Wilbur Scoville ganhou um Doodle do Google com direito a um jogo que simula o ‘teste da escala quente’ de pimentas. Hoje, o Google celebra o nascimento do químico há 151 anos (1865-1942). Scoville, além de receber a homenagem desta sexta-feira (22), é conhecido por ter inventado um método de avaliação do nível de ardência de vários tipos de pimenta, a famosa Escala de Scoville, disponível abaixo em app.
O Doodle foi produzido pela artista e doodler do Google Olivia Huynh. Para a designer, a melhor parte do trabalho foi desenhar as pimentas e as reações de Scoville. “O conceito de picante é universal, cômico, e foi o que tentei usar para criar esse jogo de luta”, explica Huynh, em post do Google.
“Fiz storyboards de como poderia ser, rascunhos e testamos um protótipo. Depois vieram os cenários e animações. Desenhar as pimentas e as reações de Scoville foram minhas partes favoritas”, conta.
Doodle também é informativo, detalhando tipos de pimentas (Foto: Reprodução/Google)
Escala de Scoville
Wilbur Lincoln Scoville nasceu em Bridgeport, nos Estados Unidos, em 22 de janeiro de 1865 e morreu em 10 de março de 1942. O trabalho do americano como farmacêutico é reconhecido mundialmente: criou o Teste Organoléptico de Scoville, que gerou a já conhecida Escala de Scoville.
Com este método, Wilbur Lincoln Scoville definiu o grau de pungência de vários tipos de pimenta, através da detecção da concentração de capsaicina, substância responsável pela ardência da pimenta.
O teste é um Procedimento de Diluição e Prova. Scoville misturava as pimentas puras com uma solução de água com açúcar, e quanto mais solução fosse necessária para diluir a pimenta, mais alta seria sua picância. Depois disso, o método foi melhorado e foram criadas as unidades de calor Scoville (Scoville Heat Units, ou SHU).
Doodle Wilbur Scoville (Foto: Reprodução/Google)
Uma xícara de pimenta que equivale a 1.000 xícaras de água é uma unidade na escala de Scoville. A substância Capsaicina, que gera a ardência nas pimentas, equivale a 15 milhões de unidades Scoville.
A pimenta mexicana Habanero chega a 300 mil, uma “Red Savina Habanero”, modificada, tem 577 mil, e a Tezpur indiana, 877 mil.
Entretanto, este não foi o único trabalho de Scoville. “The Art of Compounding” (A Arte dos Compostos), de 1895, é um de seus livros, que foi usado como referência na farmacologia até os anos 60.
Scoville também publicou um livro com centenas de fórmulas de perfumes e outras essências, que foi chamado de “Extract and Perfumes” (Extratos e perfumes).
Em 1922, Scoville recebeu o Prêmio Ebert, e em 1929 ganhou a sua Medalha de Honra Remington e o título de Doutor honoris causa em Ciências pela Universidade de Columbia. O pesquisador morreu no dia 10 de março de 1942, deixando mulher e dois filhos.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A Lockheed Martin-made F-35 fighter jet for Turkey arrived on Wednesday at a military training facility in Arizona, an Air Force official said on Thursday, amid a dispute over Ankara’s planned purchase of a Russian missile defense system.
Earlier this week, Reuters reported that the United States halted delivery of equipment related to the stealth F-35 fighter aircraft to Turkey because of concern the NATO ally’s planned purchase of the Russian system would compromise the security of the jet, the most advanced U.S. fighter aircraft.
A second jet is scheduled to arrive at Luke Air Force Base on Friday, the Air Force official said. Two Turkish F-35 jets are already at the base.
Pentagon spokesman Charlie Summers told reporters on Thursday: “The training (for pilots) will continue at Luke Air Force Base.”
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has refused to back down from Ankara’s planned purchase of a Russian S-400 missile defense system.
The United States and other NATO allies that own F-35s fear the radar on the system will learn how to spot and track the jet, making it less able to evade Russian weapons.
In an attempt to persuade Turkey to drop its plans to buy the S-400, the United States offered the pricier American-made Patriot anti-missile system in a discounted deal that expired at the end of March. Turkey has shown interest in the Patriot system, but not at the expense of abandoning the S-400.
Turkey has engaged with U.S. negotiators in recent days about buying the Patriot system, a person familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity. The system is made by Raytheon Co.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Wednesday that Turkey had proposed to the United States that they form a working group to determine that Russian S-400 missile defense systems do not pose a threat to U.S. or NATO military equipment.
On Thursday, the Pentagon said it was not considering a technical working group and that it was not necessary at this stage.
Reporting by Mike Stone; Additional reporting by Idrees Ali in Washington; Editing by Phil Berlowitz and Peter Cooney
Robert Durst has been placed on a ventilator after contracting COVID-19, his lawyer said Saturday.
Durst, 78, was sentenced to life in prison without parole Thursday for murdering his close friend, Susan Berman, inside her Benedict Canyon home in 2000. The real estate heir was in “very bad condition” during the sentencing hearing, according to his lead defense attorney, Dick DeGuerin.
“He was having difficulty breathing and he was having difficulty communicating,” DeGuerin said in an email to The Times. “He looked worse than I’ve ever seen him and I was very worried about him.”
DeGuerin confirmed that Durst had been hospitalized and placed on a ventilator. Durst has been held in a wing of USC Medical Center under the watch of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department throughout the trial, but it was not immediately clear if he was still in that facility or when or where he became infected with the coronavirus.
Robert Durst, 78, will spend the rest of his life in a California prison for the fatal shooting of his longtime confidante, Susan Berman, in 2000.
Calls and emails to the Sheriff’s Department, a court spokeswoman and the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office were not immediately returned on Saturday. Dozens of people packed into an eighth-floor courtroom at the Airport Courthouse for Durst’s sentencing earlier this week and it was not immediately clear if anyone else associated with the proceedings had contracted the virus.
Durst’s health was an issue throughout the trial. He was not in court the day jurors convicted him of Berman’s murder last month because he had been exposed to someone who tested positive for COVID-19. He was also briefly hospitalized in June after suffering an undisclosed medical incident.
The 78-year-old spent the majority of the trial seated in a wheelchair. In court filings, Durst’s attorneys repeatedly sought a mistrial, claiming Durst was too sick to testify in his own defense.
