Notable Dates. 27 February 2009: The Denver-based Rocky Mountain News ceased publication; it began publication on 23 April 1859.
28 February1849: Regular steamship service began taking adventurers to the CA gold fields. Earlier President Polk had had to jump start the Gold Rush by assuring the public that, indeed, gold had been discovered at Sutter's Mill; it was not just a rumor. 1995: Denver International Airport opened, 16 months behind schedule and with $3.2B in cost overruns. The opening did not go well; the automated baggage sorting system was eventually scrapped; literally, sold as junk metal.
1 March 1893: NicolaTesla first demonstrated radio, wireless communications. 1932: The Lindbergh kidnapping took place.
2 March 1962: Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points as the Philadelphia Warriors defeated the NY Knicks. The record still stands!
4 March 1913: The buffalo nickel went into circulation. 1974: People hit the newsstands; 1994: 4 terrorists were convicted after bombing the NY World Trace Center; 2019: The US consulate in Jerusalem, which had been established in 1844, closed as the American embassy was moving to the city.
National Popular Vote compact. The CO legislature has passed and Gov. Polis has said he will sign the bill making CO one of the states that agree to give their electoral votes the presidential candidate who wins the popular vote.
DPRK -- US summit. Paul Waldman notes,
[T]he central dilemma in these negotiations and North Korea’s relationship with the world: No matter how much we want them to give up their nukes, no matter what benefits we might dangle in front of Kim, no matter how much Trump extols the potential of North Korea’s beaches for hotels and condos, Kim has always seen nuclear weapons as key to his survival. He saw what happened to leaders such as Saddam Hussein and Moammar Gaddafi who didn’t have them: They were deposed and killed.It clear (except to President Trump) that Kim Jong Un knows precisely how to play him. Jong Un's nation may be the weaker, but it does have nuclear weapons and its leadership does know how to size up, play to, all its opponents' weaknesses.
Jong Un's demands that UN-sponsored sanctions be completely removed, finally scuttled the talks. Both parties will, of course, try to play the outcome to their advantage.
The pot and the kettle. Today, President Trump's former lawyer testified before the House Oversight and Reform committee. Cohen's first day of testimony was behind closed doors before the Senate's Intelligence committee. Who is lying: the pot or the kettle? ¿Quien sabe? Though a huge number of the President's past comments have "fact checked" as partially or totally incorrect.
India, Pakistan, and Kashmir. While the world seems largely focused on President Trump and Kim Jong Un, a 72 year-old off/on again conflict in the disputed region of Kashmir is back in the news, between two very bitter nuclear-armed enemies, India and Pakistan. Bitter, yes, but knowledgeable of what could occur if things "come unglued."
Pakistan’s prime minister, Imran Khan, acknowledged as much on Wednesday. “"I ask India: With the weapons you have and the weapons we have, can we really afford a miscalculation' he said. 'It is imperative that we use our heads and act with wisdom.' He suggested the two sides talk out their differences, which are mainly focused on control of a Muslim majority in Kashmir by largely Hindu India."
Voter fraud. This has been a constant theme among Republicans and, yes, there have been some small instances of illegal voting uncovered, but nothing on the grand scale alleged. Here is what has happened: large voting irregularities in NC has resulted in that state's Board of Election ordering a new election for the one yet-unfilled US House seat and a NC political operative has been indicted for his part in those irregularities.
History, forgotten? Is the study of history declining? Columnist Max Boot discusses the current state of the and finds it unpromising. "Today, fewer than 2 percent of male undergraduates and fewer than 1 percent of females major in history, compared with more than 6 percent and nearly 5 percent, respectively, in the late 1960s....History education in schools is so poor that students often enter college ignorant of the past — and leave just as unenlightened."
Vatican Summit on Child Protection. Columnist Marc Thiessen believes that the just completed conference on sexual abuse in the Catholic Church was long on excuses, very short on concrete actions. One prelate was ousted from the priesthood, but Pope Francis "...still refuses to tell us which bishops and cardinals did the covering up. It’s true that, just days before the summit, he removed disgraced former archbishop Theodore McCarrick from the priesthood. But Francis still refuses to explain: What took so long? Who knew about McCarrick’s alleged serial predations and did nothing? When did Francis know? And why did he not punish McCarrick until his crimes — which were repeatedly reported to the Vatican — were publicly exposed by the media?" Well noted.
In Australia, "Victorian state County Court Chief Judge Peter Kidd revoked Cardinal George Pell’s bail at the end of a sentencing hearing in a packed, standing room-only courtroom. Kidd said he would deliver his sentence March 13." In the meantime, Pell will remain in prison.
United Methodists. The church is the nation's third largest Christian group (after Roman Catholics and the Southern Baptists). The church's General Conference just voted (53%) for the so-called Traditional Plan, i.e. to not condone gay marriage or allow the ordination of LGBTQ members. As has happened with the split in the Lutheran church, chaos will not doubt ensue among Methodists regarding church properties and ordination questions. Those who favor diversity hearken back to their founder, John Wesley: “Though we cannot think alike, may we not love alike? May we not be of one heart, though we are not of one opinion?” The United Methodist hierarchy seems to have parted ways with their church's founder.
Blame game. Now that various US House committees have begun inquiring into multitudinous activities of the Trump campaign and presidency, the familiar phrase sure to be head will be whatever tuneful variation is necessary of "blame it on the Stones." This is surely the first of many such stories: the Korean summit did not work out "because of the testimony of Michael Cohen," the President's former lawyer, his self-proclaimed "fixer."
“For the Democrats to interview in open hearings a convicted liar & fraudster, at the same time as the very important Nuclear Summit with North Korea, is perhaps a new low in American politics and may have contributed to the ‘walk’...”Left unsaid, of course, was any notion that yet again the President, as the elderly knight errant said in Indiana Jones' "Last Crusade." had "chosen poorly"and suffered accordingly. Damn those Stones!
Coal contamination. This should really not be a startling news story: "A new analysis has found the almost all the coal-fired power plants in the US are contaminating groundwater with unsafe levels of pollution from coal ash, including arsenic, a carcinogen." Coal ash has been a known carcinogen for years, a by-product with which the industry still does not want control.
4 myths. "Trump has perfected the art of telling a fake story about America. The only way to counter that is to tell the real story of America." However much he may not like it, "Trump wants us to believe he’s the Triumphant Individual. But in fact he’s a conman [man] who inherited his wealth."
Thank you for reading. "Today I shall behave, as if this is the day I will be remembered." Dr. Seuss Words to live by, Mr. President!
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