Linky Friday: Two Guys Walked Into A Bar, The Other Ducked Edition

As always, the pieces shared in Linky Friday are for discussion purposes only, and are solely the opinions of the writers.

[LF1]
Say it ain’t so, Amtrak Joe By Michael Grunwald for Politico:

Politics is the reason Amtrak already operates in 46 of the lower 48 states, even though few of them have the population densities that make inter-city rail work so well in much of Asia and Europe. Scattering trains across the country helps bring lawmakers on board, the infrastructure equivalent of the Pentagon distributing contracts for a single jet to hundreds of congressional districts. Amtrak’s new 2035 Vision reveals a desire to keep spreading rail money around like peanut butter — to plausible destinations like Las Vegas and Phoenix but also to head-scratching destinations like Allentown and Cheyenne, which would make Wyoming the 47th state with a station.

“There’s always a political tax on the geography of infrastructure investment,” says Adie Tomer, an infrastructure expert at the Brookings Institution. “You just don’t want the tax to get too big.”

So before Amtrak fantasizes about new lines to Pueblo, Colo., and Eau Claire, Wis., it ought to focus on upgrading its most important and successful line, the Northeast Corridor between Boston and Washington, D.C.

It’s the only Amtrak route that runs an operating profit. It’s the only Amtrak route that runs primarily on tracks that Amtrak owns. And it includes four of Amtrak’s five busiest stations as well as the one named for the president. With top speeds of 150 miles per hour, it’s as close as Amtrak gets to high-speed rail. Its average speeds are less than 90 miles per hour, but if you ignore the frequent delays, spotty Wi-Fi and lousy food, it at least vaguely resembles the train service you might find in Germany or Japan.

[LF2]
Libya’s fresh start is Europe’s new challenge: The new government in Tripoli needs support — not what happened the last time around by Mary Fitzgerald for Politico Europe

That history is important not only because the Tripoli war still casts a long shadow inside Libya but also because in Europe official narratives of what happened — and how Europe responded — are often at odds with Libyan perceptions. When Haftar upended peace efforts with his attack on the capital in 2019, Europeans generally seemed shy to censure him, sticking instead to “all sides” hand-wringing. For those besieged by Haftar, it appeared the Europeans were dithering, or worse, waiting to see if the septuagenarian general could pull off a victory. The belief that tacit support from Paris emboldened Haftar has fed anti-French sentiment.

A ceasefire last October allowed the resumption of a U.N. process that drew on German diplomatic efforts and culminated in the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF), out of which the new government emerged. Comprised of Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dabaiba and a three-man presidency council, it has a limited mandate. Its main task is to shepherd the country towards national elections planned for December while tackling COVID-19 and improving basic services in the meantime. Dabaiba’s appointment by the LPDF has been overshadowed by allegations of vote-buying.

A tycoon from the port city of Misrata, Dabaiba is keen to present Libya as open for business, a message that seems to have driven his recent discussions with European visitors. Diplomatic missions that evacuated to Tunis after Libya tipped into civil conflict in 2014 have been returning to the Libyan capital.

The French embassy reopened in late March. Both the U.S. and China have indicated they too would like to see their diplomats return. Tripoli buzzes with talk of reconstruction contracts and other investment deals. It’s tempting to get caught up in the optimism of this moment, but Europeans should heed the potential storm clouds on the horizon.

While it is true that Libya is in a better place than it was a year ago, no one should underestimate the difficulties ahead. The country’s new realities include increased Turkish influence in its west and an entrenched Russian presence further east, both of which the Europeans will have to navigate.

Haftar’s ambivalence towards the new government is noteworthy. Attempts to unify military forces show signs of slowing. Foreign fighters sent by Turkey on one side and Haftar’s allies on the other are still present, despite ceasefire pledges that they would leave by January.

What happens next will depend on the decisions that will take place in Tripoli — but also in European capitals. Holding nationwide elections in Libya eight months from now appears ambitious, not only because of the brittle security situation but also because the constitutional framework for such a ballot remains contested. A rush by EU member states to pursue their own interests at such a delicate time risks repeating past mistakes and undercutting prospects for longer term stability.