A physician at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center who examined Durst previously testified that he was “profoundly malnourished” and at risk of “sudden death” from elevated levels of potassium, and said Durst had suffered a “mini stroke” during a 2019 court hearing.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mark Windham slapped down each motion, dismissing the doctor’s testimony as “activism.” Durst ultimately spent 15 days on the witness stand at trial, often engaging in tense exchanges with Deputy Dist. Atty. John Lewin on cross-examination.
Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke said Sunday that he believes President Donald Trump has committed crimes when he was asked about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s recent comment that she would prefer to see Trump “in prison” than “see him impeached.”
“He did,” O’Rourke, a former House member from Texas, told ABC’s “This Week” when asked about Pelosi’s remark and whether he thought Trump had committed crimes that could be prosecuted. “I think that’s clear from what we have learned from [special counsel Robert Mueller’s] report, but I think those crimes might extend beyond what we’ve seen in the Mueller report.”
Presented with Pelosi’s comment on “Fox News Sunday,” another Democrat, Rep. David Cicilline of Rhode Island, said Mueller’s more than 400-page report on Russian interference in the 2016 election and whether Trump sought to obstruct the probe presented “specific things” Trump did that were “criminal acts.”
“Look, I don’t have any difficulty with those words,” Cicilline said of Pelosi’s comment. “I think what is really at stake here is the responsibility of the [House] Judiciary Committee to conduct oversight, to demonstrate to the American people that no one is above the law.”
Cicilline, who sits on the committee, said the panel will “get to the truth.”
Last week, Politico, citing multiple Democratic sources familiar with the matter, reported that Pelosi told top Democrats in a private meeting that she would prefer to see Trump “in prison,” as opposed to impeached, clashing with House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., over whether to open an impeachment inquiry — an idea Pelosi said she is still not open to.
A congressional aide who was in the room confirmed Pelosi’s remark to NBC News, saying she said, “I don’t want to see him impeached, I want to see him in prison.” Pelosi said they should not proceed with impeachment because Democrats would be better off having Trump lose in 2020 and then be prosecuted, according to the aide, who added that Pelosi’s remarks was “consistent with her position that he needs to be removed electorally in 2020.”
After the Politico story broke, Pelosi spokeswoman Ashley Etienne told NBC News the speaker and the committee chairmen she met with “had a productive meeting about the state of play with the Mueller report.”
“They agreed to keep all options on the table and continue to move forward with an aggressive hearing and legislative strategy, as early as next week, to address the president’s corruption and abuses of power uncovered in the report,” Etienne said.
In response to Pelosi’s reported remarks, Trump called the speaker a “disgrace,” a “nasty” person, and a “disaster” during an interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham.
“This is the focus of our hearing Monday,” he added. “These are criminal acts, obstruction of justice, clearly impeachable offenses. So, it’s rich to hear the president complain about this when he began a campaign with ‘lock her up’ as his bumper sticker and led an effort to delegitimize the first African-American president by claiming he wasn’t born in this country.”
O’Rourke, meanwhile, said congressional investigators need to probe further on Trump “using public office for personal gain for himself and for his family,” in addition to Trump’s relationship with Russian president Vladimir Putin, “which has never been properly explained.”
“If we do not hold the president accountable, we will have set the precedent that some people in this country, because of their position of power, are in fact above the law,” he said. “And if we do that, we will lose this democracy forever. So regardless of the popularity of this idea or what the polling shows us, we must proceed with impeachment so that we get the facts and the truth and that at the end of the day there is justice for what was done to our democracy in 2016 and the other potential crimes this president has committed.”
Trump has claimed he never directed McGahn to fire Mueller.
More than 60 House members, comprising about a quarter of all Democrats in the chamber and including half of the Democrats on the Judiciary panel, have come out in favor of opening an impeachment inquiry.
La expresidenta Cristina Fernández de Kirchner utilizó su cuenta de Twitter para expresar su rechazo a los nuevos allanamientos dispuestos por el juez federal Claudio Bonadio en el marco de la causa Los Sauces.
“Debo ser la única ciudadana en la historia judicial argentina que es investigada por dos jueces federales de Comodoro Py en forma simultánea sobre una misma causa: Los Sauces S.A.. Antes el ensañamiento de Bonadio era Hotesur S.A, hasta. que lo apartaron de la causa”, escribió Cristina. Y recordó que el juez Julián Ercolini había ordenado una pericia integral sobre Los Sauces S.A. desde el año 2008 hasta hoy. “Es muy probable que como Bonadío allanó hoy las oficinas donde hay documentación de la sociedad, sustrayéndola, no se pueda hacer la pericia que el otro Juez ordenó”, mencionó.
Agregó que “también allanaron departamentos, propiedad de Los Sauces S.A., que están alquilados a terceros” y que “a uno de los inquilinos, que no estaba en Río Gallegos, le rompieron la puerta a patadas”. “Hacía tiempo, décadas diría, que no se veía un abuso de poder y persecución política semejante”, afirmó CFK, quien cuestionó que medios como el portal Infobae o el canal de noticias TN supieran de antemano de los operativos. ¿Transmitirán en vivo y en directo los allanamientos, arrasando los códigos vigentes y los más elementales derechos y garantías de que la Constitución Nacional reconoce a cualquier ciudadano?, se preguntó.
“Esta no es la primera, ni tampoco será la única causa que inventarán, ni la última ‘excursión de pesca’, lo vienen haciendo desde el año 2003 a la fecha”, continuó la exmandataria y afirmó que tanto ella como el expresidentes Néstor Kirchner fueron los jefes de Estado más “denunciados e investigados”. “Como nunca tuvimos cuentas en negro en el exterior o bienes no declarados en el extranjero sustrayéndolos del fisco argentino, siempre han inventado sobre las Declaraciones Juradas”, completó Cristina.
Añadió que ella y Néstor no están “en los Panamá Papers ni en ningún otro escándalo internacional” y cuestionó: “¿Alguien sabe si al Presidente y su familia –todos involucrados en Panamá Papers- le allanaron casas, empresas o sus oficinas? ¿O la de alguno de sus funcionarios involucrados que lo acompañan desde el inicio de su gestión en el gobierno de la ciudad?”.
“¿Creerán que de esta manera lograrán disciplinar a la dirigencia política, sindical o social opositora?”, prosiguió CFK para luego afirmar: “Tal vez podrán con algunos, o tal vez con todos. Conmigo no. No cuenten con ello. Podrán hacer mil allanamientos más. Podrán televisarlos, podrán meterme presa, su claro objetivo. Lo que nunca van a poder tapar son las consecuencias de un plan económico que sólo distribuye pobreza para los trabajadores, las clases medias y los pequeños y medianos empresarios”.
