Andy Borowitz: Twitter in Chaos After the Elon Musk Who Offered to Buy It Turns Out to Be a Bot

Chaos enveloped Twitter after the social-media company discovered that the Elon Musk who had offered to buy it three weeks ago was actually a bot.

The bid for Twitter is believed to be the largest corporate takeover ever proposed by a bot, mergers-and-acquisitions experts say.

A visibly embarrassed Parag Agrawal, the C.E.O. of Twitter, explained to reporters how the company was persuaded that the Elon Musk bot was actually Elon Musk.

“The bot account had a blue check, indicating that it had been verified,” Agrawal said. “It now appears that the bot had somehow been given the blue check by another bot.”

The C.E.O. said that Twitter was conducting a “thorough internal review of procedures” to insure that it is not purchased by a bot in the future. “The bot appeared to be an actual human being, which should’ve been our first clue that it wasn’t Elon,” he said. https://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/

American gun violence

If American gun violence is no longer surprising, it still is shocking. On an average day in the U.S., more than 35 people are murdered with a gun. No other affluent country in the world has a gun homicide rate nearly as high. Consider this chart:

As bad as it is, the chart underplays the toll, for two reasons. It covers 2019, and gun violence has surged since the pandemic. The chart also does not include suicides and accidental shootings.

Altogether, guns killed about 45,000 Americans last year.

Why is the U.S. such an outlier? The main reasons, studies suggest, are the sheer number of guns in this country and the loose laws about obtaining and using them. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/25/briefing/texas-elementary-school-shooting-uvalde.html

A glowing red orb’: Wild UFO theories move from the shadows to Congress

Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) says he doesn’t believe that a secret cabal of government officials and contractors are hiding a captured alien spaceship.

But he wants to make sure — so that we can all move on to more serious business.

One of the most eye-popping moments during a House Intelligence Committee hearing on UFOs on Tuesday was when the Wisconsin Republican pressed Pentagon officials on claims that a ‘glowing red orb’ once shut down nuclear weapons in Montana and that a recently leaked document revealed that other-worldly vehicles — and possibly even extraterrestrial bodies — are being kept from government leaders and the public. https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/18/ufo-theories-congress-pentagon-00033497

Putin blasted for ‘weaponizing’ world food supplies amid Ukraine war - 'Deliberate policy'

The Russian President has been accused of stealing grain and destroying agricultural equipment as part of his ongoing war in Ukraine. It is believed that Russia is dismantling infrastructure needed for food production while at the same time blocking ports that are important in transporting cereals out of Ukraine. https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1612601/Putin-world-food-supplies-Ukraine-Russia-UN-Bank-of-England-ont

How Trump’s 2020 Election Lies Have Gripped State Legislatures

At least 357 sitting Republican legislators in closely contested battleground states have used the power of their office to discredit or try to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, according to a review of legislative votes, records and official statements by The New York Times.

The tally accounts for 44 percent of the Republican legislators in the nine states where the presidential race was most narrowly decided. In each of those states, the election was conducted without any evidence of widespread fraud, leaving election officials from both parties in agreement on the victory of Joseph R. Biden Jr.

The Times’s analysis exposes how deeply rooted lies and misinformation about former President Donald J. Trump’s defeat have become in state legislatures, which play an integral role in U.S. democracy. In some, the false view that the election was stolen — either by fraud or as a result of pandemic-related changes to the process — is now widely accepted as fact among Republican lawmakers, turning statehouses into hotbeds of conspiratorial thinking and specious legal theories.

Percentage of Republican state legislators that took steps to discredit or overturn the 2020 presidential election results:

• Arizona 81%
• Pennsylvania 78%
• Wisconsin 73%
• Michigan 48%
• Georgia 23%
• Nevada 4% 

‘Megadrought’ threatens water and power supplies to millions in US

The “megadrought” gripping the southwestern US has driven water levels at the two largest reservoirs to record lows, forcing unprecedented government intervention to protect water and power supplies across seven states.

Millions of Americans already contending with critical water shortages now face the prospect of black outs as energy demand grows during heatwaves just as hydroelectric power supply is strained. A US power regulator this week warned that a big swath of the US was at risk of blackouts, partly as a result of drought conditions curtailing hydroelectric supplies.

US government climate scientists have said more than half the country is enduring drought conditions, while a separate study estimated that the drought affecting southwestern states was the worst to hit the region for 1,200 years after being exacerbated by human activity.

“This is by far the worst drought in our records,” said Andrew Hoell, a scientist specialising in droughts at the US government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa). “Why would you not care about the worst drought for more than a millennia? We have to live through this.” https://www.ft.com/content/9f00dfff-3a44-483f-9d5a-f58db7806046

Trump shares CPAC Hungary platform with notorious racist and antisemite

A notorious Hungarian racist who has called Jews “stinking excrement”, referred to Roma as “animals” and used racial epithets to describe Black people, was a featured speaker at a major gathering of US Republicans in Budapest.

