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Celerity
Celerity's Journal
Celerity's Journal
February 11, 2022
https://www.thedailybeast.com/tina-peters-maga-election-clerk-appears-to-try-kicking-police-officer-during-arrest
The notorious pro-Trump Mesa County elections clerk Tina Peters was detained at a bagel shop on Tuesday—and a video of the incident shows her resisting arrest and apparently attempting to kick a cop. Peters became one of Colorado’s most renowned elections officials last year after she was accused of aiding a QAnon-linked leak of voting-machine logins.
The Denver Post reported that Tuesday’s arrest wasn’t linked to investigations of that possible election-security breach, but was related to Peters allegedly filming court proceedings on her iPad. Investigators were reportedly looking for that iPad when they detained Peters.
In a video shared by 9News, Peters can be seen jostling with a cop and yelling “Let go of me!” She appears to attempt to kick an officer, who shouts: “Don’t kick!” Peters’ legal defense fund said she complied by handing over the iPad, but resisted when officers started trying to seize other items.
Read it at The Denver Post
'Don't Kick!': Video Shows MAGA Election Clerk Freaking Out During Arrest
https://www.thedailybeast.com/tina-peters-maga-election-clerk-appears-to-try-kicking-police-officer-during-arrest
The notorious pro-Trump Mesa County elections clerk Tina Peters was detained at a bagel shop on Tuesday—and a video of the incident shows her resisting arrest and apparently attempting to kick a cop. Peters became one of Colorado’s most renowned elections officials last year after she was accused of aiding a QAnon-linked leak of voting-machine logins.
The Denver Post reported that Tuesday’s arrest wasn’t linked to investigations of that possible election-security breach, but was related to Peters allegedly filming court proceedings on her iPad. Investigators were reportedly looking for that iPad when they detained Peters.
In a video shared by 9News, Peters can be seen jostling with a cop and yelling “Let go of me!” She appears to attempt to kick an officer, who shouts: “Don’t kick!” Peters’ legal defense fund said she complied by handing over the iPad, but resisted when officers started trying to seize other items.
Read it at The Denver Post
February 11, 2022
When the doldrums of this dreary winter are testing your affability and that New Year’s pledge to make every meal low-fat and healthy has long lost its appeal, there may be only one thing to do: cook and eat something unapologetically decadent. Toss in Valentine’s Day, and you’ve got the perfect excuse to go all in on an all-out indulgent meal, and to make an event out of cooking and savoring it. Well, Chef Lydia Shire has your back. For decades now, the indefatigable 73-year-old culinary legend has been racking up awards and adoration in Boston with her take-no-prisoners lavish dishes that embrace both fat and flavor. Her philosophy in a nutshell? “Live a little.”
That approach is exemplified by one of her signature creations at Boston’s Scampo restaurant: chestnut flour ravioli with lobster and candied chestnuts. “It takes a little more gumption and patience than your average home recipe,” she muses. “But it’s extremely doable. And it’s a perfect dish for a winter evening—something to show off with.” When making this dish (or any dish, for that matter) Shire says not to fear fat, which she insists gets a bad rap. “It brings ingredients into their glory,” she says. “I take the Julia Child approach. She said that if the nutrition police take over—she called them scareheads—they’re going to kill gastronomy. Julia ate everything and lived a long, happy life. You only live once, so we should be seeking flavor when we eat, not put ourselves through this torture of seeking zero fat.”
For Shire, it’s a question of choosing quality over quantity. “I never sit down and eat a 14-ounce steak,” she explains. “That’s why I’ve always had a half steak on my menu at Scampo. And I’m as happy to eat a four-ounce Wagyu as anything bigger. A smart person can eat whatever they want as long as they do it right. You should maximize the flavor of your food and eat less.” Just as she’s calling for a happy medium between portion size and indulgence, Shire also preaches keeping dishes like this from being too rich by balancing creamy and earthy flavors and textures—which is also how she manages to keep an ingredient like lobster exciting in a region like New England, where it’s basically ubiquitous. “The chestnut changes everything,” she says. “Its sweetness and earthiness brings out the lobster flavor in a whole new way.”
And then there’s the final flourish of fried Brussels sprouts leaves scattered across the ravioli. “Their cabbage-y taste makes everything pop—you get the sweetness of the lobster and chestnut, and then you have this deep flavor in the light and crunchy leaves,” she says. “They’re just another example of why you shouldn’t listen to scarehead nutritionists. What bullshit! These aren’t bad for you. There’s very little oil, but it adds worlds of flavor.” These portions are large, so you may have leftovers—but as Shire puts it, “Something this good absolutely must have an encore.” She adds that you can serve the lobster tails with their shells either on or off. “I prefer leaving them on,” she says. “More drama!”
