April 26, 2023

Wednesday, April 26, 2023. Annette’s News Roundup.

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Joe is always busy.

Joe is in for us. We are in for him.

Let’s finish the job.

Here is the Biden Re-election announcement video.

Why now: Announcing today was partially an act of symbolism (and superstition) on the part of the president: Biden announced his winning 2020 campaign exactly on this day four years ago.

But announcing now also has its perks logistically, since the most recent fundraising quarter just came to a close on April 1. That means Biden will have the benefit of raising money for almost a whole quarter before he has to report his haul on July 15 — as opposed to entering later in the quarter, and having a smaller amount to report on the mandatory filing deadline.

According to several news outlets, there was a split among Biden advisers about whether to announce now or wait until later in the year, with some White House aides seeing little benefit in rushing to an announcement. It has already become clear that Biden is receiving little more than token opposition in the Democratic primaries; why, this thinking went, bring any headlines to Biden when he could just sit back and watch the Republicans attack each other in their more crowded primary field?

In the end, though, Biden chose to put any doubts to rest before other major Democrats could get antsy and consider runs of their own. “Let’s finish this job, I know we can,” he says in the video.

BREAKING 💥💥: Senator Bernie Sanders confirms he will not run for President in 2024 and he will endorse Joe Biden for President.

Hillary’s endorsement.

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'Dark Brandon' meme shows up on Biden's new campaign website.

President Biden's 2024 reelection campaign team has embraced his darker alter ego — "Dark Brandon," featuring beaming red laser eyes. It shows up on error pages and T-shirts.

Joebiden.com has all of the things one might expect: photos of the 80-year-old candidate, a campaign video and pleas for donations. And there's something else for those who accidentally navigate to a non-existent page. Instead of a plain 404 error, visitors get an eyeful of Biden's alter ego, "Dark Brandon," featuring beaming red laser eyes.

"Let's get you back on the rails," appears below the smiling, suited image of the president and likely a reference to Biden's love of Amtrak.

For those unfamiliar with the "Dark Brandon" origin story here's a quick recap, which like all things internet is a series of takes on takes.

In late 2021, the phrase "Let's go, Brandon!" — based on a famously misheard crowd chant at a NASCAR race — quickly spread among conservative groups as a direct expletive toward Biden.

Then, sometime last year, fringe Trump supporters who called for the former Republican president to run again in 2024, created a series of "Dark MAGA" memes. They usually depict an authoritarian/dictator-like version of Trump in which he sometimes has blue lasers eyes. Accompanying captions typically call for Trump to take revenge on his political enemies.

Those memes almost immediately spawned "Dark Brandon," featuring a sinister Joe Biden. In this context, they often show images of the president shooting red lasers from his eyes or wearing military gear.

But the left appeared to love it, too. So they co-opted the idea. Now, Democrats employ Dark Brandon images to tout Biden's policy victories.

And that's how one ends up here — with an official presidential campaign site for the United States of American asking supporters to buy a $32 "dark T-shirt" that the campaign says is "best worn while vanquishing Malarkey."

(NPR)

A crowd chanted 'four more years' at President Joe Biden's first speech since he formally announced his 2024 re-election bid.

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The morals of the Supreme Court make me shake.

The issue of Justice Gorsuch.

Law firm head bought Gorsuch-owned property.

For nearly two years beginning in 2015, Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch sought a buyer for a 40-acre tract of property he co-owned in rural Granby, Colo.

Nine days after he was confirmed by the Senate for a lifetime appointment on the Supreme Court, the then-circuit court judge got one: The chief executive of Greenberg Traurig, one of the nation’s biggest law firms with a robust practice before the high court. Gorsuch owned the property with two other individuals. (Politico).

More on Clarence Thomas corruption.

Clarence Thomas Didn't Recuse in Case Tied to Harlan Crow.

• Clarence Thomas previously said his friend Harlan Crow had no business before the court.

• But a case involving Trammell Crow Residential made its way to the Supreme Court in 2005, per Bloomberg.

