UK Counterterrorism Police Join Inquiry Into Apparent Poisoning of Russian Ex-Spy
*Vaclav Havel letter criticises President Putin for undermining democracy
"We All Must Live With Mitch McConnell's Proudest Moment": Today's edition of The New York Times contains an editorial that begins, "Remember when the Senate confirmed Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland, the veteran federal appeals court judge, to replace Justice Antonin Scalia, who died suddenly two years ago this month?"
After fourteen years on the New York Times obituary desk, Margalit Fox (b. 1961) is retiring to write books. As regular readers of Times obits, We have enjoyed Fox's mini-disquisitions on history and culture, as captured in the course of one person's life.
Rebecca Onion (also a fine observer) has an appreciation of Fox in Slate. The title and subtitle say it all: "The Quiet Genius of Margalit Fox's Obituaries: For years she's injected subtle, deft works of cultural history into the New York Times."
The Hill: Australian diplomat whose tip prompted FBI’s Russia-probe has tie to Clintons
GANGSTER STATE: Sergei Skripal collapsed alongside daughter.
The woman found slumped on a shopping centre bench alongside a former Russian agent convicted of spying for Britain is his daughter, it has emerged.Yulia Skripal, in her 30s, and father Sergei, 66, are critically ill in hospital after being found unconscious in Salisbury, Wiltshire, on Sunday.UK police are trying to find out what “unknown substance” harmed the pair.A number of emergency services workers were assessed immediately after the incident – and one remains in hospital.
The Hill: Australian diplomat whose tip prompted FBI’s Russia-probe has tie to Clintons
"...I want to sound a note of caution: Australian multiculturalism is not God-given and cannot be taken for granted.
"Indeed, there is emerging evidence that we are not integrating as well as what we have done in the past. Moreover, there are external factors that weren't present even a decade ago that make integration more challenging." Multicultural model at risk
Weak states: Causes and consequences of the Sicilian Mafia. Daron Acemoğlu, Giuseppe De Feo, Giacomo De Luca 02 March 2018
`Wolf of Wall Street' producer to pay $75m settlement over siphoning
Vladimir Putin unveils Russian ICBM he claims renders defenses ‘useless’ NBC (furzy) and Putin reveals new Russian missile that can ‘reach any point in the world’CNBCPutin’s stunning revelations about new Russian weapons systems Vineyard of the Saker. Breathless, but that does not necessarily mean wrong. Recall how Russia has been keeping a lot of its new systems under wraps, and some of the equipment they deployed in the Middle East apparently put the US on the back foot. Our military is so full of pork that we’ve made it possible for small countries (Russia despite its land mass has the GDP of South Korea) to be very competitive in weapons systems development. I hope readers who are into this sort of thing will read this post and pipe up in comments.Russia Shows Off New Weapons – Tells U.S. To “Come Down To Earth” Moon of Alabama (UserFriendly). Has links to the speech, which was simultaneously translated into English, and a transcript
Ex-Trump adviser sold $31m in shares days before steel tariff revealed Independent
‘Trade Wars Are Good,’ Trump Tweets Wall Street Journal (Kevin W). Admittedly apocryphal, but I prefer Elizabeth I per the movie version (Cate Blanchette): “I do not like wars. They have uncertain outcomes.”M
Trump Declares “Trade Wars Are Good,” Immediately Gets Brutal Awakening Vanity Fair (Kevin W)
Five takeaways on Trump’s tariffs The Hill
The Coalition goes existential
Oldest-known message in a bottle found on WA beach 132 years after being tossed overboard