Chestnut Flour Ravioli of Lobster & Candied Chestnut Recipe
Ingredients:
snip
Make This Decadent Lobster Ravioli with Candied Chestnuts
https://www.thrillist.com/eat/nation/lobster-ravioli-candied-chestnuts-recipeWhen the doldrums of this dreary winter are testing your affability and that New Year’s pledge to make every meal low-fat and healthy has long lost its appeal, there may be only one thing to do: cook and eat something unapologetically decadent. Toss in Valentine’s Day, and you’ve got the perfect excuse to go all in on an all-out indulgent meal, and to make an event out of cooking and savoring it. Well, Chef Lydia Shire has your back. For decades now, the indefatigable 73-year-old culinary legend has been racking up awards and adoration in Boston with her take-no-prisoners lavish dishes that embrace both fat and flavor. Her philosophy in a nutshell? “Live a little.”
That approach is exemplified by one of her signature creations at Boston’s Scampo restaurant: chestnut flour ravioli with lobster and candied chestnuts. “It takes a little more gumption and patience than your average home recipe,” she muses. “But it’s extremely doable. And it’s a perfect dish for a winter evening—something to show off with.” When making this dish (or any dish, for that matter) Shire says not to fear fat, which she insists gets a bad rap. “It brings ingredients into their glory,” she says. “I take the Julia Child approach. She said that if the nutrition police take over—she called them scareheads—they’re going to kill gastronomy. Julia ate everything and lived a long, happy life. You only live once, so we should be seeking flavor when we eat, not put ourselves through this torture of seeking zero fat.”
For Shire, it’s a question of choosing quality over quantity. “I never sit down and eat a 14-ounce steak,” she explains. “That’s why I’ve always had a half steak on my menu at Scampo. And I’m as happy to eat a four-ounce Wagyu as anything bigger. A smart person can eat whatever they want as long as they do it right. You should maximize the flavor of your food and eat less.” Just as she’s calling for a happy medium between portion size and indulgence, Shire also preaches keeping dishes like this from being too rich by balancing creamy and earthy flavors and textures—which is also how she manages to keep an ingredient like lobster exciting in a region like New England, where it’s basically ubiquitous. “The chestnut changes everything,” she says. “Its sweetness and earthiness brings out the lobster flavor in a whole new way.”
And then there’s the final flourish of fried Brussels sprouts leaves scattered across the ravioli. “Their cabbage-y taste makes everything pop—you get the sweetness of the lobster and chestnut, and then you have this deep flavor in the light and crunchy leaves,” she says. “They’re just another example of why you shouldn’t listen to scarehead nutritionists. What bullshit! These aren’t bad for you. There’s very little oil, but it adds worlds of flavor.” These portions are large, so you may have leftovers—but as Shire puts it, “Something this good absolutely must have an encore.” She adds that you can serve the lobster tails with their shells either on or off. “I prefer leaving them on,” she says. “More drama!”
Chestnut Flour Ravioli of Lobster & Candied Chestnut Recipe
Ingredients:
snip
February 11, 2022
She and her husband own millions of dollars in stocks and traded hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of stocks last year.
Pelosi has opened the door to banning stock trading for lawmakers, and momentum is quickly building.
https://www.businessinsider.com/elaine-luria-opposes-stock-trade-ban-lawmakers-2022-2
Democratic Rep. Elaine Luria of Virginia came out strongly against proposals to ban lawmakers from trading stocks, saying on Wednesday that the "whole concept is bullshit." Her comments echoed those of Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, who has violated the STOCK Act 132 times, and called the idea "ridiculous."
Asked by Punchbowl News' Max Cohen about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's reported openness to banning the practice, Luria — one of the caucus' more vulnerable members in 2022 and a member of the committee investigating the January 6 riot — didn't mince words.
"I think this whole concept is bullshit," she said. "Because I think that, why would you assume that members of Congress are going to be inherently bad or corrupt? We already have the STOCK Act that requires people to report stock trades."
Punchbowl also reported that Luria raised the issue during a recent meeting with other vulnerable "frontline" Democrats — those who represent swing seats and are at the highest risk of losing reelection. Rep. Cindy Axne of Iowa, who has violated the STOCK Act at least 40 times, also voiced concerns.
snip
Dem Elaine Luria slams proposals to ban stock trading by lawmakers: 'This whole concept is bullshit'
Rep. Elaine Luria of Virginia said "the whole concept" of banning lawmakers from stock trading is "bullshit."She and her husband own millions of dollars in stocks and traded hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of stocks last year.
