“I’m a diplomat now. … It’s a calmer Rahm Emanuel,” he says with a grin.... It’s already 12:30 p.m. and he had not uttered a single four-letter word, he notes. Not yet. “I mean, I do have a full day ahead of me.”


his appointment still seemed like a mismatch. Emanuel is a famously hard-charging political operative whose reputation as “Rahmbo” was parodied in mostly bleeped-out “Saturday Night Live” sketches; Japan is so polite that it’s considered too rude to tell someone a flat-out “no.” Emanuel can barely sit still; Japan prizes calm and orderliness.

Yet in his first 15 months, Japan has embraced Emanuel. In Japan, he’s Rahm-san, his excellency, the “undiplomat” and a darling of Japanese Twitter.

https://wapo.st/3ptfSjV (No Paywall)

In the submission thread for the photo contest there is a reference to "Demopedia". I did a search and could not find a Demopedia. Can anyone tell me what Demopedia is?

... the facts go. Two observations on the statement of facts that accompanied tfg's indictment:

First, They have successfully linked him, not just through testimony, but through substantial evidence, with direct participation and knowledge of the several pay offs. There is no plausible deniability.

Second, They have successfully presented evidence and testimony that his intention was to aid his campaign, and not to, for instance, "preserve the sanctity of his marriage".

On the facts, they seem to have him nailed.

The only questions will be of law - does covering up misdeeds through hush money payments constitute in-kind campaign contributions. Hopefully, he will be found guilty before this question is taken up on appeal.

My spouse really enjoys photographing birds and flowers around the house. But it is also frustrating for her. She wants a point-and-shoot experience that also produces a "perfect picture" - which may not be a realistic goal. I want to get her a camera that will - like magic! - make it fun and easy for her to take the perfect picture. There are a few things that are very annoying for her:

* Exposure Control. The camera we now use has a centered exposure control. In high contrast situations it is hard to get the exposure right over all. I point the camera at an area that looks about right and hold the exposure while I point to the area of interest - but this is a bit too fussy for her.

* Steady Cam. Especially on zoom, our current camera is a bit too shaky. Even if the camera freezes the motion when the picture is snapped, she wants to see the picture steady in the viewer. By the time she gets it right, the bird has flown. I just push the button and take let the auto advance rip, but she is not that sort of a photographer.

Our camera is a 20th century model (an optical zoom Olympus), so I'm sure we can do a lot better.

- I assume the steady cam has gotten a lot better. Any suggestions for what would be the best camera for a rock steady view before the snap?
- My guess is that there are light metering systems that can do averaging and maybe even be more selective. Anything like that out there?
- I've become aware that there are cameras that actually take a multitude of pictures when you press the button, do some analysis and blend the images together right in the camera. Is anything like that available, and would it actually help?

Thanks a lot for any advice or suggestions that you might be able to give!

The moderate group has been preparing a possible national presidential ticket for the 2024 elections


The Arizona Democratic Party will file a lawsuit Thursday against the state’s top election administrator and No Labels, seeking to reverse the moderate group’s recognition as a political party for the 2024 elections, according to Democratic officials.

The lawsuit, in state court in Phoenix, reflects growing concern in Democratic circles that a No Labels third-party ticket in 2024 will jeopardize the reelection hopes of President Biden and make it harder for Democrats to maintain control of the Senate.

WaPo, no paywall: https://wapo.st/3FZg5kw

A Florida charter school principal said she was forced to resign this week after some parents complained about their sixth-grade students being shown images of Michelangelo’s “David” statue in class, with one parent believing the art lesson on the Renaissance masterpiece amounted to pornographic material.

https://wapo.st/3FPsHuu No Paywall

Welp, so much for Western Civilization Chauvinism

Mr. Neiss is the father of an 11-year-old transgender boy, a fact that has tangled into every aspect of his life. He and his wife are trying to figure out how their son can have a bar mitzvah in accordance with their Orthodox Jewish faith. A New York City transplant to St. Louis, Mr. Neiss now stays up late combing through Zillow listings for houses across the Mississippi River in Illinois, worried that this will be the year Missouri legislators outlaw the medical care he and his wife believe is saving their son’s life.

NYT's latest transgender opinion piece. No paywall:

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/18/opinion/trans-gender-missouri.html?unlocked_article_code=qvDUmxPhs2tRQ3yDGOmpw7Jt5mEyAm9PBbImEI9ro7ZW2WsYzmcQYdsgYtH0dJ30OCxx0RaFo4hRKG2J88BhwzrRsOrV2bHpAooMKId1NVwpsYnQjn7bFMfW5hyusOA9r_uT07yLwBYI24sBda9YUp4R12g4rpij-x4p1ekx1-dYWi7sq6oDVYKs4nlz-Aecq9Pv6yzlfc-GDRt8Q5hek_q2vBmGeyxxpZ6iszWLD_HclNDE709ARVNfRqPUGWfYysf_gr4QEQkBlhIFSB_fYNa0onazPN1kelHejd2F8AaQoowdW71kf45U8mDBuVOjYT08KOD6EvWcXzIXpZTY&smid=url-share

Source: Washington Post (No Paywall)

A man wielding a tiki torch with neo-Nazis and white supremacists in a photo that became one of the most haunting images of the deadly Unite the Right rally in 2017 killed himself on the same day that his trial for a federal drug trafficking charge was set to begin.

Teddy Joseph Von Nukem, 35, died on Jan. 30 at his home in southwest Missouri when he was supposed to go to trial in Arizona on charges of trafficking fentanyl across the Mexico border. He was arrested in March 2021 for allegedly having more than 33 pounds of fentanyl pills in his vehicle, according to court records.

Read more: https://wapo.st/3Xugdhz

Source: New York Times, No Paywall

Multiple people were reported injured in an active shooting at multiple locations on the campus of Michigan State University in East Lansing, Mich. on Monday night, and the shooter was still at large, the university police said.

Several law enforcement agencies, including the F.B.I., responded late Monday to reports of shots fired.

Around 8:30 p.m. local time on Monday, the university’s Police Department sent an alert urging people on campus to “secure in place immediately.” The school police said shots were fired near Berkey Hall, home to the school’s college of arts and sciences, and the shooter was still believed to be on foot as of 10 p.m. local time.

School police said there was another reported shooting at IM East, a campus gym, around 9:30 p.m., and that “it appears there is only one suspect at this time.”

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/02/13/us/michigan-state-shooting?unlocked_article_code=MpUZeJDsE8pJ1A3kuCWroJUyifygx2lUBBu-Zd0hgKF9961hab3giSbQZBF-2jEmN66l4pubKOD3NkLwLlcT-o-Gdl9takvoIzb7kPR2V2WPt39y4iTnfSNbS1lLd1cBs4vUG7es1VYigUCIJ9xi63ttqD89zZ1uc