Tiger Woods Wins the 2019 Masters in a Triumph for the Ages

Tiger Woods captured his fifth Masters title and his 15th major tournament on Sunday.CreditDoug Mills/The New York Times

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NY TIMES

Tiger Woods’s comeback from personal and professional adversity is complete: He captured his fifth Masters title and his 15th major tournament on Sunday, snapping a championship drought of nearly 11 years.

It was a monumental triumph for Woods, a magical, come-from-behind win for a player who had not won a major championship since his personal life began to unravel on Thanksgiving night in 2009, when a marital dispute led to a car accident and a succession of lurid tabloid headlines. On the golf course, he had a series of back and leg injuries that led to an addiction to painkillers and culminated in pain so searing that, before surgery in 2017, he had questioned whether he could play professionally again.

Woods, who at 43 became the second-oldest winner of the Masters at Augusta National, after the then 46-year-old Jack Nicklaus in 1986, last achieved major success in one of golf’s four major tournaments at the 2008 United States Open.

“It’s overwhelming just because of what has transpired,” Woods said in a television interview after it was over. “To now be the champion — 22 years between wins is a long time — it’s unreal for me to experience this. It was one of the hardest I’ve ever had to win just because of what’s transpired the last couple of years.”

He had come close on some Sundays to winning his 15th major over the years but could not get it done. Yet after the surgery in 2017, a spinal-fusion procedure he called a “last resort,” he began a new lease on his career.

Woods, after receiving the green jacket, shook hands with last year’s champion, Patrick Reed.CreditDoug Mills/The New York Times

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In 2017, having undergone multiple surgeries on his back, he hit rock bottom. He was charged with driving under the influence when he was found in a painkiller haze at the wheel of his car with the motor running. He later pleaded guilty to reckless driving.

As he walked to sign his scorecard for his triumphant final round, a dozen former and current stars of the game waited to embrace him and shake his hand, something that never happened in years past, when Woods was largely a loner at the top of the sport.

As he donned the green jacket for a fifth time, he said something everyone knew. “It fits.”

NYC: The de Blasio record: The good and the bad.

DAILY NEWS

Julian Assange Arrested in London After Ecuadoran Embassy Evicts Him. U.S. Will Extradite Him on Hacking Charges. 

NY TIMES

Israel Election: As Gantz Concedes, Netanyahu Set for Winning 4th Consecutive  Victory

NY TIMES

NY TIMES

Benjamin Netanyahu’s apparent re-election as prime minister of Israel attests to a starkly conservative vision of the Jewish state and its people about where they are and where they are headed.

They prize stability, as well as the military and economic security that Mr. Netanyahu has delivered.

Though in many ways they have never been safer, they remain afraid — especially of Iran and its influence over their neighbors, against which Mr. Netanyahu has relentlessly crusaded. They are persuaded by his portrayal of those who challenge him, whether Arab citizens or the left, as enemies of the state. They take his resemblance to authoritarian leaders around the world as evidence that he was ahead of the curve.

They credit Mr. Netanyahu, whose strategic vision values power and fortitude above all, with piloting Israel to unprecedented diplomatic heights and believe still more is possible. And they are loath to let anyone less experienced take the controls.

“Let’s be honest with ourselves,” said Michael B. Oren, a former Israeli ambassador to Washington. “Our economy is excellent, our foreign relations were never better, and we’re secure. We’ve got a guy in politics for 40 years: We know him, the world knows him — even our enemies know him.”

PROJECT SYNDICATE:

Israel Doubles Down on Illiberal Democracy

Apr 10, 2019 SHLOMO BEN-AMI

After another election dominated by disinformation and smears against Israeli Arabs, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has secured a fourth consecutive term. The outcome is an indictment of Israeli democracy, and particularly of the Israeli left and center, which responded to Netanyahu's open racism with pablum and platitudes.

Brooklyn Measles Outbreak: NYC Declares Health Emergency, Requiring Vaccinations in Williamsberg.

NY TIMES

‘Monkey, Rat and Pig DNA’: How Misinformation Is Driving the Measles Outbreak Among Ultra-Orthodox Jews

Handbooks distributed in some Jewish communities in New York, as well as messages on hotlines, contradict the scientific consensus that vaccines are safe and highly effective.

Children outside Yeshiva Kehilath Yakov in Brooklyn, where a measles outbreak occurred this year.CreditJohn Taggart for The New York Times

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NY TIMES

On Russiagate and Our Refusal to Face Why Trump Won

Faulty coverage of Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign later made foreign espionage a more plausible explanation for his ascent to power

MATT TAIBBI, ROLLING STONE

The Wrong Kind of Redemption: A Civil War That Never Ended

LITERARY HUB

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen RESIGNS after President Trump blamed her for the surge in illegal immigrants coming across the border and spent months threatening to fire her 

Kirstjen Nielsen, the homeland security secretary, resigned on Sunday after meeting with President Trump, ending a tumultuous tenure in charge of the border security agency that had made her the target of the president’s criticism.