Pelosi has opened the door to banning stock trading for lawmakers, and momentum is quickly building.
https://www.businessinsider.com/elaine-luria-opposes-stock-trade-ban-lawmakers-2022-2
Democratic Rep. Elaine Luria of Virginia came out strongly against proposals to ban lawmakers from trading stocks, saying on Wednesday that the "whole concept is bullshit." Her comments echoed those of Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, who has violated the STOCK Act 132 times, and called the idea "ridiculous."
Asked by Punchbowl News' Max Cohen about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's reported openness to banning the practice, Luria — one of the caucus' more vulnerable members in 2022 and a member of the committee investigating the January 6 riot — didn't mince words.
"I think this whole concept is bullshit," she said. "Because I think that, why would you assume that members of Congress are going to be inherently bad or corrupt? We already have the STOCK Act that requires people to report stock trades."
Punchbowl also reported that Luria raised the issue during a recent meeting with other vulnerable "frontline" Democrats — those who represent swing seats and are at the highest risk of losing reelection. Rep. Cindy Axne of Iowa, who has violated the STOCK Act at least 40 times, also voiced concerns.
snip
https://disclosures-clerk.house.gov/public_disc/financial-pdfs/2020/10042701.pdf
Luria has a heavy position in publicly traded stocks. Luria and her husband, Robert Blondin, own between $1 million-$5 million in Facebook stock, $1 million-$5 million in NVIDIA stock and $500,000-$1 million in Netflix stock.
Luria has a heavy position in publicly traded stocks. Luria and her husband, Robert Blondin, own between $1 million-$5 million in Facebook stock, $1 million-$5 million in NVIDIA stock and $500,000-$1 million in Netflix stock.
February 11, 2022
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/10/world/europe/northern-ireland-brexit.html
A pro-British mural in Belfast. Some unionists say Brexit arrangements have driven a wedge between Northern Ireland and mainland Britain.
BELFAST, Northern Ireland — Michelle O’Neill was forced to greet visitors this week in a drab upstairs meeting room at the rear of the Stormont Parliament Buildings in Belfast, its faded posters and scattered chairs a stark contrast to the classical grandeur of the chambers at the front of the complex.
A leader of the Irish nationalist Sinn Fein party, Ms. O’Neill had just vacated her office as deputy first minister of Northern Ireland’s government after the first minister, Paul Givan, a member of the main unionist party — that is, the main party supporting Northern Ireland’s current status as part of the United Kingdom — abruptly resigned. Under the power-sharing agreement that governs the territory, she automatically lost her post as well.
But if the upheaval turned Ms. O’Neill into a temporary vagabond, it also served to underline a momentous political shift in Northern Ireland: Assuming that current polls hold, Sinn Fein, with its vestigial ties to the paramilitary Irish Republican Army and fervent commitment to Irish unification, will become the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly after elections scheduled for May. That could catapult the 45-year-old Ms. O’Neill into the post of first minister, and it helps explain why Mr. Givan quit when he did.
His Democratic Unionist Party is desperate to rally its voters before the election. Its most emotive issue is the North’s trade status in the wake of Brexit, which is governed by a complex legal arrangement known as the Northern Ireland Protocol. Unionists complain that the protocol, which requires border checks on goods passing between Northern Ireland and mainland Britain, has driven a wedge between the North and the rest of the United Kingdom.
snip
Upheaval in Northern Ireland, With Brexit at Its Center
A dispute over trading checks has left the main pro-British party in disarray, creating the potential for a momentous political shift.https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/10/world/europe/northern-ireland-brexit.html
A pro-British mural in Belfast. Some unionists say Brexit arrangements have driven a wedge between Northern Ireland and mainland Britain.
BELFAST, Northern Ireland — Michelle O’Neill was forced to greet visitors this week in a drab upstairs meeting room at the rear of the Stormont Parliament Buildings in Belfast, its faded posters and scattered chairs a stark contrast to the classical grandeur of the chambers at the front of the complex.
A leader of the Irish nationalist Sinn Fein party, Ms. O’Neill had just vacated her office as deputy first minister of Northern Ireland’s government after the first minister, Paul Givan, a member of the main unionist party — that is, the main party supporting Northern Ireland’s current status as part of the United Kingdom — abruptly resigned. Under the power-sharing agreement that governs the territory, she automatically lost her post as well.
But if the upheaval turned Ms. O’Neill into a temporary vagabond, it also served to underline a momentous political shift in Northern Ireland: Assuming that current polls hold, Sinn Fein, with its vestigial ties to the paramilitary Irish Republican Army and fervent commitment to Irish unification, will become the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly after elections scheduled for May. That could catapult the 45-year-old Ms. O’Neill into the post of first minister, and it helps explain why Mr. Givan quit when he did.
