Well, click the link and hold the tab, the sun came out today ...

Ed: Is this a hack, or a malfunction in a recently upgraded system? Nationwide groundstops are rare indeed.

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CNN: The cause of the ground stop was not immediately clear, but an FAA spokesperson says there is a communications problem impacting Air Route Traffic Control Centers, which handle flights going across the country. ...

The last time there was a nationwide ground stop in January of 2023 when a pilot notification system went down. Prior to that, the last time a nationwide ground stop was issued was after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

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Ed: If this is a threat or a hack, there are only a couple of suspects, and both of them are Iran. If this is a system failure, it's a reminder that the FAA is decades behind in technology thanks to mishandled contracts and a lack of focus. 

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Gizmodo (yesterday): The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is expanding use of an $875 million AI tool, SMART, to “assist in managing air traffic across the entire national airspace system,” Ars Technica reported on Thursday—but the agency says that the route-management software will not affect air safety.


The FAA first rolled out the Strategic Management of Airspace Routing Trajectories (SMART) system for Washington, D.C., airspace in September and claims it has already rerouted 180 flights for average savings of 10 minutes and 80 gallons of fuel, Ars wrote (that’s just shy of $345 per flight, at jet fuel rates of $4.31/gallon as of Thursday). The agency wrote on Nov. 10 that after the D.C. test, it will “now use SMART in the airspace of all 22 centers across the country to reduce delays, reduce fuel consumption and improve the travel experience for the flying public.” The tech was already being deployed at some airports. ...

Democrats in the House have also expressed concerns about the tool and recently sent a letter to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) asking that it review the FAA’s SMART implementation strategy, performance metrics, and safety risk management, according to Fedscoop.

The concern here appears to be that the Trump administration, which has a slipshod record on air safety and has repeatedly taken heat over delays caused by air traffic control personnel issues, is rushing an insufficiently tested system into widespread use.

Ed: I've heard of coincidences. I'm not a big believer in them, though. 

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...  that controllers say makes no impact on their work.

He added “I wouldn’t rule out a cyber attack though.”

Ed: Neither would I. Nor would I rule that out in the Microsoft outage that has stretched into a second day, although that seems to mainly affect enterprise applications. 

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The Telegraph (UK): JD Vance is considering pulling out of the 2028 US presidential race following the Republicans' drubbing in the midterm elections, according to reports.

The vice-president, who was previously seen as the clear favourite to succeed Donald Trump, has been wrestling with his political ambitions, CNN said.

Interviews with a dozen close allies suggest Mr Vance is unsure whether he would be able to steer the Republicans to success at the ballot box if the war in Iran is still being fought in two years.

One ally told CNN: "The question isn't if JD can do it. It's: 'If the Iran war is still happening, can any Republican do it?' If they don't end the war in Iran, no Republican has a shot at 2028."

Ed: This sounds more like spinning a preordained outcome into a virtue. Vance had sounded a bit diffident about a run in 2028 previous to this, based on his young family and the amount of time a campaign would require, let alone four years in the White House. Vance's argument for the nomination was continuity with Trump, and after these midterms, the GOP will have to offer a real change in direction and a candidate far less connected to Trump than Vance is. 

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Ed: This is the story behind the CNN story. Vance only makes sense as a candidate if he carries Trump's imprimatur. Trump is now not interested in providing it because Vance made the cardinal error of publicly criticizing his boss – never a good idea in politics for protegés, and especially not those who work for Donald Trump. 

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Seth Mandel at Commentary: Specifically, Vance said, that means “you see people, both the hard liners but also the more political people, saying our relationship with the United States over the past 47 years has been a mistake. Let’s turn over a new leaf.”

Yes, sure, the hardliners in Iran expressed great regret for their posture toward the U.S. since the Iranian Revolution. In other words, they regret the revolution and the entire raison d’etre of the people it put in power.

Come on. Would anyone believe that a few minutes alone with JD Vance made the Khomeinists see the light? Why not make a more believable boast?

The Iranians learned an immediate and crucial lesson: Vance was a fool at the negotiating table.

Ed: It seems that Trump finally saw that last week as well. Having Vance throw him and Israel under the bus when the pressure hit probably didn't do anything to impress Trump about Vance's negotiating abilities either. 

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Ed: Add in Sarah Huckabee Sanders, whose new book looks timed to promote her potential as a candidate in 2028. Glenn Younkin might have an argument after his successful term as governor in Virginia. After these midterms, though, the GOP bench looks more depleted than stacked. These candidates may be enough, though, for the party to work out its post-Trump identity. 

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Buck Throckmorton at Ace of Spades: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has come out swinging since the Republican wipeout in the midterm elections. I hope this is because he’s laying the groundwork for a 2028 presidential bid, since he is one of the few national Republicans in tune with heartland Americans. Among the topics he is discussing is the problem of “corporatism,” and how the back-scratching, crony capitalism that exists between government and many corporations repels conservative voters, while also fueling the popularity of socialism among non-conservatives. ...

