Extra, Extra
Bourbon Plague: “One of J. Edgar Hoover’s greatest reforms at the FBI was his embrace of fingerprinting. During the 1930s, visitors to the FBI offices in Washington, D.C., received souvenir fingerprint cards featuring his name. The men who succeeded him as FBI director were more discreet and judicious, mindful of the cult of personality that had developed around Hoover. They generally avoided giving out branded swag. But then came Kash Patel. President Trump’s FBI director has a great deal of affection for swag. Merchandise for sale on a website he co-founded—still operating, nearly 15 months into his term—includes beanies ($35), T-shirts ($35), orange camo hoodies ($65), trucker caps ($25), ‘government gangsters’ playing cards (on sale for $10), and a fight with kash Punisher scarf ($25). One thing not for sale is liquor, because liquor is something Patel gives away for free.” The Atlantic (Gift Article) is reacting to Patel’s attacks for their past reporting on him by reporting on him some more. Kash Patel’s Personalized Bourbon Stash.
+ In Sink: “In some parts it is happening at an average rate of 0.78 inches a month, according to NASA’s newly released report, such as at the main airport and the iconic monument commonly known as the Angel of Independence. Overall that means a yearly subsidence rate of about 9.5 inches. Over the course of less than a century, the drop has been more than 39 feet.” Mexico City is sinking so quickly, it can be seen from space.
+Scotus Operandi: “I think at a very basic level, people think we’re making policy decisions, [that] we’re saying we think this is what things should be as opposed to this is what the law provides … I think they view us as truly political actors, which I don’t think is an accurate understanding of what we do. I would say that’s the main difficulty.” Chief Justice John Roberts says American public wrongly views the justices as political actors. (Reminds me of something an American president once said: “What you’re seeing and what you’re reading is not what’s happening.”) Meanwhile, Clarence Thomas is now the 2nd longest-serving justice in Supreme Court history.
+ Disembark Collar: “Authorities around the world are racing to trace dozens of passengers who disembarked from the cruise ship at the center of a deadly hantavirus outbreak before isolation measures were implemented.” WHO says this is not the start of an epidemic. (So the disembark is worse than its bite?)
+ Got It Made in the Trade: “The Department of Justice is investigating a series of suspiciously timed trades in the oil market just ahead of major announcements by President Donald Trump and a top Iranian official about the war in Iran.” (Oh, phew. This DOJ is on it…) Meanwhile, Shell Reports Nearly $7 Billion Profit Amid Unprecedented Disruption.
+ Cains Able: “Long before Raising Cane’s became one of the fastest-growing restaurant chains in the US, company founder Todd Graves pitched the idea of a fast-food spot centered around a single item—the mighty chicken finger—in an undergraduate business course at the University of Georgia. The professor gave him the lowest grade in the class.” Bloomberg (Gift Article): Raising Cane’s Grew From an Idea a College Professor Hated.
