Ben Allen

M&A consulting | It ain't no sin to be glad you're alive.

[Jonathan Berk @berkie1]

Swampscott paid $7M in 2022 for the waterfront 'Hawthorne By The Sea' site to stop a housing development.

Today, the land is now off the tax rolls, a proposed $30M library never happened, and taxpayers are left covering rising carrying costs.

📍Swampscott, MA

[Emma Uber @EmmaUber7]

SCOOP: Less than a month after the opening of a $69 million exhibit beneath the Lincoln Memorial, Park Service officials are raising alarm bells.

They say rare copies of the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th Amendment are being kept in temperatures above 80 degrees. Preservation experts tell me that's hot enough to damage the documents, which date back to the 1860s and bear Lincoln's signature.

It’s the latest in a string of troubles involving upgrades to the National Mall as part of America’s 250th birthday celebrations.

An NPS spokesperson told me the documents are being properly cared for. They did not answer when I asked why there was a fan pointed toward the display case.

https://t.co/AC3uTggL57

[Caitlin Cooper @C2_Cooper]

Me, reading the headline: this makes no sense

Me, reading the byline: oh, this makes sense

[Ben Allen @consulting_ben]

Trump Administration Taps Climate Science Critic to Oversee Flagship Report https://t.co/ag3o2Iznwc

[Prem Thakker @prem_thakker]

Madison Square Garden Kept a List of Gay Celebrities

An MSG database tracked hundreds of celebs, Knicks superfans, and even some of Taylor Swift’s wedding guests. Labels included “LGBTQIA,” “DO NOT HOST,” and low to high “risk.”

@NoahShachtman @tenuous
https://t.co/zWeYIr85bQ

[Derek Thompson @DKThomp]

again, big picture, donald trump won an election about affordability and then he

- passed tariffs (which raise consumer prices)
- expanded the deficit w a ginormous corporate tax cut (raises interest rates)
- waged a stupid war (raises gas prices)
- and now refuses to sign a bipartisan bill to reduce housing costs bc he's protesting senate republicans for failing to pass voting restrictions

... while making $2 billion from crypto rug pulls that transferred income from his supporters to his bank account

americans hate the president for very good reasons

[Richard Hanania @RichardHanania]

Incredible WSJ reporting on how European leaders deal with Trump

-European leaders workshopped tweets to send Trump, debating which words to capitalize. They had to sound extra stupid to win over his trust.

-Trump didn't like the idea of sanctioning Russia, so they started calling sanctions "tariffs."

-When a tablet to call Trudeau didn't work, Trump threw it down like a baby.

-Trump took German leader Merz into the Oval Office, which he called the "Lewinsky room", and told him he could take away MAGA swag that he could sell for thousands of dollars.

You couldn't make this into a comedy. The straight reporting is funny enough. But really it's disgraceful and if you have any pride in your nation you should be ashamed of this.

[Glenn Greenwald @ggreenwald]

The magnitude of Trump's personal corruption and the monetizing of the presidency by him and his family have no precedent in US history.

It takes a total peasant mentality, or some weird cultish devotion, to defend or excuse this, especially if you objected to corrupt Biden transactions (as I did). It's on a completely different scale.

Trump set up a crypto company (World Liberty Financial) 4 days before his inauguration, then had the UAE pour hundreds of millions into his pockets for 49% of it, then gave rewards to the UAE. Jared getting $2 billion from the Saudis. On and on and on.

[Petrov McGuire @McguirePetrov]

Gotta love how Boston pretended to be a major fun city for a week and then shut everything down again. Why the hell would you even bid to host two knockout games if you’re going to pretend the tournament ends at the group stage? Why does this city intently hate fun? It’s insane

[Isaac Saul @Ike_Saul]

Right in front of our faces. Zero attempt to hide or conceal it. Absolute, total self-enrichment at a magnitude we have never really seen. And every week brings a new story just like it. They're getting richer at every opportunity.

[Cameron 🇺🇸 🗽🦅 @CameronCorduroy]

the Secretary of Transportation referred to Democrats as libtards in the opening ceremony

[Matthew Cappucci @MatthewCappucci]

Have weather forecasts seemed less accurate lately? There's a major contributing factor: nearly half the morning weather balloons in the Lower 48 are "missing."

This is an ongoing crisis that is degrading critical severe weather forecasts that we all rely on. It's having real, tangible impacts on degrading forecast quality.

If you work in transportation, agriculture or commerce, this should matter to you.

Regardless of the causes, this negatively affects people of ALL political backgrounds. Weather affects everyone. And it's impacting ALL of us negatively.

We can't look at weather balloon data that doesn't exist. We can't pump nonexistent data into models. We can't rely as heavily on models that don't "know" what's happening above our heads.

This is especially concerning for severe weather forecasts. We can't go 18 hours without ascertaining how the atmosphere is layered, how much storm fuel has built up and if severe thunderstorms are going to erupt. The Storm Prediction Center has even acknowledged forecasting frustrations in at least one public bulletin.

As an atmospheric scientist myself, I can say firsthand – the forecasts I'm able to offer you are less accurate than they would otherwise be. I'm not able to predict severe weather with the confidence I normally would. That is extremely concerning.

The United States is "supposed" to launch balloons at 0Z and 12Z ideally – a.k.a. around 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Eastern time. That's not happening. Many sites, due to staffing issues stemming from broader political and organizational issues, have pushed to 18Z, or early afternoon. That's not helpful for morning severe weather forecasts. In other words, you get less lead time. Less advanced notice. Quicker ramp-ups and ramp-downs to the forecast.

We're not able to get jet stream, temperature, moisture or wind profiles of the atmosphere each morning like we otherwise would.

Moreover, the World Meteorological Organization encourages 12Z soundings; that data is shared via the Global Observing System (GOS) under the World Weather Watch (WWW). That's not happening.

[Zito @_Zeets]

This is what the African nations especially have been pointing out. Others have been able to come and showcase their culture and fans, but this country’s racism is so blatant that it’s prohibited a wider cultural exchange. It’s so against what the World Cup is as a social event.

[Tommy Vietor @TVietor08]

This is so shitty and unnecessary

[Kat Rosenfield @katrosenfield]

I'm not a law enforcement expert, but "he asked if I had been to the town where the woman claimed she had met me" really seems like a thing that should happen *before* you traumatize an entire family

[Centrism Fan Acct 🔹 @Wilson__Valdez]

It's really sad because if we had elected a normal president, the 250th anniversary of our country would have been a really cool celebration of everything that makes this country great.

Instead, we get one miserable, unpopular asshole inserting himself into every little thing and making it about himself.

And it was entirely predictable if you had a pulse the past 10 years. Oh well...

[Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1]

Pete Buttigieg says his family was effectively swatted — except, instead of calling the cops, someone called Child Protective Services, lied and said Buttigieg had admitted to 'committing unspeakably violent crimes' and that his kids were at risk.

The kids are not and were not at risk. https://t.co/I6N44ruHbe

[Brett Meiselas @BMeiselas]

This likely would’ve been a cool, nonpartisan event with just about any other president but this administration ruins and gets their stink over everything

[Titorelli’s Omnimedia Empire @Tweetorelli]

Why would anyone invest decades of work into an orange line extension if in the final phase “community leaders” capitulate to an angry mob of entitled drivers and triple parkers who veto the proposal?