His Democratic Unionist Party is desperate to rally its voters before the election. Its most emotive issue is the North’s trade status in the wake of Brexit, which is governed by a complex legal arrangement known as the Northern Ireland Protocol. Unionists complain that the protocol, which requires border checks on goods passing between Northern Ireland and mainland Britain, has driven a wedge between the North and the rest of the United Kingdom.
snip
February 11, 2022
Stuart Armstrong from SOTON (Glory year was 2016/17 at Celtic, 15 league goals in only 31 games as a MFer)
State of that angle
https://twitter.com/martino67_/status/1490026370294071300Stuart Armstrong from SOTON (Glory year was 2016/17 at Celtic, 15 league goals in only 31 games as a MFer)
February 11, 2022
The lobbyist son (left pic above) of congressman Carlos Gimenez (R-FL) was arrested for slapping a Miami city commissioner at a swanky steakhouse. It’s not clear what bad blood led to the contretemps between C.J. Gimenez and Alex Diaz de la Portilla at Morton’s in Coral Gables on Wednesday afternoon, but the slappee felt the need to put out a name-calling press release about the alleged slapper.
“It was more flick of his wrist from behind me when I was having lunch as he cowardly approached me from behind and ran away,” it said. “This guy is not known as a very courageous guy. Actually, he’s quite a coward and appeared to be under the influence.” Gimenez, who once represented Donald Trump, was booked on a charge of simple battery.
Read it at Miami Herald
some background on daddy's shadiness :
Corrupt Carlos Giménez Hit with New Ethics Complaint
https://www.floridadems.org/2020/01/22/corrupt-carlos-gimenez-hit-with-new-ethics-complaint-government-watchdog-vows-to-investigate/
Shocking new text messages just released from Giménez’s office show extent of Miami-Dade County Mayor’s corruption
With every passing day, as he prepares to run for Congress, Corrupt Carlos Giménez stumbles into new ethics issues.
On Friday, Giménez was hit with a new ethics complaint over his office’s response to a devastating new Florida Democratic Party ad that reveals Giménez’s decades-long pattern of using his office to enrich himself, his family and his wealthy donors at taxpayers’ expense.
https://twitter.com/FlaDems/status/1215688136443023361
Matching a long pattern of unethical behavior, Giménez responded to the ad that exposed his use of taxpayer money for personal gain by…. using his taxpayer-funded staff for his political gain.
Read more about the new ethics complaint against Giménez below.
snip
Congressman's Son Arrested for Slapping Miami Commissioner
https://www.thedailybeast.com/congressmans-son-arrested-for-slapping-miami-commissionerThe lobbyist son (left pic above) of congressman Carlos Gimenez (R-FL) was arrested for slapping a Miami city commissioner at a swanky steakhouse. It’s not clear what bad blood led to the contretemps between C.J. Gimenez and Alex Diaz de la Portilla at Morton’s in Coral Gables on Wednesday afternoon, but the slappee felt the need to put out a name-calling press release about the alleged slapper.
“It was more flick of his wrist from behind me when I was having lunch as he cowardly approached me from behind and ran away,” it said. “This guy is not known as a very courageous guy. Actually, he’s quite a coward and appeared to be under the influence.” Gimenez, who once represented Donald Trump, was booked on a charge of simple battery.
Read it at Miami Herald
some background on daddy's shadiness :
Corrupt Carlos Giménez Hit with New Ethics Complaint
https://www.floridadems.org/2020/01/22/corrupt-carlos-gimenez-hit-with-new-ethics-complaint-government-watchdog-vows-to-investigate/
Shocking new text messages just released from Giménez’s office show extent of Miami-Dade County Mayor’s corruption
With every passing day, as he prepares to run for Congress, Corrupt Carlos Giménez stumbles into new ethics issues.
On Friday, Giménez was hit with a new ethics complaint over his office’s response to a devastating new Florida Democratic Party ad that reveals Giménez’s decades-long pattern of using his office to enrich himself, his family and his wealthy donors at taxpayers’ expense.
https://twitter.com/FlaDems/status/1215688136443023361
Matching a long pattern of unethical behavior, Giménez responded to the ad that exposed his use of taxpayer money for personal gain by…. using his taxpayer-funded staff for his political gain.
Read more about the new ethics complaint against Giménez below.
snip
February 10, 2022
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2022/02/facebook-hate-speech-misinformation-superusers/621617/
If you want to understand why Facebook too often is a cesspool of hate and disinformation, a good place to start is with users such as John, Michelle, and Calvin. John, a caps-lock devotee from upstate New York, calls House Speaker Nancy Pelosi “PIGLOSI,” uses the term negro, and says that the right response to Democrats with whom they disagree is to “SHOOT all of them.” Michelle rails against the “plandemic.” Calvin uses gay as a slur and declares that Black neighborhoods are always “SHITHOLES.” You’ve almost certainly encountered people like these on the internet. What you may not realize, though, is just how powerful they are.
