Middleboro Review 2: 03/25/22

Friday, March 25, 2022

RSN: Stephen Eric Bronner | Ukraine's Labor Lost?

24 March 22

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RSN: Stephen Eric Bronner | Ukraine's Labor Lost?
Stephen Eric Bronner, Reader Supported News
Bronner writes: "Ukraine is turning into a landscape of blood-stained rubble."

Ukraine is turning into a landscape of blood-stained rubble. Thousands have been killed and wounded while possibly millions of refugees, and internally displaced people (IDPs), are on the move. $100 billion in Ukrainian infrastructure and housing has been destroyed. The environmental damage will amount to billions more, the economy is wrecked, starvation is beginning, and drinking water is depleted. Russian troops are stalled on various fronts, but they are securing Mariupol and other ports. Kyiv is the site of ongoing strife, and other cities are ready to fall. The civilian population has been valiant in resisting the invader. Perhaps they will prove successful, but the situation is increasingly dire. The bombing is unrelenting, half of Ukraine’s economy has shut down, the United Nations Development Program now suggests that 30% of its citizens need humanitarian assistance. That number is sure to grow as the war spreads from Eastern to Western Ukraine. The plight of those trapped in war zones is getting worse: Ukrainians refer to them as “the forgotten ones.”

Negotiations remain in play even as the most hideous propaganda fuels the conflict in Ukraine and Russia. Meanwhile, the United States and NATO are reinforcing Ukraine’s resistance. US assistance alone will mount to over $1 trillion. Sanctions are also disrupting Russia’s economy. Its privileged trade status has been withdrawn, oligarchs’ assets have been seized, investments have been frozen, and Vladimir Putin has become a pariah. But there is no reason to be sanguine. The sanctions are already producing a backlash. Weaponized economic policies have led significant numbers of citizens, and even some among the protestors, to conclude that the United States and NATO are pursuing imperialist aims predicated on destroying Russia—and that their president, Vladimir Putin, is right or, at least, doing what he must. The ruble has lost half its value and it is soldiers, small businesses owners, government employees, and workers with set wages who are watching their savings melt away.

Western leaders assume that wrecking the economy will drive the Russian population to overthrow its tyrant. But it can also intensify nationalism, xenophobia, and new imperialist ambitions. Russia has options. In light of its conflicts with the United States, China might rush to the rescue with military aid and new trade agreements whereas Iran is already preparing oil deals for Putin. Should Western competition with China intensify, and US-Iranian nuclear-treaty negotiations collapse, some new authoritarian version of the former “Axis” alliance of fascist powers will probably appear on the horizon. That Putin has become a pariah is only partially true. As for the oligarchs, indeed, Stalin was never overly concerned about the economic well-being of his subordinates—and neither is Putin.

Will economic pressure trump political will? That is doubtful. It is also questionable whether sanctions will shorten the war. New thinking is necessary especially when serious revolutionary opposition to Putin is lacking. Demonstrations have taken place all over Russia, but the only sizable protests were in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Quiet rules in the rest of this huge nation. Putin’s policy is driven by a desire to recover Russia’s traditional sphere of influence. Its aims are what they always were, namely, securing warm-water ports and ensuring a buffer against invasion. These reach back not just to Stalin and Lenin, but to Peter the Great.

Strategic proposals are mostly inadequate and disingenuous. Western media commentators gravely warn that, “we” cannot let Putin win and praise leader for standing up to Putin. But then they pointedly ask: have they stood up enough? What else might they try? Impose more economic sanctions? Send more jets, missiles, and drones? Perhaps implement a “no-fly zone” over Ukraine. Western leaders have mostly been prudent about that option. A no-fly zone would inevitably result in air battles between Russian and Western planes, probably a broader war, and perhaps even nuclear apocalypse. Our armchair strategists, however, have more on their mind. They facilely warn of “appeasement” and a repeat of the “Munich Crisis” of 1938. Appeasement bought the allies some time to rearm and, whatever the miscalculations, the only other option back then was for the allies to declare war. Hitler was ready — is that also the case with our brave hawks?

All of them dance around the question of sending troops to Ukraine – and for good reason. Without even considering the likelihood of a trans-European conflagration, and possibly worse, the Western public would never stand for it – and certainly not over the long run. For all the tough talk, in fact, citizens may not even stand for the outrageous hikes in gas prices brought about by sanctions on Russian oil sales. Boosters might as well be chanting: “Let’s you and him fight!”

Ukraine’s labor’s lost is difficult to admit. The country has already paid an enormous price, which will rise if NATO troops are sent into Ukraine, if a no-fly zone is implemented, if the fighting spills over into other countries, and — above all — if provocations bring about chemical warfare or even nuclear conflict. Everyone hopes that such predictions are mistaken. But then, politics rests on hoping for the best while seeking to prevent the worst. All wars come to an end, and that will be true of this war as well. Three likely outcomes exist. Russia might conquer Ukraine, set up a puppet regime, and perhaps target the Baltic states next. Alternately, Ukraine might repel the invader, rebuild its infrastructure and heighten security, but still remain overshadowed by Russia. Or, finally, should the war spill over into Europe, even more destructive weapons will come into play, and the continent will stand in danger of annihilation.

Progressives must prepare for new conditions, which means thinking outside the box. In collaboration with the National Platform for Reconciliation and Unity in Ukraine, an umbrella coalition of progressive civic organizations, the International Council for Diplomacy and Dialogue put forward a “Statement” with ideas for thinking about the Ukrainian-Russian conflict in a new way: https://www.opednews.com/articles/Statement-from-the-NPRU--by-stephen-Bronner-Ukraine_Ukraine-Coup_Ukraine-Crisis_Ukraine-Phone-Call-Whistleblower-220306-537.html.

