Read Read Trump’s Letter to Pelosi Protesting Impeachment (New York Times)
President Trump sent a letter on Tuesday to Speaker Nancy Pelosi expressing his “most powerful protest” against the impeachment process. The House is expected to vote on two articles of impeachment against Mr. Trump on Wednesday.
An interesting UI presentation for highlights and annotations on the web. There is no click/interactivity within it however.

In general I don’t think for a moment that he actually wrote any of this. I suspect some of it was dictated or pulled from prior communication/thoughts. It definitely sounds like his “voice”, but I can’t imagine that it came from him in the same psuedo-logical structure, which I highly suspect was imposed on it after-the-fact by someone else.

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He really used 8 exclamation marks in a six page letter?! Has any president used this many in an entire term I wonder?
–December 20, 2019 at 09:00AM

Impeachment Fever

There are several instances in this document where words are improperly capitalized, presumably in an attempt to make them stand out and make them more memorable. Or possibly to provide them more emphasis than they deserve.
–December 20, 2019 at 09:17AM

American People

Here’s another case of the mis-capitalization. American should be capitalized, but people should not.
–December 20, 2019 at 09:18AM

Bookmarked Trump Impeached for Abuse of Power and Obstruction of Congress (nytimes.com)
Voting nearly along party lines, the House approved two articles of impeachment against President Trump, making him the third president in history to face removal by the Senate.
A historic day, except that it doesn’t feel as validating because there is every chance that the Senate is going to pretend that the underlying abuses never existed.
Listened to The Dead Consensus from On the Media | WNYC Studios

The latest on Trump's impeachment, its parallels to the Andrew Johnson trial, and the rise of the "illiberal" right.

As House leaders begin drafting articles of impeachment, examples from the Nixon and Clinton eras abound. This week, On the Media rewinds to the 19th century — and the turbulent impeachment of Andrew Johnson. Plus, what a debate between two right-wing intellectuals means for the future of conservatism.

1. Brenda Wineapple, author of The Impeachers, on the acrimonious trial of Andrew Johnson. Listen.

2. Matthew Sitman [@MatthewSitman], co-host of the Know Your Enemy podcast, on the rise of illiberalism among the conservative intelligentsia. Listen

Listened to The Disagreement Is The Point from On the Media | WNYC Studios

The media's "epistemic crisis," algorithmic biases, and the radio's inherent, historical misogyny.

In hearings this week, House Democrats sought to highlight an emerging set of facts concerning the President’s conduct. On this week’s On the Media, a look at why muddying the waters remains a viable strategy for Trump’s defenders. Plus, even the technology we trust for its clarity isn’t entirely objective, especially the algorithms that drive decisions in public and private institutions. And, how early radio engineers designed broadcast equipment to favor male voices and make women sound "shrill."

1. David Roberts [@drvox], writer covering energy for Vox, on the "epistemic crisis" at the heart of our bifurcated information ecosystem. Listen.

2. Cathy O'Neil [@mathbabedotorg], mathematician and author of Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy, on the biases baked into our algorithms. Listen.

3. Tina Tallon [@ttallon], musician and professor, on how biases built into radio technology have shaped how we hear women speak. Listen.

Some great discussion on the idea of women being “shrill” and ad hominem attacks instead of attacks on ideas.

Cathy O’Neil has a great interview on her book Weapons of Math Distraction. I highly recommend everyone read it, but if for some reason you can’t do it this month, this interview is a good starting place for repairing that deficiency.

In section three, I’ll note that I’ve studied the areas of signal processing and information theory in great depth, but never run across the fascinating history of how we physically and consciously engineered women out of radio and broadcast in quite the way discussed here. I recall the image of “Lena” being nudged out of image processing recently, but the engineering wrongs here are far more serious and pernicious.

Watched December 10, 2019 - PBS NewsHour from PBS
Tuesday on the NewsHour, a historic day on Capitol Hill as the House delivers articles of impeachment against President Trump -- and a long-anticipated trade deal. Plus: The details of the USMCA, how strategic mistakes derailed the war in Afghanistan, grim news about Arctic ice melt, why Maryland has harsher prison sentences than other states and the “sober curious” movement among millennials.
Watched December 5, 2019 - PBS NewsHour from PBS
Thursday on the NewsHour, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi formally requests the House Judiciary Committee to move forward with articles of impeachment against President Trump. Plus: Lawmaker reaction to the latest impeachment developments, Pete Townshend on rocking his seventies, what a wrongful imprisonment says about American criminal justice and comedian Nick Kroll’s journey through adolescence.
Loved the Pete Townshend interview and his take on working at his age.
Listened to Curiouser and Curiouser from On the Media | WNYC Studios

A close-up on John Solomon's role in the impeachment saga, and the black nationalist origins of Justice Clarence Thomas.

President Trump’s concerns about corruption in Ukraine began, in part, with a series of articles in a publication called The Hill. On this week’s On the Media, a close-up on the columnist whose dubious tales may lead to an impeachment. Plus, the black nationalist origins of Justice Clarence Thomas’s legal thinking.

1. Paul Farhi [@farhip], Washington Post media reporter, and Mike Spies [@mikespiesnyc], ProPublica reporter, on John Solomon's role in the impeachment saga. Listen

2. Corey Robin [@CoreyRobin], writer and political scientist at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center, on all that we've missed (or ignored) about Justice Clarence Thomas. Listen

This is a fascinating thesis about Justice Clarence Thomas and who he really is. I totally want to read The Enigma of Clarence Thomas now.
Watched Meet the Press – 11/24/19 from NBC
House Intelligence Chair Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), Commission on Security & Cooperation in Europe Co-Chair Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), NBC News Legal Analyst Neil Katyal, Fusion GPS Founders Glenn Simpson and Peter Fritsch, NBC News' Katy Tur, former Governor Pat McCrory, Washington Free Beacon's Eliana Johnson, and author Michael Eric Dyson.
Listened to The Daily: Why Military Assistance for Ukraine Matters from New York Times
American aid has the power to tip the scales in a broader battle between authoritarianism and democracy.