Topics and articles chosen with care. Linked articles in bold purple
◆ French head to polls in first round of Presidential election amid tight security. (France 24) The four candidates offer starkly different paths forward. ZipDialog will discuss the two finalists after they are chosen.
Comment: The stakes go well beyond France. They involve the future of the EU, NATO, immigration, and the economy. Several candidates have ties to Vladimir Putin and Russia, as well.
◆ A memory from the 1950s: Producer who rigged quiz shows dies at age 95 (New York Times) Now, for $64,000, can you name that producer?
Albert Freedman, the producer who was pushed by a competing program’s sponsor (Geritol), to find a more appealing figure to appear as winner. He found Charles Van Doren, told him how the scheme would work, and got him to come on Freedman’s program, “Twenty-One.”
Comment: What Freedman and Van Doren did was standard show biz tinsel–costume jewelry presented as diamonds. But it was the honest 1950s and the quiz shows were being presented as authentic, so its discovery created a huge national scandal.
◆ In a successful operation, the Surgeon General is removed, replaced temporarily by his deputy (Washington Post) No side effects.
The removed physician, Vivek Murthy, was a controversial appointment because the biggest item on his c.v. was his political support for Obama.
The interim replacement is Rear Adm. Sylvia Trent-Adams.
Comment: Trump’s political opponents think the frontrunner is Dr. Nick Riviera.
◆ Headline of the Day: “Florida state senator who resigned over racial slur hired former Playboy, Hooters models“ (Fox News)
The Florida state senator who resigned this week after using a racial slur previously hired a former Hooters “calendar girl” and a Playboy model with no political experience to be consultants for his political action committee.
The PAC for Florida state Sen. Frank Artiles, a Republican, hired the women last year and paid them a total $3,500, The Miami Herald reported Saturday, based on state records. –Fox News, based on Miami Herald reporting
Comment: Gee, I wonder why you would hire the beautiful women with no political experience as consultants? Hmmmm.
◆ The Palestinian Authority pays a monthly salary to the families of terrorists who kill innocents. It is their standard policy. Their favorite targets are Jews. The money, of course, comes from western donor governments, who have not insisted that this stop or that their official school textbooks stop their deadly incitement and remove vicious anti-Semitic materials.
Comment: Beyond shameful. Morally disgusting–both for the Palestinian Authority (of course) and for the donor governments who say nothing. They know their money is fungible, and they know the P.A. is directly subsidizing terrorism, yet they say little and do not insist on a change.
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◆ Much appreciation to Israel Pickholtz for his information about the Quiz Show Scandals (now updated) and his clarifying question about the Palestinian Authority’s payments to terrorists.