid and Zatko's lawyer, told CNN that Zatko has not been in contact with Musk, and said Zatko began the whistleblower process before there was any indication of Musk's involvement with Twitter.
After this article was initially published, Alex Spiro, an attorney for Musk, told CNN, ‘We have already issued a subpoena for Mr. Zatko, and we found his exit and that of other key employees curious in light of what we have been finding.’” Read more at CNN
“WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is set Wednesday to announce he will forgive $10,000 in student loan debt for millions of borrowers who fall below an income cap, according to sources familiar with the plan.
After weighing executive action for months, the president is expected to reveal his long-awaited decision after he returns to the White House from vacation in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. The action is also expected to include extending until January a moratorium on federal student loan payments – implemented during the coronavirus pandemic – set to expire at the end of this month.
The White House would not confirm the upcoming announcement, first reported by the Associated Press.
The president has said he would make a decision by Aug. 31. Biden faces increasing pressure from progressive Democrats to cancel an even larger share of debt for Americans who took federal loans to pay for college. But some Democratic economists, including former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, worry about the risk of debt cancelation exacerbating 40-year-high inflation.” Read more at USA Today
Dan Goldman wins free-for-all New York House seat
The former federal prosecutor unseated Rep. Mondaire Jones and edged out top competitor Yuh-Line Niou, a state assemblymember.
Attorney Dan Goldman addresses supporters on the evening of the Democratic primary election Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2022, in New York. | Craig Ruttle/AP Photo
“NEW YORK — Formereral prosecutor Dan Goldman beat a crowded field of Democrats vying for a new congressional seat in Lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn.
Goldman was counsel to House Democrats during the first impeachment of former President Donald Trump, and leaned on that experience heavily in campaign ads and forums by casting himself as a candidate with unique investigative chops that could be trained on the GOP.
He unseated Rep. Mondaire Jones, who sought reelection far from his current suburban district north of the city as a result of the state’s chaotic redistricting process. Goldman also bested New York Assembly Member Yuh-Line Niou and City Council Member Carlina Rivera.” Read more at POLITICO
Democratic candidate Pat Ryan will serve out the remainder of the congressional term. | Mary Altaffer/AP Photo
“Democratic Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan won a special election Tuesday in a swing district in New York’s Hudson Valley, a significant victory for his party in a seat which has been closely watched as the country’s best bellwether this summer.
Ryan led Republican Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro with 51 percent of the vote when the Associated Press called the race. The district is closely divided: President Joe Biden carried it by fewer than 2 percentage points in 2020.
The race in the battleground district, which had been represented by Democrat Antonio Delgado until he left to become New York’s lieutenant governor in May, saw both candidates focus their messaging on the issues that will dominate each party’s talking points in November. Ryan’s television ads hammered on the need to elect a representative who would fight for abortion rights in the wake of the Supreme Court’s June decision undoing Roe v. Wade, while Molinaro’s campaign centered on crime and inflation. It's the latest in a string of recent House special elections in which Democrats have outperformed recent baseline numbers in the districts.
Ryan will serve only four months in the current district, and he and Molinaro will be on the ballot again in November — but in separate competitive districts. Ryan handily defeated primary opponent Moses Mugulusi on Tuesday in his race for a full term, and he will face off against Republican Assemblyman Colin Schmitt in a seat centered on Poughkeepsie. Molinaro will run in the district to the north of that and face Ithaca attorney Josh Riley, who defeated businesswoman Jamie Cheney in a Democratic primary on Tuesday.” Read more at POLITICO
Charlie Crist Wins Democratic Primary for Florida Governor, Set to Face Ron DeSantis
Crist, a former GOP state attorney general and governor, squares off against an incumbent widely expected to be a 2024 presidential candidate
Rep. Charlie Crist, who addressed supporters Tuesday after winning the Democratic primary for governor of Florida, has said he left the GOP because it has been taken over by the extreme right.PHOTO: DIRK SHADD/ZUMA PRESS
“U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist secured the Democratic nomination for governor in Florida, setting up what promises to be an uphill battle against incumbent Gov. Ron DeSantis, a rising Republican star with a formidable fundraising advantage.
Mr. Crist, a former Florida governor and attorney general, prevailed against Nikki Fried, the state agriculture commissioner. With the lion’s share of the ballots counted, Mr. Crist took nearly 60% of the vote.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
Jerrold Nadler Defeats Carolyn Maloney in New York Democratic House Primary Matchup
New York Rep. Mondaire Jones loses to Dan Goldman in crowded Democratic congressional primary
Rep. Jerrold Nadler prevailed over another long-serving Democratic member of Congress, Carolyn Maloney, after redistricting pitted them against each other in a Democratic primary for a Manhattan congressional district.PHOTO: JOHN MINCHILLO/ASSOCIATED PRESS
“Rep. Jerrold Nadler, the long-serving congressman from Manhattan’s Upper West Side, defeated fellow veteran Rep. Carolyn Maloney in a Democratic primary Tuesday after redistricting in New York state forced them to compete for a single House seat.