Under any circumstances negotiations without preconditions must continue. That is particularly the case should the conflict between Russia and Ukraine produce a gruesome stalemate. Some speculative suggestions for other scenarios, however, Ukraine, however, are worth making in which civil society plays a role:

1: If Russia is poised for victory

Create a provisional government-in-exile to coordinate future resistance, and provide an alternative to any puppet regime.

Assemble plans for reconstructing Ukraine even if stripped of its sovereignty.

Prepare for Ukraine’s de-militarization and neutrality.

Call for a summit between NATO leaders and Putin in a neutral site.

2: Should it appear that the war will spill over into Europe:

Consider an airlift for humanitarian aid.

Develop cooperative plans for settling millions of refugees

Create humanitarian corridors targeting IDPs

Steer public opinion against any preemptive use of chemical or nuclear weapons in this conflict.

3: If it appears that Ukraine will prevail:

Negotiate with the EU and the United States for a new Marshall Plan

Draw closer ties between the government and civil society

Create a reconciliation commission and condemn calls for “popular justice”

Temper the xenophobic propaganda leveled against Russia

Stephen Eric Bronner is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Rutgers University and Co-Director of the International Council for Diplomacy and Dialogue. His most recent work is The Sovereign (Routledge).

Reader Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work. Permission to republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader Supported News.

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RSN: FOCUS: We Have New Evidence of Saudi Involvement in 9/11, and Barely Anyone Cares

25 March 22

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FOCUS: We Have New Evidence of Saudi Involvement in 9/11, and Barely Anyone Cares
Branko Marcetic, Jacobin
Marcetic writes: "The FBI has quietly revealed further evidence of Saudi government complicity in the September 11 attacks - and nothing's happened."

The FBI has quietly revealed further evidence of Saudi government complicity in the September 11 attacks — and nothing’s happened.

There’s a lot going on in the world right now, so it’s not surprising some news slips through the cracks. Still, it’s amazing that explosive new information about an allied government’s complicity in one of the worst attacks on US soil in history has simply come and gone with barely any notice.

Last week, the FBI quietly declassified a 510-page report it produced in 2017 about the 9/11 terrorist attack twenty years ago. The disclosure is in accordance with President Joe Biden’s September 2021 executive order declassifying long-hidden government files about the attack, which many hoped would reveal what exactly US investigators knew about the Saudi Arabian government’s possible involvement.

They weren’t let down. These most recent revelations revolve around Omar al-Bayoumi, a Saudi national working in San Diego for a Saudi government–owned aviation company he never actually turned up to. Al-Bayoumi had long been the subject of suspicion, both because of his ties to extremist clerics and due to the strange coincidences that surrounded him, from the job he never worked to the fact that he just happened to meet two of the future hijackers in a restaurant by chance — before finding them an apartment in San Diego, cosigning their lease, acting as their guarantor, paying their first month’s rent, and plugging them into the local Saudi community.

Despite all this, and even though FBI agents had reason to believe he was a Saudi spy — something only revealed in 2016 upon declassification of twenty-eight pages of the 9/11 Commission Report that former president George W. Bush had ordered be kept secret — US authorities exonerated him. The report ultimately concluded there was “no credible evidence” that al-Bayoumi “knowingly aided extremist groups,” while the bureau decided in 2004 that he had no “advance knowledge of the terrorist attack” nor that the two hijackers-to-be were members of al-Qaeda.

This latest release makes those claims a lot less tenable. According to an FBI communiqué dated to June 2017, from the late 1990s to September 11, 2001, al-Bayoumi “was paid a monthly stipend as a cooptee of the Saudi General Intelligence Presidency (GIP),” the country’s principal spy agency. The document notes that while his involvement with Saudi intelligence wasn’t confirmed at the time of the 9/11 Commission Report, the bureau has now confirmed it. In a separate 2017 document, bureau officials judge that “there is a 50/50 chance [al-Bayoumi] had advanced knowledge the 9/11 attacks were to occur.”

Upon being told about the revelation, the 9/11 Commission chair, former New Jersey governor Tom Kean, said that “if that’s true, I’d be upset by it” and that “the FBI said it wasn’t withholding anything and we believed them.”

More than that, the report directly implicates a member of the Saudi royal family and government. Al-Bayoumi’s monthly stipend was paid “via then ambassador [to the United States] Prince Bandar bin Sultan Alsaud,” it states, and any information al-Bayoumi collected on “persons of interest in the Saudi community in Los Angeles and San Diego and other issues, which met certain GIP intelligence requirements, would be forwarded to Bandar,” who would “then inform the GIP of items of interest to the GIP for further investigation/vetting or follow up.”

This disclosure is particularly explosive, because Bin Sultan was not just a member of the House of Saud but was close family friends with President Bush and generally cozy with the US political establishment — to the point that he was nicknamed “Bandar Bush.” Close friends with Bush’s father for more than two decades (“I feel like one of your family,” he wrote him in 1992), he later donated $1 million to the elder Bush’s presidential library.

This friendship extended to the younger Bush, whose father advised him to consult Bin Sultan as he prepared to launch his presidential campaign. So close was their relationship that Bin Sultan was one of the first people Bush told when he decided to invade Iraq. In a markedly weird episode, the two met at the White House two days after the September 11 attack and smoked cigars on the Truman Balcony, mere hours before chartered planes, in violation of the nationwide grounding of aircraft, picked up 160 royals, Bin Laden family members, and other prominent Saudis and flew them out of the country.

