Good morning. On this date in 1609, Henry Hudson sailed into New York Harbor for the first time. Nearly four centuries later, the harbor was filled with ferries and other boats carrying survivors away from lower Manhattan and the World Trade Center. Coordinated terror attacks took the lives of 2,996 at the Trade Center, the Pentagon outside Washington, DC, and near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, the crash site of United Flight 93.
Stat of the day: $60.62 — the amount that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo spent for each vote he received in winning Tuesday’s primary. His challenger, Zephyr Teachout, spent $1.57 per vote, according to The Washington Post.
The dogs of war –> There were no surprises in Obama’s address last night: we will continue fighting ISIS from the air — expanding the campaign to Syria as warranted — train and equip local forces and build a coalition to follow through. At MoJo, David Corn writes that once we’ve “let slip the dogs of war,” the trick will be to limit our involvement as Obama promised. AND: Kate Brannan reports for Foreign Policy that Iran already has boots on the ground, either directly or through proxies, in both Iraq and Syria. ALSO: Mark Landler reports for the NYT that Congressional Dems are planning to unveil a bill that would authorize US forces to help train foreign troops battling the Islamic State. ALSO, TOO: Trevor Timm writes at The Guardian that “The American fear-mongering machine is about to scare us back into war again.” AND: AFP reports that “French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Wednesday that France was prepared to take part in air strikes on Islamic extremists in Iraq ‘if necessary.'” MEANWHILE: At The Washington Post: “I am a 14-year-old Yazidi girl given as a gift to an ISIS commander. Here’s how I escaped.”
Indoctrination –> A panel of scholars identified “dozens of biased, misleading or inaccurate lessons” in new history books being reviewed by the state of Texas. Stephanie Simon reports for Politico that if the books are approved, “Texas students may soon be reading in their history textbooks that the American system of democracy was inspired by Moses, segregated schools weren’t all that bad and… programs like Social Security haven’t measurably improved society.”
Gas diplomacy –> Mariah Blake reports for MoJo that under Hillary Clinton’s leadership, “the State Department worked closely with energy companies to spread fracking around the globe—part of a broader push to fight climate change, boost global energy supply, and undercut the power of adversaries such as Russia that use their energy resources as a cudgel.”
Wind win-win –> At Common Dreams, Nancy Sopko says that offshore wind energy is competitive with fossil fuels, but the government needs to help with the initial investments.
Say anything –> Sen. Ted Cruz warned that rolling back Citizens United could lead Congress to ban political satire and criminalize Saturday Night Live. The Udall Amendment being debated this week would only allow Congress to regulate campaign donations, not ban SNL. ALSO: Ted Cruz, apparently unaware that Christian Arabs aren’t huge fans of Israel, was “booed off the stage” of a conference of Christians from the Middle East after spending most of his address praising the Jewish state. Tristyn Bloom reports for The Daily Caller.
Education deform –> Ben Chapman reports for the NY Daily News that “the Walton Foundation has spent more than $35 million to promote charter schools and other education projects in New York state since 2009, including $4.6 million to Eva Moskwitz’s Success Academy Charter Schools network.” According to the report, they’ve given another $80 million to national groups headquartered in New York that advocate school privatization.
More on Jack the Ripper –> At The Conversation, historian Rosalind Crone writes that she isn’t impressed with the latest claim that Jack the Ripper’s identity has been revealed — and says the Victorian-era frenzy over the murders was driven by the social anxieties of the day.
So much for GPS –> Bloomberg reports that six US Army helicopters landed in a farmer’s field in Northern Poland to ask for directions. Townspeople, the report notes, were alarmed.
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