The Ledes

Friday, September 6, 2024

CNBC: “The U.S. economy created slightly fewer jobs than expected in August, reflecting a slowing labor market while also clearing the way for the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates later this month. Nonfarm payrolls expanded by 142,000 during the month, down from 89,000 in July and below the 161,000 consensus forecast from Dow Jones, according to a report Friday from the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.”

New York Times: “Colin Gray, the father of the 14-year-old accused of killing two teachers and two students at his Georgia high school, was arrested and charged on Thursday with second-degree murder in connection with the state’s deadliest school shooting, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said. In addition to two counts of second-degree murder, Mr. Gray, 54, was also charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter and eight counts of cruelty to children, according to a statement. At a news conference on Thursday night, Chris Hosey, the G.B.I. director, said the charges were 'directly connected with the actions of his son and allowing him to possess a weapon.'” At 5:30 am ET, this is the pinned item in a liveblog. ~~~

     ~~~ CNN's report is here.

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The Ledes

Thursday, September 5, 2024

CNBC: “Private sector payrolls grew at the weakest pace in more than 3½ years in August, providing yet another sign of a deteriorating labor market, according to ADP. Companies hired just 99,000 workers for the month, less than the downwardly revised 111,000 in July and below the Dow Jones consensus forecast for 140,000. August was the weakest month for job growth since January 2021, according to data from the payrolls processing firm. 'The job market’s downward drift brought us to slower-than-normal hiring after two years of outsized growth,' ADP’s chief economist, Nela Richardson, said. The report corroborates multiple data points recently that show hiring has slowed considerably from its blistering pace following the Covid outbreak in early 2020.”

The New York Times' live updates of developments in the Georgia school massacre are here, a horrifying ritual which we experience here in the U.S. to kick off each new School Shooting Year. “A 14-year-old student opened fire at his Georgia high school on Wednesday, killing two students and two teachers before surrendering to school resource officers, according to the authorities, who said the suspect would be charged with murder.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I heard Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) speak during a press conference. Kemp is often glorified as one of the most moderate, reasonable GOP elected public officials. When asked a question I did not hear, Kemp responded, "Now is not the time to talk about politics." As you know, this is a statement that is part of the mass shooting ritual. It translates, "Our guns-for-all policy is so untenable that I dare not express it lest I be tarred and feathered -- or worse -- by grieving families." ~~~

~~~ Washington Post: “Police identified the suspect as Colt Gray, a student who attracted the attention of federal investigators more than a year ago, when they began receiving anonymous tips about someone threatening a school shooting. The FBI referred the reports to local authorities, whose investigations led them to interview Gray and his father. The father told police that he had hunting guns in the house, but that his son did not have unsupervised access to them. Gray denied making the online threats, the FBI said, but officials still alerted area schools about him.” ~~~ 

     ~~~ Marie: I heard on CNN that the reason authorities lost track of Colt was that his family moved counties, and the local authorities who first learned of the threats apparently did not share the information with law enforcement officials in Barrow County, where Wednesday's mass school shooting occurred. If you were a parent of a child who has so alarmed law enforcement that they came around to your house to question you and the child about his plans to massacre people, wouldn't you do something?: talk to him, get the kid professional counseling, remove guns and other lethal weapons from the house, etc.

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New York Times: “Hvaldimir, a beluga whale who had captured the public’s imagination since 2019 after he was spotted wearing a harness seemingly designed for a camera, was found dead on Saturday in Norway, according to a nonprofit that worked to protect the whale.... [Hvaldimir] was wearing a harness that identified it as “equipment” from St. Petersburg. There also appeared to be a camera mount. Some wondered if the whale was on a Russian reconnaissance mission. Russia has never claimed ownership of the whale. If Hvaldimir was a spy, he was an exceptionally friendly one. The whale showed signs of domestication, and was comfortable around people. He remained in busier waters than are typical for belugas....” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Oh, Lord, do not let Bobby Kennedy, Jr., near that carcass.

New York Times: Botswana's “President Mokgweetsi Masisi grinned as he lifted the diamond, a 2,492-carat stone that is the biggest diamond unearthed in more than a century and the second-largest ever found, according to the Vancouver-based mining operator Lucara, which owns the mine where it was found. This exceptional discovery could bring back the luster of the natural diamond mining industry, mining companies and experts say. The diamond was discovered in the same relatively small mine in northeastern Botswana that has produced several of the largest such stones in living memory. Such gemstones typically surface as a result of volcanic activity.... The diamond will likely sell in the range of tens of millions of dollars....”

Click on photo to enlarge.

