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Journalist: Is Mark Milley coming clean — or just trying to rehabilitate his image after Trump administration?
August 09, 2022
The actions of Army Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are under increased scrutiny as his portrayal in best-selling books on the Trump administration appear to contract his record in office, according to a new analysis.
Writing in Slate, Fred Kaplan analyzed an excerpt from forthcoming Susan Glasser and Peter Baker book The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021.
Kaplan wrote, "most of the excerpt is given over to a glorification of Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who is portrayed as the main source of resistance to Trump’s assault on American democracy. We’ve seen this before, in Peril, the final volume of Bob Woodward’s Trump trilogy (co-authored by Robert Costa). The account by Glasser and Baker is more credible, in that they quote reliable witnesses—former defense secretary Robert Gates, Rep. Adam Smith, and Sen. Angus King—confirming key aspects of Milley’s tale. (Woodward never identifies sources, but Milley is clearly the source of his stories about Milley; most of his books’ heroes are the characters who cooperate with him most fully.)"
Kaplan claimed the description of Milley did not match his actions.
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"The most remarkable item in the Glasser-Baker portrait is the full reproduction of a long letter of resignation that Milley wrote a week after Trump’s June 1, 2020, photo op outside the church on Lafayette Square, after Black Lives Matter protesters had just been violently removed by national guard and federal officers. It’s a harsh letter," Kaplan wrote. "But here’s the thing: Milley never sent this letter. In fact, Glasser and Baker note that this was merely one of several drafts of a resignation letter—the others were shorter (and, I would guess, less contentious). Had he resigned, would he have sent this one? Given the reluctance of many officers—active-duty or retired—to reproach the commander-in-chief in public, and given the paucity of evidence that Milley ever confronted Trump so directly in private, I doubt it. This was probably his getting-it-out-of-my-system draft—meant to be saved for the personal files, then deleted."
Kaplan wondered how much of what Milley is saying is meant as public relations as he continues to lead the Joint Chiefs in the Biden administration.
"Nonetheless, Milley is now working overtime to dissociate himself from Trump as much as possible and thus rehabilitate his reputation. At least Milley did speak out a bit, to the degree he felt he could, while still on his job," he wrote. "Still, judging from the excerpt, the Glasser-Baker book is probably a good read. Then, of course, Maggie Haberman, the most seasoned Trump chronicler, has her 600-page tome, Confidence Man, coming out in October. And as the Trump scandal machine keeps churning—the Jan 6 revelations, the Mar-A-Lago raid this week, who knows what curveball next week—all of these authors will need to write afterwords, if not wholly revised chapters, for the paperback editions."
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One of Russia's top military commanders has threatened to blow up the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Enerhodar, Ukraine after heavy shelling over the weekend sparked fears of a potential radioactive catastrophe.
The facility was captured by Russian forces on March 3rd, nine days after President Vladimir Putin launched his unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said in an interview Tuesday with The Associated Press that the situation is getting more perilous every day at the Zaporizhzhya plant. The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant is Europe’s largest atomic energy station.
Concerns over the stability of the physical integrity of the plant and the recent shelling in the region may be the least of Ukraine’s worries.
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According to a Telegram post by Energoatam, a Ukrainian state nuclear agency, Major General Valery Vasiliev of Russia's Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Protection Troops told his battalions that "there will be either Russian land or a scorched desert" surrounding the site.
“We warned them," Energoatam wrote that Vasiliev added. "The enemy knows that the station will be either Russian or nobody's. We are ready for the consequences of this step. And you, the liberating warriors, must understand that we do not have a second way. And if there is the most severe order - we must fulfill it with honor!"
Leaders around the world are speaking out about the emerging nuclear crisis. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed his concerns over the deteriorating situation on Sunday.
Then, on Monday, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the attacks on and around Zaporizhzhia.
A spokesperson for the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov said the shelling of the plant by “Ukrainian armed forces” was “fraught with catastrophic consequences” for Europe. Officials in Ukraine and Russia continue to exchange blame for the bombardment.
Tuesday marked the 77th anniversary of the atomic bomb attack on Nagasaki, Japan. It seems that unfortunately, the prospect of nuclear conflict is no longer in our past, but once again in our conceivable future.
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Facebook turned over personal data to help police prosecute a teen for an alleged abortion
August 09, 2022
Motherboard revealed that Facebook turned over data to police so that they could prosecute a teenager for seeking an abortion.
In states around the country, abortion has been banned, but in a few states, legislatures passed bills that allowed vigilantes to track down people who had abortions. What is problematic in this case, is that the incident happened in a state where abortion isn't illegal. However, it happened later in the pregnancy, which is against Nebraska's cut-off date.
At the same time, the abortion wasn't a procedure, it was a pharmaceutical abortion, meaning the teen and her mother legally purchased the medicine for the abortion and used them. Nothing illegal took place, but Facebook turned over the information nonetheless.
"According to court records, Celeste Burgess, 17, and her mother, Jessica Burgess, bought medication called Pregnot designed to end pregnancy," the report explained. "Pregnot is a kit of mifepristone and misoprostol, which is often used to safely end pregnancy in the first trimester. In this case, Burgess was 28 weeks pregnant, which is later in pregnancy than mifepristone and misoprostol are recommended for use. It's also later than Nebraska's 20-week abortion ban (abortion at 28 weeks is legal in about half the country; Nebraska's abortion laws have not changed Roe v. Wade was overturned)."
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The teen is being charged as an adult with a felony "removing/concealing/abandoning dead human body" and two misdemeanors, concealing the death of a person and false reporting. Her mother is being charged with five felonies.
While some details were reported by the Lincoln Journal-Star and Forbes, Motherboard published the search warrant and court documents, showing they organized the burial of the fetus on Facebook DM.
All of it happened prior to the Supreme Court's decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
An autopsy shows that the fetus was stillborn but the final autopsy wouldn't make any conclusions.
"An exact cause [of death] was unknown, but the lungs didn't indicate they'd ever contained any air." A final autopsy report "stated the cause of death was undetermined. The findings were consistent with the fetus being stillborn but the placement of the fetus into a plastic bag raise the possibility of asphyxia due to suffocation."
Facebook always complies with subpoenas, as does most other tech companies.
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