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| Virginia, William Barr, Frank Robinson: Your Thursday Evening Briefing | Virginia, William Barr, Frank Robinson: Your Thursday Evening Briefing |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| (Want to get this briefing by email? Here’s the sign-up.) | (Want to get this briefing by email? Here’s the sign-up.) |
| Good evening. Just as we were publishing, news broke that Jeff Bezos, the Amazon founder, accused the National Enquirer’s owner of trying to use “extortion and blackmail” against him. | |
| Here’s what else happened today. | |
| 1. The latest in Virginia’s evolving political crisis: A powerful Republican, Thomas Norment, was the managing editor of a 1968 Virginia Military Institute yearbook that included photographs of students in blackface and slurs against African-Americans, Asians and Jews. | 1. The latest in Virginia’s evolving political crisis: A powerful Republican, Thomas Norment, was the managing editor of a 1968 Virginia Military Institute yearbook that included photographs of students in blackface and slurs against African-Americans, Asians and Jews. |
| Mr. Noment condemned the use of blackface in a statement. | Mr. Noment condemned the use of blackface in a statement. |
| Three of the state’s top Democrats are also under fire. Gov. Ralph Northam admitted to wearing blackface in 1984; Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, pictured above today, has been accused of sexual assault; and Attorney General Mark Herring admitted wearing blackface in 1980. All three have fended off any signal that they would resign. | Three of the state’s top Democrats are also under fire. Gov. Ralph Northam admitted to wearing blackface in 1984; Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, pictured above today, has been accused of sexual assault; and Attorney General Mark Herring admitted wearing blackface in 1980. All three have fended off any signal that they would resign. |
| Other state lawmakers are answering questions about whether they have so-far-undisclosed misconduct. “I have never been in blackface, unequivocal,” said Kirk Cox, the Republican speaker of the House of Delegates and the next in line to the governorship after Mr. Herring. | Other state lawmakers are answering questions about whether they have so-far-undisclosed misconduct. “I have never been in blackface, unequivocal,” said Kirk Cox, the Republican speaker of the House of Delegates and the next in line to the governorship after Mr. Herring. |
| _____ | _____ |
| 2. The Trump administration is a step closer to getting an attorney general. | 2. The Trump administration is a step closer to getting an attorney general. |
| The Senate Judiciary Committee voted along party lines to advance Mr. Trump’s nominee, William Barr, above. Next stop: the full Republican-controlled Senate. He could be sworn into office as soon as next week. | The Senate Judiciary Committee voted along party lines to advance Mr. Trump’s nominee, William Barr, above. Next stop: the full Republican-controlled Senate. He could be sworn into office as soon as next week. |
| Meanwhile, the acting attorney general, Matthew Whitaker, deepened tensions with House Democrats, insisting that he wouldn’t appear before the House Judiciary Committee as scheduled on Friday unless the panel pledged not to use subpoena power during the session to force him to answer questions. | Meanwhile, the acting attorney general, Matthew Whitaker, deepened tensions with House Democrats, insisting that he wouldn’t appear before the House Judiciary Committee as scheduled on Friday unless the panel pledged not to use subpoena power during the session to force him to answer questions. |
| _____ | _____ |
| 3. House Democrats introduced an extraordinarily ambitious resolution to fulfill their “Green New Deal” pledges. It calls for the U.S. to pump no additional carbon into the atmosphere by 2030 while creating jobs and health care for millions. | 3. House Democrats introduced an extraordinarily ambitious resolution to fulfill their “Green New Deal” pledges. It calls for the U.S. to pump no additional carbon into the atmosphere by 2030 while creating jobs and health care for millions. |
| It was drafted by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Senator Edward Markey of Massachusetts, above. | It was drafted by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Senator Edward Markey of Massachusetts, above. |
| But the legislative prospects for the measure are bleak in the foreseeable future. Speaker Nancy Pelosi would have to bring it to the floor for a vote, but she has no plans to do so. Her wariness stems, at least in part, from a decade ago, when she watched the Senate bury the last major climate change measure. | But the legislative prospects for the measure are bleak in the foreseeable future. Speaker Nancy Pelosi would have to bring it to the floor for a vote, but she has no plans to do so. Her wariness stems, at least in part, from a decade ago, when she watched the Senate bury the last major climate change measure. |
