Sunday, July 3, 2022

What's The Musk-y Smell? Re-eCall Edition




Germany's automobile safety agency KBA has issued a recall that would involve some 59,000 Tesla cars worldwide due to a software malfunction in its emergency call feature. Models Y and 3 are the ones affected by the recall; it's unclear how many are of them are in Germany. The software glitch causes a breakdown of the car's eCall feature which is supposed to contact emergency services in the event of a serious accident. ("Help, my damn Tesla's on fire!") The recall is the latest in a series of setbacks for the obnoxious right-wing Tesla brand owner Elon Musk:

"The software glitch is an added headache for Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk after Tesla on Saturday said it delivered 17.9% fewer electric vehicles in the second quarter from the previous quarter, as China's COVID 19-related shutdown disrupted its production and supply chain.

Musk said last month that Tesla's new factories in Texas and Berlin are 'losing billions of dollars' as they struggle to increase production because of a shortage of batteries and Chinese port issues.

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) early in June upgraded its probe into 830,000 Tesla vehicles with the advanced driver assistance system Autopilot, a required step before it could seek a recall."  (our emphasis)

In the past couple of years, a number of Tesla 3 vehicles have experienced fires and explosions, some believed to be caused by battery malfunctions, something that the company claims it has resolved. Musk's rush to get the Tesla to the market before other electric vehicles may be the price he paid for the car's safety.

(photo: "Sniff sniff."  Getty Images via BBC)

Fourth Wife Bails On Murdoch



Rupert Murdoch, the far-right Australian media mogul responsible for the majority of dangerous misinformation through his properties like Fox "News" and the New York Post, has been served with divorce papers from his fourth wife, former Mick Jagger spouse Jerry Hall.  From Reuters:

"The 66-year-old model sought unspecified spousal support and attorneys' fees from 91-year-old media mogul Murdoch, in a California court filing.

Hall said in the petition filed with the Los Angeles Superior Court she was 'unaware of the full nature and extent of all (Murdoch's) assets and debts, and will amend this petition when the information has been ascertained.'" (our emphasis)

Translation: Rupert better be prepared to get the shaft while she gets the gold mine.... or so we hope. The grounds for divorce claimed by Hall were "unreconcilable differences," prompting speculation about what specific differences she is referring to, although their 25-year age difference might, just might, have contributed. Hopefully, she has a rock solid pre-nup with the nasty old buzzard after only 6 years of wedded bliss, but nevertheless, California has very wife-friendly divorce laws that should give her a nice payday. Go get him, Jerry!

BONUS:  It's further reported that, prior to Jerry filing for divorce, Rupert emailed her to tell her their marriage was over and to only communicate with him through his attorneys.  Ouch!

(photo: "Crikey, she tried to dunk me!" Woman's Day Magazine) 

Sunday Reflection: C-O-H-A-N




"I don't care what you say about me, as long as you say something about me, and as long as you spell my name right." -- Playwright, composer, entertainer and Broadway legend George M. Cohan, who'll never have to worry about his name being spelled right. Known widely for his sentimentally patriotic songs leading up to and after World War I, Cohan's Great American Songbook tunes include "Over There," "You're A Grand Old Flag," "Yankee Doodle Dandy," and "Give My Regards to Broadway." Ironically, on this eve of Independence Day, while Cohan believed himself as having been born on the Fourth of July (as in "Yankee Doodle Dandy"), his birthday was actually recorded as July 3, 1878 in Providence, R.I.

He's regarded as the father of musical comedy on Broadway, with such works to his credit as "Little Johnny Jones," "Forty-five Minutes From Broadway," "The Talk of New York," "The Song and Dance Man," and "Little Nelly Kelly." In 1940, President Franklin Roosevelt presented Cohan with the Congressional Gold Medal for his contributions to his music and contributions to World War I morale. A large bronze statue of Cohan is located on Broadway at 46th Street, the only one in recognition of a Broadway legend.

(photo: Ira Block Photography)

QOTD -- Putin's Historic Blunder

 

Putin thought he could break the transatlantic alliance. But he’s getting exactly what he did not want. He wanted the Finlandization of NATO. He got the NATO-ization of Finland." -- President Biden, in his news conference Thursday at the NATO summit in Madrid, where both Finland and Sweden were formally invited to join the alliance. 