[LF3]
How Biden’s support for the All-Star Game boycott divided Democrats in Georgia by By
Ashley Parker, Sean Sullivan and Cleve R. Wootson Jr. for The Washington Post

But Biden’s remarks were widely seen as encouraging the move, and Psaki has since been pressed on whether the president supports other boycotts as well — including of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing and the Masters, which began Thursday at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia.

To many advisers and longtime allies, the president’s answer reflected his deeply held conviction that voting is a fundamental right and that Georgia’s new law — which Democrats say makes voting more difficult, particularly for minority voters — is abhorrent.

“This issue of voting is fundamental to democracy, and the president — the leader of the free world — is of course interested in the success of democracy, has views on it, is a leader on it, and was asked about it,” said Catherine Lhamon, the deputy director of the White House’s Domestic Policy Council for Racial Justice and Equity. “The president was not calling for any particular action. His view is that making voting hard is reprehensible, and he expressed that view.”

But to others, Biden went too far with his comments to ESPN, wading into a tense local debate and adding fuel to calls for a boycott that many fear will be counterproductive. The move also gives Republicans a sharp new line of attack, casting Democrats as causing economic and reputational damage to Georgia.

After Biden’s remarks, representatives of Abrams, Ossoff and other Georgia Democrats made contact with the White House officials to highlight their opposition, according to the people familiar with the situation. The point of the conversations was not to fault Biden but to get on the same page and stress that many Democrats in Georgia were still eager to keep the game in the state, the people familiar with the talks said.

The economic repercussions of the move are significant. In Cobb County, where the game was to be held, tourism officials estimated the move to Colorado could cost the area $100 million, including the revenue from some 8,000 hotel rooms that had been booked for the game. The impact is likely to fall hardest on low-
income and minority residents who work in the service sector.

The economic damage explains why many Georgia Democrats — including some who have organized against the state’s new voting law — oppose MLB’s boycott.

“I absolutely oppose and reject any notion of boycotting Georgia,” Ossoff said in a statement the day after Biden’s interview. “Georgia welcomes business, investment, jobs, opportunity, and events. In fact, economic growth is driving much of the political progress we have seen here. Georgia welcomes the world’s business.”

The same day, Abrams said critics should not boycott her state “yet.”

[LF4]
Gaetz Paid Accused Sex Trafficker, Who Then Venmo’d Teen by Jose Pagliery and Roger Sollenberger for The Daily Beast

In two late-night Venmo transactions in May 2018, Rep. Matt Gaetz sent his friend, the accused sex trafficker Joel Greenberg, $900. The next morning, over the course of eight minutes, Greenberg used the same app to send three young women varying sums of money. In total, the transactions amounted to $900.

The memo field for the first of Gaetz’s transactions to Greenberg was titled “Test.” In the second, the Florida GOP congressman wrote “hit up ___.” But instead of a blank, Gaetz wrote a nickname for one of the recipients. (The Daily Beast is not sharing that nickname because the teenager had only turned 18 less than six months before.) When Greenberg then made his Venmo payments to these three young women, he described the money as being for “Tuition,” “School,” and “School.”

The Daily Beast examined these records as a scandal, rooted in a criminal case against Greenberg, engulfs Gaetz.

Greenberg—the former Seminole County tax collector—has now been federally indicted on 33 counts, including sex trafficking crimes involving a 17-year-old. Court documents say Greenberg was “engaged in ‘sugar daddy’ relationships.” And The New York Times says a Justice Department investigation is looking into Gaetz’s involvement in the cash-for-sex ring.

Gaetz and Greenberg are both connected through Venmo to this then-18-year-old woman—who now works in the porn industry, according to a friend of the girl. And on Thursday, Greenberg’s attorney and prosecutors indicated during a court hearing that they expect Greenberg to strike a plea deal, likely meaning he plans to cooperate with investigators.

That could be potentially disastrous for Gaetz, as investigators look into the connections between these two men. And one particularly damning connection is their financial transactions.