So let’s recap what these new documents tell us. They tell us that one of the men who helped two of the September 11 hijackers settle in the United States as they prepared to carry out their attack was in fact a spy for the Saudi government — a government long accused of supporting and financing fundamentalist extremists and the country where the vast majority of the hijackers came from. That spy was paid by and reported directly to the longtime Saudi ambassador to the United States, a close and long-standing family friend of the US president.

This should, realistically, prompt many questions, like: If al-Bayoumi had advance knowledge of the attack, did Bandar bin Sultan know, too? Did the latter raise the alarm with anyone in the United States, like his close friend the president? Was Bin Sultan aware of al-Bayoumi’s assistance to the hijackers? Did Bush’s relationship with Bin Sultan cloud his judgement and explain his indifferent response to the intelligence warnings that came to his desk? What did the two talk about on September 13, and why has the Saudi government faced absolutely no accountability over the years?

That might happen in a media ecosystem that doesn’t have the attention span of a fruit fly. In the world we live in, the story has been covered by NorthJersey.com, by Democracy Now!, and . . . that’s it. The September 11 attack was a profoundly traumatic event that has irrevocably shaped US foreign policy and domestic politics for the entirety of this century, often in ways disastrous for both the world and average Americans. Yet when new information implicating an allied government in its execution comes to light, hardly anyone seems to care.

House of Humiliation

This is all particularly relevant now, given not just the decades of US policy that has lavished favors on the Saudi government but Washington’s continued support for the kingdom’s unspeakably brutal war against Yemen.

For seven years now, the Saudi-led coalition has waged an indiscriminate bombing campaign on the country, attacking military targets at roughly the same rate it bombs civilian infrastructure and residential areas, while depriving Yemenis of food and fuel through a tightening blockade. The result has been more than 377,000 dead Yemeni civilians, 70 percent of them kids under five, with two-thirds of them estimated to have died from starvation and preventable diseases, diseases that have exploded in the country thanks to the war. Millions are suffering extreme poverty and malnutrition, and the country is close to wholesale famine.

The United States and other Western governments have directly supported this war throughout, selling the Saudi-led coalition tens of billions of dollars worth of weapons. Washington and the UK , for their part, also provide the coalition with key logistical support, without which a former CIA and Pentagon official has said the war could not go on. Imagine if instead of assisting Ukraine in Russia’s current invasion, the US government instead sold Russia weapons, refueled its planes, shared intelligence with it, and helped its air force with targeting as it turned Ukrainian cities to rubble, and you have some idea of the nature of the US role in this.

Why is the US government doing this? After all, it was just three years ago that a bipartisan coalition in a GOP-controlled Senate voted to end the war, and Joe Biden ran and won the presidency on ending US support for it, before — in trademark Biden style — he kept on supporting the war anyway. Since then, with Biden’s support, the Saudi-led coalition has intensified its bombing to the worst its been since 2018, and the country’s humanitarian crisis is worse than it was under Biden’s predecessor.

The simple reason is that Washington sees the Saudi government as too important to alienate. This was, after all, the same government that led the 1973 oil embargo that caused worldwide economic mayhem and, conversely, stepped up oil production when Saddam Hussein’s 1991 invasion of Kuwait threatened to do the same. With the Saudi kingdom’s vast reserves of oil, the fundamental ingredient of modern civilization, US officials would rather keep it on their side by backing this horrendous war than alienate it and push it closer to hostile powers like Russia or China. This, we can presume, is also largely the reason why the Saudi government has only ever been rewarded by Washington despite mounting evidence of its complicity in an attack on US soil twenty years ago.

The tragic irony is that, in spite of Biden’s steadfast backing of its war, the Saudi government has lately been thumbing its nose at him. As oil-driven inflation threatens to derail Biden’s presidency, the Saudi crown prince has consistently rejected US pleas to alleviate it by boosting oil production. Both Saudi Arabia and its bellicose partner, the United Arab Emirates, dragged their feet on joining a UN resolution condemning Russia’s war. Just recently, the Saudi crown prince spoke with Russian president Vladimir Putin as the latter continued carrying out atrocities in Ukraine, then declined to even take Biden’s phone call as the president desperately looked for alternative oil supply to fill the vacuum created by sanctions against Russia. Biden sent him more weapons anyway.

It’s hard to imagine any country ritually humiliating the United States like this, let alone being rewarded for it. Then again, it’s also hard to imagine any foreign government being as complicit as the House of Saud was in an atrocity like September 11 and getting away entirely scot-free, but here we are.

The reason it can do this is the same reason why Putin believed he had the leverage to launch his war last month: the modern world’s continuing refusal to transition away from fossil fuels, ensuring that every despot who has enough oil and gas can violate international law, mock its allies, and even carry out atrocities with minimal cost. Who knows what else we’ll learn as more of the September 11 documents are declassified? But one thing’s for sure: little will come of it if the status quo stays in place.

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POLITICO NIGHTLY: The transgender care that states are banning, explained

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BY RENUKA RAYASAM

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LGBTQ activists and their supporters rally in support of transgender people on the steps of New York City Hall. | Drew Angerer/Getty Images

TRANS KIDS AND MEDICAL CARE — The makers of puberty-blocking drugs, which are used in transition-related medical care for minors, are now under investigation by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, part of a larger, national fight against such care for minors.