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Cathy Sáenz, productora de ‘Esto es Guerra’, confirmó que una Soifer será parte del programa y sembró la duda entre los seguidores de las hermanas.
Sáenz no confirmó si se trataba de Michelle o de una de sus dos hermanas, Kimberly o Chris, por lo que la expectativa de saber de quién se trata continúa.
Este lunes 19 de enero iniciará la temporada de verano del reality y los seguidores ansían por saber los nombres de los nuevos ‘guerreros’.
Como se recuerda Chris, una de las hermanas de Michelle, fue parte de la temporada pasada de ‘Esto es Guerra’.
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Cristina Kirchner fue entrevistada por el canal de noticias ruso RT durante su visita oficial a Rusia. Según anticipó ese medio de comunicación en su cuenta de la red social Twitter, la Presidenta, que se reunió hoy con su par Vladimir Putin , le concedió un reportaje al periodista Ignacio Jubilla, corresponsal de la señal rusa en la Argentina.
Hasta el momento, el canal RT solo dio a conocer algunos fragmentos de la entrevista a la primera mandataria. En el marco de ese reportaje, la Presidenta manifestó que no tiene “favoritos” de cara a las elecciones de octubre y evitó especificar cuál será el rol que ocupe en la política argentina tras cumplirse su mandato.
“Favoritos tenían los reyes, no, eso la monarquía. Eso no es democracia”, remató Cristina.
Consultada sobre las elecciones de octubre y su último período como presidenta, Cristina dijo: “Voy a cumplir ocho años de presidente y tengo 62. La mayor parte de mi vida no fui presidenta. No es un cargo más, institucionalmente al que mas se puede aspirar…pero podes ser presidente y no pasar a la historia o pasar a la historia como cualquier cosa”.
“Alianza estratégica”
“La relación ruso-argentina sigue desarrollándose”, sostuvo la jefa del Estado tras sellar acuerdos comerciales con el Kremlin.
Y defendió la “alianza estratégica” con Rusia: “Nadie puede reclamar el monopolio de amistad. Podemos tener relaciones con cualquier país”, indicó, según consignó RT en su sitio web.
“Si voy a ser presidenta de Disneyland, todos me van a querer. Pero gobernar la República Argentina es otra cosa”, agregó.
Cristina Kirchner durante el diálogo con la TV Pública. Foto: Captura de pantalla / C5N
Cristina también brindó una entrevista a medios argentinos oficiales en el lugar y argumentó sobre su visita a Rusia: “En términos políticos significa que es necesario mirar para todas partes en el mundo. Que hay más protagonistas. Hay que mirar hacia todas partes, no plantear la lógica binaria de amigo-enemigo. Lo importante es encontrar que las conveniencias sean mutuas”, sostuvo.
El encuentro con Putin
La mandataria se reunió esta mañana con su par ruso en el Gran Palacio del Kremlin, en Moscú. Tras el encuentro, Cristina Kirchner y Putin anunciaron la firma de un convenio preliminar entre Nucleoeléctrica Argentina SA (NA-SA) y Rosatom Overseas para la construcción de una central nuclear en nuestro país.
En el documento estamparon sus firmas el ministro de Planificación a Federal, Julio De Vido , y el presidente de la empresa nuclear rusa Rosatom, Sergei Kirienko.
Además, anunciaron la firma de acuerdos comerciales que incluyen un memorándum de entendimiento entre YPF y el gigante Gazprom..
A legislative counsel member of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) warned Friday that the suspension of President Donald Trump‘s social media accounts wielded “unchecked power,” by Twitter and Facebook.
Kate Ruane, a senior legislative counsel at the ACLU said in a statement that the decision to suspend Trump from social media could set a precedent for big tech companies to silence less privileged voices.
“For months, President Trump has been using social media platforms to seed doubt about the results of the election and to undermine the will of voters. We understand the desire to permanently suspend him now, but it should concern everyone when companies like Facebook and Twitter wield the unchecked power to remove people from platforms that have become indispensable for the speech of billions – especially when political realities make those decisions easier,” the statement read.
“President Trump can turn his press team or Fox News to communicate with the public, but others – like many Black, Brown, and LGTBQ activists who have been censored by social media companies – will not have that luxury. It is our hope that these companies will apply their rules transparently to everyone.
The ACLU warned Friday that permanently banning Trump from social media wields “unchecked power” by big tech companies. Here, the suspended Twitter account of U.S. President Donald Trump appears on an iPhone screen on January 08, 2021 in San Anselmo, California. Getty
The ACLU isn’t the only voice in the legal community citing concern over the move to suspend Trump.
“I want a wide range of ideas, even those I loathe, to be heard, and I think Twitter especially holds a concerning degree of power over public discourse,” Gregory P. Magarian, a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis told TheNew York Times.
On Friday, Twitter announced that Trump would be permanently suspended from its platform “due to the risk of further incitement of violence.”
The social media site placed a temporary ban on Trump’s account Wednesday after a mob of his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, leaving five people dead—including a police officer—and many more injured.
After he regained access to his account, Trump wrote a tweet in which he called his supporters “American patriots,” who will have “a GIANT VOICE long into the future.” In a separate message, he said that he would not be attending President-elect Joe Biden‘s inauguration.
In response, Twitter said: “After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them — specifically how they are being received and interpreted on and off Twitter — we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence.”
“We believe the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement on Thursday.
“Therefore, we are extending the block we have placed on his Facebook and Instagram accounts indefinitely and for at least the next two weeks until the peaceful transition of power is complete.”
On Friday, Trump condemned the tech companies for silencing him and said he will “look at the possibilities of building out our own platform in the near future.”
Newsweek reached out the ACLU for additional comment, but did not hear back in time for publication.
La caída de los precios del petróleo ha exacerbado la devaluación del bolívar en el mercado paralelo o negro.
El dólar del mercado negro en Venezuela sobrepasó la barrera de los 400 bolívares por unidad, más de 60 veces el precio de la tasa oficial más baja.
La falta de acceso a divisas dentro del sistema de control de cambios adoptado por el gobierno y la alta demanda para reponer inventarios dentro de la industria nacional son algunos de los factores que dan los economistas como causa del violento ascenso de la cotización en el llamado mercado paralelo.
En todo caso, el presidente Nicolás Maduro afirma que se trata de una “guerra económica” cuyo reflejo más importante es la escasez.
A través del sistema de control cambiario con tres tasas oficiales diferentes, el Estado es el rector oficial del dólar en Venezuela y el único autorizado para otorgar esas divisas.
