Document xXgj4DgMybn4Z3oe01RvddRJ

To: Jackson, Ryan[jackson.ryan@epa.gov] From: Anna Palmer Jake Sherman Daniel Lippman Sent: Sat 9/2/2017 2:47:45 PM Subject: POLITICO Playbook, presented by American Bankers Association: TRUMP's dozens of nominations - MAGGIE and GLENN on how John Kelly `grates' on POTUS - THE HARVEY RELIEF WRANGLING - Is OBAMACARE repeal dead? - WEEKEND READS - B'DAY: Lisa Barclay View .onHnx.ywsjon | Add to your address book. Today's POLITICO Playbook presented by American Bankers Association anna@politico.com; @apalmerdc), JAKE SHERMAN (sherman@politico.com: @JakeSherman) and DANIEL LIPPMAN (daniel@politico.com; @dlippman) Listen to the Playbook Audio Briefing Driving the Day Good Saturday morning. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP announced more than three dozen White House appointments late Friday night. He tapped Oklahoma Rep. Jim Bridenstine to run NASA and Pennsylvania Rep. Tom Marino to become the next drug czar. Marino previously turned down the position citing a family illness. THESE NOMINATIONS will spark special elections in Oklahoma and Pennsylvania. Both seats are solidly conservative. But special elections are tricky. You never quite know what you're going to get. BRIDENSTINE'S APPOINTMENT won't be without controversy. Florida Playbooker Marc Caputo scooped that both Republican Sen. Marco Rubio and Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida voiced early opposition to his pick. CAPUTO: "Republican Marco Rubio and Democrat Bill Nelson wouldn't say if they'd buck the president and vote against Bridenstine, who was nominated Friday. But they suggested the GOP congressman's political past would needlessly spark a partisan fight in the Senate that could ultimately damage NASA. Bridenstine also trashed Rubio during last year's GOP presidential primary, although Rubio said he doesn't hold that against the congressman. "The bipartisan pushback against Trump's nominee for NASA administrator underscores the importance of the agency to Florida, home of the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral. Nelson, as a member of Congress in 1986 flew on a Space Shuttle Columbia mission; he also has a home on what's known as the state's Space Coast. 'The head of NASA ought to be a space professional, not a politician,' Nelson said in a brief written statement to POLITICO." http://politi.co/2vzkGYf Sierra Club v. EPA, 1:17-cv-01906 ED_O01523_00001453-00001 RICHARD GRENELL , former spokesman for the U.S. mission to the United Nations under President George W. Bush, was also nominated to be the next ambassador of Germany. Full list of last night's appointments http://politi.co/2wvr9R7 SCHOCK UPDATE -- "Prosecutors deny probing Schock's sexuality," by Josh Gerstein: "Prosecutors are denying claims that they improperly investigated former Rep. Aaron Schock's sexuality as they probed allegations that he used his office and campaign funds for personal purposes. In a late-night court filing Friday, prosecutors rejected Schock's lawyers arguments that such inquiries into the former lawmaker's personal life were part of a pattern of prosecutorial misconduct so outrageous that the criminal case against the Illinois Republican should be thrown out. "The prosecution team denied investigating Schock's sexuality, but said it did need to establish the nature of his relationship with a Panamanian diplomat because his travels with her appeared related to campaign expenses the government believed may have been unrelated to his campaign. 'We fully agree with Defendant Schock that his sexuality is completely irrelevant in this criminal matter,' prosecutors Timothy Bass and Eugene Miller wrote in the filing in federal court in Urbana. 'It was not of interest to the government, and the government did not inquire about it.'" http://politi.co/2vAi68A -AN INTERESTING NUGGET FROM THE LEGAL WRANGLING - From a recent government filing: "[l]n late 2013 ... Schock accused a former staffer of inappropriately accessing his friend's (Karla Gonzalez's) social media account and falsely advised the former staffer that the FBI and Capitol Police were investigating the matter. As a result of Defendant Schock's accusation and false representation of a law enforcement investigation, the former staffer retained legal counsel and incurred legal fees of more than $10,000, which were paid by the former staffer's father. Defendant