More than a dozen states are considering proposals that would penalize health care providers who provide what’s known as gender-affirming care to children and teenagers. Top Republican leaders in Texas, including Paxton, have said this type of care — which can refer to everything from counseling to surgery — amounts to “child abuse,” even as major medical organizations endorse it. Arkansas is fighting in federal court to preserve its ban on such treatments. “We cannot allow minors or their parents to make life-altering decisions,” Jonathan Covey, director of policy for the advocacy group Texas Values, told The New York Times.

But what is gender-affirming care, and why do some children receive it? Nightly reached out to three transgender health experts to talk through some of the biggest questions around it: Jason Rafferty, who helped write gender-affirming care guidelines for the American Academy of Pediatrics and practices at the Gender and Sexuality Program at Rhode Island’s Hasbro Children’s Hospital; Laura Taylor, medical director of the Keck Medicine of USC Gender-Affirming Care Program; and Stephen Rosenthal, medical director of the University of California, San Francisco’s Child and Adolescent Gender Center. All oppose recent state efforts to criminalize gender-affirming care. Rosenthal co-wrote an op-ed article in the San Francisco Chronicle that condemned the bills that are passing in statehouses across the country.

How many children receive gender-affirming care?

The number of minors who would be affected by these laws is unclear. In 2017, the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law put the number of transgender teens between 13 and 17 at 150,000 or .7 percent of kids in that age range. That same year the CDC estimated that 1.8 percent of high school students identify as transgender. Not all of those teens receive gender-affirming care.

Rafferty said he has a “stack of papers” on his desk from peer-reviewed studies that show the benefits of gender-affirming care, including lower rates of depression and suicidal thoughts. Kids who received puberty blockers and hormone therapy had 60 percent lower odds of moderate or severe depression and 73 percent lower odds of suicidality, according a study of 104 transgender youth published in February by a journal of the American Medical Association.

What exactly are states banning?

Most states targeting gender-affirming care are prohibiting medical interventions, including surgery, for transgender youth. Medical treatment can include puberty blockers and hormone therapy. Banned surgeries include chest masculinization, as well as procedures that leave patients sterilized, even though clinicians don’t perform sterilizing procedures on people under the age of 18.

Clinicians are worried that antipathy towards transgender medicine will migrate to mental health care, which is a key part of treatment. In Texas, health providers who have halted medical treatments still provide counseling, but at least one family sought emergency mental health care for their transgender teen in Oklahoma instead of Texas for fear of being reported to state authorities.

Is this experimental medicine?

Rafferty said it’s a quickly evolving field, but said that doctors have more than a decade of peer-reviewed research to guide their patient treatment. Puberty blockers, for example, have been used for decades to pause the process in very young kids. The FDA hasn’t approved puberty blockers for gender-affirming care, but such off-label use is not unusual or illegal.

The American Medical Association calls gender-affirming care “medically necessary” and “evidence-based.”The American Academy of Pediatrics, the World Professional Association for Transgender Health and other medical associations have published detailed guidelines for physicians and care teams.

How young are these patients?

“Kids as young as 3 or 4 can understand their gender,” Taylor said. “Kids that young wouldn’t be labeled as transgender, but they can often tell us if they identify as a boy or a girl.”

Before a child hits puberty, gender-affirming care is non-medical and non-surgical. It includes counseling and support with a social transition — when a child changes their hairstyle or clothes or pronouns to more closely match the gender they identify with.

Clinicians who treat transgender children wait until the start of puberty, which can begin as early as 8 or 9, before considering puberty blockers. Rafferty says most of his patients on puberty blockers are between the ages of 10 and 12. Clinical guidelines recommend starting hormone therapy only on patients who are 16 and older, but Rosenthal said his clinic might start placing 14-year-olds on estrogen or testosterone depending on their individual situation.

Surgery to enlarge or decrease breast size or to change facial features might occur before a person is 18, but surgeries involving reproductive organs are not carried out on people under the age of 18, according to these doctors and guidelines on gender-affirming care.

Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Keep reading for more questions and answers on gender-affirming care for minors. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@politico.com. Or contact tonight’s author at rrayasam@politico.com, or on Twitter at @RenuRayasam.

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Where do parents fit into the guidelines for gender-affirming care?

In all states, minors who seek transgender treatment need parental consent. “I’ve had lots of patients who make an appointment the week of their 18th birthday because they are sitting at home, identify as trans and have dysphoria,” or the discomfort or distress some transgender people experience when their bodies don’t align with their gender, Taylor said. “Even though legally they could have seen a pediatric provider, it requires parental consent.”

The AAP guidelines stress the importance of parental involvement in care decisions, and also stress the importance of family-based counseling.

Is gender-affirming care reversible?

It depends. Puberty-blocking medications are used temporarily, and they help young people and their families figure out next steps, these doctors said. They prevent adolescents from developing gender characteristics that might be hard to later reverse, like full breast development. But they also give people time to decide whether to pursue interventions like hormone therapy. Puberty blockers come with side effects — potentially an impact on future fertility and a loss of boss density, but recent studies have shown those effects can be reversed, Rosenthal said.

Hormone therapy is partially or non-reversible depending on the stage of treatment.

Surgeries are not reversible.

Taylor said it’s important not to think of medical interventions on a continuum that ends in gender transition — some people might want to remove their breasts but not take hormones. She had one adult patient who wanted a more masculine chest, but sang in a choir and didn’t want a changed voice. Other patients identify as nonbinary, with genders other than man and woman.

“There is no finish line where people have done X, Y and Z therefore they have transitioned,” she said.

Do children ever change their minds or stop receiving this care?