For more than a year, we’ve been analyzing a massive new data set that we designed to study public behavior on the 500 U.S. Facebook pages that get the most engagement from users. Our research, part of which will be submitted for peer review later this year, aims to better understand the people who spread hate and misinformation on Facebook. We hoped to learn how they use the platform and, crucially, how Facebook responds. Based on prior reporting, we expected it would be ugly. What we found was much worse.
Read: Facebook is a Doomsday Machine
The most alarming aspect of our findings is that people like John, Michelle, and Calvin aren’t merely fringe trolls, or a distraction from what really matters on the platform. They are part of an elite, previously unreported class of users that produce more likes, shares, reactions, comments, and posts than 99 percent of Facebook users in America. They’re superusers. And because Facebook’s algorithm rewards engagement, these superusers have enormous influence over which posts are seen first in other users’ feeds, and which are never seen at all. Even more shocking is just how nasty most of these hyper-influential users are. The most abusive people on Facebook, it turns out, are given the most power to shape what Facebook is.
Facebook activity is far more concentrated than most realize. The company likes to emphasize the breadth of its platform: nearly 2.9 billion monthly active users, visiting millions of public pages and groups. This is misleading. Our analysis shows that public activity is focused on a far narrower set of pages and groups, frequented by a much thinner slice of users. Top pages such as those of Ben Shapiro, Fox News, and Occupy Democrats generated tens of millions of interactions a month in our data, while all U.S. pages ranked 300 or lower in terms of engagement received less than 1 million interactions each. (The pages with the most engagement included examples from the far right and the far left, but right-wing pages were dominant among the top-ranked overtly political pages.)
snip
Facebook Has a Superuser-Supremacy Problem
Most public activity on the platform comes from a tiny, hyperactive group of abusive users. Facebook relies on them to decide what everyone sees.https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2022/02/facebook-hate-speech-misinformation-superusers/621617/
If you want to understand why Facebook too often is a cesspool of hate and disinformation, a good place to start is with users such as John, Michelle, and Calvin. John, a caps-lock devotee from upstate New York, calls House Speaker Nancy Pelosi “PIGLOSI,” uses the term negro, and says that the right response to Democrats with whom they disagree is to “SHOOT all of them.” Michelle rails against the “plandemic.” Calvin uses gay as a slur and declares that Black neighborhoods are always “SHITHOLES.” You’ve almost certainly encountered people like these on the internet. What you may not realize, though, is just how powerful they are.
For more than a year, we’ve been analyzing a massive new data set that we designed to study public behavior on the 500 U.S. Facebook pages that get the most engagement from users. Our research, part of which will be submitted for peer review later this year, aims to better understand the people who spread hate and misinformation on Facebook. We hoped to learn how they use the platform and, crucially, how Facebook responds. Based on prior reporting, we expected it would be ugly. What we found was much worse.
Read: Facebook is a Doomsday Machine
The most alarming aspect of our findings is that people like John, Michelle, and Calvin aren’t merely fringe trolls, or a distraction from what really matters on the platform. They are part of an elite, previously unreported class of users that produce more likes, shares, reactions, comments, and posts than 99 percent of Facebook users in America. They’re superusers. And because Facebook’s algorithm rewards engagement, these superusers have enormous influence over which posts are seen first in other users’ feeds, and which are never seen at all. Even more shocking is just how nasty most of these hyper-influential users are. The most abusive people on Facebook, it turns out, are given the most power to shape what Facebook is.
Facebook activity is far more concentrated than most realize. The company likes to emphasize the breadth of its platform: nearly 2.9 billion monthly active users, visiting millions of public pages and groups. This is misleading. Our analysis shows that public activity is focused on a far narrower set of pages and groups, frequented by a much thinner slice of users. Top pages such as those of Ben Shapiro, Fox News, and Occupy Democrats generated tens of millions of interactions a month in our data, while all U.S. pages ranked 300 or lower in terms of engagement received less than 1 million interactions each. (The pages with the most engagement included examples from the far right and the far left, but right-wing pages were dominant among the top-ranked overtly political pages.)
snip
February 10, 2022
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/09/us/politics/video-game-political-arena.html
Politics is serious business. It often feels existential. Exhausting. Infuriating. Bone-dry. Confusing. Can it also be fun? Eliot Nelson insists it can be. And to prove it, he’s turning politics into a game. A video game.