La tasa oficial más baja de las tres existentes se ubica en 6,3 y es asignada para alimentos básicos y medicinas.
Desde que se implantó el sistema hace 12 años, ha habido un mercado negro de dólares en el país.
El presidente Maduro asegura que el dólar paralelo es un mecanismo de lo que él llama “guerra económica”.
Reservas
Sin embargo, la caída de las reservas internacionales de Venezuela como consecuencia del descenso abrupto de los precios internacionales del petróleo, ha hecho que existan restricciones en el presupuesto nacional, que depende casi exclusivamente de la venta de crudo.
Esto ejerce presiones sobre la demanda de divisas y por consiguiente se dispara el dólar negro.
La página Dolar Today, que según el oficialismo es parte de este plan conspirativo, es el mayor referente del dólar paralelo en el país y basa su tasa en operaciones realizadas en la ciudad colombiana de Cúcuta, en la frontera de Venezuela.
FIRST, THERE’S THIS BOMBSHELL— “Trump Organization and CFO Allen Weisselberg Expected to Be Charged Thursday,” by WSJ’s Corinne Ramey: “The Manhattan district attorney’s office is expected to charge the Trump Organization and its chief financial officer with tax-related crimes on Thursday, people familiar with the matter said, which would mark the first criminal charges against the former president’s company since prosecutors began investigating it three years ago.
“Mr. Trump himself isn’t expected to be charged, his lawyer said. [ALLEN] WEISSELBERG has rejected prosecutors’ attempts at gaining his cooperation, according to people familiar with the matter. The defendants are expected to appear in court on Thursday afternoon, the people said. The Trump Organization and Mr. Weisselberg are expected to face charges related to allegedly evading taxes on fringe benefits, the people said. … If prosecutors could show the Trump Organization and its executives systematically avoided paying taxes, they could file more serious charges alleging a scheme, lawyers said.” Brookings legal experts, including former House impeachment lawyer NORM EISEN, just released a new report about the ex-president’s liability on these issues.
MEANWHILE … C-SPAN released its fourth historians survey of presidential leadership and found that Trump ranked fourth to last in terms of best national leaders. He leads presidents FRANKLIN PIERCE, JAMES BUCHANAN and ANDREW JOHNSON, who was also impeached. (Cue the “low-ratings C-SPAN” statement from Trump.)
Topping the list is ABRAHAM LINCOLN. BARACK OBAMA gets 10th place and GEORGE W. BUSH gets 29th. More from Maeve Sheehey
SELECT COMMITTEE VOTE LOOMS LARGE OVER TRUMP’S GOP SKEPTICS — House Republicans still angry with Trump for his behavior on Jan. 6 face a difficult vote around 2:30 p.m.: whether to support Speaker NANCY PELOSI’s move to name a select committee to probe the Capitol siege.
In 2014, seven Democrats joined Republicans to back the creation of the House GOP’s Benghazi committee, as our colleague Nicholas Wu notes.
Jan. 6 was an attack on American soil, yet it appears likely that fewer Republicans will cross party lines to support a select committee. At least two of the House Republicans who backed Trump’s second impeachment — JOHN KATKO (R-N.Y.) and ANTHONY GONZALEZ (R-Ohio) — say they won’t back this idea because panel members won’t have even representation.
Never mind that the House GOP’s last select committee similarly was weighted toward the majority.
This is not a good omen for the panel. If anything, it’s a sign that this is going to get extremely messy, extremely fast — which is just what Republicans want. The less credibility the select committee has, the more they can dismiss its findings as partisan, like they did with Trump’s first impeachment.
We’re not sure if you caught it Tuesday, but Pelosi suggested she would give herself veto authority over any members House Minority Leader KEVIN MCCARTHY selects to sit on the committee. This comes out of a fear from Democrats that they’ll name people like Rep. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-Ga.) — or that they’ll name some of the more than 100 House Republicans who objected to the electoral college.
But Pelosi telling the minority who they can and cannot pick — if that’s how this turns out — would not be a good look for the kickoff of this committee.
WATCH — Some Republicans aren’t happy about Pelosi’s new Jan. 6 committee: On this episode of The Breakdown, Ryan discusses the purpose and mission of the select committee, who we can expect to see on the committee and how Republicans are responding. Ryan also breaks down the political implications that this committee could impose on Republicans, as this investigation may focus on members of their own party, including Trump.
Good Wednesday afternoon.
HEADS UP — Reuters’ @steveholland1: “Final ring of fencing around Lafayette Square – gone.” With pic
HOORAY BEER! — “The White House Is Marking COVID ‘Independence Day’ With Free Beer And Bill Pullman,” by NPR’s Tamara Keith: “America hasn’t quite reached President Biden’s July 4th vaccination goal, but the White House isn’t letting that get in the way of a good party. Starting Saturday, Biden and other administration officials will fan out around the country to celebrate that hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19 are way down and life is getting back to normal.
“And even though not quite 70% of American adults got their first shot by the Independence Day milestone, Budweiser is officially unlocking its free beer giveaway, one of many incentives dangled to try to lure people to roll up their sleeves ahead of July 4. That news was announced by actor BILL PULLMAN, who reprised the epic presidential speech of in the 1996 blockbuster ‘Independence Day,’ a movie about an alien invasion.” The 2:12 ad
BUT THE GOP IS GOING ON OFFENSE ON RISING PRICES — The NRCC is up with new ads against 11 vulnerable Democrats, blaming the party for the rising cost of everything from burgers to gas. Spox MICHAEL MCADAMS tweets the reel.
STOCKPILE STATUS — “America’s pandemic stockpile struggles to ramp up,” by Erin Banco: “Supplies of critical medical products in the Strategic National Stockpile are still well below federal targets more than 18 months after the coronavirus first emerged in the United States, according to internal data obtained by POLITICO.”
FED FILES — “Fed Unity Cracks as Inflation Rises and Officials Debate Future,”by NYT’s Jeanna Smialek and Jim Tankersley: “Federal Reserve officials spoke with one voice throughout the pandemic downturn, promising that monetary policy would be set to full-stimulus mode until the crisis was well and truly behind America. Suddenly, they are less in sync.
“Central bankers are increasingly divided over how to think about and respond to emerging risks after months of rising asset values and faster-than-expected price increases. While their political counterparts in the White House have been more unified in maintaining that the recent jump in price gains will fade as the economy gets past a reopening burst, Washington as a whole is wrestling with how to approach policy at a moment of intense uncertainty.”
