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Microsoft Directors Decided Bill Gates Needed to Leave Board Due to Prior Relationship With Staffer — Company's board members began investigation in 2019 into woman's allegations of prior sexual relationship with Bill Gates; Mr. Gates's spokeswoman says decision to leave board in 2020 wasn't related to the matter
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Long Before Divorce, Bill Gates Had Reputation for Questionable Behavior — Melinda French Gates voiced concerns about her husband's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and a harassment claim against his money manager. — By the time Melinda French Gates decided to end her 27-year marriage …
Discussion:
The Week, Althouse, BroBible, TMZ.com and New York Post, more at Techmeme »

Jeffrey Epstein Gave Bill Gates Advice on How to End ‘Toxic’ Marriage, Sources Say — BROMANCE … A person who attended meetings at Epstein's townhouse says Gates enjoyed holding court there. — Bachelor sex-offender Jeffrey Epstein gave Bill Gates advice on ending his marriage …
Discussion:
New York Post and Eschaton

Power Up: Biden administration approves $735 million weapons sale to Israel, raising red flags for some House Democrats
Discussion:
The US Sun

How a Jeopardy! Contestant's Hand Gesture Became Part of a Conspiracy — How hundreds of “Jeopardy!” contestants talked themselves into a baseless conspiracy theory — and won't be talked out of it. — It is an ironclad rule of the private Facebook group of past “Jeopardy!” …

Episode 9: Trump's war with his generals — Axios' “Off the rails” series documents the end of the Trump administration, from election night 2020 through the Jan. 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol. — One important piece is only now beginning to emerge: Former President Donald Trump's last-minute bid …
Discussion:
The Time of Monsters, Mediaite and Raw Story

AT&T's WarnerMedia and Discovery, Inc. Creating Standalone Company by Combining Operations to Form New Global Leader in Entertainment — Companies with Shared Values, Complementary Assets, and Iconic Brands and Franchises, Will Offer the Most Differentiated Content Portfolio in the World
Discussion:
New York Times, The Hill, Deadline, TechCrunch, The Verge and Mediaite
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AT&T to spin off HBO, other WarnerMedia assets in a huge deal with Discovery. What went wrong? — Three years ago, AT&T Inc. marched into Hollywood with big ambitions to be a 21st century media colossus, connecting its booming cellphone business with legendary media properties — HBO …

AT&T Is Preparing to Merge Media Assets With Discovery — WarnerMedia businesses would merge with reality-TV giant — Companies control networks ranging from HBO to Animal Planet — AT&T Inc. is preparing to spin off its media business and merge it with Discovery Inc. in a tax-friendly deal …
Discussion:
CNN, CNBC, New York Times, Ad Age, Mediaite, The Verge, Variety, Hollywood Reporter, The Hill and The Wrap, more at Mediagazer »

Teflon Joe muddies GOP's midterm strategy — When the National Republican Senatorial Committee sought to attack four vulnerable Senate Democrats in a series of new ads this spring, President Joe Biden was nowhere to be found. Instead, the NRSC juxtaposed photographs of the senators …
Discussion:
NBC News, Washington Examiner, Washington Post, CNN, ABC News, NPR, Daily Kos, Raw Story and Bloomberg
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How to Ensure a Middle East War in Five Easy Steps — The new American Middle East policy is an extension of the new American domestic policy. — More than 2,500 rockets have landed in Israel over the past week. Some Arab Israeli citizens are terrorizing Jewish Israelis.
RELATED:
Zachary B. Wolf / CNN:
Biden faces an angry rift in his own party over Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Biden faces an angry rift in his own party over Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Discussion:
Mother Jones, Vanity Fair, The Guardian and Gothamist

US investigates second suspected case of mystery ‘syndrome’ near White House — (CNN)Two White House officials were struck by a mysterious illness late last year — including one who was passing through a gate onto the property — newly revealed details that come as investigators …