For the past three years, Nelson has been working on Political Arena, which he bills as “the first truly in-depth video game about American democracy.” For those of a certain age, think SimCity meets The Oregon Trail — with a little Grand Theft Auto thrown in. Nelson wants to educate the masses about the ins and outs of how their government really works. And entertain them, too.
“Politics is gripping,” Nelson told us. “It’s one of the most popular subjects across time. The thrill of wielding power is inherently exciting.” As one early online ad for the game puts it, “Seek fame or infamy in a fully simulated political world, complete with high stakes campaign strategizing, backroom deals, scandals, special interests, and the press. Be the politician of your dreams (or nightmares).”
From D.C. in-jokes to storyboards
Nelson spent the early part of his career as a journalist in Washington. His much-loved newsletter on Congress, HuffPost Hill, was an extension of his personality — a blend of earnest wonkery, serious legislative coverage and lots and lots of wisecracks. “It was the one tipsheet that I would recommend to my friends who were not in politics,” said Jess McIntosh, who was a press secretary for former Senator Al Franken and is now advising the video game project. “I still miss it.”
snip
You Can Be Mitch McConnell for a Day
A new video game will let players pretend to be the politicians they most admire — or despise.https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/09/us/politics/video-game-political-arena.html
Politics is serious business. It often feels existential. Exhausting. Infuriating. Bone-dry. Confusing. Can it also be fun? Eliot Nelson insists it can be. And to prove it, he’s turning politics into a game. A video game.
For the past three years, Nelson has been working on Political Arena, which he bills as “the first truly in-depth video game about American democracy.” For those of a certain age, think SimCity meets The Oregon Trail — with a little Grand Theft Auto thrown in. Nelson wants to educate the masses about the ins and outs of how their government really works. And entertain them, too.
“Politics is gripping,” Nelson told us. “It’s one of the most popular subjects across time. The thrill of wielding power is inherently exciting.” As one early online ad for the game puts it, “Seek fame or infamy in a fully simulated political world, complete with high stakes campaign strategizing, backroom deals, scandals, special interests, and the press. Be the politician of your dreams (or nightmares).”
From D.C. in-jokes to storyboards
Nelson spent the early part of his career as a journalist in Washington. His much-loved newsletter on Congress, HuffPost Hill, was an extension of his personality — a blend of earnest wonkery, serious legislative coverage and lots and lots of wisecracks. “It was the one tipsheet that I would recommend to my friends who were not in politics,” said Jess McIntosh, who was a press secretary for former Senator Al Franken and is now advising the video game project. “I still miss it.”
snip
February 10, 2022
FEPS’ Progressive Yearbook has become a tradition and is now close to the heart of the progressive political family in Brussels and beyond. This yearly edition counts on renowned authors' contributions, including academics, politicians and civil-society representatives.
The third edition of this publication focuses on transversal European issues that have left a mark on 2021 and insightful future-looking analyses for the new year. The past year has brought important changes which might amount to a new trend in Europe. Discover what and why here!
Read the Progressive Yearbook 2022
https://www.feps-europe.eu/attachments/publications/progressive%20yearbook%202022%20v9.pdf
The different chapters:
Foreword: Left turn of the tide?
LOOKING BACK
European Chronology 2021
Commission at half-time - by László ANDOR
PROGRESS IN EUROPE
‘Impossible’ is a matter of opinion - by Ania SKRZYPEK
Poverty in the EU: the Pillar of Social Rights as change-maker? - by Bea CANTILLON
Progressive Person of the Year - László ANDOR interviews Roberto GUALTIERI
IN MEMORIAL
One of our fines. In memory of Michael Hoppe - by Udo BULLMANN
BIG ISSUES
Is Europe shaping the digital transformation? A new programmatic and political challenge for Progressives - by Maria João RODRIGUES
Europe’s authoritarian cancer: diagnoses, prognosis, and treatment - by R Daniel KELEMEN
Ten years on: a new roadmap for reforming the European economic governance framework - by Shahin VALLÉE
EU vaccines – a success story on the way to forging a real Health Union - by Sara CERDAS
Young people already know how a post-Covid world should look like - by François BALATE
Why saving enlargement to the Western Balkans could help overcome the EU crisis - by Luisa CHIODI, Francesco MARTINO and Serena EPIS
European strategic autonomy between ambitions and pragmatism - by Alessandro MARRONE
NATIONAL FOCUS
Bulgaria 2022 – a new beginning? - by Georgi PIRINSKI
Does it take a moderate right-winger to defeat Orbán? Hungary's political year in the light of the upcoming elections - by Anikó GREGOR
GLOBAL FOCUS
In the shadow of the Kremlin: Russia-generated political threats to eastern and central European states, and to the interests of the West in Europe - by Maciej RAŚ
Afghan fallout - by Tomáš PETŘÍČEK
PREDICTIONS 2022
Let’s design a European state - by Ulrike GUÉROT
A green 'whatever it takes' moment - by Mathieu BLONDEEL
Cautious optimism for EU economic governance and democracy in 2022 - by Vivien A SCHMIDT
Technological strategic sovereignty living alongside science diplomacy - by Teresa RIERA MADURELL
The next chapter of EU-UK relations - by Tom KIBASI
The Western Balkans in 2022 - by Daša ŠAŠIĆ ŠILOVIĆ
Dynamics of progressive policies - by Conny REUTER
Contradictory developments in the 2020s: Progressive learning vs the increasingly likely possibility of a global military catastrophe - by Heikki PATOMÄKI
Youth and Covidkratia - by Bruno GONÇALVES
FEPS: Progressive Yearbook 2022 (free download)
https://www.feps-europe.eu/resources/publications/841-progressive-yearbook-2022.htmlFEPS’ Progressive Yearbook has become a tradition and is now close to the heart of the progressive political family in Brussels and beyond. This yearly edition counts on renowned authors' contributions, including academics, politicians and civil-society representatives.
