Steve Kelman on Politics, Culture, and Life, 5.20.2022
Steve Kelman, Harvard Kennedy School prof, moderate Dem, pro free speech/anti cancel culture, pro tax rich, pro-Israel. Research improving gov performance, China interest. Blog reprints Facebook posts
FDA employees to blame for not warning three months ago about impending infant formula shortage
Assuming – though don’t know for sure – that there was at least one person among those working for the FDA on infant formula
So one would have wished to see this employee realize that it was only a matter of time till the shutdown would create a supply problem. Doing that wouldn’t have required any extra work or investigation, just a bit of forethought.
Texas reopens “child abuse” investigations of parents of transgender kids
Texas is restarting its child abuse investigations into the parents of transgender children. Tell me how this is related to "parental rights" and government staying out of people's private lives?
Condolezza Rice on January 6: “I study countries that do this”
The Dallas Morning News reports that Condoleezza Rice said during a panel discussion with George W. Bush that she thanked God for then-Vice President Mike Pence, who oversaw the certification of the 2020 election. Of the insurrection, she said, “I cried on Jan. 6, because I thought to myself: I study countries who do this, I don’t live in a country who does this,” It is so sad that Rice's moderate Republican voice is being lost in a torrent of election denialism by current Republican elected officials.
Loyalty rewards in bitcoin
The fish restaurant chain McCormick and Schmick's will be offering loyalty rewards in the form of bitcoins. Very fishy.
Liberal Cuban-American voice criticizes Biden opening to Cuba
The liberal Cuban-American Miami Herald columnist Fabiola Santiago has criticized Biden's reopening of flights and travel to Cuba. The paper, also a liberal voice, has an editorial today saying the same thing.
The return of restaurant dress codes
The food section of The Times has a long article on the return of dress codes to restaurants in New York City. I'm not certain, but I think I don't agree with this.
Casino mogul lobbies for China
The Justice Department has sued Las Vegas casino mogul Steve Wynn for failure to register as an agent of the Chinese government for representing China in lobbying Trump to return a Chinese dissident to China. A lot of Wynn's money comes from casinos in Macao, a city near Hong Kong where China holds sway.
Majority of Texans support legalizing marijuana
The Dallas Morning News reports that a majority of Texans support legalizing marijuana – and then adds that Governor Abbott doesn’t.
China’s Global Times on Chinese shooter in Los Angeles
There is an utterly weird article in today's China Global Times about the Chinese immigrant who shot Taiwanese churchgoers in California. The article notes that the shooter was born on "Taiwan Island," and criticizes US media for "an immediate push to (use) a Taiwan island shooter to push the anti-China agenda." I thought they believed that somebody born on Taiwan was Chinese....
Abandoned housing project becomes film production lot
An abandoned public housing project in Newark has been demolished and will be replaced by a large production facility for films and television.