Zsolt Bayer took the stage at the second day of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) Hungary, a convention that also featured speeches from Donald Trump, Fox News host Tucker Carlson, and Trump’s former White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows.

The last featured speaker of the conference was Jack Posobiec, a far-right US blogger who has used antisemitic symbols and promoted the fabricated “Pizzagate” conspiracy theory smearing prominent Democrats as pedophiles. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/21/trump-shares-cpac-hungary-platform-racist-antisemite

Group Chat Linked to Roger Stone Shows Ties Among Jan. 6 Figures

It was known as F.O.S. — or Friends of Stone — and while its members shifted over time, they were a motley cast of characters.

There were “Stop the Steal” organizers, right-wing influencers, Florida state legislative aides and more than one failed candidate loyal to former President Donald J. Trump. One participant ran a website that promoted disinformation about the Capitol attack. Another was an officer in the Army Reserve allied with Michael T. Flynn, Mr. Trump’s former national security adviser.

At least three members of the group chat are now facing charges in connection with the riot at the Capitol in January 2021. They include Owen Shroyer, the right-hand man of the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones; Enrique Tarrio, the onetime chairman of the Proud Boys; and Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the Oath Keepers militia.

But the focus of the chat was always the man whose photo topped its home page: Roger J. Stone Jr., a longtime political operative and adviser to Mr. Trump. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/20/us/politics/roger-stone-jan-6.html

Number of People Receiving Jobless Benefits Reached 52-Year Low in Early May

The number of people receiving unemployment benefits fell in early May to the lowest point in more than 50 years, adding to signs the U.S. labor market remains unusually tight. https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-jobless-claims-rise-for-third-straight-week-11652964963

Eastman provides new details of Trump’s direct role in legal effort to overturn election

John Eastman, the attorney who architected Donald Trump’s last-ditch legal strategy to overturn the 2020 election, revealed Friday that he routinely communicated with Trump either directly or via “six conduits” during the chaotic weeks that preceded the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

In a late-night court filing urging a federal judge to maintain the confidentiality of his work for Trump, Eastman provided the clearest insight yet into the blizzard of communications between Trump, his top aides, his campaign lawyers and the army of outside attorneys who were working to help reverse the outcome in a handful of states won by Joe Biden.  https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/20/eastman-trump-role-legal-overturn-election-00034023

Struggling in Ukraine, Russia paves way to sign up over-40s for army

In a sign of Russia's urgent need to bolster its war effort in Ukraine, parliament said on Friday it would consider a bill to allow Russians over 40 and foreigners over 30 to sign up for the military. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russian-parliament-consider-allowing-over-40s-sign-up-military-2022-05-20/

Democrats, the Midterm Jinx Is Not Inevitable

In November, the Democrats are widely expected to lose the House and probably also the Senate. Large defeats are the norm for a new president’s first midterm. A harbinger is a president’s approval rating, and President Biden’s stands at a lackluster 41.1 percent.

But standard political history may not be a good guide to 2022. The Democrats are facing long odds, but there are several reasons this could be an unusual political year.

For starters, Donald Trump is just as likely to hobble Republicans as he is to energize them. Mr. Trump will not be on the ballot, but many of his surrogates will. He has endorsed over 175 candidates in federal and state elections, and in his clumsy efforts to play kingmaker, Mr. Trump has promoted some badly compromised candidates and challenged party unity.

In the Georgia primary for governor, a Trump surrogate, David Perdue, is polling well behind Mr. Trump’s nemesis, the incumbent Brian Kemp. In the Georgia Senate race, Mr. Trump’s endorsed candidate, Herschel Walker, is running away from his past and locked in a tight race against the incumbent Raphael Warnock. It may not happen again, but in 2020, Mr. Trump’s meddling backfired and helped Democrats take two Senate seats. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/20/opinion/democrats-midterms.html

Russia bans 963 Americans, including Biden and Harris — but not Trump

Russia permanently banned nearly 1,000 Americans, including President Biden and Vice President Harris, from entering the country in response to the United States’ support of Ukraine and the historic sanctions facing Moscow nearly three months into its invasion..

The list appears to include major officials from the Biden administration, such as Harris, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and former White House press secretary Jen Psaki. The president’s son, Hunter Biden, is also named, as is former secretary of state Hillary Clinton.