The third edition of this publication focuses on transversal European issues that have left a mark on 2021 and insightful future-looking analyses for the new year. The past year has brought important changes which might amount to a new trend in Europe. Discover what and why here!
Read the Progressive Yearbook 2022
https://www.feps-europe.eu/attachments/publications/progressive%20yearbook%202022%20v9.pdf
The different chapters:
Foreword: Left turn of the tide?
LOOKING BACK
European Chronology 2021
Commission at half-time - by László ANDOR
PROGRESS IN EUROPE
‘Impossible’ is a matter of opinion - by Ania SKRZYPEK
Poverty in the EU: the Pillar of Social Rights as change-maker? - by Bea CANTILLON
Progressive Person of the Year - László ANDOR interviews Roberto GUALTIERI
IN MEMORIAL
One of our fines. In memory of Michael Hoppe - by Udo BULLMANN
BIG ISSUES
Is Europe shaping the digital transformation? A new programmatic and political challenge for Progressives - by Maria João RODRIGUES
Europe’s authoritarian cancer: diagnoses, prognosis, and treatment - by R Daniel KELEMEN
Ten years on: a new roadmap for reforming the European economic governance framework - by Shahin VALLÉE
EU vaccines – a success story on the way to forging a real Health Union - by Sara CERDAS
Young people already know how a post-Covid world should look like - by François BALATE
Why saving enlargement to the Western Balkans could help overcome the EU crisis - by Luisa CHIODI, Francesco MARTINO and Serena EPIS
European strategic autonomy between ambitions and pragmatism - by Alessandro MARRONE
NATIONAL FOCUS
Bulgaria 2022 – a new beginning? - by Georgi PIRINSKI
Does it take a moderate right-winger to defeat Orbán? Hungary's political year in the light of the upcoming elections - by Anikó GREGOR
GLOBAL FOCUS
In the shadow of the Kremlin: Russia-generated political threats to eastern and central European states, and to the interests of the West in Europe - by Maciej RAŚ
Afghan fallout - by Tomáš PETŘÍČEK
PREDICTIONS 2022
Let’s design a European state - by Ulrike GUÉROT
A green 'whatever it takes' moment - by Mathieu BLONDEEL
Cautious optimism for EU economic governance and democracy in 2022 - by Vivien A SCHMIDT
Technological strategic sovereignty living alongside science diplomacy - by Teresa RIERA MADURELL
The next chapter of EU-UK relations - by Tom KIBASI
The Western Balkans in 2022 - by Daša ŠAŠIĆ ŠILOVIĆ
Dynamics of progressive policies - by Conny REUTER
Contradictory developments in the 2020s: Progressive learning vs the increasingly likely possibility of a global military catastrophe - by Heikki PATOMÄKI
Youth and Covidkratia - by Bruno GONÇALVES
February 10, 2022
https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-fbi-keeps-pushing-junk-science-to-win-convictions
Late last year, a forensic firearms analyst in Wisconsin emailed a remarkable document to more than 200 of her colleagues across the country. It was a handout from an online lecture given by Jim Agar, the assistant general counsel for the FBI Crime Lab. For years, forensic firearms analysts have claimed the ability to examine the marks on a bullet found at a crime scene and match it to the gun that fired it—to the exclusion of all other guns. It can be powerfully persuasive to juries. But over the last decade or so, some scientists have cast doubt on the claim.
