Also in the news ...

Eric Adams:  Other than an amusing this I saw on Twitter where the new Bronx Borough President flagged that she wasn't on the "welcome to the Bronx" sign, don't know if there is anything significant happening yet with the new city personnel.   Or, it is a bit soon, since they just came into office the beginning of the month.  Some things are popping up.

The decision by the New York City Conflicts of Interest Board, made public on Thursday, seeks to put an end to an uproar that erupted in America's largest city after Adams initially sought to hire his younger brother Bernard as a deputy police commissioner for a yearly salary of $240,000.

The new mayor wanted to put his brother in a well paying policy job.  A finding has been made that the only way to obtain a pass of anti-nepotism rule is that if he is paid $1 and get a lot less power.  With major policy positions going to Trump's relatives, such concerns are appreciated. 

The mayor, who might be open to some reform minded stuff even with his past position as a police officer, still has made some conservative noises regarding criminal justice matters.  This article suggests his policy paper on dealing with guns is not just standard boilerplate, but includes some concerning conservative shifts such as on bail reform.  

My state senator is already on him and I'm saw some local progressives will too.  In his remarks yesterday, Justice Breyer said that democracy is basically left to us, the people at large.  I continue to respect that sentiment and I'm sure in various respects the City Council and other actors, including activists and protests etc. will influence mayoral conduct here.  

Breyer might be too naive or worse (a bit of bullshit), at least as applied to the current Court, about how the Court is above politics (whatever that even means). He was right on this point. 

Ukraine:  A major concern, if one many here (and I assume there) probably feel is just out of their hands, is Russia's saber rattling against Ukraine.  Remember the first Trump impeachment?  Yes, that Ukraine.

There are some ways the U.S. (with other countries) can act to pressure Russia and punish it (I assume Russia here is at least a bit more than Putin) if they do invade.  My bottom line there is that I am glad more serious people are making the decisions on our end.  As Breyer (yeah Gorsuch, see yesterday) noted, the world affects us in a range of ways. We see that with COVID, including to some degree on largely forgotten areas like Africa.

Congress should have a role, but realistically most of the effort will be on the President and his Administration.  

ERA Again: President Biden dropped a statement calling (including its legality, clashing with the last Administration) "Congress to act immediately to pass a resolution recognizing ratification of the ERA."  This is basically advisory since it has long been accepted that the only role a president has in the amendment process is a sort of ministerial one to accept state ratification and declare an amendment is passed as a mere matter a form.  

The situation now is a tad more tricky. The House again announced a resolution supporting this.  I am not aware of there being much chance of it passing the Senate though you might find a couple Republicans supporting it in theory.  Three states "ratified" it and the question is if they should count with the time limit set forth expiring thirty years ago.  

Again, simply put, I support the constitutional power and logic to discretionary time limits as part of congressional power to provide details (necessary and proper etc.) to the ratification process.  States do not seem to have a power to revoke ratification (at least, Congress has no need to accept them).  Congressional power to set forth rules of ratification is like the Senate power to apply a punishment after an impeachment conviction: even if the core power is supermajority, the detail is majority rule. 

(There is debate over such things, but that is what they are at best. Debate. A constitutional policy dispute is not a trivial matter, but it gives the elective branches more discretion to act.) 

I have various thoughts, but the core one I would focus on is to have a debate to provide clarity on just what the ERA would do.  The text is not just a matter of adding "sex" specifically to the Equal Protection Clause (and apply it to the feds).   It does more than that.  

Perhaps, this is something that people should bring up in the 2022 elections. Given my druthers, with so much time passed, I would let the states decide again [Congress can even offer a resolution inviting advisory statements from states to help clarify the current need.]  

International Holocaust Remembrance Day: This day was set based on the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp.  A few years ago, I went to a holocaust memorial museum near the Staten Island Ferry.  We have here the horrors of life that put detail in terms like "man's inhumanity to man."  The organized scope of it is hard to imagine on some level, but specific cases continue to occur. 

The date might sound a bit early, but the camp was in Poland, and was liberated by approaching Soviet troops. The most famous survivor, probably, was Otto Frank.  His daughter Anne was moved to another camp with other women and died shortly after.  Anne Frank's diary continues to be a standard reading for many teenagers.  A lot fewer probably read about the final months of her life, harsher reading than hiding out in an attic.

I gathered in some way I was taught about it (in the 1980s), but don't recall how.  I gather some are showed some unpleasant film strips or something.  Some are wary about the details as shown by a controversy about eight graders reading the Maus graphic novel (which I read a few years ago).  Can't include a touch of curse words and nudity or something.  

I will end this "other news" segment with a reminder that graphic novels are a useful education approach.  Persepolis, a graphic novel about a girl growing up in 1980s Iran, is another case. Also, there are various graphic versions of things like the Constitution or great works of literature etc.  It's a helpful approach in my experience, even if the specific details, like all sorts of things, are variable in practice.