A small minority of patients stop hormone therapy, Rafferty said. “That is OK,” he said. “Gender affirmation is about going through a process to figure out the end point.”

“What I tell all parents, is that you really need to focus on the here and now,” Rafferty said. “Today your child is coming in and trying to have an open and honest conversation about who they are. If a child rethinks that, they have to be able to navigate that with parents in a medical setting with trusted providers.”

WHAT'D I MISS?

— U.S., EU to seek new natural gas supplies to displace Russia: President Joe Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pledged to ramp up liquefied natural gas shipments to Europe to help the continent wean itself off of Russian energy, but it wasn’t immediately clear where they would get the extra fuel supplies. The United States will work with international partners to supply an additional 15 billion cubic meters of LNG to Europe this year, and Europe is also committing to receive 50 bcm of LNG from the United States.

A woman and her dog behind the smashed windscreen of her car after arriving at an evacuation point in a large convoy of cars and buses carrying hundreds of people evacuated from Mariupol and Melitopol in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. | Chris McGrath/Getty Images

— Russia’s Kyiv offensive stalls, as Ukrainians counterattack in the south: Russian forces are shifting their focus away from the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv as they prepare to undertake a renewed effort to consolidate control on Donbas in the east, Russian and U.S. officials said today. For weeks, Western analysts and government officials have said they expect Russian forces to adjust their tactics and strategy in the face of fierce Ukrainian resistance around the capital, but today’s admission by a top Russian official that the Kremlin was scaling back its war aims marks a significant moment in the month-long conflict.

— McCarthy nudges convicted Rep. Fortenberry to resign: House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy suggested today that Rep. Jeff Fortenberry should resign from Congress, hours after the Nebraska Republican was convicted of lying to the FBI over illegal campaign contributions . “I think when someone’s convicted, it’s time to resign, ” McCarthy told reporters at a press conference on the final day of the House GOP retreat. Minutes after McCarthy’s remarks, Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued a more declarative statement on the matter, calling on Fortenberry to immediately resign.

SUBSCRIBE TO NATIONAL SECURITY DAILY : Keep up with the latest critical developments from Ukraine and across Europe in our daily newsletter, National Security Daily. The Russian invasion of Ukraine could disrupt the established world order and result in a refugee crisis, increased cyberattacks, rising energy costs and additional disruption to global supply chains. Go inside the top national security and foreign-policymaking shops for insight on the global threats faced by the U.S. and its allies and what actions world leaders are taking to address them. Subscribe today.

— Maryland court strikes down congressional map as illegal Democratic gerrymander: A state court in Maryland has struck down the Democratic-drawn congressional map as an illegal partisan gerrymander , ordering the state legislature to redraw the lines for the 2022 election. The new districts — which were drawn by the Democratic-dominated legislature and passed over the veto of Republican Gov. Larry Hogan — could result in an 8-0 sweep for Democrats in the state in blue-leaning years. Seven districts in the state are solidly Democratic, while the lone Republican-held district in Maryland, the Eastern Shore seat currently occupied by GOP Rep. Andy Harris, was converted from a Republican vote sink into a hypercompetitive district. Biden carried the new version by less than a percentage point in 2020.

— Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas released from hospital: Thomas, 73, was hospitalized last Friday night with “flu-like symptoms,” according to an announcement that the court released on Sunday evening. That statement said Thomas was expected to be released “in a day or two,” but he wound up spending almost a full week under inpatient care . The Sunday statement said Thomas was being treated with “intravenous antibiotics” and that his symptoms were “abating,” but this morning’s one-sentence statement provided no further details on his illness. A court spokesperson did say earlier that Thomas’ hospitalization was not related to Covid-19.

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NIGHTLY NUMBER

46 percent

The percentage of parents who believe masking in schools has hurt their children’s social learning and interactions, according to the new POLITICO-Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health poll. About 4 in 10 think it has hurt their general schooling experience (40 percent) and mental and emotional health (39 percent), and about one-third believe it has hurt their education (33 percent).

DON’T MISS POLITICO’S INAUGURAL HEALTH CARE SUMMIT ON 3/31: Join POLITICO for a discussion with health care providers, policymakers, federal regulators, patient representatives, and industry leaders to better understand the latest policy and industry solutions in place as we enter year three of the pandemic. Panelists will discuss the latest proposals to overcome long-standing health care challenges in the U.S., such as expanding access to care, affordability, and prescription drug prices. REGISTER HERE.

PARTING WORDS

President Joe Biden delivers remarks during the annual U.S.-ASEAN Summit via video link from the South Court Auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

MEET, GREET, DELETE — The White House has indefinitely postponed a special summit with leaders from across Southeast Asia that was initially scheduled for next week, according to four sources familiar with the schedule change, Steven Overly and Nahal Toosi write.

The gathering with the 10 countries that make up the Association of Southeast Asian Nations was set to take place on Monday and Tuesday at the White House, and it was meant to “demonstrate the United States’ enduring commitment” to a region that is critical to its commercial and security interests in Asia, the White House said in late February.

Today, a spokesperson for the National Security Council said in a statement to POLITICO that, “The President looks forward to welcoming the ASEAN leaders to Washington, DC for a U.S.-ASEAN Special Summit. To ensure invited ASEAN leaders can all participate, we are working closely with ASEAN partners to identify appropriate dates for this meeting.”

Biden will instead meet on Tuesday with Singapore’s prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong, to discuss both U.S. interests in the Indo-Pacific region, such as supply chains and maritime security, as well as the bloody conflict in Ukraine.