Schock later acknowledged, after being confronted by the former staffer's father, that his statement of a law enforcement investigation was false, stating in an email to the staffer's father that 'I apologized and offered to take care of things,' and he agreed to reimburse the staffer's father for $7,500 of the legal fees." INSIDE THE WHITE HOUSE - NYT A1, "Forceful Chief of Staff Grates on Trump, and the Feeling Is Mutual," by Glenn Thrush and Maggie Haberman: "President Trump was in an especially ornery mood after staff members gently suggested he refrain from injecting politics into day-to-day issues of governing after last month's raucous rally in Arizona, and he responded by lashing out at the most senior aide in his presence. It happened to be his new chief of staff, John F. Kelly. Mr. Kelly ... reacted calmly, but he later told other White House staff members that he had never been spoken to like that during 35 years of serving his country. In the future, he said, he would not abide such treatment... "The question now is how long Mr. Kelly will stay, with estimates ranging from a month to a year at the most. ... The president, for his part, has marveled at the installation of management controls that would have been considered routine in any Sierra Club v. EPA, 1:17-cv-01906 ED_001523_00001453-00002 other White House. 'I now have time to think,' a surprised Mr. Trump has told one of his senior aides repeatedly over the last few weeks. Mr. Kelly cannot stop Mr. Trump from binge-watching Fox News, which aides describe as the president's primary source of information gathering. But Mr. Trump does not have a web browser on his phone, and does not use a laptop, so he was dependent on aides like Stephen K. Bannon, his former chief strategist, to hand-deliver printouts of articles from conservative media outlets. "Now Mr. Kelly has thinned out his package of printouts so much that Mr. Trump plaintively asked a friend recently where The Daily Caller and Breitbart were. ... While Mr. Trump still reaches out to allies outside the administration ... more often than not it has been through the White House switchboard and not on his personal phone. And Mr. Kelly has usually listened in on the calls, according to two people with direct knowledge." http://nyti.ms/2wsmVeO -- "John Kelly Pushing Out Omarosa for 'Triggering' Trump," by The Daily Beast's Lachlan Markay and Asawin Suebsaeng: "Newly minted White House chief of staff John Kelly has sought to put a dent in the influence of one of President Donald Trump's most famous advisers: Omarosa Manigault. The former Apprentice co-star-who currently serves as the communications director for the Office of Public Liaison-has seen her direct access to the president limited since Kelly took the top White House job in late July ... In particular, Kelly has taken steps to prevent her and other senior staffers from getting unvetted news articles on the president's Resolute desk-a key method for influencing the president's thinking, and one that Manigualt used to rile up Trump about internal White House drama." http://thebea.st/2vzZfWU REUTERS'S JIM OLIPHANT: TRUMP'S EMPATHY TEST - "For a man who prefers to project a glowering brusqueness, Donald Trump's trip to Houston on Saturday provides him with the opportunity to show a warmer, more empathetic side - and perhaps connect with some Americans critical of his presidency. Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama, became known as the 'comforter-in-chief for his role in consoling victims of mass shootings and terror attacks. But the flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey marks the first large-scale national tragedy under Trump's watch." http://reut.rs/2xF4GBr "The White House said Trump will first travel to Houston to meet with flood survivors and volunteers who assisted in relief efforts and then will move on to Lake Charles, Louisiana, another area hammered by the storm. Trump first visited the region on Tuesday, but stayed clear of the disaster zone, saying he did not want to hamper rescue efforts. Instead, he met with cabinet members, state and local leaders, and first responders. He was criticized, however, for not meeting with victims of the worst storm to hit Texas in 50 years, and for largely focusing on the logistics of the government response rather than the suffering of residents." http://reut.rs/2xF4GBr TRUMP'S