Mr. Nadler drew national attention when he helped lead the first impeachment of former President Donald Trump as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. He secured more than 50% of the vote in the Manhattan district, parts of which he and Ms. Maloney have represented for nearly 30 years. Ms. Maloney, the head of the Oversight and Reform Committee, trailed well behind with about a quarter of the vote.
In a race seen as an early test of Democrats’ efforts to use abortion access to motivate their base in competitive contests, Democrat Pat Ryan defeated Republican Marc Molinaro in a special election to fill an open House seat in New York’s Hudson Valley, the Associated Press projected.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
Markwayne Mullin, election-denying former cage fighter, closes on Oklahoma Senate seat
Congressman who embraced Donald Trump’s big lie seeks to replace retiring Senator Jim Inhofe
“An election-denying former mixed martial arts fighter who was widely criticised for an attempted freelance mission last year to rescue Americans trapped in Afghanistan has won a shot at a US Senate seat from Oklahoma.
Markwayne Mullin, a sitting congressman, beat another Donald Trump loyalist and election denier for their party’s nomination in a special election on Tuesday and will seek to replace the long-serving senator Jim Inhofe in November.
Mullin, a plumbing company owner from Westville, and TW Shannon, a former speaker of the Oklahoma House and a bank executive from Oklahoma City, both embraced Trump’s lie that the 2020 presidential election was subject to widespread fraud.” Read more at The Guardian
Dr Oz campaign draws ire over unsavory remarks on Democratic rival’s stroke
The Republican candidate’s aide said John Fetterman would not have suffered had he ‘ever eaten a vegetable in his life’
“John Fetterman, the Democratic candidate for US Senate in Pennsylvania, might not have had a stroke if he ‘had ever eaten a vegetable in his life’, an aide to the Republican candidate, Mehmet Oz, said on Tuesday in a strikingly nasty moment in an already bitter contest.
The statement, to Business Insider, came in response to Fetterman’s mockery of a video in which Oz complains about the price of crudités while mangling the names of two Pennsylvania grocery stores.
‘In PA we call this a ... veggie tray,’ Fetterman tweeted.
In full, Rachel Tripp, Oz’s senior communications adviser, said: ‘If John Fetterman had ever eaten a vegetable in his life, then maybe he wouldn’t have had a major stroke and wouldn’t be in the position of having to lie about it constantly.’
Fetterman, 53 and currently lieutenant governor, is 6ft 8in and once weighed more than 400lb. According to the Pittsburgh Tribune Review, reporting in 2018, he “changed the way he ate, cutting out grains and sugar … started walking more and dropped about 10-12lb a month”, getting “down to 270lb”.
Fetterman suffered a stroke in May, then returned to the trail this month.
He has admitted to challenges in regaining his health, telling a CBS affiliate this month: “I’ll miss a word sometimes, or I might mush two words together sometimes in a conversation, but that’s really the only issue, and it’s getting better and better every day.”
Oz, 62, is a heart surgeon turned longtime, if controversial, presence on daytime TV, having confessed to promoting “quack” diet pills.
After moving into politics he was endorsed by Donald Trump, who said being on ‘TV is like a poll, that means people like you’.
But Oz has faced questions including where he lives – opponents including Fetterman claim he lives in New Jersey, he insists he lives in Pennsylvania – and how, given that Oz has said he owns two houses while the Daily Beast reports he owns 10.
Tripp’s statement about Fetterman’s lifestyle was prompted by an Insider investigation into Oz’s move into politics.
The Pennsylvania race is one of a handful most observers think will decide control of the Senate. Fetterman leads by more than 10 points, according to fivethirtyeight.com.
Senate Republicans reportedly have doubts about Oz’s chances, and have diverted money to other key races.
According to Rolling Stone, Trump told confidants Oz would ‘fucking lose’ unless he turns his campaign around. Trump denied the remark.” Read more at The Guardian
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Paul Pelosi, husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, pleads guilty to DUI charge
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is pictured with her husband Paul Pelosi while attending a Holy Mass for the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul lead by Pope Francis in St. Peter's Basilica.
“(CNN)Paul Pelosi, the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to driving under the influence of alcohol in May.