~~~ Guardian: "On a distant reef 16,000km from Paris, surfer Gabriel Medina has given Olympic viewers one of the most memorable images of the Games yet, with an airborne celebration so well poised it looked too good to be true. The Brazilian took off a thundering wave at Teahupo’o in Tahiti on Monday, emerging from a barrelling section before soaring into the air and appearing to settle on a Pacific cloud, pointing to the sky with biblical serenity, his movements mirrored precisely by his surfboard. The shot was taken by Agence France-Presse photographer Jérôme Brouillet, who said “the conditions were perfect, the waves were taller than we expected”. He took the photo while aboard a boat nearby, capturing the surreal image with such accuracy that at first some suspected Photoshop or AI." 

Washington Post: “'Mary Cassatt at Work' is a large and mostly satisfying exhibition devoted to the career of the great American artist beloved for her sensitive and often sentimental views of family life. The 'at work' in the title of the Philadelphia Museum of Art show references the curators’ interest in Cassatt’s pioneering effort to establish herself as a professional artist within a male-dominated field. Throughout the show, which includes some 130 paintings, pastels, prints and drawings, the wall text and the art on view stresses Cassatt’s fixation on art as a career rather than a pastime.... Mary Cassatt at Work is on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art through Sept. 8. philamuseum.org”

New York Times: “Bob Newhart, who died on Thursday at the age of 94, has been such a beloved giant of popular culture for so long that it’s easy to forget how unlikely it was that he became one of the founding fathers of stand-up comedy. Before basically inventing the hit stand-up special, with the 1960 Grammy-winning album 'The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart' — that doesn’t even count his pay-per-view event broadcast on Canadian television that some cite as the first filmed special — he was a soft-spoken accountant who had never done a set in a nightclub. That he made a classic with so little preparation is one of the great miracles in the history of comedy.... Bob Newhart holds up. In fact, it’s hard to think of a stand-up from that era who is a better argument against the commonplace idea that comedy does not age well.”

Washington Post: “An early Titian masterpiece — once looted by Napolean’s troops and a part of royal collections for centuries — caused a stir when it was stolen from the home of a British marquess in 1995. Seven years later, it was found inside an unassuming white and blue plastic bag at a bus stop in southwest London by an art detective, and returned. This week, the oil painting 'The Rest on the Flight into Egypt' sold for more than $22 million at Christie’s. It was a record for the Renaissance artist, whom museums describe as the greatest painter of 16th-century Venice. Ahead of the sale in April, the auction house billed it as 'the most important work by Titian to come to the auction market in more than a generation.'”

Washington Post: The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., which houses the world's largest collection of Shakespeare material, has undergone a major renovation. "The change to the building is pervasive, both subtle and transformational."

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Monday
Jan102011

Tucson Shootings -- January 10

If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun. Because from what I understand, folks in Philly like a good brawl. -- Barack Obama, at a Philadelphia fundraiser, June 13, 2008

During a press availability with President Sarkozy, President Obama makes comments about the Tucson shootings:

President & Mrs. Obama observed a moment of silence to honor the Tucson shooting victims at 11:00 am ET this morning. White House press release. AP post-event story here:

Mark Kelly, the husband of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, released a statement late Sunday night which the Arizona Daily Star has published in full here.

Dr. Michael LeMole speaks at a press update this morning on Rep. Giffords' condition:

     ... Related AP story.

William Glaberson of the New York Times profiles Judy Clarke, "the capital-defense lawyer who will represent Jared L. Loughner.... [She is a well-known public defender who gets life sentences in cases that often begin with emotional calls for the death penalty. Ms. Clarke has helped a number of infamous defendants avoid death sentences, including Theodore J. Kaczynski, the Unabomber; Eric Robert Rudolph, the Atlanta Olympics bomber; and Susan Smith, the South Carolina woman who drowned her toddlers. Over a legal career of more than 30 years, Ms. Clarke has become perhaps the best-known federal public defender in the country, with a reputation for taking on cases that seem impossible."

George Stephanopoulos speaks to Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik. Suspect Jared Loughner has said, "not a word" to authorities:

... "From Day One, a Disturbing Presence in Class." New York Times reporters recount Jared Loughner's history of bizarre behavior, concentrating on incidents that resulted in his being suspended from Pima College.

Adam Nagourney of the New York Times pieces together how the assassination attempt and mass murder unfolded from accounts by eyewitnesses & authorities.