“I have determined that it is the right time for me to step aside,” Ms. Nielsen said in a resignation letter. “I hope that the next secretary will have the support of Congress and the courts in fixing the laws which have impeded our ability to fully secure America’s borders and which have contributed to discord in our nation’s discourse.”

Ms. Nielsen had requested the meeting to plan “a way forward” at the border, in part thinking she could have a reasoned conversation with Mr. Trump about the role, according to three people familiar with the meeting. She came prepared with a list of things that needed to change to improve the relationship with Mr. Trump.

Mr. Trump in recent weeks had asked Ms. Nielsen to close the ports of entry along the border and to stop accepting asylum seekers, which Ms. Nielsen found ineffective and inappropriate. While the 30-minute meeting was cordial, Mr. Trump was determined to ask for her resignation. After the meeting, she submitted it.

The move comes just two days after Mr. Trump, who has repeatedly expressed anger at a rise in migrants at the southwestern border, withdrew his nominee to run Immigration and Customs Enforcement because he wanted the agency to go in a “tougher” direction.

Mr. Trump has ratcheted up his anti-immigration message in recent months as he seeks to galvanize supporters before the 2020 election, shutting down the government and then declaring a national emergency to secure funding to build a border wall, cutting aid to Central American countries and repeatedly denouncing what he believes is a crisis of migrants trying to get into the country.

He took aim again Sunday night after announcing Ms. Nielsen’s departure, tweeting, “Our Country is FULL!”

Ms. Nielsen’s resignation was effective immediately, according to the letter. The abruptness was unusual because the Department of Homeland Security currently does not have a deputy secretary, who would normally take the reins. The president said in a tweet that Kevin McAleenan, the commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, would take over as the acting replacement for Ms. Nielsen, who became the sixth secretary to lead the agency in late 2017.

Among the possible replacements for Ms. Nielsen in the long term is Ken Cuccinelli, the former Virginia attorney general who is a favorite among conservative activists and who fits the profile that Mr. Trump wants the next homeland secretary to have, people familiar with the discussions said.

Ms. Nielsen had been pressured by Mr. Trump to be more aggressive in stemming the influx of migrant crossings at the border, people familiar with their discussions in recent months said.

Her entire time in the job was spent batting back suspicion from the president, even as he told people he liked how she performed on television and enjoyed dealing with her personally. He initially was skeptical because of Ms. Nielsen’s previous service in the George W. Bush administration, and then because she was close to John F. Kelly, the president’s former chief of staff.

The president called Ms. Nielsen at home early in the mornings to demand that she take action to stop migrants from entering the country, including doing things that were clearly illegal, like blocking all migrants from seeking asylum. She repeatedly noted the limitations imposed on her department by federal laws, court settlements and international obligations.

Those responses only infuriated Mr. Trump further. The president’s fury erupted in the spring of 2018 as Ms. Nielsen hesitated for weeks about whether to sign a memo ordering the routine separation of migrant children from their families so that the parents could be detained.

In a cabinet meeting surrounded by her peers, Mr. Trump lambasted her repeatedly, leading her to draft a resignation letter and tell colleagues that there was no reason for her to lead the department any longer. By the end of the week, she had reconsidered and remained in her position, becoming an increasingly fierce supporter of his policies, including the family separations.

Mr. Trump and Stephen Miller, his top immigration adviser, have privately but regularly complained about Ms. Nielsen. Lou Dobbs, a Fox News host who is one of the president’s favorite sounding boards, has also encouraged Mr. Trump’s negative views of her handling of the migrant crisis.

Mr. Trump and Stephen Miller, his top immigration adviser, have privately but regularly complained about Ms. Nielsen. Lou Dobbs, a Fox News host who is one of the president’s favorite sounding boards, has also encouraged Mr. Trump’s negative views of her handling of the migrant crisis.

On Friday, Mr. Trump traveled with Ms. Nielsen and Mr. McAleenan to Calexico, Calif., to describe what they called a crisis.

While the number of border crossings is not as high as in the early 2000s, the demographic of migrants has shifted largely from individual Mexicans looking for jobs — who could easily be deported — to Central American families, overwhelming detention facilities and prompting mass releases of migrants into cities along the border.

Ms. Nielsen estimated last month that border officials had stopped as many as 100,000 migrants in March.