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POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: Chang-Díaz spoils for a debate

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BY LISA KASHINSKY

TIMING IS EVERYTHING — When Sonia Chang-Díaz challenged Democratic gubernatorial rival Maura Healey to three televised debates before the party’s June convention, she didn’t say that a media outlet had already reached out about doing one.

Chang-Díaz received an offer for a televised debate before issuing her call to Healey on Thursday. She accepted it shortly afterward, her campaign said. But her team wouldn’t say which outlet extended the invitation, or for when. Healey’s campaign said little beyond that the attorney general would debate "before the primary election.”

Pushing for a debate is a common tactic for underdog candidates. Still, the timing of Chang-Díaz’s challenge is telling.

It's expected Healey will outperform Chang-Díaz at the convention, and the senator's campaign has acknowledged as much. But two weeks after the party's caucuses ended, the delegate math is still murky. Healey’s campaign won't give estimates of her delegate count. Chang-Díaz’s camp believes she has the 15 percent delegate support needed to get on the primary ballot, though her team also said Thursday it hasn't contacted every delegate yet.

Wherever they stand in terms of raw numbers, Chang-Díaz needs to slow Healey's perceived momentum — which would get more fuel if Healey crosses 50 percent at the convention, notching the party's endorsement.

She also needs to chip away at Healey's massive lead in the money race. Chang-Díaz's campaign blasted out her debate challenge in a fundraising email Thursday evening. Look to see if she does it again as she revs up for her end-of-month fundraising push.

GOOD FRIDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. Gov. Charlie Baker installed a new chair on the MassHousing board this week. But the former chair, Mike Dirrane, claims he’s still the one in charge.

Baker swore in Jeanne Pinado on Wednesday as the first woman of color to chair the quasi-public agency’s board of directors.

But Dirrane — the agency’s longest-serving board member, who Baker reappointed as chair in 2016 — sent a letter to the governor last week saying he’s not stepping aside from the unpaid position. Dirrane argues that the statute governing the MassHousing board “clearly reads” that “once you’re appointed by the governor as chair you remain chair through the end of your term.” Dirrane’s term expires in September 2023.

“[Baker] declared someone chair — in my mind, illegally — and I think the courts will hold that up,” Dirrane told Playbook. “All I’m trying to do is preserve the independence of an independent agency and not let a lame-duck governor try to pack an agency.”

Dirrane wants Healey to weigh in on the matter. The AG's office deferred comment to the governor’s office. Baker’s team did not comment directly on Dirrane’s letter, but spokesperson Terry MacCormack said in a statement that the governor is “confident” that Pinado “will be an asset” to the board.

TODAY — Reps. Stephen Lynch and Lori Trahan host a press conference on their trip to Ukrainian border countries at 9:45 a.m. at Lynch's Boston office. Sen. Ed Markey and Assistant House Speaker Katherine Clark announce $4 million in federal funding for Wonderland Station in Revere at 10:30 a.m. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu tour ABCD Dorchester Early Head Start at 11 a.m. and then speak to press. Rep. Jake Auchincloss speaks at a Stand with Ukraine rally in Newton Center at 5 p.m. Chang-Díaz is on GBH’s “Talking Politics” at 7 p.m.

THIS WEEKEND — Auchincloss hosts town halls at noon in Mansfield and 2 p.m. in Taunton on Saturday; and at 4 p.m. Sunday in Needham. Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission Chair Steven Hoffman is on WBZ’s “Keller @ Large” at 8:30 a.m. Sunday. Clark is on WCVB’s “On the Record” at 11 a.m. Sunday.

Tips? Scoops? Come across any interesting letters? Email me: lkashinsky@politico.com.

THE LATEST NUMBERS

— “Massachusetts coronavirus cases climb again, K-12 schools report 2,594 cases,” by Rick Sobey, Boston Herald: “The 1,086 new virus cases in the state was a 21% jump from 899 reported cases last Thursday. A total of 2,594 staff and students tested positive in Bay State schools in the past week, up from the previous week’s report as infections rise across the state.”

DATELINE BEACON HILL

— WIN SOME: The Senate unanimously approved a proposal from Democrat Walter Timilty to divest state pension funds from companies sanctioned by the federal government or incorporated in Russia, in response to that country's invasion of Ukraine. Senators also, as part of a midyear spending bill that cleared the chamber Thursday, voted to allocate $10 million to the state Office of Immigrants and Refugees to support resettling refugees, including from Ukraine.

“There is nothing that we can do to fully erase the pain and suffering caused by this immoral and unnecessary military action,” Senate President Karen Spilka said in a statement. “But we can insist that Massachusetts take action.”

The House also approved $10 million for refugee resettlement in its version of the supplemental budget. But House lawmakers previously shelved a proposal to divest state pension funds, which Speaker Ron Mariano said would be “too difficult.” That’s one wrinkle that could be ironed out in conference committee, where the budget bills appear to be headed.

— LOSE SOME: Senate Republicans couldn’t pass their proposal to suspend the state’s 24-cents-per-gallon gas tax through Labor Day. That amendment to the midyear spending bill failed 11-29.

But they did get some campaign-trail fodder. All four Senate Democrats running for statewide office — Sonia Chang-Díaz, Diana DiZoglio, Adam Hinds and Eric Lesser — voted against the proposal engineered to help motorists facing high prices at the gas pump.

— More on the Senate debate from the Eagle-Tribune’s Christian M. Wade: “Ahead of the vote, Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, said lifting the gas tax temporarily would provide some relief from the state's motorists. … Democrats said the suspending collection of the gas tax would siphon away millions of dollars the state government uses for collateral to pay down debt on its bond obligations, negatively impacting the state's bonding rate.”

