Joseph Britt

@zathras5.bsky.social

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Wisconsin and the world. Opinions my own. Once a Republican.

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Joseph Britt

I first worked on this icefield in 1981. Change was expected, but the change we are reporting in 2024 is breathtaking in scale and acceleration. Project led by masterfully by @bethandavies.bsky.social, coordinating many data streams. apnews.com/article/glac...

Melting of Alaska's Juneau icefield accelerates, losing snow nearly 5 times faster than in the 1980sapnews.com A new study says the melting of Alaska’s Juneau icefield, home to more than 1,000 glaciers, is accelerating.

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A decision of surpassing recklessness in dangerous times, with @qjurecic.bsky.social: www.lawfaremedia.org/article/a-de...

A Decision of Surpassing Recklessness in Dangerous Timeswww.lawfaremedia.org The Supreme Court’s decision in Trump v. United States would have been wrong and dangerous at any time. It’s uncommonly so with Trump poised to retake power.

Debate reaction thread from last night. It’s about the President needing to respond to a serious setback with — as someone once wrote after another misfortune — candor, dignity, and resolve to absorb its lessons.

OK. Bottom line reaction: what matters now is less Biden’s debate performance than how he responds to it. He did badly tonight. This is his responsibility, no one else’s. The Democrat delivering this message to the public needs to be Joe Biden. [Short 🧵]

I wonder if this will come up during tonight’s debate. We’ve already seen what a Trump Presidency looks like, and how it would respond if the nation faced a crisis. It would fall apart, and let whatever was going to happen, happen — just as it did @fouryearsagotoday.bsky.social

Bars in Texas and Florida - states that had declared victory over the virus and reopened their businesses - are abruptly ordered closed down amid huge spikes in infections. The virus, which initially hit worst in the Northeast, is now surging across the South and West. There is still no vaccine.

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Joseph Britt

Just remarkable how many Americans have spaced on what was happening @fouryearsagotoday.bsky.social. It was horrible. Thousands of people were dying every day from COVID, the economy was in a power dive, and the head of government was just out to lunch.

June 20, 2020 Donald Trump holds his first big rally since March, aiming to restart his lagging campaign with a supercharged crowd. It does not go as planned. A memorable debacle on several levels, it will mark the lowest point of his 2020 campaign.

Thread. @gregsargent.bsky.social on the latest eruption of rote outrage from Republicans about immigration. An executive action directed at people who have been in the US for a decade or more becomes a move to further open “the border.” This is likely to come up in next week’s debate.

Let's not overlook the vile smears that Fox News/MAGA are pushing about Biden's new policy on undocumented spouses of US citizens. Fox/MAGA are linking it to the awful murder of a young Maryland woman, allegedly by a migrant. That's repulsive. 1/ (new piece from me) newrepublic.com/article/1828...

Fox News’s Ugly Eruption Over Biden Immigration Move Has a Hidden Tellnewrepublic.com Biden’s new executive action is actually about people who live and have roots here. Right-wingers know they can’t win if the debate is about these folks—so they scream “border!”

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Joseph Britt

With every revelation about Clarence Thomas' gifts from billionaire donor Harlan Crow, it becomes more clear: Thomas needs to resign.

Harlan Crow Provided Clarence Thomas at Least 3 Previously Undisclosed Private Jet Trips, Senate Probe Findswww.propublica.org The Supreme Court justice flew to Montana and other destinations on the billionaire GOP donor’s dime. Crow’s lawyer revealed these flights to the Senate Judiciary Committee, whose ongoing investigatio...

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Joseph Britt

Ah, hydroxychloroquine. @fouryearsagotoday.bsky.social reminds us this quack COVID remedy was promoted by Trump & his associates, even using government funds. When responsible public health experts advised the public it didn’t work, Trump drove them out of his administration.

June 15, 2020 The FDA revokes its emergency authorization of the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, which is championed by right wingers, including the president, as a covid-19 cure. The FDA says it was found to have no effect on the virus and may cause "serious cardiac adverse events." 1/3

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: FDA Revokes Emergency Use Authorization for Chloroquine and Hydroxychloroquinewww.fda.gov COVID-19 Update: FDA Revokes Emergency Use Authorization

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BREAKING: Harlan Crow Provided Clarence Thomas at Least 3 Previously Undisclosed Private Jet Trips, Probe Finds Thomas flew to Montana & elsewhere on the billionaire’s dime. Crow’s lawyer revealed the flights to the Senate Judiciary Committee, whose investigation was sparked by ProPublica reporting

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Joseph Britt

Good survey of the Supreme Court’s closely linked problems with impartiality and ethics by @kelseyreichmann.bsky.social & @benjaminweiss.bsky.social. A couple of notes: first, the Roberts Court has generally ruled on behalf of Republican Party electoral interests whenever these have been at issue.

"This is not going to end well for the court if it doesn't get its house in order or if Congress doesn't step up." -CREW's Virginia Canter on the urgency of ethics reform for the Supreme Court

White flags at SCOTUS: Experts fear partisan defeat for ethics reformwww.courthousenews.com Roadblocks continue to hamper efforts to address ethics concerns at the Supreme Court as the justices get pulled further into partisan politics.

"This is not going to end well for the court if it doesn't get its house in order or if Congress doesn't step up." -CREW's Virginia Canter on the urgency of ethics reform for the Supreme Court

Not even six months into a lethal pandemic, with thousands of Americans dying every day, Trump starts convening superspreader events, @fouryearsagotoday.bsky.social

Trump announces he will restart his campaign rallies - on hold since March - in Tulsa on June 19. The announcement is met with dismay in a nation convulsed by the George Floyd murder as Tulsa was the site of a notorious 1921 racial massacre and Juneteenth marks the end of slavery in the US.