Trump Has Blown Off Rudy Giuliani's Pleas for Help as Feds Circle — Giuliani appears to be in hot water, and his allies keep asking for Trump's help. But so far, the ex-president isn't willing to ride to the rescue of his one-time lawyer. — In the weeks since the feds raided Rudy Giuliani's apartment …
Discussion:
Hackwhackers and Raw Story

The World Economy Is Suddenly Running Low on Everything — A year ago, as the pandemic ravaged country after country and economies shuddered, consumers were the ones panic-buying. Today, on the rebound, it's companies furiously trying to stock up. — Mattress producers to car manufacturers …

Kamala Harris's Impossible Vice Presidency — Air Force Two is a smaller plane than Air Force One. The exterior is the same light-blue and white, but unlike the commander in chief's plane, the vice president's aircraft is open plan—from the back, you can see all the way to the front, where a small office doubles as a bedroom.
Olivia Beavers / Politico:
Can McCarthy still discipline MTG? — GREENE HOUSE EFFECT: Even if Kevin McCarthy wanted to punish Marjorie Taylor Greene for her hallway antics last week, could he? — McCarthy (R-Calif.) no longer can deploy his most powerful weapon: removing her from her two committees.
Discussion:
The Hill

Tax the rich? Executives predict Biden's big plans will flop — President Joe Biden wants to fund his $4.1 trillion infrastructure and family policy agenda with a huge pile of tax increases on corporations and the wealthy. The business community is dismissing the threat.
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Sarah Ferris / Politico:
How Dems learned to stop worrying (mostly) and embrace tax hikes
How Dems learned to stop worrying (mostly) and embrace tax hikes
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal

Should Joe Biden worry about soaring lumber prices? — WASHINGTON — If a tree falls in a Canadian forest and a logger has to drive 16 hours to haul it out, does it crush the U.S. president's economic agenda? — That improbable question may be on the minds of some in Washington …
Discussion:
Fox News

Photo emerges of Republican barricading chamber doors during US Capitol attack after he compared rioters to ‘tourists’ — ‘Do Georgians always barricade doors against normal, everyday tourists?’ one critic asked — A photo has emerged of Andrew Clyde, the Republican congressman who claimed …
Discussion:
Insider and Washington Post

Google, Deloitte, and Citigroup quietly collaborate with GOP group pushing voter suppression — Several large corporations that have recently issued public statements supporting voting rights — including Google, Deloitte, and Citigroup — are also funding and collaborating …

Will Democrats mask America forever? — The Covid political posturing is reminiscent of reactions to 9/11 — After a full year of staying home, social distancing, and keeping our faces covered, last week's announcement from the CDC was the one many of us had been waiting for …

Texas Reports Zero Deaths 2 Months After Biden Called its Reopening Plan as ‘Neanderthal Thinking’ — Texas Governor Greg Abbott caught heat from Democratic lawmakers when he announced on March 2 this year he would fully reopen the state by the next week. Mississippi lawmakers declared a similar reopening plan about the same time.

Scoop: Lincoln Project offshoot aims to boost civics education — An offshoot of the Lincoln Project is launching Tuesday, aiming to unify people opposed to partisan dysfunction and authoritarianism through civics education and grassroots organizing, Axios has learned.

Franklin Graham worries Trump too old to run in 2024 — The Rev. Franklin Graham says a potential 2024 presidential bid by Donald Trump would “be a very tough thing to do,” the prominent Christian leader told “Axios on HBO.” — Why it matters: Graham, the president of the Billy Graham …

UFOs regularly spotted in restricted U.S. airspace, report on the phenomena due next month — Bill Whitaker reports on the regular sightings of unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAP, that have spurred a report due to Congress next month. — We have tackled many strange stories on 60 Minutes, but perhaps none like this.
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, The US Sun, The Week and New York Post

‘You need people to work in the public good’: Four impeachment witnesses on the lessons they learned about American democracy — To mark Public Service Recognition Week, the nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service assembled former federal foreign policy experts who gained fame by boldly …
Discussion:
Raw Story