— “Massachusetts groups prepare to welcome refugees from Ukraine,” by Jeremy C. Fox, Boston Globe: “Massachusetts organizations are preparing to help resettle refugees from Ukraine after the Biden administration announced Thursday that the United States would accept up to 100,000 of those displaced by the Russian invasion of their homeland. It’s unclear how many Ukrainian refugees might be sent to Massachusetts.”

— “To-go cocktails, expanded outdoor dining likely here to stay in Massachusetts for at least another year,” by Erin Tiernan, MassLive: “Expanded outdoor dining and to-go cocktails are likely here to stay in Massachusetts for at least another year after state lawmakers handed a ‘major victory’ to restaurants and voted to further extend the pandemic-era rules. … Gov. Charlie Baker still needs to sign off on the House- and Senate-approved extension.”

— “Baker’s $4,000 employer hiring bonus called ‘deeply misguided’,” by Bruce Mohl, CommonWealth Magazine: “One of the state’s leading policy analysts is raising alarms about a proposal put forward by Gov. Charlie Baker to give nonprofit and for-profit businesses a $4,000 stipend for each new employee they hire through the end of the year. … The Baker proposal, he said, rewards employers for doing what they are already doing.”

— “Beacon Hill must ensure sports betting legislation is equitable for Black and Brown businesses, senators told in new letter,” by Alison Kuznitz, MassLive: “Diversity, equity and inclusion must function as top priorities for the Massachusetts Legislature as it considers authorizing sports wagering, according to a letter sent to state senators on Thursday morning from the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts, the Association of Black Businesses and Professionals, and the Massachusetts Latino Chamber of Commerce.”

VAX-ACHUSETTS

— “Boston hospital reports zero coronavirus patients in ICU for first time since pandemic started,” by Rick Sobey, Boston Herald: “More than two years after the coronavirus pandemic started wreaking havoc, Tufts Medical Center nurses and doctors for the first time are seeing zero COVID-19 patients in the intensive care unit.”

— “Wastewater data sends mixed signals amid dip in Boston-area COVID-19 cases,” by Marilyn Schairer, GBH News: “Anyone closely watching the wastewater data noticed a change last week: an uptick in the Northeast's COVID-19 prevalence for the first time since late December 2021. It was up 24% over the prior week. Then, new data as of Wednesday showed the region's numbers falling again, slightly. It's a mixed signal at yet another uncertain moment in the pandemic.”

— “Mayor Jon Mitchell battles COVID-19 for second time,” by Linda Roy, Standard-Times: “After his second bout with COVID-19, Mayor Jon Mitchell will likely head back to the office on March 25 after being quarantined and testing negative for the virus. … Mitchell attributes being fully vaccinated and boosted as key to his symptoms being mild and keeping him out of the hospital.”

— "POLITICO-Harvard poll: 40 percent of parents believe masks at school harmed their kids," by Dan Goldberg, POLITICO: "A significant percentage of parents whose children wore masks in school during the last year believe it harmed their education, social interactions and mental health, according to a POLITICO-Harvard survey. The poll’s findings come as the Biden administration monitors events in Europe, where BA.2, a subvariant of Omicron, is wreaking havoc, and White House officials warn that masks may be necessary if Covid-19 cases increase in the United States."

FROM THE HUB

— “A ‘demographic perfect storm’: Suffolk County had one of the steepest population declines in the US, census data show,” by Matt Stout and Martin Finucane, Boston Globe: “Suffolk County saw one of the steepest population declines in the country last year, losing 3.3 percent of its population in just 15 months after tens of thousands of people moved out of Boston and its surrounding communities, new census data show.”

— “Mass and Cass crowds ‘not acceptable,’ Wu administration says, vowing ‘decentralization’,” by Sean Philip Cotter, Boston Herald: “Mayor Michelle Wu’s Mass and Cass point woman defended the administration’s approach to fixing the troubled South End area, saying that the city is working to stop the returning crowds of drug users.”

ON THE STUMP

— ENDORSEMENT ALERT: The Retired State, County and Municipal Employees Association of Massachusetts has endorsed state Attorney General Maura Healey for governor, the association said.

— “Framingham's new majority-minority state rep district has third candidate,” by Zane Razzaq, MetroWest Daily News: “On Thursday afternoon, School Committee Chairwoman Priscila Sousa officially announced she's running for the new majority-minority 6th Middlesex District state representative seat. … Former City Councilor Margareth Shepard declared her intent to run in late January. … Local activist Dhruba Sen is seeking the seat as well.”

— “Greenfield man running for Republican nomination for governor,” by Domenic Poli, Greenfield Recorder: “Lucas G. Cote isn’t your typical candidate for statewide elected office. He has no campaign volunteers, virtually no political experience, and he’ll refuse any and all donations. But that’s not stopping him from running for the Republican nomination for governor.”

PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES

— “MBTA releases first five-year spending plan since pandemic began totaling $9.4B,” by Taylor Dolven, Boston Globe: “The transit agency unveiled plans to spend $9.4 billion through fiscal year 2027 on 552 projects, including $579 million for new Red and Orange Line vehicles, $493.5 million for South Coast Rail, a commuter rail line that would provide service to Boston from Taunton, New Bedford, and Fall River, $420.1 million for a new fare collection system, and $357.7 million on the Green Line extension. The plan relies on federal funding from the $1 trillion infrastructure law over the next five years, which the MBTA estimates will be about $580 million."