Saturday, July 2, 2022

Helping Ukraine -- Verified Charities


NOTE:  NBC, CNBC, and MSNBC will air a program on Sunday, July 3, to raise awareness and raise funds for Ukraine in its fight for freedom and democracy with Putin's Russia.  "Ukraine:  Answering the Call" will include appearances by Paul McCartney, Billie Eilish, Jon Batiste, Alicia Keys, Brandi Carlisle, Brad Paisley and Sheryl Crow, among others.  Ukrainian President Zelenskyy will also appear.  The fundraiser airs at 7 PM EDT and at 7PM PDT.

In the meantime, we'll be periodically running this list of verified charities for providing aid to Ukraine for as long as necessary.  (Please consider on-going donations.) 

Via The Philadelphia Inquirer, this is a (partial) list of verified charities that are helping the people of Ukraine:

 

World Central Kitchen

What they do:  They have served more than 25 million meals and have teams active in 230 cities and towns in Ukraine. They have also built a logistics network of delivery vans, trucks, trains, and warehouses throughout the country, delivering over 11 million pounds of food to families—sometimes in areas completely cut off due to fighting and near the Russian border.

How you can help:  There are many ways to donate to WCK;  see their website.  This is a registered nonprofit, so donations are tax deductible.

🌐 wck.org


Project HOPE

What they do: Founded in 1958, Project HOPE responds to humanitarian emergencies and disasters. Currently, according to the group’s website, the group is aiding those in Ukraine by mobilizing its emergency teams and “sending medical supplies and standing by to provide health screening and care for refugees.”

How you can help: Donate on the group’s website. This group is U.S. registered, so your donation is tax deductible.

🌐 projecthope.org

 

GlobalGiving

What they do: GlobalGiving uses its funding to support local nonprofits working in affected areas. Currently, “GlobalGiving’s local partners in Ukraine are bringing relief to displaced families and people in high-risk areas.” According to the group, your donation will support refugees with food, shelter, and clean water, as well as providing health and psychological support.

How you can help: Donate to the group’s Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund online. This group is U.S. registered, so your donation is tax deductible.

🌐 globalgiving.org

 

UNICEF USA

What they do: Over 510,000 children have been affected by the conflict so far, and the UNICEF emergency response is working to address their needs by preparing health, hygiene, and emergency education supplies, as well as distributing safe water to affected areas, providing children with psychosocial care, and helping kids separated from their families. At the moment, UNICEF is trying to raise $66.4 million to be able to continue their programs and offer immunization, healthcare, child protection, and cash assistance.

How you can help: Donate on the UNICEF website. UNICEF USA is U.S. registered, so your donation is tax deductible.

🌐 unicefusa.org

 

International Medical Corps

What they do: International Medical Corps helped Ukrainians during conflict in 1999-2000 by delivering medicine and training more than 500 local doctors and medical staff. In 2014, they partnered with the Ukraine Ministry of Health to support mobile health services and train medical professionals on preventing and controlling infections. As the crisis develops, the International Medical Corps has added mental health counseling to the services available for the community.

How you can help: Donate on the group’s website. Donations to this organization are tax deductible.

🌐 give.internationalmedicalcorps.org

 

United Help Ukraine

What they do: United Help Ukraine receives and distributes food donations and medical supplies to people in Ukraine. The group’s current priorities: Aiding Ukrainian soldiers and their families, helping displaced people from Crimea and Eastern Ukraine, and raising awareness of the current situation.

How you can help: Donate via PayPal, or by check payable to United Help Ukraine, Box 83426, Gaithersburg, Md., 20883. This is a registered nonprofit so all donations are tax deductible.

🌐 facebook.com/UnitedHelpUkraine.org

 

Revived Soldiers Ukraine

What they do: This nonprofit provides medical aid for people affected by military conflict. The group buys medication and medical supplies, helps support army hospitals, and works to improve the living standards for soldiers and their families.

How you can help: Donate directly through the group’s website, through PayPal or Patreon, or make it your preferred Amazon nonprofit, which donates 0.5% of the amount of your Amazon purchases to the group. This group is U.S. registered, so your donation is tax deductible.