Forensic firearms analysis falls into a subcategory of forensics colloquially known as “pattern matching.” In these specialties, an analyst looks at a piece of evidence from a crime scene and compares it with a piece of evidence associated with a suspect. The most damning criticism of the field came in a 2016 report by the President’s Council of Advisers on Science and Technology, or PCAST, which found that “firearms analysis currently falls short of the criteria for foundational validity,” and that the studies the field’s practitioners often cite to support their work are poorly designed and “seriously underestimate the false positive rate.”
After decades of deferring to these forensic analysts, a handful of judges started to heed the warnings from scientists, and have put limits on what some forensic witnesses can say in court. Those decisions have sparked a defensive backlash in the forensics community, along with rebukes from law enforcement officials and prosecutors. Agar’s document is part of that backlash. In the two-page handout, Agar instructs firearms analysts on how to circumvent judges’ restrictions on unscientific testimony. He even suggests dialogue for prosecutors and analysts to recite if challenged. Most controversially, Agar advises analysts to tell judges that any effort to restrict their testimony to claims backed by scientific research is tantamount to asking them to commit perjury.
Agar’s document was so volatile, it was upbraided by the Texas Forensic Science Commission (TFSC). That agency—the only one of its kind—was formed in the wake of revelations that bogus expert testimony likely caused the state to convict and execute an innocent man, and is tasked with ensuring that expert testimony given in Texas courtrooms is scientifically valid. The TFSC called Agar’s advice to firearm analysts “irredeemably faulty,” and stated that it “runs counter to core principles in science.” “This is just really unbelievable,” Ellen Yaroshefsky, a professor of legal ethics at Hofstra University, told The Daily Beast after reviewing Agar’s memo. “He’s encouraging false testimony and he’s undermining respect for the judiciary. I mean, he’s saying that if a judge says you can’t give unscientific testimony, you’re being forced to commit perjury? It’s just absurd.”
A Short History of FBI Forensic Blunders.......
snip
Why a High-Ranking FBI Attorney Is Pushing 'Unbelievable' Junk Science on Guns
Forensic analysts testify at trials as “experts.” But juries don't know that their methods "seriously underestimate the false positive rate.”https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-fbi-keeps-pushing-junk-science-to-win-convictions
Late last year, a forensic firearms analyst in Wisconsin emailed a remarkable document to more than 200 of her colleagues across the country. It was a handout from an online lecture given by Jim Agar, the assistant general counsel for the FBI Crime Lab. For years, forensic firearms analysts have claimed the ability to examine the marks on a bullet found at a crime scene and match it to the gun that fired it—to the exclusion of all other guns. It can be powerfully persuasive to juries. But over the last decade or so, some scientists have cast doubt on the claim.
Forensic firearms analysis falls into a subcategory of forensics colloquially known as “pattern matching.” In these specialties, an analyst looks at a piece of evidence from a crime scene and compares it with a piece of evidence associated with a suspect. The most damning criticism of the field came in a 2016 report by the President’s Council of Advisers on Science and Technology, or PCAST, which found that “firearms analysis currently falls short of the criteria for foundational validity,” and that the studies the field’s practitioners often cite to support their work are poorly designed and “seriously underestimate the false positive rate.”
After decades of deferring to these forensic analysts, a handful of judges started to heed the warnings from scientists, and have put limits on what some forensic witnesses can say in court. Those decisions have sparked a defensive backlash in the forensics community, along with rebukes from law enforcement officials and prosecutors. Agar’s document is part of that backlash. In the two-page handout, Agar instructs firearms analysts on how to circumvent judges’ restrictions on unscientific testimony. He even suggests dialogue for prosecutors and analysts to recite if challenged. Most controversially, Agar advises analysts to tell judges that any effort to restrict their testimony to claims backed by scientific research is tantamount to asking them to commit perjury.
Agar’s document was so volatile, it was upbraided by the Texas Forensic Science Commission (TFSC). That agency—the only one of its kind—was formed in the wake of revelations that bogus expert testimony likely caused the state to convict and execute an innocent man, and is tasked with ensuring that expert testimony given in Texas courtrooms is scientifically valid. The TFSC called Agar’s advice to firearm analysts “irredeemably faulty,” and stated that it “runs counter to core principles in science.” “This is just really unbelievable,” Ellen Yaroshefsky, a professor of legal ethics at Hofstra University, told The Daily Beast after reviewing Agar’s memo. “He’s encouraging false testimony and he’s undermining respect for the judiciary. I mean, he’s saying that if a judge says you can’t give unscientific testimony, you’re being forced to commit perjury? It’s just absurd.”
A Short History of FBI Forensic Blunders.......
snip
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