DAY IN COURT

— “SJC says franchises must comply with independent contractor law,” by Shira Schoenberg, CommonWealth Magazine: “The Supreme Judicial Court ruled Thursday that companies operating as franchises need to comply with the state’s independent contractor law, a ruling that could lead companies to newly scrutinize the terms of their arrangements with franchisees."

— “30 years after life sentence, Thomas Koonce has chance at life outside prison,” by Meghan Ottolini, Boston Herald: “Thomas Koonce, recipient of a rare first-degree murder commutation from Gov. Charlie Baker, may be one step closer to a life outside prison after spending three decades behind bars. ‘I can only hope and pray you’ll agree I am a strong candidate for parole,’ Koonce said as he sat shackled before the state Parole Board Thursday. … The board will reconvene to decide on Koonce’s parole after a two-week period.”

— “Dropkick Murphys ‘SMASH’ neo-Nazis with cease and desist,” by Christopher Gavin, Boston.com: “Soon after the Celtic-punk band became aware of a video created by local neo-Nazis that uses its song, ‘The Boys Are Back,’ the Quincy rockers fired off a warning on Twitter. … That same day, the band ... sent the white supremacist organization, The New England Nationalist Social Club, also known as NSC 131 or the Massachusetts 131 Lads, a cease and desist letter for copyright violations from its attorney.”

— “John Kerry sued, slammed over ‘absurd’ refusal to share details of his Climate staff,” by Joe Dwinell, Boston Herald: “A watchdog group is suing climate czar John Kerry over his refusal to share details about his office staff until late 2024 — a response that violates a public records directive just sent by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland.”

FROM THE 413

— “Gov. Charlie Baker talks repairs, not replacement, of troubled Roderick Ireland Courthouse,” by Jim Kinney, Springfield Republican: “Answering questions Thursday at an unrelated event in Holyoke, Baker said his administration has put together a proposal to the Massachusetts Trial Court to rip out and replace all the air handling equipment.”

THE LOCAL ANGLE

— “Nurses at Beverly Hospital, Addison Gilbert Hospital in Gloucester authorize strike,” by Amy Sokolow, Boston Herald: “Nurses at two North Shore hospitals affiliated with Beth Israel Lahey Health System, Beverly Hospital and Addison Gilbert Hospital in Gloucester, voted to authorize a three-day strike. … [Beverly Hospital nurse Larn] Beard said that the hospitals, which fall under Northeast Hospital Corporation, have lost ‘hundreds’ of nurses in the last two years, or 40% of the nursing workforce.”

— “In Everett, reaction to a racist meme reveals a clash of old and new,” by Liz Neisloss, GBH News: “Two decades ago, only a quarter of the city’s population was non-white, but the city is now majority-minority. More than 50 languages are spoken in this city of 50,000, and immigrants from dozens of countries now call Everett home. But whether you are truly ‘from Everett,’ residents say, is waved like a badge of honor that leaves many feeling marginalized, and has helped keep the ‘old Everett’ in power."

— “Red Sox to replace Black Lives Matter billboard: ‘It was never a political statement’,” by Jason Mastrodonato, Boston Herald: “After almost two years, the Red Sox are taking down their 254-foot Black Lives Matter billboard that has been stationed behind Fenway Park facing the Massachusetts Turnpike. Bekah Salwasser, the Sox’ executive vice president of social impact and executive director of the Red Sox Foundation, told the Herald on Thursday that the organization has been proud of its support for the BLM movement, but now wants to use that signage to promote the 20th anniversary of the foundation.”

— “Martin J. Walsh to give commencement address at Endicott College,” by Jeremy C. Fox, Boston Globe.

MEANWHILE IN RHODE ISLAND

— “FBI joins investigation into controversial ILO consulting contract,” by Eli Sherman, Tim White and Ted Nesi, WPRI: “The FBI has joined an investigation into the controversial multimillion-dollar education contract that the McKee administration awarded last year to the ILO Group, a politically connected consulting firm.”

MEANWHILE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE

— “Sununu calls allegations against Spofford 'serious,' says they should be investigated,” by Lauren Chooljian, NHPR: “Gov. Chris Sununu is distancing himself from Eric Spofford, the founder of Granite Recovery Centers, the largest network of addiction treatment centers in the state. An NHPR investigation has found multiple allegations of sexual misconduct against Spofford involving his employees and a former client. … Spofford has donated thousands of dollars to Sununu’s political campaigns.”

SPOTTED — Former House Speaker Robert DeLeo at a fundraiser for state auditor hopeful Chris Dempsey at Carrie Nation last night, per a Playbook tipster.

TRANSITIONS — #mapoli veterans Karen Sharma and Michael Falcone formally launched a public affairs shop at MacDougall Advisors this week.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to state Rep. Maria Robinson, NYT's Felice Belman, Alissa C. Rooney and Playbook superfan Wayne Kashinsky.

HAPPY BIRTHWEEKEND — to Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler, Nick Bayer, Caroline Darmody and Kelli Ritter, who celebrate Saturday; and to Sunday birthday-ers DeLeo, Charlotte Peyser and Matt Siegel.

NEW HORSE RACE ALERT: TRANSPORTATION FOR A WHOLE NEW WORLD — State Sen. Brendan Crighton talks about his priorities as the new Senate chair of the Joint Committee on Transportation. Hosts Steve Koczela and Lisa Kashinsky break down the latest news from Beacon Hill to the campaign trail. Subscribe and listen on iTunes and Sound Cloud.

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