Jennifer Medina of the New York Times: "Sheriff [Clarence] Dupnik ... entered law enforcement five decades ago.... Since being elected sheriff in 1980, he has won re-election eight times [even though] ... he is a Democrat in a largely conservative part of the country. Sheriff Dupnik has been widely praised by local leaders for avoiding political grandstanding, but he certainly does not shy from the spotlight."

Laurie Merrill of the Arizona Republic: "Three men and a woman were instrumental in disarming and tackling the man suspected of killing six and injuring 14 in Tucson during a political event for Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, according to Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik. Dupnik identified the heroes as Patricia Maisch, Roger Salzgeber, Bill Badger and Joseph Zamudio." ...

... Sam Quinones & Jason Song of the Los Angeles Times relate the heroic act of 61-year-old Patricia Maisch who "saw Loughner reach for another ammunition magazine with his left hand and she took it from him, then helped subdue him by kneeling on his ankles." ...

... KTAR & AP: Giffords intern Daniel Hernandez, a college sophomore who aided the Congresswoman after she was shot, may have saved her life. With video.

Rob Stein & Shankar Vedantam of the Washington Post on Rep. Giffords' medical status: "Giffords ...  has entered a crucial 48-hour period when swelling from the trauma of the bullet blast could cause as much damage to her brain as the initial wound, possibly triggering a major deterioration of her condition. The Arizona Democrat also faces many additional risks, including possible infections, more bleeding, and a long period of rehabilitation to limit permanent disabilities."

The New York Times has an interactive page featuring brief bios of each of those killed in Tucson Saturday.

Ashby Jones of the Wall Street Journal: Arizona judges reflect on their colleague Chief Judge John Roll.

Maeve Reston of the Los Angeles Times profiles Phyllis Schneck, a 79-year-old woman killed by the Tucson shooter. Her husband of 50 years, George Morris, suffered two gunshot wounds & is still hospitalized.

Richard Ruelas of the Arizona Republic profiles Dorothy Morris, who was killed in Tucson.

Dan Balz of the Washington Post: "A great debate has begun to unfold about the conduct of politics in a climate of hatred and fear. No one can know at this point what the long-term effects of the tragic shootings will be, if any. At a minimum, they offer a reminder that elected officials deserve better than the routine demonization that has become so commonplace in politics today." ...

... Jeff Zeleny & Jim Rutenberg of the New York Times: "Leaders in both parties sought Sunday to project a nonpartisan civility....President Obama's ... advisers were weighing the possibility of a national address. John A. Boehner replac[ed] a contentious health care debate on Wednesday with a bipartisan security briefing for lawmakers. Yet beneath that public sense of comity was a subtle round of jockeying — on cable news, blogs, Twitter and even Ms. Palin’s Facebook page — as both sides sought to gain the high ground...."

George Packer of the New Yorker: "... for the past two years, many conservative leaders, activists, and media figures have made a habit of trying to delegitimize their political opponents. Not just arguing against their opponents, but doing everything possible to turn them into enemies of the country.... The massacre in Tucson is, in a sense, irrelevant to the important point. Whatever drove Jared Lee Loughner, America's political frequencies are full of violent static." ...

... Paul Krugman: "Let’s not make a false pretense of balance: [the toxic rhetoric] is coming, overwhelmingly, from the right..., and there’s a market for anyone willing to stoke that anger.... The purveyors of hate have been treated with respect, even deference, by the G.O.P. establishment." ...

... Tim Egan of the New York Times: "Even if the gunman’s motives are never truly known, the splattering of so much innocent blood on a Saturday morning gives a nation as fractious as ours a chance to think about what happens when words are used as weapons, and weapons are used in place of words."

Andy Borowitz: "Calls for a reduction in violent political rhetoric have plunged the Fox News Channel into chaos, with a Fox spokesperson warning today that such a move 'would leave us with 24 hours to fill.'”

Jonathan Martin of Politico: "Whether [Sarah Palin] defends, explains or even responds at all to the intense criticism of her brand of confrontational politics could well determine her trajectory on the national scene — and it’s likely to reveal the scope of her ambitions as well."

Carl Hulse & Ashley Parker of the New York Times: "Members of Congress are used to threats and abuse from constituents, but now they are worried.... On Wednesday, the Capitol security agencies are to join the F.B.I. in conducting a joint security briefing for Republicans and Democrats, who acknowledge new worries about their safety — and that of their families and staff members." ...

... Ed O'Keefe of the Washington Post: "In the wake of the shooting that critically wounded Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) and killed one of her aides, a federal judge and four others, U.S. Capitol Police spent the weekend fielding calls from lawmakers with concerns over potential threats and questions about what more should be done to protect staffers and family members at home."