• The Crow family had a non-controlling interest in the company at the time, according to a statement to Bloomberg from Harlan Crow’s office.

• Thomas didn't recuse himself at the time, per the report. (Business Insider).

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Clarence Thomas Billionaire Benefactor HARLAN CROW bought citizenship in Island Tax Haven.

Leaked documents reveal the GOP megadonor held dual citizenship in St. Kitts and Nevis as he lavished the Supreme Court justice with gifts.

Harlan Crow, the billionaire GOP donor who paid for luxury travel on his private jet and yacht for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, was a dual citizen of the U.S. and the island nation of St. Kitts and Nevis as recently as last year, according to recently unearthed documents.

In 2012, Crow and his family were granted passports for St. Kitts and Nevis, a tax haven known for impenetrable financial secrecy, through a cash-for-citizenship scheme. Documents provided to the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation by a whistleblower as part of its Passport Papers investigation and reviewed by the Project on Government Oversight, or POGO, and The Intercept suggest Crow and his brother Trammell S. Crow paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for the passports. Financial transparency experts say the island’s tax regime would make tracking Crow’s assets, including gifts to Supreme Court justices, extremely difficult.

The documents were leaked from Henley and Partners, a London-based firm known for assisting the ultra-wealthy in obtaining “golden passports,” which allow the holders to shield assets from their home country’s tax authorities. The firm advertises itself as “the global leader in residence and citizenship by investment” and has been shown to do business with controversial clients. An Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project investigation using the leaked documents reported that the firm was working with a rogues’ gallery of accused financial criminals from around the world. An investigative journalism collaboration, also based on the leaked trove of Henley documents, reported that oligarchs, fugitives, and sanctioned businesspeople were among the clients seeking foreign passports. The passports, granted in 2012, would expire after 10 years unless renewed. It’s unclear if the Crow family renewed them last year.

The revelation of Crow’s history as a dual citizen of a nation considered to be one of the world’s most secretive tax havens raises new questions about the lavish, undisclosed gifts to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, first revealed by ProPublica. On Monday, Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore., sent a letter to Crow seeking evidence that Crow “complied with all relevant federal tax and ethics laws,” something his dual-citizen status is sure to complicate. (The Intercept).

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Roberts declines to appear at Senate's Supreme Court ethics hearing.

The chief justice was invited after an explosive report on Justice Clarence Thomas’ longtime relationship with a GOP megadonor.

Chief Justice John Roberts has declined an invitation to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee to discuss ethics reform on the high court after a report revealed Justice Clarence Thomas’ close friendship with a GOP megadonor.

“I extended an invitation to the Chief Justice, or his designate, in an attempt to include the Court in this discussion. But make no mistake: Supreme Court ethics reform must happen, whether the Court participates in the process or not,” Judiciary panel chief Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said in a statement Tuesday. (Politico).

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Yesterday, this information was lost.

Sorry about that.

Write to Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona to encourage resistance to book bans. See contact information in this image.👇

Harry Belafonte, 96, Dies; Barrier-Breaking Singer, Actor and Activist.

In the 1950s, when segregation was still widespread, his ascent to the upper echelon of show business was historic. But his primary focus was civil rights.

Harry Belafonte was not the first Black entertainer to transcend racial boundaries, but none had made as much of a splash as he did. For a few years no one in music, Black or white, was bigger. Above, the singer in 1957.

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Harry Belafonte, who stormed the pop charts and smashed racial barriers in the 1950s with his highly personal brand of folk music, and who went on to become a dynamic force in the civil rights movement, died on Tuesday at his home on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. He was 96.

The cause was congestive heart failure, said Ken Sunshine, his longtime spokesman.

At a time when segregation was still widespread and Black faces were still a rarity on screens large and small, Mr. Belafonte’s ascent to the upper echelon of show business was historic. He was not the first Black entertainer to transcend racial boundaries; Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald and others had achieved stardom before him. But none had made as much of a splash as he did, and for a while no one in music, Black or white, was bigger.