Judge Joseph Solga sentenced Pelosi to five days in jail but he will receive credit for two days already served and two days for conduct credit. His remaining one day will be served through a court work program. Pelosi will be on probation for three years and pay upwards of $1,700 in fines.
The court also ordered an interlock ignition device to be installed on his vehicle for one year, restitution to remain in the court's jurisdiction and his attendance in a three-month drinking-driver class.” Read more at CNN
Prosecutor to dismiss charges against Atlanta police officers involved in fatal shooting of Rayshard Brooks
“(CNN)A Georgia special prosecutor announced Tuesday that murder and assault charges will be dismissed against two Atlanta police officers involved in the fatal shooting of Rayshard Brooksin June 2020, saying the officers acted reasonably in response to a deadly threat.
‘Both acted as reasonable officers would under the facts and circumstances of the events of that night,’ special prosecutor Peter Skandalakis said. ‘Both acted in accordance with well-established law and were justified in the use of force regarding the situation.’
The announcement comes two years after Brooks, a 27-year-old Black man, was shot and killed outside a Wendy's restaurant after he fought two officers who tried to arrest him for DUI. During the struggle, Brooks overpowered officers Garrett Rolfe and Devin Brosnan, took a Taser from Brosnan and ran away, according to prosecutors. While fleeing, he turned back and fired the stolen Taser at Rolfe, who then shot Brooks twice, in the back and buttocks, killing him, prosecutors said.
The incident was extensively captured on video, including bodycam footage, Wendy's surveillance video and witness cellphone video.
Atlanta Police officers Garrett Rolfe, left, and Devin Brosnan, had been charged in relation to the fatal shooting of Rayshard Brooks in June 2020.
The fatal shooting -- less than three weeks after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis -- sparked protests across Atlanta and beyond amid national demonstrations over police brutality and racial injustice. In Atlanta, the Wendy's restaurant was set ablaze, hundreds blocked a major interstate, authorities fired tear gas and the police chief stepped down.
Five days after the shooting, then-Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard announced charges against Rolfe of felony murder, aggravated assault, violations of oath of office and criminal damage to property. Brosnan was charged with aggravated assault and violating his oath.” Read more at CNN
Ex-Detective Admits Misleading Judge Who Approved Breonna Taylor Raid
Kelly Goodlett, the former detective, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy. She is the first officer to be convicted in the fatal police operation.
“LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A former police detective admitted on Tuesday that she had helped mislead a judge into authorizing a raid of Breonna Taylor’s apartment in Louisville, Ky., setting in motion the faulty nighttime operation in which the police fatally shot Ms. Taylor.
The former detective, Kelly Goodlett, pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of conspiracy, admitting that she had worked with another officer to falsify a search warrant application and had later lied to cover up their act. In pleading guilty, Ms. Goodlett became the first police officer to be convicted over the March 2020 raid, during which the police were searching for evidence of drug dealing by Ms. Taylor’s former boyfriend Jamarcus Glover.
Ms. Goodlett’s plea suggested that she may be cooperating with the Justice Department prosecutors who have charged her and two other former Louisville police officers over their roles in acquiring the search warrant for the raid. A fourth officer is accused of violating Ms. Taylor’s civil rights, as well as her neighbors’, by firing 10 bullets through the two apartments. None of those bullets struck anyone.
Ms. Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency room technician who hoped to become a nurse, was sleeping in bed next to her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, when the police began banging on her door after midnight. Mr. Walker said later that when the banging began, they asked who was at the door and received no response, though the officers said they had announced themselves.
Mr. Walker said that when the officers rammed open the apartment door, he believed they were intruders and fired one shot, striking an officer in the leg. Three officers returned fire.
Neither of the two officers who shot Ms. Taylor has been charged. Prosecutors have said in court documents that neither of those officers knew that the search warrant was based partially on false information.
Ms. Goodlett, who resigned from the police force after she was charged earlier this month, was not present at the raid.
For more than a month after the shooting, Ms. Taylor’s death received little attention. It began to attract scrutiny in May 2020, just before a police officer in Minneapolis was recorded fatally kneeling on George Floyd’s neck as he struggled to breathe. The police killings of Ms. Taylor and Mr. Floyd, both of whom were Black, led to protests against police brutality and racism across the United States in the spring and summer of 2020, quickly becoming one of the largest protest movements in American history.” Read more at New York Times
IRS launches safety review after right-wing threats
Republicans in Congress are repeating baseless claims long made by extremists, experts say, potentially putting federal workers in danger
The IRS will launch a safety review of its roughly 600 facilities nationwide after mainstream Republicans and right-wing extremists have assailed the agency's new funding. (Bloomberg News)
“The Internal Revenue Service will launch a full security review of its facilities nationwide, Commissioner Charles Rettig announced Tuesday, as congressional Republicans and far-right extremists are lashing out at the agency and the new funding it is slated to receive in a massive spending law.