“In a letter to staff on Tuesday, a copy of which was obtained by The Post, [LAURA] WERTHEIMER did not acknowledge the Integrity Committee’s report or its allegations. She wrote that ‘President Biden should have the opportunity to fill both the FHFA Director and IG positions with his own nominees’ and that she ‘had no intention of staying for seven years.’ Wertheimer will leave her post at the end of July.”
POLICY CORNER — “Virtual care becomes a common cause in a divided Congress,” by Ben Leonard: “A set of telemedicine policies the Trump administration adopted during lockdowns is emerging as an unexpected bipartisan rallying point as lawmakers begin to weigh life after Covid-19. The coverage policies are due to lapse once the health emergency ends, which could limit telehealth payments to rural providers and doctors with existing relationships with patients.
“Lawmakers are lining up to decide what Medicare will pay for after the pandemic is over, with sponsors of a leading Senate plan confident they have the votes to include it in a must-pass piece of legislation this year. Telehealth lobbyists so far have failed to get extensions into Covid relief packages, in part due to concern over how they could drive up health spending and potentially invite fraud.”
ALL THE WAY TO THE BANKS — “Joining Trump at border, GOP congressman eyes path to power,” by AP’s Brian Slodysko: “Whatever that future may hold, the 41-year-old [Rep. JIM] BANKS is working aggressively to play a prominent role in it. A politician with mountaintop ambition, he is rising in the ranks of the House Republicans — and in the estimation of the mercurial Trump.
“Banks’ [recent] overnight trip to Trump’s Bedminster resort punctuated a political journey from a county council seat in small-town northeast Indiana to prominence in Congress in little more than a decade. It also served as a testament to the conversion Banks underwent from Trump critic to unapologetic supporter. … On Wednesday, Banks was invited to join Trump for a tour of the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley, where the former president was expected to rail against illegal immigration.”
BENDING BIDEN’S EAR — “The most influential think tank of the Biden era has a new leader,” by Sam Stein and Natasha Korecki: “PATRICK GASPARD, a longtime Democratic operative who served most recently as president of the GEORGE SOROS-run Open Society Foundations, will take over as president and CEO of the Center for American Progress.
“His hiring ends a monthslong process to find a replacement for NEERA TANDEN, who left the post to become a senior adviser to President Joe Biden. And it immediately makes the 53-year-old Haitian-American one of the most powerful players in progressive politics outside of elected office. … Recently, there have been organizational concerns over the composition of the president’s bipartisan infrastructure deal; particularly, the absence of investments in climate and care initiatives. And like other liberal institutions, CAP is adjusting to a political climate in which its domestic priorities are being stymied by institutional hurdles, chiefly the Senate filibuster.”
REDISTRICTING READ — “Democratic-Leaning Suburbs Pose Redistricting Challenge for GOP,” by WSJ’s Chad Day, Cameron McWhirter and Dante Chinni in Gwinnett County, Ga.: “State officials and lawmakers across the country are preparing to redraw congressional districts this fall based on new population totals from the 2020 census. Republicans, who have greater control over the process because they hold majorities in more states with partisan redistricting processes, are grappling with how to approach once-reliably conservative suburbs that have more recently swung toward Democrats. …
“The process is complicated by the fact that the last election, which typically offers clues to the direction of the electorate, took place under the unusual circumstances of a pandemic with former President Donald Trump, a polarizing figure, atop the ticket. Those redrawing the districts must decide whether the results were an aberration — despite losing the White House and control of the Senate, many Republicans were heartened by the narrowing of the Democratic majority in the House — or should guide maps for the next decade.”
AUDIT FEVER — “Trump-backers want to export the Arizona ‘audit’ across the country,” by Zach Montellaro: “A monthslong examination of all the ballots from the 2020 election in Arizona’s most populous county may be winding down soon. But now the state is spreading the “audit” playbook across the country. Supporters of former President Donald Trump … are behind a new push to review the results in states including Michigan, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
“The new drive is worrying state election administrators, who say the efforts will further inflame conspiracy theories and erode faith in the American democratic system. The burden of these reviews could fall on the shoulders of state and local election officials, further complicating a field where many are worried about a brain drain due to exhaustion and threats workers faced in the aftermath of the 2020 election.”
SPOTTED at a reception hosted by Gloria Dittus and Cathy Merrill Williams at Dittus’ home Tuesday for this year’s Washington Women in Journalism Awards honorees, Norah O’Donnell, Yamiche Alcindor, Susan Glasser and Karen Attiah: Karen Pierce, Peter Baker, Matt Shay, Katherine Lugar, Jane Adams and Julia Ioffe. Pic
SPOTTED at Niki Christoff’s inaugural event for Christoff & Co.with women in tech at The Line Hotel on Tuesday night: Virginia Boney, Danielle Burr, Anna Mason, Margaret Nagle, Tiffany Moore, Susan Hendrick, Heather West, Stephanie Gunter, Megan Capiak, Michelle Russo, Lauren Claffey Tomlinson, Megan Brown,Gail Levine and Juleanna Glover.
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Tim Lim is joining Fireside Campaigns as a senior adviser. He previously was a partner at Bully Pulpit Interactive, a member of the Biden campaign/transition’s national finance committees and a longtime Democratic strategist.
— Anne Harkavy and David Marsh have been named COS and deputy COS in the Office of the Director at the Office of Personnel Management. Harkavy most recently was the founding executive director of Democracy Forward Foundation and is a Biden-Harris transition alum. Marsh most recently was senior adviser to the COS at OPM and is also a Biden-Harris transition alum.
TRANSITIONS — Canaan McCaslin and Ashlee Jordan are joining the Georgetown Institute of Politics. McCaslin will be director of programming and previously was campaign manager for Rep. Kathy Castor’s (D-Fla.) reelect. Jordan will be assistant director of programming and previously was civic engagement program coordinator for the University of Chicago Institute of Politics. …
… Guy Hicks is retiring today as head of government relations at Airbus, after nearly 17 years at the company. Matthew Mazonkey will move up to succeed him. … April Kapu will be president of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. She previously has been associate chief nursing officer for advanced practice nursing at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
CNBC reported Sunday that Lev Parnas plans to tell committee members that aides to the ranking member planned to meet with two Ukrainian prosecutors in an effort to obtain evidence to aid Trump’s reelection bid, but abandoned the efforts once they realized that Schiff’s staff would be alerted to the trip.