SATURDAY - THE PRESIDENT is traveling to Ellington Field, Texas, where he will visit with people impacted by the hurricane. He then will head to a Harvey relief center and meet with members of the Texas congressional delegation. He then goes to Sierra Club v. EPA, 1:17-cv-01906 ED_001523_00001453-00003 Chennault International in Lake Charles, Louisiana, where he meets with "members of the county emergency operations center, National Guard and Cajun Navy." FOR YOUR RADAR -- REUTERS: "Russia's Putin won't attend U.N. General Assembly" http://reut.rs/2xOzSOs ****** & message from ^e American Bankers Association: It's no secret that banks help create jobs and economic growth by lending to America's employers. But America's banks themselves employ thousands of women and men. Can you guess how many? Is it 200,000, 1 million or 2 million? Find out: http://politi.co/2wc3FR6 ****** THE LATEST ON HARVEY RELIEF - "White House rejiggers Harvey request as dollars dwindle," by Jen Scholtes, Sarah Ferris, and Rachael Bade: "The federal government is burning through cash even faster than the White House estimated in responding to Hurricane Harvey, prompting the Trump administration to revamp its emergency funding request. The White House sent a formal plea to lawmakers Friday evening seeking $7.85 billion as a down payment in aid for areas ravaged by the superstorm -- nearly $2 billion more than the administration estimated earlier in the day. "The total includes $7.4 billion for [FEMA's] disaster relief account and $450 million to support the Small Business Administration's disaster loan program for small businesses and homeowners. The White House warned that further delays in raising the debt limit could jeopardize recovery efforts, after previously cautioning that action would be needed by month's end to avoid a downgraded credit rating and, ultimately, default. "'Indeed, if the debt ceiling is not raised, it may not be possible to outlay the requested supplemental appropriations or funds for other critical Government operations,' White House budget director Mick Mulvaney wrote in the request. The House is expected to pass its first installment of hurricane aid next week, but congressional leaders are still talking with the Trump administration about process and timing in the Senate." http://politi.co/2vSutUI ... Mulvaney's letter - TOP REPUBLICAN LEADERS have been telling us that the easiest way to get this through is to lift the debt ceiling at the same time. -- "Harvey is likely to be the second-most costly natural disaster in U.S. history," by L.A. Times' Don Lee: "Between the shutdown of oil refineries and chemical plants, impaired roads and ports, and widespread damage to homes, businesses and cars, the economic toll from Hurricane Harvey is now being estimated as the second-costliest natural disaster in U.S. history, trailing only the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Some economic researchers, including the national forecasting firm Moody's Analytics, are putting the price tag of Harvey at $81 billion to $108 billion or more, most of that in damage to homes and commercial property." http://lat.ms/2wp9JqW --"Storm deaths: Death toll from Harvey tops 50," by Houston Chronicle's Cindy Sierra Club v. EPA, 1:17-cv-01906 ED_001523_00001453-00004 George, Margaret Kadifa, and Lindsay Ellis: "More than 50 people - including a veteran Houston police officer - have died or are feared dead in the Houston area and beyond in flooding or circumstances connected to Tropical Storm Harvey, according to local officials. ... Local officials expect the grim discoveries of additional bodies once the floodwaters retreat and the streams, rivers and bayous go back into their banks." http://bit.lv/2vTiPxO THIS COULD BE A PROBLEM -- "Trump's 'Dreamers' decision could roil shutdown, debt talks," by Rachael Bade and Heather Caygle: "Congressional Republicans are worried that a decision from President Donald Trump to rescind protections for so-called Dreamers could undercut fall negotiations with Democrats to keep the government open and avoid a federal default. The White House said Friday that Trump would announce Tuesday whether he would nix President Barack Obama's executive action granting legal status to those who immigrated to the U.S. as children, known as 'Dreamers.' Republicans have long panned the so-called Deferred Action for Children Arrivals, or