‘We see what’s out there in terms of social media. Our workforce is concerned about their safety,’ Rettig told The Washington Post in an interview Tuesday. ‘The comments being made are extremely disrespectful to the agency, to the employees and to the country.’
In a letter to employees sent Wednesday, he wrote that the agency would conduct risk assessments for each of the IRS’s 600 facilities, and evaluate whether to increase security patrols along building exteriors, boost designations for restricted areas, examine security around entrances and assess exterior lighting. It will be the agency’s first such review since the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995, which killed 168 people.” Read more at Washington Post
The right’s secret $1B war chest
Leonard Leo speaks at a Federalist Society convention in 2017. Photo: Sait Serkan Gurbuz/AP
“It's among the largest — if not the largest — contributions ever to a politically focused nonprofit, according to The New York Times, which broke the incredible story:
A conservative nonprofit group chaired by Leonard Leo, the powerful co-chair of the conservative Federalist Society, received a staggering $1.6 billion windfall last year from a little-known mogul.
The Utah-based group, the Marble Freedom Trust, was formed in 2020 without publicity.
Why it matters: Leo was already one of the most influential operatives in conservative politics, known for landing massive checks. But this donation is in a different universe from where even top-flight fundraisers like Leo usually operate.
The money, The Times' Ken Vogel and Shane Goldmacher report, came via Barre Seid, who made a fortune as chair and CEO of an electrical-device manufacturing company in Chicago now known as Tripp Lite.
‘Rather than merely giving cash, Mr. Seid donated 100 percent of the shares of Tripp Lite to Mr. Leo’s nonprofit group before the company was sold to an Irish conglomerate [Eaton] for $1.65 billion,’ The Times writes.
Leo said in a statement to Axios, same as one to The Times, that it's ‘high time for the conservative movement’ to go toe to toe with ‘left-wing philanthropists ... in the fight to defend our constitution and its ideals.’
Axios is told the war chest will support causes Leo and his allies have spent decades advocating for, including ‘rule of law, constitutionalist judges, free markets, religious freedom and conscience rights.’” Read more at Axios
“Pfizer and BioNTech have submitted their application to the FDA for emergency use authorization of their updated Covid-19 vaccine booster that specifically targets Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5. If approved, the updated vaccine could be available to the public by early to mid-September, according to White House officials. The new booster, which was designed for use in people age 12 and older, demonstrated a "strong neutralizing antibody response" against various Omicron variants, the companies said, citing pre-clinical data. A clinical study is expected to start this month.” Read more at CNN
“NASA's historic Artemis I rocket is ready to launch to the moon and back. After a review was conducted on Monday, the Artemis team received the ‘go’ to launch the rocket and Orion spacecraft on Monday. It will be NASA's first return to the moon in 50 years. Once it launches, the uncrewed spacecraft will orbit around the moon, traveling 1.3 million miles over the course of 42 days. Artemis I will splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego on October 10, NASA says. Orion's return will be faster and hotter than any spacecraft has ever experienced on its way back to Earth. This mission will kick off NASA's Artemis program, which aims to return humans to the moon and land the first woman and first person of color on the lunar surface by 2025 -- and make way for human exploration of Mars.” Read more at CNN
“Oil power | The University of Texas, which oversees property in the US’s largest oil field almost the size of Delaware and Rhode Island combined, is making about $6 million a day by lending the land to drilling companies. While other schools are shedding fossil fuel holdings in a push to go green, UT’s strategy has positioned its endowment to overtake Harvard University’s as the richest in US higher education.” Read more at Bloomberg
Workers drill for oil on university lands in Andrews, Texas on June 2. Photographer: Jordan Vonderhaar/Bloomberg
“NASA has released a new round of images from the James Webb Telescope, and the most recent photos took a very detailed look at the king of our solar system – Jupiter.” Read more at USA Today
Webb NIRCam composite image of Jupiter from three filters – F360M (red), F212N (yellow-green), and F150W2 (cyan) – and alignment due to the planet’s rotation.Webb NIRCam composite image of Jupiter from three filters – F360M (red), F212N (yellow-green), and F150W2 (cyan) – and alignment due to the planet’s rotation. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Jupiter ERS Team; image processing by Judy Schmidt.