The offices of Nunes, ranking member on the House Intelligence panel, and Schiff did not immediately return requests for comment from The Hill on Sunday evening. Parnas’s planned testimony, if accurate, would implicate Nunes’s staff in the president and Giuliani’s efforts to push Ukrainian officials to open politically charged investigations into Biden, a top contender for the 2020 Democratic Party nomination.
Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee have argued that the president’s efforts were a clear example of Trump attempting to solicit foreign interference in a U.S. election, while also allegedly tying up military aid to the country over the issue.
Joseph Bondy, Parnas’s attorney, told CNBC that he hopes the committee will allow his client to testify. Parnas and a fellow Giuliani associate were recently arrested at Dulles International Airport and charged with campaign finance violations.
His client, Bondy told CNBC, wishes to provide “truthful and important information that is in furtherance of justice.”
“We have great faith that, in the end, the proper choice will be made as to when and whether to hear Mr. Parnas,” he added.
Hebe de Bonafini fue procesada por el delito de administración fraudulenta en perjuicio de la administración pública durante el proyecto Sueños Compartidos, que funcionó entre 2006 y 2011.
Cuando ningún medio desconfiaba de la causa, NOTICIAS se animó a lanzar en 2008 la primera tapa dedicada a las Madres, en referencia a la relación que tenían con el kirchnerismo. Titulada “El peligroso uso de los derechos humanos”, describió cómo los Kirchner exponían a Madres y Abuelas en pleno conflicto con el campo y se esbozó la primera denuncia por manejos autoritarios y cheques sin fondo. A partir de 2011, la imagen de la titular de Madres se volvería repetitiva, e incluso se le dedicarían tres tapas consecutivas.
La segunda aparición de Hebe en una tapa fue el 4 de junio de 2011, donde se empezaban a descifrar los “Códigos de familia”: el pacto de silencio entre Bonafini-Schoklender. El origen carcelario de una compleja relación filial, económica y política y cómo una mujer que representaba un emblema nacional sobreprotegía a dos hermanos acusados de parricidio. NOTICIAS habló por primera vez de la increíble red de negocios de Sergio Schoklender, su esposa y las Madres.
En el siguiente número, se presentó la investigación que intentaba dilucidar porqué Bonafini entregó a los Schoklender. En la nota central, “Sabía todo”, se enumeran al menos 13 denuncias y advertencias que ella había recibido sobre los manejos oscuros de su “hijo” Sergio y se dieron los detalles reveladores de una ruptura tardía. También se hizo foco en las sospechas de Estela de Carlotto y la interna entre las dos organizaciones de derechos humanos. No pasó mucho tiempo antes de que NOTICIAS volviera a enfocar su edición en la titular de Madres de Plaza de Mayo. “Sálvese quien pueda” fue la cuarta tapa que tuvo en la mira a Bonafini, detallando “el peor golpe al Modelo K“: la cadena de complicaciones para blindar a Hebe y cubrir al gobierno.
El 23 de julio, la Fundación Madres ocupó nuevamente el centro de la escena, esta vez debido a que los obreros que trabajaron en Sueños Compartidos comenzaron a hacer reclamos públicos frente a despidos y censura gremial.
NOTICIAS accedió los balances de 2008 y 2009 que presentó la propia Fundación de Madres ante la Inspección General de Justicia (IGJ) y descubrió la millonaria evasión de aportes que cajoneó la AFIP. Otra nota principal de la revista, publicada el 20 de Agosto.
En septiembre, en una entrevista exclusiva, Schoklender contó su propia versión de los hechos: las cuentas de Hebe en el exterior, cómo Fundación Madres financió la campaña de Amado Boudou, las coimas en la obra pública y los viajes de los funcionarios K en sus aviones. El 2011 no podría terminar de otra manera: el 17 de diciembre NOTICIAS publicó un anticipo del polémico libro de Sergio Shoklender, en el que contó la historia oculta de Hebe.
Más de seis años después, Hebe de Bonafini vuelve a ser tapa de NOTICIAS.
Weeks later, he agreed to plead guilty in a related case in federal court in Washington, D.C., and cooperate with prosecutors from Mr. Mueller’s office. But the deal blew up when a judge ruled he had repeatedly lied to the government about his contact with a Russian associate during the campaign and after the election. Prosecutors claim that the associate, Konstantin V. Kilimnik, has ties to Russian intelligence, and have been investigating whether he was involved in a covert attempt to influence the election results.
In the Manhattan case, the evidence presented to a grand jury appears to have been connected to loans issued by Citizens Bank in Rhode Island and Federal Savings Bank in Chicago.
The banks have received grand jury subpoenas for records relating to the loans they issued to Mr. Manafort, which were worth millions of dollars, people with knowledge of the matter said. The grand jury has also been hearing testimony about the loans. Citizens Bank has been cooperating with the investigation, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. A spokeswoman for Federal Savings Bank did not respond to a request for comment.
It is unclear precisely what charges Mr. Manafort would face, but they could include two state felonies: falsifying business records, if the evidence shows Mr. Manafort used the loan money for an unauthorized purpose, and mortgage fraud.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Latest on Southern California’s strongest earthquake in 20 years (all times local):
9:30 a.m.
A fire official says there were no fatalities or major injuries in Ridgecrest after the 7.1 magnitudes earthquake on Friday night.
Kern County Fire Chief David Witt also said Saturday there were no major building collapses but some structures could be weakened from the back-to-back quakes.
Friday’s quake occurred a day after a magnitude 6.4 quake hit in the same area of the Mojave Desert about 150 miles from Los Angeles.
Witt says there were some power outages and minor gas and water leaks in Ridgecrest, but no known damage outside the area.
He urged residents to get supplies ready in case another quake hits.
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9 a.m.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has declared a state of emergency for a section of Southern California that saw significant damage after Friday night’s magnitude 7.1 earthquake.
The declaration provides immediate state assistance to San Bernardino County, citing conditions of “extreme peril to the safety of persons and property” in the county due to the earthquake.
State highway officials shut a 30-mile section of State Route 178 between Ridgecrest — the area hit by two major temblors as many days — and the town of Trona southwest of Death Valley.
Photos posted on Twitter by the state highway department shows numerous cracks in the road.
A spokesman for the governor’s Office of Emergency Services says crews were still assessing damages to water lines, gas lines and other infrastructure Saturday.
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12:15 a.m.
Small communities in the Mojave Desert are reeling from a magnitude 7.1 earthquake — the second major temblor in as many days to rock Southern California.