| _____ | _____ |
| 4. The 2008 financial crisis put a chill on big bank deals. That ended Thursday. | 4. The 2008 financial crisis put a chill on big bank deals. That ended Thursday. |
| BB&T said it planned to buy SunTrust Banks for about $28 billion. If approved, it would be the first big bank merger since the crisis and create the sixth-biggest bank in the United States. But analysts will be watching to see if regulators are hesitant to allow such mergers to resume. Above, BB&T headquarters in Winston Salem, N.C. | BB&T said it planned to buy SunTrust Banks for about $28 billion. If approved, it would be the first big bank merger since the crisis and create the sixth-biggest bank in the United States. But analysts will be watching to see if regulators are hesitant to allow such mergers to resume. Above, BB&T headquarters in Winston Salem, N.C. |
| Separately, Germany said that Facebook could no longer to combine users’ Facebook information with data about their activities on other sites without getting explicit permission, a decision that could have wide-ranging implications on the company’s ability to target advertising. | Separately, Germany said that Facebook could no longer to combine users’ Facebook information with data about their activities on other sites without getting explicit permission, a decision that could have wide-ranging implications on the company’s ability to target advertising. |
| _____ | _____ |
| 5. Countdown: 50 days to Brexit. The U.K. still doesn’t have a final plan. | 5. Countdown: 50 days to Brexit. The U.K. still doesn’t have a final plan. |
| Prime Minister Theresa May headed to Brussels to try to reopen the 585-page withdrawal agreement with the European Union, which lays out a managed exit on March 29. But those talks were predictably inconclusive. However, the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, above with Mrs. May, agreed to meet again by the end of the month. | Prime Minister Theresa May headed to Brussels to try to reopen the 585-page withdrawal agreement with the European Union, which lays out a managed exit on March 29. But those talks were predictably inconclusive. However, the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, above with Mrs. May, agreed to meet again by the end of the month. |
| If no agreement is reached by the March deadline, Britain will crash out of the E.U., which experts have said would have dire consequences not just for its own economy but also other members of the bloc. | If no agreement is reached by the March deadline, Britain will crash out of the E.U., which experts have said would have dire consequences not just for its own economy but also other members of the bloc. |
| _____ | _____ |
| 6. Speedskating on natural ice is a beloved Dutch national pastime. Unfortunately, that tradition can no longer be enjoyed in the Netherlands. | 6. Speedskating on natural ice is a beloved Dutch national pastime. Unfortunately, that tradition can no longer be enjoyed in the Netherlands. |
| Climate change means the winters are too warm for waterways to freeze consistently. The Elfstedentocht, a one-day, long-distance speedskating tour through 11 cities, was held in some form since the late 1700s, but was last skated on Dutch ice in 1997. | Climate change means the winters are too warm for waterways to freeze consistently. The Elfstedentocht, a one-day, long-distance speedskating tour through 11 cities, was held in some form since the late 1700s, but was last skated on Dutch ice in 1997. |
| Now, close to 6,000 Netherlanders travel to Austria for the event, the climate migrants of the sports world. | Now, close to 6,000 Netherlanders travel to Austria for the event, the climate migrants of the sports world. |
| _____ | _____ |
| 7. In one of our most read stories of the day, a contributing Opinion writer takes an unusual stance on helicopter parenting: It works. | 7. In one of our most read stories of the day, a contributing Opinion writer takes an unusual stance on helicopter parenting: It works. |
| Pamela Druckerman, an American journalist who lives in Paris, cites research by an economist at Yale and another at Northwestern collected in a new book, “Love, Money and Parenting: How Economics Explains the Way We Raise Our Kids.” They found that an “intensive parenting style” correlated with higher test scores, and kids less likely to use drugs, smoke or abuse alcohol, and more likely to delay sex. | Pamela Druckerman, an American journalist who lives in Paris, cites research by an economist at Yale and another at Northwestern collected in a new book, “Love, Money and Parenting: How Economics Explains the Way We Raise Our Kids.” They found that an “intensive parenting style” correlated with higher test scores, and kids less likely to use drugs, smoke or abuse alcohol, and more likely to delay sex. |