“The most endangered tree in the contiguous United States is most likely a battered old oak hidden deep in a Texas mountain range. Its trunk is scarred by a wildfire. Its limbs are weak from a fungal infection. Its habitat is imperiled by climate change. Scientists only realized the species still existed after stumbling upon the ailing specimen during an expedition this spring. And without swift action, researchers warn, Quercus tardifolia could truly disappear.
10 steps you can take to lower your carbon footprint
The species is among some 100 U.S. trees staring down the barrel of extinction, according to a sweeping new assessment published Tuesday in the journal Plants People Planet.
Amid an onslaught of invasive insects, a surge in deadly diseases and the all-encompassing peril of climate change, as many as 1 in 6 trees native to the Lower 48 states are in danger of being wiped out, the scientists say. The threatened list includes soaring coast redwoods, capacious American chestnuts, elegant black ash and gnarled whitebark pine.” Read more at Washington Post
“Scientists have found microplastics in bear and deer feces in Taiwan, highlighting how the tiny flakes and particles are polluting natural ecosystems and being ingested by animals and humans even in some of the world’s most remote places. As Aaron Clark reports, plastic was found in fecal matter from protected species including black bears, sambar deer, otters, yellow-throated martens and leopard cats, according to a study by Greenpeace East Asia and local experts.” Read more at Bloomberg
Two Formosan Black Bears enjoy honey ice at Taipei City Zoo in 2003. Photographer: Sam Yeh/AFP/Getty ImagesBloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022
Airlines are trying to resurrect the Concorde era
Is there such a thing as a green supersonic jet?
“American Airlines on Tuesday announced that it would purchase a fleet of 20 planes from Boom Supersonic, a startup building aircraft that can travel faster than the speed of sound. The order came after United Airlines announced last year that it would buy 15 of the company’s Overture planes. Passenger flights aren’t expected until the end of the decade, but if everything goes according to plan, commercial supersonic flight could return for the first time since the age of the Concorde.
Boom says its planes are designed to go at speeds twice as fast as a typical flight. That would be fast enough to get someone from Newark to London in just three and a half hours, and from Los Angeles to Honolulu in just three hours. The first of these flights is scheduled for 2026, and the company plans to start carrying passengers by 2029. If all works out, United has the option to buy at least 35 more planes from the startup; American has the option to buy another 40.
But there’s another twist. Boom also wants to make these flights environmentally friendly, promising that these planes will be ‘net-zero carbon from day one,’ and rely completely on sustainable aviation fuel, which is repurposed from waste or organic sources.
Boom’s deals with United and American come as the high environmental costs of flying face growing scrutiny. The movement to more stringently regulate airplane emissions is now worldwide, and airlines have increasingly advertised plans to reduce their impact on the environment. Activists like Greta Thunberg have been pushing the idea that people should give up flying entirely. And the airline industry is currently inundated with a surge in summer travel, cancellations, and flight delays.” Read more at Vox
Paul Newman’s Daughters Sue Newman’s Own Foundation
Hollywood star’s children allege foundation has strayed from father’s wishes; foundation says suit is meritless
The Hollywood star created the Newman’s Own Foundation in 2005.PHOTO: EVERETT COLLECTION
“Two of Paul Newman’s daughters sued the Newman’s Own Foundation, saying its leaders have strayed from their late father’s wishes and limited their involvement in its charitable giving.
The Hollywood star created the Newman’s Own Foundation in 2005, three years before his death. The nonprofit controls a food company called Newman’s Own Inc. that funds the private foundation with its after-tax profits. The foundation had assets valued at about $234 million at the end of 2020, according to federal tax filings.
The foundation’s board of directors in 2020 reduced the yearly amount that Mr. Newman’s daughters each receive to direct charitable donations to $200,000 from $400,000, a move they said is a violation of Mr. Newman’s wishes, according to the lawsuit filed Tuesday by Elinor ‘Nell’ Newman and Susan Newman in a Connecticut state court.
The lawsuit seeks $1.6 million in damages to be donated to the charities of the daughters choosing, along with a judgment that requires the foundation to abide by Mr. Newman’s wishes. The daughters aren’t members of the foundation’s board of directors.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
Photo: Ollie Upton/HBO
“HBO's ‘House of the Dragon’ drew nearly 10 million viewers on Sunday — the highest for any premium cable or streaming premiere in 2022.
Why it matters: The ‘Game of Thrones’ prequel shows the power of extending popular franchises back in time for super-fans, Axios' Sara Fischer and Herb Scribner report.
What's next: Amazon Prime's ‘Lord of the Rings’ prequel ‘The Rings of Power’ debuts Sept. 1.” Read more at Axios