Authorities say Friday night’s shaker was centered near the town of Ridgecrest — the same area where a 6.4-magnitude quake hit on Independence Day.
Mark Ghillarducci, director of the California Office of Emergency Services, says there are “significant reports of structure fires, mostly as a result of gas leaks or gas line breaks throughout the city.”
He also says there’s a report of a building collapse in tiny Trona. He says there could be even more serious damage to the region that won’t be known until first light on Saturday.
The quake at 8:19 p.m. was felt as far north as Sacramento and even in Las Vegas. It’s been followed by a series of sizeable aftershocks.
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10:30 p.m.
Authorities say a magnitude 7.1 earthquake that jolted California has caused injuries, sparked fires, shut roads and shaken ball games and theme parks.
However, authorities say there are no deaths or major building damage reported from the quake, which struck at 8:19 p.m. Friday.
It was centered about 150 miles from Los Angeles in the Mojave Desert near the town of Ridgecrest, which was still recovering from a 6.4-magnitude preshock that hit the region on Thursday.
There were reports of trailers burning at a mobile home, and State Route 178 in Kern County was closed by a rockslide and roadway damage.
But Kern County Fire Chief David Witt says it appears no buildings collapsed. He also says there have been a lot of ambulance calls but no reported fatalities.
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9:50 p.m.
An earthquake rattled Dodger Stadium in the fourth inning of the team’s game against the San Diego Padres.
The quake on Friday night happened when Dodgers second baseman Enriquè Hernàndez was batting. It didn’t appear to affect him or Padres pitcher Eric Lauer.
However, it was obvious to viewers of the SportsNet LA broadcast when the TV picture bounced up and down.
The quake registered an initial magnitude of 6.9 to 7.1, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
There was no announcement by the stadium’s public address announcer.
Some fans in the upper deck appeared to leave their seats and move to a concourse at the top of the stadium.
The press box lurched for about 20 seconds.
The quake occurred a day after a magnitude 6.4 quake hit in the Mojave Desert about 150 miles from Los Angeles.
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9:40 p.m.
Authorities are now reporting injuries and damage from a big earthquake that was felt throughout Southern California and into Las Vegas and even Mexico.
The quake that hit at 8:19 p.m. was given a preliminary magnitude of 6.9 to 7.1, but the measurements were being calculated.
It followed Thursday’s 6.4-mangitude quake that at the time was the largest Southern California quake in 20 years. Both were centered near Ridgecrest in the Mojave Desert.
Kern County fire officials reported “multiple injuries and multiple fires” without providing details. San Bernardino County firefighters reported cracked buildings and a minor injury.
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8:30 p.m.
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.9 has jolted Southern California, but there are no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
The U.S. Geological Survey says the quake hit at 8:19 p.m. Friday and was centered 11 miles from Ridgecrest, where a magnitude 6.4 quake struck on Thursday. The agency initially said the earthquake had a magnitude of 7.1.
The quake was felt downtown as a rolling motion that seemed to last at least a half-minute. It was felt as far away as Las Vegas, and the USGS says it also was felt in Mexico.
If the preliminary magnitude is correct, it would be the largest Southern California quake in 20 years.
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4 p.m.
Seismologists say there have been 1,700 aftershocks in the wake of the strongest earthquake to hit Southern California in 20 years but the chances of another large temblor are diminishing.
A magnitude 5.4 quake at 4:07 a.m. Friday is so far the strongest aftershock of Thursday’s 6.4 quake, which struck in the Mojave Desert near the town of Ridgecrest.
Zachary Ross of the California Institute of Technology says the number of aftershocks might be slightly higher than average. He also says a quake of that size could continue producing aftershocks for years.
The quake caused some damage to buildings and roads in and around Ridgecrest.
However, seismologists say it’s unlikely the quake will affect any fault lines away from the immediate area, such as the mighty San Andreas.
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1:20 p.m.
The city of Los Angeles is planning to reduce the threshold for public notifications by its earthquake early warning app, but officials say it was in the works before Southern California’s big earthquake Thursday.
The ShakeAlert LA app was designed to notify users of magnitudes of 5.0 or greater and when a separate intensity scale predicts potentially damaging shaking.
Robert de Groot of the U.S. Geological Survey says lowering the magnitude to 4.5 was already being worked on and had been discussed with LA as recently as a day before Thursday’s magnitude 6.4 quake centered in the Mojave Desert.
The shaking intensity levels predicted for LA were below damaging levels, so an alert was not triggered.
Mayor’s office spokeswoman Andrea Garcia also says the lower magnitude threshold has been in the planning stages and an update to the system is expected this month.
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7:05 a.m.
A vigorous aftershock sequence is following the strongest earthquake to hit Southern California in 20 years.
A magnitude 5.4 quake at 4:07 a.m. Friday is so far the strongest aftershock of Thursday’s magnitude 6.4 jolt, and was felt widely.
Seismologists had said there was an 80% probability of an aftershock of that strength.
Thursday’s big quake struck in the Mojave Desert, about 150 miles (240 kilometers) northeast of Los Angeles, near the town of Ridgecrest, which suffered damage to buildings and roads.
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9 p.m.
The strongest earthquake in 20 years shook a large swath of Southern California and parts of Nevada on the July 4th holiday, rattling nerves and causing injuries and damage in a town near the epicenter, followed by a swarm of ongoing aftershocks.
The 6.4 magnitude quake struck at 10:33 a.m. Thursday in the Mojave Desert, about 150 miles (240 kilometers) northeast of Los Angeles, near the town of Ridgecrest, California.
Kern County Fire Chief David Witt says multiple injuries and two house fires were reported in the town of 28,000. Emergency crews were also dealing with small vegetation fires, gas leaks and reports of cracked roads.
Witt says 15 patients were evacuated from the Ridgecrest Regional Hospital as a precaution and out of concern for aftershocks.
La revista peruana “Somos” informó, en su reciente edición, que decidió no contar más como columnista de la publicación sabatina a Tomás Borda Noriega, conocido como el Dr. TV.
Como se recuerda, una investigación de Utero.pe dio cuenta que Borda copió información de diversas páginas webs, para dar sus respuestas en la columna “Consultorio médico”, de la mencionada revista, donde atendía preguntas de sus seguidores sobre salud.
“Ante la denuncia que daba cuenta de que algunas de las respuestas dadas por el Dr. Tomás Borda (personaje de América TV) en la página del consultorio médico que tenía en la revista Somos eran extractos idénticos a los contenidos en diversas páginas web, se procedió a pedir su versión”, inicia el comunicado de Somos.
