Morning Belz, June 9

Catching up on James Carville.

George Packer on the “Four Americas” — Atlantic
Fascinating conversation with James Carville — Persuasion
Carville: Dems should ditch “faculty lounge” talk — Vox
Biden’s G7 mission: ally recruitment — Guardian
Eritrea blames U.S. for bloody Tigray war — AP
Prof who shared cop body cam footage in trouble — Reason
The US men beat Mexico in soccer on Sunday — Scuffed Soccer*
Apropos of nothing, Chris Farley on Letterman in ‘94 — YT

*for the first time in a competitive match since 2013. That’s my podcast. If you don’t like soccer, and I’m guessing most of you don’t, ignore it.

Quote
“Obscured by the media-refracted glare of the surrounding deserts, Ethiopia feels like the archetypal forgotten land. Ethiopia confounds every expectation. You arrive expecting a vast featureless desert and instead find yourself overwhelmed by majestic landscapes and climatic abundance. You expect a land which has been ravaged to the point of ruin by years of civil war, and instead you find close to the best civil amenities in Africa and almost no obvious signs that a war ever took place. You arrive expecting to see human degradation and abject poverty, and instead find yourself immersed in a culture besotted which itself and its history, and marked by a sense of unforced pride that is positively infectious. Ethiopia is a true revelation. It is the most welcoming, enjoyable and uplifting country I have ever visited.” — Philip Briggs, 2006

About: I send this email most weekdays in an effort to stay informed and in touch. I was a newspaper reporter for 14 years, most recently at the Minneapolis Star Tribune. I explained why my family left Minneapolis here. Now we live just outside Chattanooga and I work on Scuffed News. Please share this newsletter with anyone you think might enjoy it. And please consider supporting this work with your money on Patreon.