Trump to resume campaign rallies with June 19 event in Tulsawww.politico.com The president did not mention safety precautions or restrictions for the upcoming events, which have been on hold because of coronavirus.

Imagine being nostalgic for this. Imagine thinking we were better off then. Via @fouryearsagotoday.bsky.social

Ahead of new protests expected in DC after 9 days of nationwide demonstrations over the police murder of George Floyd, massive new fortifications of chain link and concrete go up around the White House to protect the president. His foes continue to mock him for hiding in a bunker a few days earlier.

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Joseph Britt

The Wisconsin attorney general just filed charges against three allies of Donald Trump accused of taking part in the effort to put forth a slate of fake electors and usurp the 2020 presidential election

Three Trump allies charged in Wisconsin fake elector scheme | CNN Politicswww.cnn.com The Wisconsin attorney general on Tuesday filed charges against three allies of Donald Trump accused of taking part in the effort to put forth a slate of fake electors and usurp the 2020 presidential ...

Illegal on paper, paying off witnesses is said to be hard to prove. A smart defendant can cover it up, for example by limiting documentation. But there are a lot of witnesses in TrumpWorld. By @propublica.bsky.social reporters. www.propublica.org/article/dona...

Multiple Trump Witnesses Have Received Significant Financial Benefits From His Businesses, Campaignwww.propublica.org Witnesses in the various criminal cases against the former president have gotten pay raises, new jobs and more. If any benefits were intended to influence testimony, that could be a crime.

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Joseph Britt

On one hand, this never struck me as the kind of day for which anyone would be nostalgic. But on the other, Trump wasn’t a convicted felon yet. Via @fouryearsagotoday.bsky.social

June 1, 2020 In one of the most notorious days of the Trump presidency, police suddenly advanced on peaceful protesters in Lafayette Park across from the White House, clearing them away with batons, flash-bangs and tear gas. Trump then strode through the park and held up a bible for photographers.

On one hand, this never struck me as the kind of day for which anyone would be nostalgic. But on the other, Trump wasn’t a convicted felon yet. Via @fouryearsagotoday.bsky.social

Will you look at that? Considering the number of counts, I had expected the Manhattan jury to deliberate longer. But the prosecution did a thorough job documenting that Trump had done everything he was charged with doing, and for the reasons alleged. Via @jacobtlevy.bsky.social

Powerful argument for recusal of Justices Thomas & Alito from two cases involving Trump by Rep. Jamie Raskin (via @hilzoy.bsky.social). The scenario Raskin outlines would require initiative from the Justice Department.

Gift link: Jamie Raskin. www.nytimes.com/2024/05/29/o...

Opinion | Jamie Raskin: How to Force Justices Alito and Thomas to Recuse Themselves in the Jan. 6 Caseswww.nytimes.com Can they really decide for themselves whether they can be impartial?

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Joseph Britt

The scale of the violence and deprivation in Sudan is beyond imagination: www.middleeasteye.net/news/sudan-w...

2.5m people 'could die from hunger' in Sudan by September 2024www.middleeasteye.net Depleted harvests, plunging imports and soaring prices mean that many Sudanese are relying on community level food sharing initiatives

Does anyone else think Rishi Sunak sounds like the name of a Star Trek alien — maybe a Romulan sub-commander or an Angosian merchant?

I wonder if Americans sure they had it so much better when Trump was President remember this front page. Thousands upon thousands of Americans dead, while the their President bragged about his approval numbers and promoted quack remedies. Worse was to come. Via @fouryearsagotoday.bsky.social

The New York Times marks a grim milestone with a front page bearing not a single image: just names, one after the other.

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Joseph Britt

Always read Dr. Gilbert on hostage diplomacy.

My latest for @goodauth.bsky.social: what I learned about hostage diplomacy from Brittney Griner’s new bestselling memoir goodauthority.org/news/brittne... Polisky @bridgingthegap.bsky.social

Navigating the unthinkable: a Russian prison sentencegoodauthority.org Did keeping Brittney Griner's plight in the public's eye help negotiations for her release, or strengthen Vladimir Putin's hand?

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Joseph Britt

🚨👀 Decades ago, Kris Hansen showed 3M that its PFAS chemicals were in people’s bodies. Her bosses halted her work. As the EPA now forces the removal of the chemicals from drinking water, she wrestles with the secrets that 3M kept from her and the world. www.propublica.org/article/3m-f...

Toxic Gaslighting: How 3M Executives Convinced a Scientist the Forever Chemicals She Found in Human Blood Were Safewww.propublica.org Decades ago, Kris Hansen showed 3M that its PFAS chemicals were in people’s bodies. Her bosses halted her work. As the EPA now forces the removal of the chemicals from drinking water, she wrestles wit...

This would be a good week for Sen. Robert Menendez and Rep. Henry Cuellar to resign.

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Joseph Britt

Trump says he's taking hydroxychloroquine to avoid Covid-19. The malaria drug is touted by right wing "influencers" even as studies show it doesn't help and may hurt the heart. "I've heard a lot of good stories," Trump says. In 2024, it is estimated 17,000 people died from hydroxychloroquine misuse.

Trump says he’s taking unproven drug hydroxychloroquine to prevent coronaviruswww.nbcnews.com The antimalarial drug is unproven as a treatment for the coronavirus, and the FDA has warned against its use outside hospital settings.

From @fouryearsagotoday.bsky.social. A new scandal — as in, exposure of illegal and/or unethical conduct by senior government officials — nearly every day. People are nostalgic for this?

By request of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Trump fires State Dept watchdog Steve Linick, who, it later turns out, has five open investigations, including Pompeo bypassing Congress to sell $8 billion in arms to Saudi Arabia and Pompeo's wife using staff to walk the dog and send holiday cards.