🌐 rsukraine.org


Sunflower of Peace

What they do: Sunflower for Peace offers medical assistance to Ukrainian orphans, people displaced by war, and people heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. In February 2022, the group started asking for donations to prepare first aid medical tactical backpacks for paramedics and doctors on the front lines. These kinds of backpacks — usually handled by Marines, special military forces, and military groups — are used to save lives in areas without access to hospitals or emergency care.

How you can help: Donate on Facebook. This group is U.S. registered, so your donation is tax deductible.

🌐 facebook.com/sunflowerofpeace

 

The KYIV Independent

What they do: The KYIV Independent is an independent media outlet reporting in English. The organization has been covering the Russia-Ukraine conflict, doing fact checking, and reporting on human rights. Since the group is not affiliated with any government and reports in English, it is becoming an important window into what’s happening in Ukraine right now.

How you can help: Since its creation in 2021, The KYIV Independent runs mainly on donations. Donate through GoFundMe or Patreon.

🌐 kyivindependent.com


The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews

What they do
: This group runs an emergency program with $1 million in funding that helps the approximately 300,000 Jewish people in Ukraine. The fellowship has staff and volunteers on the ground in Ukraine, and also funds the country’s Jewish organizations to give Ukrainian Jews the chance to move to Israel. Funds are also used to provide the Ukrainian Jewish community with food, medicine, and heat. This group is U.S. registered, so your donation is tax deductible.

How you can help: Donate online.

🌐 help.ifcj.org

 

Voices of Children

What they do: Voices of Children provides psychological and psychosocial support to children affected by war. Their main focus is on the front lines in the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk. Donations help finance art therapy and mobile psychologists, and help families in need.

How you can help: Donate directly on their website.

🌐 voices.org.ua

 

Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe (CARE)

What they do: Created in 1945 to help people overcome the devastation of WWII, CARE’s works to end poverty, and achieve equity and social justice worldwide. In Ukraine, the group is working on providing girls, women, and elderly people with water, food, and hygiene kits. They currently have a Ukraine Crisis Fund specially focused on continuing their work in the country, and providing psychological support, recovery, and cash assistance.

How you can help: Donate using a credit card or through PayPal on their website.

🌐 care.org

 

International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)

What they do: The Red Cross’s International Committee provides shelter, food, first-aid training, and humanitarian aid around the world. The group has been supporting people in Ukraine for almost a decade and as the crisis continues, they are adding to their help comfort kits for individuals and families in need.

How you can help: Donate to the ICRC on its website.

🌐 icrc.org

 
American Red Cross

What they do: In Ukraine, the American Red Cross is currently helping U.S. military people and families deployed in the region. So far, they have sent 30 staff members to Europe to help U.S. military members in Ukraine connect with their families back home, and are delivering hygiene items and resources to service members and U.S. State Department staff abroad. They can not help Ukraine with blood directly, because it can’t be sent without special request from the U.S Department of State, the United Nation, or other affected Red Cross networks.

How you can help: Donate on their website. They are U.S. registered, so your donation is tax deductible.

🌐 redcross.org


United Ukrainian American Relief Committee (UUARC)


What they do: Created in 1944, the UUARC was created to help Ukrainians in refugee camps during WWII relocate to the U.S.. They are currently working in coordination with the Ukrainian Embassy to coordinate medical supplies, food, offering shelter, and taking care of injured people and refugee.

How you can help: Donate on their website or send a check to the United Ukrainian American Relief Committee, Inc. 1206 Cottman Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19111. For medical donations call 215-728-1630. They are U.S. registered, so your donation is tax deductible.

🌐 uuarc.org


American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC)

What they do: The JDC has been helping the Jewish community around the world since 1914; for the last 30 years they have focused on helping Ukraine’s Jewish population. They aid elderly Jewish people, children, and families by providing food, medicine, and utilities. At the moment, JDC is preparing to send psychosocial support to Ukraine as mass displacements increase, as well as delivering food packages, and providing online support.

How you can help: Donate on their website. They are U.S. registered, so your donation is tax deductible.

🌐 jdc.org

 

 ____________________

If you are at all concerned about giving to these or any other charities, you can verify their authenticity by going to Charity Navigator, which evaluates charitable organizations.