This week, during the reporting of this story, Gaetz’s once-public list of Venmo transactions disappeared. Greenberg’s Venmo account is not currently publicly accessible. But The Daily Beast was able to obtain partial records of Greenberg’s past online transactions through a source.

Greenberg and Gaetz are also connected on Venmo to at least one other woman that Greenberg paid with taxpayer funds using a government-issued credit card. Seminole County auditors flagged hundreds of those payments as “questioned or unaccounted for,” and in total found more than $300,000 in suspicious or unjustified expenses. The Daily Beast was able to obtain that credit card data through a public records request.

“No one has any idea what he was doing. Zero,” said Daniel J. O’Keefe, an accountant who conducted a forensic audit for the county. “The arrogance of these guys. They just felt they were above the law. I’ve never seen it this bad.”

[LF5]
Farewell to all that: The end of Yahoo! Answers by Stephen Collinson and Caitlin Hu for CNN

It’s been likened to the burning of the Library of Alexandria — but instead of the destruction of precious knowledge, the imminent demise of Yahoo Answers will finally close an unparalleled archive of human ignorance, the digital home to questions like Does eating hot dogs change your voice? Where can I obtain a wedgie board? Do I have to make my own wedgie board or can I buy one from a witch or a vegan? Where can I buy a frog? (Not for sexual reasons)?

Most of today’s surviving social networks have evolved to wield actual influence in the real world. Redditors manipulate the stock market. Facebook may sway how people vote. Twitter is a megaphone for the powerful. But over more than 15 years, Yahoo Answers never did make much impact offline, perhaps limited by its founding concept: a place for people who want answers not from actual sources of information like encyclopedias, phone books or newspapers — but from other lost souls.

The site became notorious for questions hinting at alarming personal circumstances and gross misconceptions, from the iconic urgent query “how is babby formed? How girl get pragnent?” to “how is cheese formed in a cow?” More recently, a rich vein of rhetorical political “questions” posted by trolls or conspiracy theorists has also emerged, eclipsing the more innocent era of debating how to remove spaghetti stains from underwear.

Yahoo Answers closes on May 4. Until then, the site’s ceaseless questions and responses offer a glimpse of the unfiltered American psyche as it fumbles, divided, with the news of the day.

[LF6]
Day 21 of Derek Chauvin trial: Chauvin kept knee on neck for 3½ minutes after George Floyd drew last breath, expert says by By Paul Walsh, Rochelle Olson and Chao Xiong in the Star Tribune

Using a composite video during direct testimony, Tobin showed jurors how Floyd was positioned with the officers on top of him and how it contributed to his inability to take sufficient breaths. He said Chauvin and officer Kueng manipulated Floyd’s handcuffs by “pushing them into his back and pushing them high,” which further hindered his ability to breathe.

“It’s like the left side is in a vise, it’s being pushed in from the street at the bottom and the way the handcuffs are manipulated … totally interferes with central features of how we breathe,” he said.

Tobin said Floyd also used his left shoulder in attempt to create chest space to draw a breath, but “the shoulder is a very ineffective way of breathing.”

“Basically, on the left side of his chest,” Tobin continued, “it’s as if a surgeon almost went in and removed the lung … and left him totally reliant on his right side,” the doctor said.

With a photo shown in court of Floyd’s knuckles bracing in order to get air, Tobin said, “To most people, this doesn’t look terribly significant, but to a physiologist this is extraordinarily significant, because this shows the has used up all his resources and showed he is trying to breathe with his fingers and knuckles.”

With his left lung rendered useless, the doctor said that Floyd “is totally dependent on getting air into the right side. He’s using his fingers and knuckles against [a squad tire and the street] to try and crank up his chest. This is his only way to get air into the right lung.”

The knee on Floyd’s neck also restricted “air getting into the passageway,” according to the doctor, who said it left him trying to breathe through a space narrower than a small straw. He called that “enormously difficult, and we know that from physics.”

Tobin then turned his attention to the amount of weight being pressed onto Floyd’s neck. He noted that Chauvin kept his upper body erect while having his left knee on Floyd’s neck while at times lifting his left toe.