One prominent name missing from the list: former president Donald Trump. In fact, the only prominent Trump administration official included in the ban is former secretary of state Mike Pompeo. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/05/21/russia-bans-963-americans-ukraine-biden/

Red states aren't prepared for a post-Roe baby boom

The red states poised to ban or severely limit abortion already tend to have limited access to health care, poor health outcomes and fewer safety net programs in place for mothers and children.

Why it matters: If the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, as it's expected to, the ensuing increase in births will likely leave families in tough circumstances and strain systems that are already hanging by a thread.

"What we're facing as a country is hundreds of thousands of births, probably disproportionately located in the states that have been most limited in what they do for pregnant women, infants and children. So this is the great paradox that we are dealing with," said Sara Rosenbaum, a health law and policy professor at George Washington University. https://www.axios.com/2022/05/20/abortion-roe-supreme-court-babies-mothers

Trump Fears Wrath of 'Suburban Women' Over Roe Loss Could Torpedo 2024 Chances

Donald Trump is worried about his chances in the 2024 election amid the wrath of “suburban women” furious about the expected gutting of Roe v. Wade, sources have told The Rolling Stone.

“Suburban women have been a recurring concern” for Trump, including during the 2020 campaign, when his “smarter advisers were sounding the alarm to him about how he was losing suburbs,” said a person familiar with the issue, according to the magazine.

“He is … worried women in the suburbs could punish him for this one day,” the source reportedly added, referring to the Supreme Court’s predicted scuttling of the landmark ruling that has safeguarded reproductive rights for half a century. That path was highlighted in a leak early this month of Justice Samuel Alito’s draft opinion shredding the decision. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-suburban-women-roe-fear-2024_n_62890761e4b0415d4d781459

Midterm Stakes Grow Clearer: Election Deniers Will Be on Many Ballots

Republican voters in this week’s primary races demonstrated a willingness to nominate candidates who parrot Donald J. Trump’s election lies and who appear intent on exerting extraordinary political control over voting systems. The results make clear that the November midterms may well affect the fate of free and fair elections in the country. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/18/us/politics/midterms-trump-2020-election-deniers.html

ICE's American Dragnet

Center on Privacy & Technology’s two-year investigation, which included  hundreds of Freedom of Information Act requests and a comprehensive review of ICE’s contracting and procurement records, reveals that ICE now operates as a domestic surveillance agency. Since its founding in 2003, ICE has not only been building its own capacity to use surveillance to carry out deportations but has also played a key role in the federal government’s larger push to amass as much information as possible about all of our lives. By reaching into the digital records of state and local governments and buying databases with billions of data points from private companies, ICE has created a surveillance infrastructure that enables it to pull detailed dossiers on nearly anyone, seemingly at any time. In its efforts to arrest and deport, ICE has – without any judicial, legislative or public oversight – reached into datasets containing personal information about the vast majority of people living in the U.S., whose records can end up in the hands of immigration enforcement simply because they apply for driver’s licenses; drive on the roads; or sign up with their local utilities to get access to heat, water and electricity.

ICE has built its dragnet surveillance system by crossing legal and ethical lines, leveraging the trust that people place in state agencies and essential service providers, and exploiting the vulnerability of people who volunteer their information to reunite with their families. Despite the incredible scope and evident civil rights implications of ICE’s surveillance practices, the agency has managed to shroud those practices in near-total secrecy, evading enforcement of even the handful of laws and policies that could be invoked to impose limitations. Federal and state lawmakers, for the most part, have yet to confront this reality. https://www.americandragnet.org/

Congress members led ‘reconnaissance tours’ of Capitol before attack

The House select committee investigating the Capitol attack revealed on Thursday that it had evidence to suggest certain “reconnaissance tours” took place in the days before 6 January, potentially providing some rioters with a layout of the complex.

The request for voluntary cooperation from Georgia Republican congressman Barry Loudermilk indicates the panel has been quietly focused on one of the unexplained mysteries of 6 January: how certain supporters of Donald Trump who stormed the Capitol appeared to know in advance the layout of the Capitol complex. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/may/19/january-6-panel-congress-reconnaissance-tours-capitol

January 6 Committee Will Hold 6 Public Hearings

The House Select Committee investigating the January 6 Capitol riot “intends to hold six hearings, with the first and last in prime time, where its lawyers will run through how Trump’s schemes took shape before the election and culminated with the Capitol attack. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/may/23/capitol-attack-panel-public-hearings-trump

Dem-allied groups drop an A-bomb on Mastriano to start Pa. gov race

Democrats and allied groups are launching a $6 million digital, television and voter mobilization campaign attacking GOP Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano, betting that his pledges to completely ban abortion will turn off swing state voters.