 

Tweets Of The Day

 

Time to get serious about charging Trump under 18 U.S. Code § 2383 --

 


"If you don't reply, I'm sending an associate to make you an offer...." -- 



Got that effing good criminal defense lawyer yet, Mark? -- 



In the midst of Putin's war crimes, stories of survivors --  



Quantifying Trump's war on women's rights and health --

 

 


Republicans, have an edible before you roll back your vote -- 


 

Today's Cartoons

 

(click on images to enlarge)


(Steve Benson, gocomics.com)

(Steve Breen, San Diego Union-Tribune)

(Jeff Darcy, Cleveland Plain Dealer)

(Michael Ramirez, Las Vegas Herald-Journal)

(Christopher Weyant, Boston Globe)

(Michael de Adder, Washington Post)

(John Branch, Houston Chronicle)

(Ed Hall, Artizans.com)

(Monte Wolverton, caglecartoons.com)

(Mort Gerberg, @mortgerberg)


QOTD: Barring Trump From Future Office

 

Jill Wine-Banks, a former prosecutor for the Watergate scandal, addressed a possible charge against the Malignant Loser that would go beyond prison time on MSNBC:

"I will try to put aside what I think should be the case, and just talk about what I think are the best crimes to indict him for and whether he should or shouldn't, I will leave to other people. But I think it would be horrible not to act on what is now blatantly obvious to anyone who is watching the hearing. My favorite crime would be [18 U.S. Code § ] 2383, not the seditious conspiracy which is 2384. The reason is that the penalty for 2383 is not just jail, it is being barred from ever holding federal office again. And for me, that would be a more important goal than jailing the former president." (our emphasis)

Would the Justice Department pursue such a charge against the person who incited an armed insurrection, and who planned to lead it to the steps of the Capitol and beyond? We hope so, because "rebellion or insurrection" against the newly-elected President is clearly what the Malignant Loser planned for leading up to and on January 6. That's clear as can be. Now it's up to prosecutors in the Justice Department and the Attorney General to apply the law as they would any private citizen who committed that offense.

Hutchinson Testimony Corroborated



Attempts by Trumpworld (including some in the Secret Service) to cast doubt on the testimony of former Mark Meadows aide Cassidy Hutchinson regarding the Malignant Loser's unhinged behavior on January 6 just took a big hit:

Then-President Donald Trump angrily demanded to go to the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, and berated his protective detail when he didn’t get his way, according to two Secret Service sources who say they heard about the incident from multiple agents, including the driver of the presidential SUV where it occurred.

The sources tell CNN that stories circulated about the incident – including details that are similar to how former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson described it to the House select committee investigating January 6 – in the months immediately afterward the US Capitol attack and before she testified this week.

While the details from those who heard the accounts differ, the Secret Service sources say they were told an angry confrontation did occur. And their accounts align with significant parts of Hutchinson’s testimony, which has been attacked as hearsay by Trump and his allies who also have tried to discredit her overall testimony

Like Hutchinson, one source, a longtime Secret Service employee, told CNN that the agents relaying the story described Trump as “demanding” and that the former President said something similar to: “I’m the f**king President of the United States, you can’t tell me what to do.” The source said he originally heard that kind of language was used shortly after the incident.

“He had sort of lunged forward – it was unclear from the conversations I had that he actually made physical contact, but he might have. I don’t know,” the source said. “Nobody said Trump assaulted him; they said he tried to lunge over the seat – for what reason, nobody had any idea.”

The employee said he’d heard about the incident multiple times as far back as February 2021 from other agents, including some who were part of the presidential protective detail during that time period but none of whom were involved in the incident.

The source added that agents often recounted stories of Trump’s fits of anger, including the former President throwing and breaking things.

“Not just plates,” the source added, a reference to how Hutchinson testified this week that she saw ketchup on the wall and a porcelain plate shattered on the floor of the White House dining room after Trump had thrown his lunch at the wall upon hearing about then-Attorney General William Barr telling a media outlet there was no widespread fraud in the 2020 election. (our emphasis)

If Malignant Loser acolyte Tony Ornato or any other Secret Service agent who has already provided sworn testimony -- or will in the future -- is found to have lied or been evasive in their account of the Malignant Loser's actions on or about January 6, obviously they need to be removed from their positions and prosecuted.  It's been noted that the January 6 committee wouldn't have let Hutchinson go out on a limb with her account of what Ornato and agent Bobby Engel told her about the events that day without corroboration from other witnesses.  Now, with others coming forward, it's more important than ever to cull the toadies, enablers and liars who remain in positions of authority.