Born in Harlem to West Indian immigrants, he almost single-handedly ignited a craze for Caribbean music with hit records like “Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)” and “Jamaica Farewell.” His album “Calypso,” which included both those songs, reached the top of the Billboard album chart shortly after its release in 1956 and stayed there for 31 weeks. Coming just before the breakthrough of Elvis Presley, it was said to be the first album by a single artist to sell more than a million copies.

By 1959 he was the most highly paid Black performer in history, with fat contracts for appearances in Las Vegas, at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles and at the Palace in New York.

Early in his career, he befriended the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and became not just a lifelong friend but also an ardent supporter of Dr. King and the quest for racial equality he personified. He put up much of the seed money to help start the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and was one of the principal fund-raisers for that organization and Dr. King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

He provided money to bail Dr. King and other civil rights activists out of jail. He took part in the March on Washington in 1963. His spacious apartment on West End Avenue in Manhattan became Dr. King’s home away from home. And he quietly maintained an insurance policy on Dr. King’s life, with the King family as the beneficiary, and donated his own money to make sure that the family was taken care of after Dr. King was assassinated in 1968. (New York Times).

“Harry Belafonte was a barrier-breaking legend who used his platform to lift others up. He lived a good life – transforming the arts while also standing up for civil rights. And he did it all with his signature smile and style. Michelle and I send our love to his wife, kids and fans.” — Former President Barack Obama.

“Harry Belafonte was one of our nation’s most powerful voices for change. ... Like all true patriots, Harry Belafonte had the ability to see what could be and had the courage to work to realize that vision. He fought to help America live up to our highest ideals: dignity, equity, and justice for all. For years, it was my honor to call Harry a dear friend and rely on his wisdom and counsel. America has lost a giant.” — Vice President Kamala Harris.

“Jill and I are saddened by the passing of a groundbreaking American who used his talent, his fame, and his voice to help redeem the soul of our Nation. Harry Belafonte was born to Caribbean parents in Harlem, New York on March 1, 1927, when segregation was the order of American society. To our Nation’s benefit, Harry never accepted those false narratives and unjust boundaries. He dedicated his entire life to breaking barriers and bridging divides. ... Harry Belafonte’s accomplishments are legendary and his legacy of outspoken advocacy, compassion, and respect for human dignity will endure. He will be remembered as a great American.” — President Joe Biden.

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Like cookies and coffee shops, doughnut shops multiply, especially in L.A.

Los Angeles Is a Doughnut Town.

The market has been saturated and competitive for decades, but new shops keep coming with offerings like a taro doughnut from Hawaii.

The Donut Hole, in La Puente, doesn’t sell the very best doughnuts in the Los Angeles area, but I love going there. Driving through its absurd, gigantic fiberglass doughnut — a pristine example of mimetic architecture— is a brief, giddy and almost spiritual experience. It is half the joy of being there, and it gives the doughnuts a bit of an edge.

An edge, architectural or otherwise, is practically required in the unusually saturated, competitive doughnut market of Southern California.

A shop’s extra attraction might be the availability of lottery tickets or Vietnamese sandwiches alongside properly crunchy, darkly fried old-fashioneds, as at Pronto Donuts in Monterey Park. It might be a glamorous seasonal doughnut, like the strawberry-stuffed beasts you can find at the Donut Man, in Glendora, from February to September.

I am consistently pleased by the simple chocolate glazed at Colorado Donuts — though if I’m with my nephews, the chewy, pull-apart, rainbow-colored mochi doughnuts from Mochi Dochi are always the stronger choice.

Alone, I will happily drive 45 minutes out of the way to Oliboli, in Tustin, for the Meyer lemon-glazed doughnut, and the singular ham-and-cheese-filled doughnut with its finely bubbled surface and sweetly perfumed center, made from a dough raised slowly over 40 hours. If I’m anywhere near a Sidecar Doughnuts location, I have to go in and get one of whatever happens to be just out of the fryer, so recently garnished that the glaze is still wet to the touch. (New York Times).

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