Your Virtual Front Page for Tuesday, April 4, 2017

First one of these for April, which will come whether you’re ready or not:

  1. Worst Chemical Attack in Years in Syria; U.S. Blames Assad (NYT) — We’re talking about at least 58 dead. Victims were foaming at the mouth. Then, the clinics where the stricken were taken were attacked by warplanes and rockets.
  2. Gov. McMaster urges lawmakers to borrow up to $1 billion for road repairs (The State) — You’ve already read about this one, back here. I had expected this governor to be more engaged in what’s actually going on at the State House, instead of sending missives from another planet.
  3. Blackwater founder held secret Seychelles meeting to establish Trump-Putin back channel (WashPost) — The Post touted this cloak-and-dagger story as an exclusive. It happened before Trump’s inauguration.
  4. Midlands driver accused of attempting to run over teens multiple times (The State) — Did you get a load of the mug shot with this one? See below. Couldn’t the booking officer have said, “Enough with the Hannibal Lecter pose,” or at least, “Lift your chin?”
  5. Still celebrating Lady Gamecocks winning national championship (The State) — This is my lame, belated attempt to answer Bud’s complaint. It could be worse. I could be suppressing coverage of the Bowling Green Massacre.
  6. Trump Donates Salary To National Parks Even As He Tries To Cut Interior Department (NPR) — Can you believe this guy? Does he expect applause?
Nancy Meiler, accused of trying to run over teenagers./Sumter County Sheriff's office

Nancy Meiler, 49, accused of trying to run over teenagers./Sumter County Sheriff’s office

14 thoughts on “Your Virtual Front Page for Tuesday, April 4, 2017

  1. bud

    1. 74 days after taking office Trump is apparently trying to blame Obama for the massacre.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/syria-chemical-attack-spicer-obama_us_58e3cd83e4b0f4a923b27cac?

    2. The state’s slum lord follows in his predecessors footsteps and fails to lead.
    3. Still more smoke in the continuing Trump inside the Kremlin saga. Meanwhile the right wing spin machine is focused on “unmasking” and “leak” diversions. So far with some effect.
    4. ??? What is wrong with people?
    5. Go Lady Gamecocks! Political correctness saw to it that the name “Chicks” was banished. Call me an old chauvinist but I always liked the term Chicks. Gotta roll with the times though.
    6. Pretty sorry spectacle with the over-sized check for what amounts to 0.005% of the cuts to the Interior Department by the Trump budget proposal. Apparently this amounts to about the same amount of money the local police spend on Trump security every time he visits Mar-a-Lago.

  2. JesseS

    To Trump’s credit with the Park Service thing, this is the first time I can remember him not welching on a PR stunt.
    Did he ever pay those legal fees for supporter who punched a protester?

        1. Brad Warthen Post author

          Of course, that’s not the coolest technological development of the 21st century so far.

          THAT would be Google Maps Street View.

          Part of what I like about that is that it’s not JUST a technological advance. It required going out and actually driving every foot of every street in the world (practically), and THEN making all those billions of images synch up with the satellite view. Lots of actual physical effort.

          It’s just cool on so many levels.

          Just the other day, after years of trying without success (I was confused about the address, and for some reason Google Maps wouldn’t take me straight to the precise number on the street, so I was virtually wandering virtually up and down block after block looking for something familiar after more than 50 years), I found the place where I lived in Ecuador.

          It’s not looking too great, but it’s recognizable…

          1. Norm Ivey

            I do the same thing when we are planning a trip. I use street view to identify where we’ll be staying (we’ve started using Airbnb some, and it helps to check out the neighborhood ahead of time).

            Geoguessr.com is an online game that drops you randomly on Street View somewhere in the world, and you have to figure out where you are based on your surroundings. Earn points based on how close you are.

            I’ve seen two Google cars on my side of town ( or the same one twice) in the last two weeks.

            1. Brad Warthen Post author

              Yes, I’ve done that! It’s a lot of fun.

              Where you the one who told me about it?

              Someone did, a couple of years back, and I tried it. It dumped me somewhere way out in the country in Norway or someplace like that — which really didn’t look all that different from the countryside here. I just kept going down the road until I hit a village, and there was the name of the village on a sign…

  3. bud

    1. Nikki seems to be doing a pretty good job at the UN. She called out the Russians for their role in the catastrophe.

    1. Bryan Caskey

      Yeah…she called them out, but I don’t know if it will really change anything.

      The only way to affect real change in the middle east would be to do something we don’t have the stomach to do anymore.

      1. bud

        We effected real change in 2003 and look where that got us. That’s why we have no stomach for troops on a massive military incursion which is what I assume you’re alluding to. But Trump changes the dynamic. He’s just stupid enough to get us involved.

        (As an aside the use of affect and effect is extremely tricky. Affect is a verb and effect usually a noun but in THIS case can be used as a verb. I imagine Brad’s grammar juices get flowing over this type of discussion)

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