But the key point hasn't been contested:  that the Malignant Loser wanted to go to the Capitol to lead the insurrection but was saved from his own unhinged instincts by some around him.  That's the most damning fact.

(Photo:  Ornato and the Malignant Loser)


Friday, July 1, 2022

Meadows Involved In Witness Tampering?

 

To paraphrase the words of former White House lawyer Eric Herschmann to Trumpist loon John Eastman, it looks like former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows may need to get himself a great effing criminal defense lawyer. CNN reports:

"One of people who may have been trying to influence Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony did so at the behest of former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, according to multiple sources familiar with information gathered by the House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, insurrection.

Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the vice chairwoman of the committee, brought up two examples of possible witness intimidation at a hearing featuring Hutchinson, who was an aide to Meadows in the Trump White House, earlier this week, without naming a witness or who made contact. Sources now tell CNN that both instances recounted by Cheney were directed at Hutchinson, and that Hutchinson believes the messages were intended to impact her testimony. [snip]

In one instance, Cheney said a witness received a call in which someone said: '(A person) let me know you have your deposition tomorrow. He wants me to let you know that he’s thinking about you. He knows you’re loyal, and you’re going to do the right thing when you go in for your deposition.'

Multiple sources now tell CNN the witness was Hutchinson and the “person” referred to in the message, which was redacted in the version projected on a screen during the hearing, was Meadows." (our emphasis)

There are reports that the House Select Committee for January 6 may make one or more criminal referrals to the Justice Department alleging witness tampering. In addition, financial sources controlled by the Malignant Loser reportedly payed up to $500,000 for the legal expenses of witnesses to the January 6 coup attempt and events leading up to it. 

Tweets Of The Day

 

The radical Republican "Opus Dei" SCOTUS isn't done --

 

 


What the "but her emails" lady says --

 


Would a "Trump acolyte" Secret Service agent lie to you? (Yes!) --

 

 


Am our literate, numbers- wise media learning (Associated Press edition) --

 


Am our conservative pundits learning (Kathleen Parker edition);  more here --

 


Behold, a  lab-rary (TGIF)! --

 

 

 

Today's Cartoons

 

(click on images to enlarge)


(Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal-Constitution)


 (J.D. Crowe, Alabama Media Group)

(Clay Bennett, Chattanooga Times Free Press)

(Kevin Necessary, gocomics.com)

(Drew Sheneman, The Star-Ledger, Newark, NJ)

(Matt Davies, Newsday)

(Bill Bramhall, New York Daily News)

(Dave Whamond, caglecartoons.com)

(Jeff Stahler, gocomics.com)


(Rob Rogers, Tinyview.com)

(Jeff Danziger, The Rutland Herald, VT)

(John Deering, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

(Kevin Kallaugher, The Economist, London)

(Ellis Rosen, @EllisRosen)


Weekend Music Twofer

 

The universally- acclaimed debut studio album by The Band, "Music From Big Pink," was released on this day in 1968.  Though not necessarily to everyone's musical tastes at the time, this "roots rock" album was highly influential for other musicians, including CSNY, Pink Floyd and Eric Clapton.  We're featuring not the best known cut ("The Weight"), but the two cuts that closed the album, "This Wheel's on Fire" (written by Bob Dylan and bass guitarist Rick Danko, who sings lead) and "I Shall Be Released" (written by Dylan and sung by pianist Richard Manuel).  Sadly, three of The Band, Manuel (d. 1986), Danko (d. 1999), and Levon Helm (d. 2012) have been "released," leaving only Robbie Robertson and Garth Hudson as surviving members.  Album cover art by Bob Dylan.  Hope you enjoy.