DACA, as an unconstitutional overreach. "But now is not the time to blow up the program, GOP leadership sources in Congress caution. Doing so, they worry, could antagonize Democrats in a month where the GOP desperately needs their help to raise the debt ceiling and keep the government open. Senior Republicans have also spoken privately of a potential bipartisan accord later in the year that would codify DACA legislatively, in return for a down payment on Trump's border wall with Mexico. While many agree it's unlikely and perhaps wishful thinking, they worry Trump ending the program would make such a deal impossible. "In an interview with WCLO in his hometown of Janesville, Wis., Friday, Speaker Paul Ryan cautioned Trump against killing the program. The Wisconsin Republican said Obama did 'not have the authority to do what he did,' but also argued that Congress not Trump - has to 'fix' the matter. '[T]here are people who are in limbo,' Ryan said. 'These are kids who know no other country, who were brought here by their parents and don't know another home. And so I really do believe there that there needs to be a legislative solution.'" http://politi.co/2iPGGIA BREITBART: "WHITE HOUSE SIGNALS CAVE: NOT PUSHING CONGRESS FOR BORDER WALL FUNDING, WON'T SHUT DOWN GOVERNMENT," by Adam Shaw: http://bit.lv/2esDzRD DEATH OF OBAMACARE REPEAL? -- "Moment of truth arrives for Obamacare repeal," by Rachana Pradhan and John Bresnahan: "In a potential death knell for efforts to repeal Obamacare -- at least this year -- the Senate parliamentarian has ruled that Republicans face a Sept. 30 deadline to kill or overhaul the law with only 50 votes, Democrats on the Senate Budget Committee said Friday. Congress is facing fights in September over boosting the federal debt limit, government funding, defense programs and the FAA, among other issues. Adding another Obamacare repeal battle to that schedule could prove too much for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who has all but said he's moving on from health care. In search of a badly needed Sierra Club v. EPA, 1:17-cv-01906 ED_001523_00001453-00005 legislative victory, McConnell and other Senate Republicans have shifted their focus instead to tax reform." http://politi.co/2ws2Q0c MIKE SCHMIDT and MAGGIE HABERMAN - "Mueller Has Early Draft of Trump Letter Giving Reasons for Firing Comey": "The special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, has obtained a letter drafted by President Trump and a top political aide that offered an unvarnished view of Mr. Trump's thinking in the days before the president fired the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey. The circumstances and reasons for the firing are believed to be a significant element of Mr. Mueller's investigation, which includes whether Mr. Trump obstructed justice by firing Mr. Comey. The letter, drafted in May, was met with opposition from Donald F. McGahn II, the White House counsel, who believed that its angry, meandering tone was problematic ... Among Mr. McGahn's concerns were references to private conversations the president had with Mr. Comey, including times when the F.B.I. director told Mr. Trump he was not under investigation in the F.B.l.'s continuing Russia inquiry. "Mr. McGahn successfully blocked the president from sending the letter -- which Mr. Trump had composed with Stephen Miller, one of the president's top political advisers -- to Mr. Comey. But a copy was given to the deputy attorney general, Rod J. Rosenstein, who then drafted his own letter. Mr. Rosenstein's letter was ultimately used as the Trump administration's public rationale for Mr. Comey's firing, which was that Mr. Comey had mishandled the investigation into Hillary Clinton's private email server. ... [In May] Mr. McGahn met... with Mr. Trump and told him that if he fired Mr. Comey, the Russia investigation would not go away. Mr. Trump told him ... that he understood that firing the F.B.I. director might extend the Russia investigation, but that he wanted to do it anyway." http://nyti.ms/2qrlltR4 CYBER WAR - NYT A1, "Russian Election Hacking Efforts, Wider Than Previously Known, Draw Little Scrutiny," by Nicole Perlroth, Michael Wines and Matt Rosenberg: "The assaults on the vast back-end election apparatus - voter-registration operations, state and local election databases, e-poll books and other equipment - have received far less