Gov. DeSantis’ attack on corporatism is welcome and politically necessary.

I have been pounding on the issue of crony capitalism and corporate misbehavior for years, not because I’m anti-business, but because I’m anti-socialism. Like the great Malcolm Forbes (who embraced the nickname “The Capitalist Tool”, I am trying to shame companies that give capitalism a bad name, because they actually empower the enemies of economic freedom.

Ed: This is one area where Trump missed the mark. He has touted government ownership in businesses that amplify the issues of crony capitalism, not to mention blurring lines between normal markets and socialist controls. It's worth reading Buck's essay in full. 

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Ed: DeSantis is walking a careful path between MAGA and the need to shift directions in the next two years. Ironically, DeSantis seems to be more cautious about that than Vance was. This also shows how tough it will be for Republicans to make an appeal to the national electorate in 2028 that offers a better path than the one voters soundly rejected in the midterms. 

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Kimberly Ross at WashEx: One largely unspoken truth about Democrats is that they are still anxious for a female president. They were sure they had it with Clinton, but Trump happened. They faintly hoped Harris might check the box, but Trump happened again. In 2028, Trump won’t be on the ballot. While the appetite for a female president still remains, it seems much less of a priority at present, especially because the party would have to put all its hope in Harris once again.

On the national level, it appears that Harris’s ship has sailed. She will still maintain a presence among Democrats. She’s still a progressive darling. On paper, it kind of works. But it just doesn’t translate well on a national stage.

The Democratic Party has now gone through two election cycles trying to usher in the first woman president. It hasn’t happened. It’s not that the country largely rejects a woman in general, but rather leftists such as Clinton and Harris. Still, the Democrats have remained captive to the allure of making history.

Try as she might, President Harris is just not going to happen. The momentum, once somewhat on her side, is no longer there. A third attempt and defeat would be a spectacular failure. The prospect of this may not fully stop her, though. She is determined to include herself in the conversation, convinced of her own usefulness. Democrats, still interested in launching the first female president from their own ranks, have cooled toward Harris. It might have something to do with her being a two-time loser. Meanwhile, Harris seems to read her own history in another way entirely.

Ed: I suspect we'll see other women in the 2028 race – AOC almost certainly, but also Gretchen Whitmer, perhaps Katie Hobbs, and maybe even Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa of Texas. Even Kathy Hochul might see 2028 as her time to make a case for the top of the ticket. Harris won't survive the pre-primary debates. 

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Ed: Of all the potential GOP contenders, only DeSantis has that kind of track record of infrastructural success. There won't be many on the Democrat side that can make a similar argument; maybe Hobbs, if one credits her with Arizona's shift to blue-state status. 

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CBS News: The Supreme Court on Friday said it will take up a legal fight over President Trump's directive suspending access to the asylum system and other legal protections for migrants illegally crossing the southern border. ...

Mr. Trump has made cracking down on immigration a cornerstone of his second term, which has seen enhanced enforcement operations in major U.S. cities and mass deportations of people in the U.S. illegally. Unlawful crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border have reached historic lows and immigration detentions have set new highs under the president's second administration.

As part of his efforts to curb illegal immigration into the U.S., Mr. Trump issued a proclamation on his first day back in the White House claiming that there is an "invasion" at the southern border. The president suspended the entry of migrants crossing the southern border between ports of entry and barred them from seeking asylum and other legal protections that would allow them to remain in the U.S.

The Department of Homeland Security then issued guidance implementing the president's directive. Immigration authorities have since relied on the policy to summarily remove migrants entering the country illegally without allowing them to apply for asylum.

Ed: It looks like SCOTUS may be inclined to back Trump on this policy. Both the district court and the appellate court enjoined Trump and DHS from following this policy, so the decision to grant cert means four justices want to take a closer look at those decisions. If SCOTUS agreed with the injunction, they would have refused to hear the case entirely. This is a short-term win for Trump. 

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ABC News: Over 30 people are injured after a tanker collided with a docked riverboat on the Mississippi River near the Port of New Orleans, officials said Friday.

Approximately 129 passengers, plus crew members, were on board the cruise ship, American Heritage, when the Atlantic Asphalt tanker collided with it, according to the Port of New Orleans. All have been accounted for, according to New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno.

Thirty-two passengers from the cruise ship are hospitalized with non-critical injuries, according to Moreno.

The emergency response began midday Friday, when the tanker "lost control and collided into the cruise ship," Moreno said.

Ed: How in the world did this happen? Thank goodness no one was killed, but that may be sheer luck. 

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Ed: Oh yeah, someone will have to explain this – and pay for a lot of damages. The barge looks like it's drifting. The cruise ship eventually capsized and sunk, and rescuers had to find dozens of people who went into the water or got caught in the ship, which had reportedly been disembarking passengers when the collision took place. 

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Ed: Again, I'm not a big believer in coincidences ... 

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Last night's lyric: "Hot Fun In the Summertime" by Sly and the Family Stone. This one was my earworm all day.