Wiretap: The bombing, the bag, the Boss, and 3.64 billion Skittles

Sane calculations

Adam Gopnik writes in The New Yorker that the typical New Yorker’s response to the Chelsea bombing was not simply “bold” or “courageous,” but something even better: cool, plain, dull indifference.

In the bag

Because the second pressure-cooker bomb was left in a distinctive bag, two New Yorkers took for themselves the bag and probably ruined the bomb that might have killed dozens. A fingerprint was lifted, and the search was on for Ahmad Khan Rahami was on. Via the Daily Beast.

Funny money

Washington Post reporter David Fahrenthold has owned the Trump Foundation story, and he’s got a huge one now. It seems that Donald Trump has used $258,000 from his charity to settle legal disputes. Newly revealed documents suggest that Trump may have violated laws against “self-dealing.”

The punchline

This is the official Trump response, in what used to be called a non-denial denial.

Riddled with Skittles

Donald Trump Jr.’s infamous Skittles tweet is all wrong, says Vox. It’s simple math, really. In the tweet, we’re asked that if we knew that three Skittles in a bowl (of approximately 100) would kill you, would we eat a handful. In this lame analogy, each Skittle is meant to represent a single refugee. But given that your chance of being killed by a refugee is approximately 1 in 3.64 billion (according to the Cato Institute), you’d need a bowl holding more than 10 billion candies.

Adelson antes up – but down-ballot

Sheldon Adelson finally makes his long-awaited big-money contribution – something along the lines of $45 million – to the Republican cause, while, at the same time, choosing to snub Trump. Via The New York Times.

The wildcard

Rich Lowry on why Hillary Clinton should be very nervous about debating someone as unpredictable as Donald Trump. Via The National Review.

Same story, different city

Another unarmed black man is killed by a cop, this time in Tulsa.  There’s video, again, and demands, again, that the cop be punished. The Tulsa police chief calls the video in which Terence Crutcher is shot and killed “disturbing.” Hillary Clinton called it “unbearable.” Via The Los Angeles Times.

Stumpf-ed

Dana Milbank on the Wells Fargo scandal: Too big to fail, too arrogant to admit it. Via The Washington Post.

Tramps like us

Bruce Springsteen’s memoir is out. It’s called Born To Run, as if it could be called anything else. In Dwight Garner’s review, he says the book is like a Springsteen concert – “long, ecstatic, exhausting, filled with peaks and valleys.” Via The New York Times.

 

Flickr photo by Amy

The Colorado Independent is a statewide online news source operating in a time when spin is plentiful, but factual, fair and unflinching news in the public interest is all too rare. Our award-winning team of veteran investigative and explanatory reporters and news columnists aims to amplify the voices of Coloradans whose stories are unheard, shine light on the relationships between people, power and policy, and hold public officials to account. We strive to report the news with context, social conscience, and soul, and to give Coloradans the insight they need to promote conversation, understanding and progress in this square, swing state we call home.