attention than other aspects of the Russian interference ... Yet the hacking of electoral systems was more extensive than previously disclosed, The New York Times found. ... [H]ackers breached at least [three] providers of critical election services well ahead of the 2016 voting." http://nyti.ms/2vT84qh WEST WING DEPARTURE LOUNGE - "Longtime Trump aide Keith Schiller tells people he intends to leave White House," by CNN's Dana Bash, Noah Gray and Jeremy Diamond: "Schiller has told associates within the last two weeks that he plans to leave the White House at the end of September or in early October... Schiller has told people his primary reason for leaving was financial... Schiller earns a $165,000 annual salary at the White House -- a downgrade from his annual earnings before he followed Trump to the White House. ... White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the story was 'not true' and declined to comment further. Schiller... earned $294,000 ... last year." http://cnn.it/2vA8s1 N Sierra Club v. EPA, 1:17-cv-01906 ED_001523_00001453-00006 --@JenniferJJacobs: "Longtime Trump aide Keith Schiller to exit post as Oval operations dir end of Sept, I'm told. Lined up job in private sector that pays more." Jeremy Diamond THE JUICE ... -- CONDI RICE headlined a fundraiser for Ed Gillespie last night at Dan and Sonya Runde's McLean, Virginia, home. The invite http://bit.lv/2vzCvXr --COREY LEWANDOWSKI is heading to London later this month to be the keynote speaker for a small off-the-record dinner organized by a macro research firm. The Sept. 13 dinner will likely be attended by portfolio managers and traders from asset managers and hedge funds, according to a source familiar with the dinner. When asked which firm was organizing the dinner and if they were paying for his time, Lewandowski texted "No" ___________________ and didn't respond to further questions. Playbook Reads PHOTO DU JOUR: Director of the National Economic Council Gary Cohn, left, walks away from reporters after doing television interviews at the White House on Sept. 1. | | Alex Brandon/AP Photo WASHINGTON INC. -- "How Washington lobbyists fought flood insurance reform," by Zach Warmbrodt and Theo Meyer: "The catastrophic weather in Texas has thrown the spotlight on the federal government's troubled flood insurance program, which is nearly $25 billion in debt after huge payouts following Katrina, Sandy and other devastating hurricanes. But as Houston starts the long process of recovering, lobbyists in Washington have already maneuvered to slow lawmakers efforts' to overhaul the National Flood Insurance Program and protect their industries' profits. "The powerful home builders' lobby helped kill a proposal that would have phased out coverage for new construction in high-risk areas. The National Association of Realtors blocked an attempt to rein in discounted insurance rates that homeowners can get when their flood risk increases. And the American Bankers Association has warned of a 'regional foreclosure crisis' if Congress axes coverage for homes with excessive claims. "Lawmakers who want to reel in the program are finding that they must appease the influential industry groups whose support they need to move forward. 'We want to have a vibrant construction industry,' said Rep. Dennis Ross (R-Fla.), who's pushing for a greater private-sector presence in the flood insurance market. 'We want to have a Sierra Club v. EPA, 1:17-cv-01906 ED_001523_00001453-00007 vibrant real estate industry. That's all great. But we're incentivizing building in high-risk areas, which is a moral hazard.'" HMM -- "Fire Spotted at Russian Diplomatic Building in D.C.," by Jana Winter in Foreign Policy: "The Trade Representative of the Russian Federation, located on Connecticut Ave. in northwest Washington, is one of several diplomatic buildings being shuttered as part of a tit-for-tat with Moscow. The building serves as both an office and a residence for Russian diplomatic staff. Smoke and flames in the back were clearly visible starting late-afternoon Friday, and staff could be seen dumping what appeared to be paper into the fire." http://atfp.co/2esiiLX GOOD NEWS FOR RAHM - "CPD: August shootings down 45 percent from last year," by Chicago Sun Times' Mitchell Armentrout: "Shootings declined by 45.4 percent in August and murders were down by 47.4 percent compared to the same month last year, according