New York Agrees to Congestion Pricing and a Mansion Tax in $175 Billion Budget Deal

NY TIMES

7 Takeaways From New York’s $175 Billion Budget

The budget takes up thousands of pages and billions of dollars, and will change the way New Yorkers vote, shop, commute and more. Here is a look at what’s included, what’s not and who is responsible.

NY TIMES

Some on Mueller’s Team Say Report Was More Damaging Than Barr Revealed

Attorney General William P. Barr has shown hints of frustration with how the rollout of the special counsel’s chief findings has unfolded.CreditSarah Silbiger/The New York Times

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NY TIMES

Barr's legacy on the line as Mueller team fumes

Legal experts and lawmakers say the attorney general is mishandling the special counsel's report.

POLITICO

ZION WILLIAMSON

Theresa May Will Reach Out to Labour in Bid to Avoid Disorderly Brexit

NY TIMES

Plastic Bags to Be Banned in New York

NY TIMES

Dozens of ministers could BACK a customs union after May gives in to Remainers and offers them a free vote tonight - as cabinet Brexiteers threaten to quit if she backs down to soft Brexit plotters

Britain 'could leave EU by 22 May if MPs vote for customs union'

Official close to Brexit talks says EU leaders could sign off political declaration on 10 April

GUARDIAN

‘We’ve run into the ditch’ on Brexit. So how are we going to climb out of it?

There is now no plan and no one knows when – or even if – Britain will leave the EU. What are the possible escape routes from chaos?

GUARDIAN

Trump Outruns The Law Again After Mueller’s Report

I honestly thought that once he entered this realm, the realm of public service and accountability, the law would catch up with him. So far, no good.

MICHAEL TOMASKY, DAILY BEAST

Alternate Brexit Plans Rejected; Theresa May Offers to Step Down

In a highly-charged speech last night, Theresa May (pictured left) told Tory MPs she would quit 'earlier than intended' if Parliament backed her withdrawal agreement. There were initial signs that her gamble might pay off when a string of Eurosceptic MPs, led by Boris Johnson and Iain Duncan Smith, said they would now swing behind her. But, in a bombshell announcement shortly before 9pm, the DUP said it would not support the agreement because it posed 'an unacceptable risk to the integrity of the UK'. The party's deputy leader Nigel Dodds indicated it would vote against the plan, saying: 'We don't abstain when it comes to the Union.' The DUP's support is seen as critical to unlocking the backing of dozens of Eurosceptic MPs. MPs last night rejected every Brexit option in a series of 'indicative votes', with a customs union, second referendum, Norway-style option and No Deal all failing to get a majority (pictured inset). Commons Speaker John Bercow (pictured right) warned he could block a third vote on Mrs May's plan, prompting senior Tories to consider drastic measures to ensure it can get through, including asking the Queen to cut short the session of parliament. 

NY TIMES

Mrs. May’s plan, which Parliament has already overwhelmingly rejected twice still faces long odds.

A number of hard-line Brexit supporters were holding out, and more important, so was the Conservatives’ ally, the Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland.

If lawmakers seem unified around the idea of Mrs. May’s departure, nothing else is certain.

Mrs. May’s plan would maintain customs and trade arrangements with the European Union until at least the end of 2020, and ultimately envisions cutting most of those ties.

But it does not detail what would replace them, leaving open the vital question of Britain’s relationship to the European Union.

If Mrs. May’s plan is approved, the battle over the details of Brexit will be fought first in a leadership struggle in the Conservative Party and then by all the other parties and factions that have scrapped with one another throughout the last two years.

Europe has grown frustrated with the deadlock. Under the terms of the postponement, if Parliament does not accept Mrs. May’s deal, the new deadline will be April 12.

The European Union is “expecting the United Kingdom to indicate a way forward,” Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, said at the meeting in Strasbourg. But European leaders reiterated that they were still open to a long Brexit delay — perhaps two years — if, as Mr. Tusk said, “the U.K. wishes to rethink its Brexit strategy.” That delay would have to be agreed to by the April 12 deadline.

Wednesday’s votes were never expected to yield a firm result. There is a better chance of that happening on Monday, when Parliament is expected to vote again on the most popular options from Wednesday’s voting.

If that happens, lawmakers will then seek to forge a proposal that a majority can at least live with, and answer critics who complain that while Parliament knows what it doesn’t like, it has been incapable of saying what it does.

The Mueller Bait and Switch

Mar 27, 2019 

Thanks to US Attorney General William Barr's "summary" of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election, President Donald Trump and most of the Republican Party can implant the idea in the mind of much of the public that Trump did nothing wrong. The truth will have a hard time catching up.

ELIZABETH DREW, PROJECT SYNDICATE