Notes and Essays -- John Brown

Debate Fate [From The New York Times letters to the editor  ( JB - scroll down for the "poetry" item) , 7/3/24 9:00 PM] I’ve read a thousand essays On Biden’s weak debate And who would best replace him Before it gets too late. Some say that V.P. Harris Should step in Biden’s shoes. She’d conquer Trump in all debates …  But in November lose . Others point to Hillary And say this time she’d win. We’ve “ been there, done that. ” Pick again.  The odds she’d win are thin. And some want Gavin Newsom  To be our new selection.  Would “California coastal cool” Cost him the election? Pritzker’s rich and likely to Attract substantial backing,  His record’s good, his skills are strong.  Charisma’s what he’s lacking. Michigan’s a crucial state That Biden could well lose. Gretchen Whitmer’s on the ball.  Is she the one to choose? Michelle Obama, President!? I think she could achieve it. But now her life’s so glittering That she won’t want to leave it. America’s obsessed with fame,  So Tay

Former vice president Joe Biden watches as his wife, Jill Biden, blocks a protester from arriving onstage during a primary night rally in the Baldwin Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles on Tuesday. (Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg) From: "Jill Biden’s epic tussle: In split-second blocking maneuver, she protects husband from lunging vegans"; article  by Timothy Bella, The Washington Post , March 4, 2020 at 6:25 a.m. EST; see also.

Via email from The New York Times, July 3 "News on the places you follow" Audio |  The American Journalist on Trial in Russia Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter, has been accused of espionage. The newspaper and U.S. officials have rejected the claims. 32 MIN LISTEN Because you follow:  Ukraine, Russia An Israeli air base is a source of GPS ‘spoofing’ attacks, researchers say. Misleading satellite signals have disrupted thousands of civilian flights. GPS, once considered navigation’s gold standard, is now vulnerable. Because you follow:  Russia The Bleak, Nihilistic Show Russians Can’t Stop Watching The streaming hit, “The Boy’s Word,” about youth gangs in the last years of the Soviet Union, says grim things about the national mood. Because you follow:  Russia Opinion |  Why America’s Adversaries Are Wrong About the Biden-Trump Debate Russia and China have seized on last week’s painful presidential debate to push their narrative that America is in terminal declin

open image in gallery Prime minister Rishi Sunak meets Becky Holt, Britain’s most tattooed mum  (Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock); from

"[A]nxious lawmakers didn’t take any stock in the [poll] numbers but marveled at how 'there’s all this potential to defeat Trump and it also says how much it’s being held back by Biden ,' according to one lawmaker ..."  image (not from article) from From: Michael Scherer, Tyler Pager and Matt Viser, "Biden faces growing political crisis over response to debate performance [:] Biden has told allies in recent days that he is in a tough moment and that he has to prove to voters that he is up for the job," The Washington Post , July 3, 2024 at 3:02 p.m. EDT

A Brazilian rainbow boa constrictor in England underwent a process of asexual reproduction called parthenogenesis.  r ainbow boa constrictor in England underwent a process of asexual reproduction called parthenogenesis. Ronaldo, a 6-foot Brazilian rainbow boa constrictor, had not had contact with another snake for nearly a decade when she gave birth. City of Portsmouth College July 2, 2024, 6:28 PM EDT By  Elysee Barakett , NBC news ; [JB: article contains a few links] Ronaldo, a 6-foot Brazilian rainbow boa constrictor kept at a school in England, was thought to be male — until the snake gave birth to 14 babies last month. The boa had not had contact with another snake for nearly a decade, so she appears to have undergone a natural process of asexual reproduction called parthenogenesis. The term is derived from the Greek words for “virgin birth.”   The school said this is the third documented case of this type of birth that it is aware of from a Brazilian rainbow boa in captivity. Ron

Orban has repeatedly blocked or weakened European efforts to provide Ukraine with security assistance throughout the war, frustrating its leader.  Reuters The body language between the two leaders was not warm; image (not from article) from BBC By  Isabelle Khurshudyan  and  Kate Brady , The Washington Post , July 2, 2024 at 8:17 a.m. EDT KYIV — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the European Union’s most prominent critic of providing Ukraine with military aid, arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday in his first visit since Russia’s invasion more than two years ago. His meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky came just a day after Hungary took over the six-month rotating presidency of the Council of the E.U. and was a rare gesture in what has been a  fraught relationship  between the leaders of the neighboring countries. Though the rotating presidency yields little power, it gives Orban and his government a platform — one he could use to amplify the views of Europe’s ascendant far right and