“We’re talking half of his body weight and half of his gear [weight], and all of that is coming down,” the doctor said. A graphic accompanying this part of his testimony read that lifting the toe increased the weight pressed on Floyd’s neck from about 86 pounds to more than 91.

Tobin also focused on a specific passage of time of Chauvin having his knee on Floyd’s neck. He said that various video from the scene indicated Floyd suffered brain injury about 5 minutes into his restraint on the street. This is when Floyd “kicked out his leg in an extension form” and that response is when “we see he suffered brain injury from a low level of oxygen.”

Along with the left knee on the neck hindering Floyd’s ability to breathe, Tobin said Chauvin’s right knee on the back made things more difficult while “the street is playing a huge part … and totally preventing every action on the front.”

With both knees on the body, “you are now seeing a 43% reduction” in Floyd’s lung capacity, he said.

Also Thursday, the prosecution confirmed that it intends to soon call as a witness Dr. Andrew Baker, the Hennepin County medical examiner who performed the only autopsy on Floyd soon after he died.

Baker ruled Floyd’s cause of death as cardiac arrest, namely “cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression.” He also listed hardening and thickening of the artery walls, heart disease and drug use as “other significant conditions.” Fentanyl and methamphetamine were also found in Floyd’s system.

The prosecution, however, said in its opening statement at the start of last week that it would prove Floyd died of asphyxia, or lack of oxygen, while Chauvin knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes.

Defense attorney Nelson has argued that Floyd died of a cardiac arrest resulting from illicit drug use and ongoing health problems, including heart disease and high blood pressure.

In Case You Missed It This Week At Ordinary Times:

President Biden Executive Actions On Gun Control: Read It For Yourself
President Biden announced six executive actions on gun control to address what he called the “public health crisis” of gun violence.

OT Contributor Network: New Spheres of Influence Podcast from Dennis Sanders
Our friend and long-time Ordinary Times contributor Dennis Sanders has his latest Spheres of Influence Podcast episode up

Mini-Throughput: A Crack in the Standard Model? by Michael Siegel
Knowing the Standard Model doesn’t explain everything…is everything: gravity, dark energy and ultimately the fate of the Universe itself

NC SB514 Transgender Bill: Read It For Yourself
It is titled “Youth Health Protection Act” but NC SB514 will be debated as the latest legislation directed at transgender minors

Wednesday Writs: 21st Amendment Gets Liquored Up Edition by Em Carpenter
The 21st Amendment is well known for ending the long national nightmare that was prohibition when it was ratified in 1933. But…

A Letter to the Editors: Freddie deBoer and Writing About Forgiveness by Kristin Devine
This was not some high-falutin’ celeb or windbag politician. Freddie deBoer was a friend. Maybe a friend we haven’t seen for a while, but still.

It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Joker World by Alex Parker
The 20-year-old Joker story that explains our times. A Jokerscape today might comprise endless memes and Reddit rabbit holes

Is Black Still Beautiful? by Dennis Sanders
If Black Pride was the name of the game when I was a kid, it not any longer. Pride has given way to victimhood and resentment. I’m not sure that people think Black Is Beautiful.

Justice Clarence Thomas’ Social Media Opinion: Read It For Yourself
Justice Clarence Thomas’ Social Media Opinion has been getting lots of play on social media, so read what he wrote for yourself:

Explode the Canon: How to Fight a Better Canon War by Matt Hoberg
Let’s explode the Canon and cultivate critical distance, opening up new vistas and leaving behind stale arguments

Shin Godzilla: The King of the Monsters, Starting From Scratch by Garrett Stigler
Didn’t get your fill of giant monsters with “Godzilla vs. Kong”? There is the Japanese box office and critical smash, “Shin Godzilla.”

Pepe Le Pew Is Not A Role Model by Kristin Devine
But at least Pepe Le Pew lays the issue of rape culture where it belongs, at the feet of men, rather than telling women it’s THEIR fault

Sunday Morning! “Time Regained” by Marcel Proust by Rufus
We’ve reached the final volume of “In Search of Lost Time” and, finally, our hero has realized the work of his life comes in those moments in which joy, unexpectedly, breaks through the crust of ordinary experience. Now, he can get to work.