Quote Of The Day: Trump's Mussolini Moment




"The nation’s right wing — swelled by disgruntled military veterans and those with a penchant for violence — had grown increasingly restless that fall, with occasional street clashes between these reactionaries and anti-fascists on the left. Finally, the leader of the right bloc — a big man who strutted on stage, sometimes buffoonishly — massed his followers and urged them to march on the capital and fight for their country, even though in the end he didn’t march with them.

Instead, Benito Mussolini would get in a car and drive to Rome in October 1922, where he again met up with the throng of as many as 60,000 who’d marched there after the future dictator’s speech to them in Naples. This was the-now notorious March on Rome, and the intimidation of Italy’s ruling elites by this large, angry mob and its 'strongman' leader worked beyond anyone’s wildest dream. By month’s end, King Victor Emmanuel III had ceded all political power to Mussolini and the fascists, who would not relinquish it for two decades. 

Just four months before the 100th anniversary of what is now seen as the lift-off of modern fascism, we have seen in dramatic fashion how the concept and underlying terror tactics of Mussolini’s March on Rome never went away, but lived on to be modernized by a reality-TV star who’d faked his way into the White House and was determined to stay there.

Tuesday’s riveting testimony before the House Jan. 6 Committee by former Donald Trump White House insider Cassidy Hutchinson — an afternoon that will be long remembered by historians and political fanatics, just as those hot June days when John Dean blew the whistle on Richard Nixon in 1973 — revealed just how close Trump came to a true Mussolini moment: His own plan to “march” on the U.S. Capitol."  (our emphasis) -- Will Bunch in the Philadelphia Inquirer, detailing how the Malignant Loser's fraudulent "Stop the Steal" insurrection on January 6 was a replay of Italian fascist Benito Mussolini's Black Shirt -led March on Rome in 1922, where he seized power.  Beginning with the opening paragraphs, the similarities Bunch draws are striking. The whole article is well worth a read.

Today's Black Shirts compare with the extremist Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and other right-wing militia groups, resorting to violence to achieve their illegitimate political aims. They, along with hundreds of gullible goons, were exhorted to storm the Capitol to change the outcome of the election, and install the latter-day Mussolini in power, most certainly for longer than a 4-year term.

 

World Of Pain

 

High inflation?  Pain at the pump?  No one likes to have their income squeezed, and comparative pain is still pain.  But it might help to see that, in relation to other wealthy countries, the U.S. is not an outlier:

Record energy prices drove the inflation rate across the countries using the common European currency to 8.6 percent in June, as the fallout of the war in Ukraine and the economic conflict it has sparked between Russia and Western Europe continued to bite.

Nearly half of the 19 countries in the eurozone have now reached double-digit inflation, figures released Friday by Eurostat, the European Union’s statistics agency showed. The overall rate was the latest record high since the creation of the euro in 1999.

Many of the countries have depended heavily on Russia as a source of fossil fuels to run their economies and heat their homes. But the amount of energy, especially natural gas, flowing to Europe from Russia has been largely reduced by more than half since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, driving prices to record levels and leaving European governments scrambling for a solution.  (our emphasis)

The U.S. inflation rate in May was 8.6 percent.

Speaking of energy prices

Even as prices have ticked down ahead of the Fourth of July weekend, Americans are still paying between $4 to $7 per gallon. Filling half a tank of a Toyota Camry — one of the world’s most popular sedans — costs about $40. If you’re driving a 2010 Camry — a model year we’re using based on the average age of cars on U.S. roads — you’ll go about 32 miles per gallon.

And that means $40 will get you around 250 miles down the highway.

But how far would $40 take you in the rest of the world? While U.S. costs at the pump hit records in June, they were lower than those in other countries with the largest economies, including France, Canada, China and Britain, but higher than those in other top oil producing nations such as Russia and Saudi Arabia.  (our emphasis)

(click to enlarge)


(Source: Washington Post)

To be clear, we're not saying high inflation and high energy prices aren't an economic, political and, to some extent, moral problem.  They are.  But as others have noted, "inflation will pass, wages will rise, and supply chains will adapt." 

The point is, the U.S. isn't beset by these problems in a vacuum,  as Republicans would have you believe. It's a worldwide phenomenon to which governments, including ours, are struggling to respond while under pressure from anti- democratic forces. 

Even so, the safest forecast for all of this is that this too shall pass.