El médico aseguró que su error fue no corroborar la información que le hicieron llegar sus colaboradores. “Borda afirmó que había encargado la investigación a personal que trabaja para él, y que cometió el error de no verificar la procedencia del material que este le entregaba para su posterior publicación”, es la versión del especialista.
“No podemos justificar ningún tipo de plagio de los colaboradores (…) Somos se disculpa con sus lectores”, finaliza el comunicado.
Cabe recordar que recientemente se descubrió que el cardenal Juan Luis Cipriani también copiaba textos e ideas de autoridades de la igleasia católica para elaborar sus columnas que publicaba en El Comercio.
COLUMBIA — University of South of Carolina President Bob Caslen resigned May 12 amid a plagiarism scandal that capped two rocky years as leader of the state’s largest college.
Former USC President Harris Pastides has been named the interim president and will take over May 14.
Trustees Miles Loadholt and Eddie Floyd said the board took a vote via phone to discuss appointing Pastides, who retired in 2019 after 11 years in office, if Caslen left. Board chairman Dorn Smith said he sent an email to trustees announcing Caslen’s departure and Pastides’ return.
That means USC violated state open records laws requiring public notice of meetings ahead of time, another sign of problems for a board scrutinized after the presidential search that ended with Caslen’s controversial hiring.
Caslen, a retired three-star general and West Point superintendent, admitted to plagiarizing lines from the Navy SEAL who was in charge of the mission to take out terrorist leader Osama bin Laden during commencement addresses last weekend. He also called the school “the University of California.”
The missteps were met with calls for his removal online and in messages to trustees.
It was the latest in a series of stumbles for a leader who had trouble with the social nuisances of a job that requires wooing donors, lawmakers and students. Caslen’s end was a far cry from 2019 when he was seen as a president who could help tighten the school’s checkbook and win work with his military contacts.
“Turns out he was probably not the right fit to run USC,” said Floyd, the longest-serving trustee on the USC board.
Caslen, 67, offered to resign over the weekend, but it was rejected by Smith. Despite that assurance and a call of support from Gov. Henry McMaster, backing for the president continued to erode over the past days. Word began to spread that trustees were preparing to start exit talks.
Smith said Caslen called unexpectedly at 5:30 p.m. May 12 to say he was resigning.
“He just thought it was time to go, and I think that he was concerned about the support of the faculty and the students and everybody else,” Smith said. “We’re disappointed with the way things worked out.
“I think Bob Caslen did a great job at a lot of things that he won’t get credit for,” Smith added. “I think he handled the COVID crisis fabulously. And it’s just unfortunate that there were some missteps that were well publicized.”
Caslen said in a statement that he knew he had lost trust among the university community.
“Trust is the most important ingredient of effective leadership, and when it is lost, it is nearly impossible to lead,” Caslen said in an email to students and staff. “I believe that is the case right now between the University of South Carolina and its president. Therefore, I have submitted my resignation to the Board of Trustees this evening, May 12, and they have accepted it. This resignation is effective May 13, 2021.
“I am sorry to those I have let down. I understand the responsibilities and higher standards of senior level leadership. When those are not met, trust is lost. And when trust is lost, one is unable to lead.”
Smith said USC’s next president will be more like Pastides, a former public health school dean and research vice president who was known for connecting well with the campus community and politicians.
“I want a academician that is charismatic, that will lead a capital campaign and that also has a business sense,” Smith said.
Lou Kennedy, one of USC’s major donors, said she hopes the school can find a president who reflects the state’s diversity: “Now is the time for the Carolina community, and that includes the board, to stand up and be counted.”
USC did not have a woman among the finalists when the president’s job was last open.
USC Provost Bill Tate, who was a finalist to become school’s president in 2019 and was considered a successor to Caslen, will become the first Black president at Louisiana State University in July.
Caslen was never able to shake how he got the $650,000-a-year job in 2019.
He was a favored candidate by key leaders on the board and the search committee. His name was added to the list of presidential semifinalists by the search committee chairman, trustee Hugh Mobley, according to Marco Valtorta, a USC computer science professor who served on the search panel. Mobley said at the time the he did nothing wrong and declined further comment.
Calsen’s ascension scared away potential successors to Pastides, leaving him as the only finalist to have led a college. But groups of students, faculty and alumni were upset Caslen lacked the research background and doctorate of other major university leaders. He also put off some by rambling during forums, leading to misunderstandings about what he was saying.
The board did not pick any of the four presidential finalists at first, but McMaster lobbied trustees to hire Caslen and a new vote was taken. Caslen won the job with an 11-9 vote after a contentious board meeting as protesters chanted outside.
The governor’s involvement caught the attention of USC’s accreditors who investigated the political meddling but did not sanction the school. The board was asked to makeover its rules to avoid potential conflicts and operate more professionally.
Caslen started off well by boosting pay for faculty for the first time in more than a decade and freezing tuition. He hired the school’s first Black provost, Tate, and brought in his chief of staff from West Point, Mark Bieger, who helped improve relationships on and off campus.
Caslen got USC through the pandemic, first closing campus last spring and reopening in the fall.
But he had some missteps, notably in revealing USC spoke to Florida State about buying out the contract of its football coach as the Gamecocks coach struggled and he was unable to make big changes after several high-profile sexual harassment complaints.
Then USC mega-donor Darla Moore said she was cutting ties with the school this year after her alma mater neglected to note the passing of her mother this year. Caslen also had a reputation of not engaging smoothly with university community.
The plagiarism incident was too much to rescue his tenure.
The USC chapter of the American Association of University Professors wrote in a letter to the board May 12 that Caslen’s commencement speech violated the school’s code of ethics that emphasizes practicing personal and academic integrity, and his earlier resignation offer was “an appropriate acknowledgement of the transgression.”
“Unfortunately he had enemies out there that continued to attack him savagely him from day one,” Smith said. “And I think it just wore down on him and his wife as it would wear down on anybody.”
The brouhaha over Caslen’s plagiarism has angered some lawmakers, who question the board’s direction.
“I think it was the honorable thing to do,” state Sen. Dick Harpootlian, D-Columbia, said of Caslen’s resignation. “But it doesn’t resolve the questions surrounding the Board of Trustees.”
Harpootlian introduced a bill May 12 to reduce the size of the board from 20 trustees to 11, which would giving the state’s largest college the state’s smallest college board. The bill also would remove all the current trustees.
A similar bill was introduced after the problematic search that led to Caslen’s hiring in 2019.
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