to Chicago Police statistics. This August saw more than 300 people wounded in shootings, along with at least 52 deaths ruled homicides, according to data kept by the Chicago Sun-Times. Police still touted it as the sixth straight month to see a decline in shootings over the previous year, the city's longest such stretch in four years." http://bit.ly/2ew1rYd THE ROKITA PILE ON CONTINUES - "Former aides to GOP lawmaker describe toxic work environment," by AP's Brian Slodysko in Indianapolis: "Staffers in tears. Pay cuts for small mistakes. Aides who walked out of the office - and never came back. Working for four-term Republican Rep. Todd Rokita of Indiana is an exacting job with long hours, made more difficult by a boss known for micromanaging and yelling at his staff, according to 10 former aides who spoke to The Associated Press. ... [E]ven in Congress ... Rokita's behavior is outside the norm, according to the former aides, most of whom have worked for other elected officials. ... "During the 2010 campaign, a worker was booted from a staff meeting and instructed to clean Rokita's vehicle, which included scrubbing the carpets, according to two people with direct knowledge of the incident. The reason? A volunteer driver had body odor the night before, they say. Rokita's campaign said the congressman did not recall the incident. ... Some say he turned angry over small details, like the kind of letterhead used on office or campaign documents. ... "A Jasper County teacher asked Rokita to leave his high school civics class in November 2016 after a talk that was supposed to be about the Constitution got off on the wrong foot, according to two students. Rokita had asked the class if they were taught about 'American Exceptionalism.' But when a number of students seemed puzzled by the concept, he had a testy exchange with their teacher, Paul Norwine, whom he criticized for not including it in the curriculum, the students said. Tensions eased and the talk proceeded, but the class was dumbfounded.... Rokita's campaign did not dispute the students' account." http://bit.lv/2grWHQy --FLASHBACK --John Bresnahan and Rachael Bade, Aug. 18: "The agonizing, 8- Sierra Club v. EPA, 1:17-cv-01906 ED_001523_00001453-00008 page memo on how to chauffeur a congressman: Pity the poor aide charged with driving Rep. Todd Rokita around his district": http://politi.co/2vTylF3 WHAT JAKE IS READING -- "Romney, Clinton and others counsel a panicked political reporter on fatherhood," by WaPo's Ben Terris: "From the various politicians and D.C. denizens I spoke with, it's clear that today, the smartphone is the greatest impediment to being a good parent (Maggie Haberman, a star Trump chronicler for the New York Times and mother of three, said she once filed an entire story on her BlackBerry from her son's kindergarten graduation ceremony). Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) has gone to some extreme measures to combat this problem. In 2013, Flake took two of his sons on a trip to a deserted island, where they would survive by spearing fish and scavenging for coconuts. 'It was worth the risk just to have time without cellphones, without electronics,' Flake, 54, said. 'Just to have five or six days with their dad.' But what about being a good dad for the other 360 days of the year? "Flake says the best advice he ever got about that came shortly after he first arrived to Congress, and it came from his Arizona congressional colleague, now-former senator Jon Kyi (R). 'He told me to involve my kids as much as I can in this job,' Flake said. 'They were either going to resent this life or revel in it.' This past summer, one of Flake's sons served as a page in the Senate. 'It's great,' Flake said. 'Not only did I get to see him more, but he had to call me sir!"' With cameos by Jason Kander and Tim Kaine http://wapo.st/2wqmaCY MEDIAWATCH - "After Mass Layoffs, Can Glenn Beck Still Save 'The Blaze'? " by The Daily Beast's Lloyd Grove: "By the time Beck himself spoke to his dwindling army of underlings as one of his personal bodyguards from Gavin de Becker's celebrity protection service stood watch, nearly 60 of their coworkers had been abruptly fired-a body count that amounted to almost 30 percent of the workforce, according to estimates compiled by shell-shocked survivors. ... Among the departed, according to sources, were camera operators, producers, a