** David Rothkopf of Foreign Policy: "... no society that holds itself up as an example to the world should, as the United States does, brazenly shrug off what are clearly deep national character flaws when it comes to our love of guns or our celebration of hate politics. Tragedies like that which unfolded in Arizona this weekend not only wound the victims, but also America's ability to lead and to advance our interests and values worldwide.... We are not talking about the aberrant behavior of a lone gunman here. Instead we should see that what we are discussing are grossly uncivilized aspects of American society, aspects of ourselves that we ought to change not because we fall below international norms, but because we fall so short of doing what is right, moral, or sensible." Read the whole post.

It Was All Perfectly Legal. Tom Steller of the Arizona Daily Star: "When Jared Loughner went to the Sportsman's Warehouse near his home Nov. 30, there was nothing to stop him from buying the gun authorities say he used in Saturday's shooting rampage. He didn't fit any of the categories of 'prohibited possessors' defined in federal or state law. He passed an instant federal background check and was on his way with a Glock semiautomatic pistol that sells for around $550.... Federal law establishes two categories of people who can be prohibited from buying a gun because of their mental incompetence, said Tucsonan Charles Heller, co-founder and secretary of the Arizona Citizens Defense League, a pro-gun-rights group. They are:

• Those who have been incarcerated in a mental health facility against their will.

• Those who have been accused of a crime and found mentally incompetent to stand trial.

Otherwise, in Arizona, there is little to stop even an adult who seems mentally unstable from buying a gun. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said Loughner's purchase was corroborated by store receipts and video, among other evidence, according to a search warrant return released Sunday.... The gun used in Saturday's shooting is the same type of gun that Giffords said in a 2008 election campaign that she owned." ...

... Nathan Thornburgh of Time: "The most pressing questions now: Who else knew of Loughner's mental illness? What obligations did his college have, and which ones did they fulfill, to report Loughner to other agencies? ... Why is Arizona (along with other states) so far behind in reporting disqualifying mental illness to the federal background-check system? If there is anything that both sides should be able to agree on, it's that unstable individuals should not have access to any kind of weapon, much less the so-called fourth-generation semiautomatic Glock 19 that Loughner bought. This time, the price for bureaucratic torpor was too high."

... Gail Collins: "... we should be able to find a way to accommodate the strong desire in many parts of the country for easy access to firearms with sane regulation of the kinds of weapons that make it easiest for crazy people to create mass slaughter. Most politicians won’t talk about it because they’re afraid of the N.R.A., whose agenda is driven by the people who sell guns and want the right to sell as many as possible."

News Stories

Arizona Republic: "The Federal Public Defender's Office in Phoenix has recommended that San Diego attorney Judy Clarke take [Jared] Loughner's case." Clarke represented the 'Unabomber,' the Atlanta Olympics bomber and Susan Smith, the South Carolina woman who drowned her two children by driving her car into a lake. "She will appear with [Loughner] at his initial court appearance and ask to be appointed as Loughner's attorney." ...

     ... Arizona Daily Star Update: "The judge ordered Loughner held without bail. Throngs of reporters and television news crews lined up outside the federal courthouse [in Phoenix], where the hearing was moved from Tucson. The entire federal bench there recused itself because Roll was the chief judge." Washington Post story here. ...

     ... Wall Street Journal: "Arizona shooting suspect Jared Lee Loughner was turned away from a Walmart store when he tried to buy ammunition, but was sold the bullets at another Walmart nearby, hours before the rampage, according to people familiar with the matter. Federal investigators probing the shooting are focusing on the sequence of Mr. Loughner's actions as they try to establish that he was acting with some planning despite his apparent mental-health issues...." ...

     ... New York Times: "Jared L. Loughner wanted change back from a $20 bill that he used to pay for a taxi ride to the Safeway store..., according to the manager of the taxi company. His demeanor was so unremarkable that the driver thought nothing of walking into the store with Mr. Loughner to get change, and did not know that a shooting rampage occurred at the scene until many hours later." The driver, John Marino, did not know the police wanted to talk with him until the next day "when security camera images of him ... became part of the police investigation." ...

     ... Washington Post: "... Jared Lee Loughner ... registered to vote on Sept. 29, 2006, identifying himself as an independent. Records show he voted in the 2006 and 2008 elections but is current listed as "inactive" on the state's voter roles -- meaning that he did not vote in November." ...

     ... Arizona Republic: "FBI agents working on the Gabrielle Giffords shooting encountered trouble gaining entry to the suspect's family home Monday morning. Family members of Jared Loughner apparently had put on 4-by-4 double-thick plywood that blocked access to the front porch of their north Tucson home."

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