| “It’s true that high-octane, hardworking child-rearing has some pointless excesses, and it doesn’t spark joy for parents,” Ms. Druckerman writes. “But done right, it works for kids, not just in the United States but in rich countries around the world.” | “It’s true that high-octane, hardworking child-rearing has some pointless excesses, and it doesn’t spark joy for parents,” Ms. Druckerman writes. “But done right, it works for kids, not just in the United States but in rich countries around the world.” |
| _____ | _____ |
| 8. Erykah Badu emerged from the 1990s R&B scene as a heroine by insisting on her self-worth, selling millions of albums and easily passing from one era of pop music to the next. | 8. Erykah Badu emerged from the 1990s R&B scene as a heroine by insisting on her self-worth, selling millions of albums and easily passing from one era of pop music to the next. |
| She’s also pursued enlightenment, advocating a fundamentalist kind of unconditional love (including for Adolf Hitler) that has drawn forceful criticism. “It’s O.K. to disagree with me, no problem, but you cannot censor how I feel,” she said in a Times interview. | She’s also pursued enlightenment, advocating a fundamentalist kind of unconditional love (including for Adolf Hitler) that has drawn forceful criticism. “It’s O.K. to disagree with me, no problem, but you cannot censor how I feel,” she said in a Times interview. |
| She also talked about her popularization of the expression “stay woke” and her new film, “What Men Want,” coming out Friday. It’s a gender-flipped remake of the 2000 Mel Gibson-Helen Hunt romantic comedy; our writer says her comic timing is “otherworldly.” | She also talked about her popularization of the expression “stay woke” and her new film, “What Men Want,” coming out Friday. It’s a gender-flipped remake of the 2000 Mel Gibson-Helen Hunt romantic comedy; our writer says her comic timing is “otherworldly.” |
| _____ | _____ |
| 9. Can’t judge a book by its cover? Not so fast. | 9. Can’t judge a book by its cover? Not so fast. |
| We asked designers how they get a concept from good to must-pick-up. “Sometimes it can be a painful process, but in the end when it turns out like this, it’s really gratifying,” said the designer of the highly esteemed cover for “I Will Be Complete,” Glen David Gold’s nearly 500-page memoir. His final design is seen above, center. | |
| There can also be more to the author than meets the eye. From “Frog and Toad” to “Where the Wild Things Are,” some enduring 20th-century children’s titles share a secret language of queer compassion. Our co-chief theater critic, Jesse Green, looks at the books he and his partner used to read to his sons. | There can also be more to the author than meets the eye. From “Frog and Toad” to “Where the Wild Things Are,” some enduring 20th-century children’s titles share a secret language of queer compassion. Our co-chief theater critic, Jesse Green, looks at the books he and his partner used to read to his sons. |
| And another reviewer finds an “exquisitely moving portrait of the daily stuff of life” in Julie Yip-Williams’s memoir, “The Unwinding of the Miracle,” written before she died last year at the age of 42. | And another reviewer finds an “exquisitely moving portrait of the daily stuff of life” in Julie Yip-Williams’s memoir, “The Unwinding of the Miracle,” written before she died last year at the age of 42. |
| _____ | _____ |
| 10. Lastly, we say goodbye to a barrier-breaking baseball player. | 10. Lastly, we say goodbye to a barrier-breaking baseball player. |
| Frank Robinson, a Hall of Fame slugger who hit 586 home runs over 21 seasons and became baseball’s first black manager, died at 83. He remains the lone player to be named M.V.P. in both the National and American leagues. | Frank Robinson, a Hall of Fame slugger who hit 586 home runs over 21 seasons and became baseball’s first black manager, died at 83. He remains the lone player to be named M.V.P. in both the National and American leagues. |
| In his memoir, he recalled receiving a standing ovation when he appeared at the helm of the Cleveland Indians at their season opener in 1975. | In his memoir, he recalled receiving a standing ovation when he appeared at the helm of the Cleveland Indians at their season opener in 1975. |
| “One hundred thousand fans could not have been louder,” he wrote. “After all the years of waiting to become a big league manager — ignored because so many team owners felt that fans would not accept a black manager — I was on the job and people were loudly pleased.” | “One hundred thousand fans could not have been louder,” he wrote. “After all the years of waiting to become a big league manager — ignored because so many team owners felt that fans would not accept a black manager — I was on the job and people were loudly pleased.” |
| Have a good night. | Have a good night. |
| _____ | _____ |
| Your Evening Briefing is posted at 6 p.m. Eastern. | Your Evening Briefing is posted at 6 p.m. Eastern. |
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