receptionist, a beloved longtime makeup artist, and a well-regarded graphic artist who didn't learn about his sacking until a coworker reached him Thursday night on his cell phone in Houston, where he'd trekked to help relatives cope with the floods of Hurricane Harvey." http://thebea.st/2eqyHwv --"Jeff Bezos Wants To Give More Money To Charity. He Should Pay His Workers First," by WaPo reporter Fredrick Kunkle in HuffPost: "One of the wealthiest men in the world is thinking of ways to give back. But he's still taking from the very people who helped him build his fortune. ... Many people worked hard for Bezos to help make him so rich, and he has a record of treating them poorly. ... Two years ago, however, Bezos slashed retirement benefits [for Post employees]. For reasons that remain unclear, he froze a pension plan that was awash in so much money that neither he nor the company would possibly have faced additional liabilities." http://bit.ly/2vRp7c9 -- "Politico rides wave of Brexit interest with new UK news service," by FT's Matthew Garrahan. w://on.ft.com/2vTAwlD ... Subscribe to London Playbook Sierra Club v. EPA, 1:17-cv-01906 ED_001523_00001453-00009 ****** A message from the American Bankers Association: America's banks play a critical role in generating economic growth while delivering safety and convenience for customers. The two million women and men who work for America's banks safeguard $12.9 trillion in deposits and originate $2.4 trillion in home loans. They provide $331 billion in loans to small businesses and $175 billion in loans to farmers and ranchers. Banks' fraud protection measures stop at least $11 billion in attempted fraud each year. And thousands of banker volunteers deliver financial literacy lessons annually to millions of young Americans to help them become financially successful adults. Find out more at www.aba.com/AmericasBanks, #AmericasBanks ****** CLICKER - "The nation's cartoonists on the week in politics," edited by Matt Wuerker -15 keepers http://politi.co/2wrkCc1 GREAT WEEKEND READS, curated by Daniel Lippman: --"The princess myth: Hilary Mantel on Diana" - The Guardian: "The end of royal status stripped away Diana's protection. There was a buzz in the air, a doomy feeling, as if her options were running out. She still played games with the press, but they knew a dirtier game. She teased them, and they chased her down, not killing her yet. She is supposed to have feared sinister forces, anticipated that her end. As every fortune-teller knows, such hints assume precision in retrospect." http //bit.ly/2wYu4VR (h/t TheBrowser.com) --"The Sucker, the Sucker!" by Amia Srinivasan in the London Review of Books: Octopuses "are sophisticated problem solvers; they learn, and can use tools; and they show a capacity for mimicry, deception and, some think, humour. Their very strangeness makes octopuses hard to study. Their intelligence is like ours, and utterly unlike ours. Octopuses are the closest we can come, on earth, to knowing what it might be like to encounter intelligent aliens." http://bit.lv/2gpDvmi --"Has disruption from e-commerce run its course?": "Alibaba's Jack Ma has put it bluntly: 'We must embrace physical space.'" 1ort.lv/2wYu4VR --"Lessons from camels," by Robert Skinner in The Monthly: "A ten-day camel trek through the South Australian outback. With your parents." ,ly/2wYu4VR (h/t Longreads.com) --"Ideas were not enough," by Mark Koyama in Aeon Magazine: "It wasn't the ideas of Bayle or Spinoza or Locke driving the rise of state power, it was the need to raise resources for governing and war. For the rising fiscal-military state, religious uniformity and persecution simply became too expensive and inefficient." http://bit.ly/2wYu4VR --"How Do You Make a TV Show Set in the West Bank?" by The New Yorker's David Remnick: "What the thriller 'Fauda' reveals about what Israelis will watch-and what they won't." http://bit.lv/2epXfFX Sierra Club v. EPA, 1:17-cv-01906 ED_O01523_00001453-00010 --"How an Angry Candy Man Revolutionized the Modern Sushi Industry," by Tom Redmond, Nao Sano and Naomi Schanen in Bloomberg - per TheBrowser.com's description: "Case study of benefits from automation. Kisaku Suzuki had the idea for sushi-making robots in the mid-1970s, and persevered despite ridicule from Japanese chefs. It took him five years to produce a viable machine - and when he did, he set off the worldwide sushi