The ads, which will highlight Mastriano’s position and public comments against abortion rights, will begin airing in Pennsylvania on Monday. Sponsored by the political nonprofit Strategic Victory Fund along with other major Democratic donors and allied organizations, the campaign is being run by affiliates of Planned Parenthood and the Democratic Governors Association, along with the Pennsylvania-based progressive nonprofit group Commonwealth Communications. https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/23/dem-allied-groups-drop-an-a-bomb-on-mastriano-to-start-pa-gov-race-00034245

State Democrats, abortion-rights activists 'incredibly frustrated' with federal inaction

State-level Democratic officials and abortion-rights advocates are discouraged by how little their allies in Congress and the White House have done since a draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade became public.

Instead of executive actions that could increase access to abortion pills or help protect people’s medical information, national Democrats have largely highlighted what they can’t do in the Senate and focused on fueling midterm-election turnout, angering state and local leaders who feel the burden to protect and expand access is falling almost entirely on their shoulders. https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/23/state-democrats-abortion-rights-activists-federal-inaction-00034191

Poll: 61% of Trump voters agree with idea behind 'great replacement' conspiracy theory

A new Yahoo News/YouGov poll shows that more than 6 in 10 Donald Trump voters (61%) agree that “a group of people in this country are trying to replace native-born Americans with immigrants and people of color who share their political views” — a core tenet of the false conspiracy theory known as the “great replacement.”

Less than a quarter of Trump voters (22%) disagree with that statement. https://news.yahoo.com/hed-poll-61-of-trump-voters-agree-with-idea-behind-great-replacement-conspiracy-theory-090004062.html

Trump’s picks in Tuesday’s GOP primaries spent over $400,000 at Mar-a-Lago

The campaigns of seven Republican candidates endorsed by former President Donald Trump spent over $400,000, combined, at his private club Mar-a-Lago in the buildup to Tuesday’s primary clashes, according to federal and state campaign finance records. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/24/trumps-picks-in-tuesdays-gop-primaries-spent-over-400000-at-mar-a-lago.html

Ethics law offers possible path for Trump prosecution

As federal investigators weigh the potential criminality of former President Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, legal experts say a decades-old ethics law — one routinely violated by members of Trump’s inner circle — could provide them a glide path to prosecution.

The Hatch Act prohibits electioneering by executive branch officials, including the promotion of the president’s political interests, during the course of their formal duties.

The law was regularly flouted by the Trump administration while in office, a trend that continued throughout the two months between the presidential election and the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

While the ethics law has been used almost entirely administratively since it was passed in the 1930s, experts say a rarely used criminal provision of the law could be a novel and relatively straightforward strategy to ensure consequences for Trump in what is sure to be a challenging atmosphere. https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/3498702-ethics-law-offers-possible-path-for-trump-prosecution/

Embracing COVID misinformation, Kansas Senate says ‘national sovereignty’ is under threat

The Kansas Senate adopted a resolution Monday condemning proposed changes to the World Health Organization that some Republicans falsely contend would remove health policy authority from U.S. officials.

Without debate or a roll call vote, senators approved the resolution, which is grounded in right-wing fears of a handover of “national sovereignty” to the WHO. Read more at: https://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article261712952.html

Rudy Giuliani stonewalls Capitol attack investigators during lengthy deposition

Donald Trump’s onetime attorney Rudy Giuliani testified to the House select committee investigating the January 6 Capitol attack at length on Friday but declined to discuss the involvement of congressional Republicans in efforts to overturn the 2020 election result, according to sources familiar with the matter. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/may/24/rudy-giuliani-capitol-attack-committee-testimony

The DAILY GRILL

@Jim_Jordan
All true.
Bet most people still don’t know that a Clinton campaign lawyer, using campaign funds, created an elaborate hoax about Trump and Russia.
Makes you wonder what else is fake. -- Elon Musk@elonmusk responding to revelations that the Hillary Clinton campaign facilitated the creation of a false dossier alleging that Donald Trump had colluded with Russia to alter the US presidential election, and then gone on to disseminate that false information to the press.

VERSUS

What’s interesting about the the Wall Street Journal editorial board's effort to identify the Alfa Bank rumor as the point at which Clinton “did” the invention of the Trump-Russia conspiracy isn’t simply that it’s obviously not true. It’s also that this is the second attempt by Trump sympathizers to do so. Takeaway: Hillary Clinton didn’t do it. -- Philip Bump. See also “The Alfa Bank Hoax Hoax” by Tim Miller

Pennsylvania Senate candidate David McCormick (R) filed suit to try to force the state to count undated absentee and mail-in ballots in the very tight primary between him and Mehmet Oz (R), the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. 

VERSUS

The national Republican Party is taking the side of Mehmet Oz (R) in Pennsylvania’s neck-and-neck GOP primary contest for U.S. Senate and opposing a lawsuit that could help David McCormick (R) close the gap in votes, the AP reports.