boom of the 1980s, opening up an elite cuisine to a mass market. In Japan, three-quarters of sushi restaurants are now mechanised." http://bit.lv/2evwcg6 --"America's First Addiction Epidemic," by Christopher Finan, in an excerpt from "Drunks: An American History" in Longreads: "The records of colonial traders who operated in Indian country show that 80 percent of the charges to government accounts were for gifts of alcohol to the natives." http://bit.ly/2eM32Gp ... $16.30 on Amazon http://amzn.to/2eMloqD --"The Blind Traveler," by Lucas Reilly in Mental Floss: "How James Holman felt his way around the world to become history's most prolific explorer." http://bit.lv/2wtGDFcj --"The Temptations of the Brown Box," by Jobie S. Turner in The Strategy Bridge: "The 'brown box' is the new black. Take a quick view of any American neighborhood and brown boxes adorn the front of dwellings like so many square garden gnomes. Whether delivered by Federal Express, United Parcel Service (UPS), or the U.S. Post Office, the ubiquitous cubes illustrate the power of online commerce delivering all manner of goods directly to the consumer." http://bit.ly/2eLXP0M --"The school beneath the wave: the unimaginable tragedy of Japan's tsunami," by Richard Lloyd Parry in The Guardian: "There was the loudspeaker car from the town hall going up and down, saying, 'Super-tsunami imminent: evacuate, evacuate!' Sirens, too. Everyone in the village must have heard them. But we didn't take it seriously." http://bit.lv/2wY6Z5G --"101 things we have learned from the Online Magazine" - Christies.com: "The Online Magazine, our weekly email of editorial highlights from Christies.com, celebrates its 100th edition this week. To mark the occasion, we present a miscellany of useful facts, tips and insights published over the past two years." http://bit.lv/2iMNeHM (h/t ALDaily.com) --"Emotional Intelligence Needs a Rewrite," by Lisa Feldman Barrett in Nautilus Magazine: "Think you can read people's emotions? Think again." http://bit.lv/2vQYofZ --"Tomorrow Belongs to God," by Alan Ruschel, Jakson Follmann and Hlio Hermito Zampier Neto in the Players Tribune - per Longreads.com's description: "LaMia Flight 2933, carrying Brazil's Chapecoense football club to the 2016 Copa Sudamericana in Colombia, crashed as it approached the airport. Only six passengers survived, including three players. This is their story, in their words." http://bit.lv/2evx2JH Playbookers Sierra Club v. EPA, 1:17-cv-01906 ED_001523_00001453-00011 Sierra Club v. EPA, 1:17-cv-01906 ED_O01523_00001453-00012 Sierra Club v. EPA, 1:17-cv-01906 ED_O01523_00001453-00013 http://bit.lv/2omgw1D): Special episode on Hurricane Harvey with Texas Railroad Commission chairman Christi Craddick, State Rep. Todd Hunter (R-Corpus Christi) and Houston Food Bank Board Member Beto Cardenas. ****** a message from the American Bankers Association: America's banks play a critical role in generating economic growth while delivering safety and convenience for customers. The two million women and men who work for America's banks safeguard $12.9 trillion in deposits and originate $2.4 trillion in home loans. They provide $331 billion in loans to small businesses and $175 billion in loans to farmers and ranchers. Banks' fraud protection measures stop at least $11 billion in attempted fraud each year. And thousands of banker volunteers deliver financial literacy lessons annually to millions of young Americans to help them become financially successful adults. Find out more at www.aba.com/AmericasBanks, #AmericasBanks ****** SUBSCRIBE to the Playbook family: POLITICO Playbook http://politi.co/2IQswbh ... New York Playbook http://politi.co/1ON8bqW... Florida Playbook http://politi.co/1 QypFe9 ... New Jersey Playbook http://politi.coZ1 HLKItF ... Massachusetts Playbook http://politi.co/1 Nhtq5v ... Illinois Playbook http:ZZpoliti.coZ1 N7u5sb ... California Playbook http://politi.co/2bLvcPI... Brussels Playbook http://politi.co/1 FZeLcw ... London Playbook http://politi.co/2xfDPuK ... All our political and policy tipsheets http://politi.co/1 M75UbX View^onHne To change your alert settings, please go to https://secure.politico.com/settings This email was sent tojackson.ryan@epa.gov by: POLITICO, LLC 1000 Wilson Blvd. Arlington, VA, 22209, USA Please click here and follow the steps to unsubscribe. Sierra Club v. EPA, 1:17-cv-01906 ED_001523_00001453-00014