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INAUGURATION 2029

Commencement ceremonies are joyous occasions, and Steve Carell made sure that was true this past weekend (mid-June) at Northwestern's commencement:

~~~ Carell's entire commencement speech was hilarious. The audio and video here isn't great, but I laughed till I cried.

CNN did a live telecast Saturday night (June 7) of the Broadway play "Good Night, and Good Luck," written by George Clooney and Grant Heslov, about legendary newsman Edward R. Murrow's effort to hold to account Sen. Joe McCarthy, "the junior senator from Wisconsin." Clooney plays Murrow. Here's Murrow himself with his famous take on McCarthy & McCarthyism, brief remarks that especially resonate today: ~~~

     ~~~ This article lists ways you still can watch the play. 

New York Times: “The New York Times Company has agreed to license its editorial content to Amazon for use in the tech giant’s artificial intelligence platforms, the company said on Thursday. The multiyear agreement 'will bring Times editorial content to a variety of Amazon customer experiences,' the news organization said in a statement. Besides news articles, the agreement encompasses material from NYT Cooking, The Times’s food and recipe site, and The Athletic, which focuses on sports. This is The Times’s first licensing arrangement with a focus on generative A.I. technology. In 2023, The Times sued OpenAI and its partner, Microsoft, for copyright infringement, accusing the tech companies of using millions of articles published by The Times to train automated chatbots without any kind of compensation. OpenAI and Microsoft have rejected those accusations.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I have no idea what this means for "the Amazon customer experience." Does it mean that if I don't have a NYT subscription but do have Amazon Prime I can read NYT content? And where, exactly, would I find that content? I don't know. I don't know.

Washington Post reporters asked three AI image generators what a beautiful woman looks like. "The Post found that they steer users toward a startlingly narrow vision of attractiveness. Prompted to show a 'beautiful woman,' all three tools generated thin women, without exception.... Her body looks like Barbie — slim hips, impossible waist, round breasts.... Just 2 percent of the images showed visible signs of aging. More than a third of the images had medium skin tones. But only nine percent had dark skin tones. Asked to show 'normal women,' the tools produced images that remained overwhelmingly thin.... However bias originates, The Post’s analysis found that popular image tools struggle to render realistic images of women outside the Western ideal." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The reporters seem to think they are calling out the AI programs for being unrealistic. But there's a lot about the "beautiful women" images they miss. I find these omissions remarkably sexist. For one thing, the reporters seem to think AI is a magical "thing" that self-generates. It isn't. It's programmed. It's programmed by boys, many of them incels who have little or no experience or insights beyond comic books and Internet porn of how to gauge female "beauty." As a result, the AI-generated women look like cartoons; that is, a lot like an air-brushed photo of Kristi Noem: globs of every kind of dark eye makeup, Scandinavian nose, Botox lips, slathered-on skin concealer/toner/etc. makeup, long dark hair and the aforementioned impossible Barbie body shape, including huge, round plastic breasts. 

New York Times: “George Clooney’s Broadway debut, 'Good Night, and Good Luck,' has been one of the sensations of the 2024-25 theater season, breaking box office records and drawing packed houses of audiences eager to see the popular movie star in a timely drama about the importance of an independent press. Now the play will become much more widely available: CNN is planning a live broadcast of the penultimate performance, on June 7 at 7 p.m. Eastern. The performance will be preceded and followed by coverage of, and discussion about, the show and the state of journalism.”

No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any other way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land. -- Magna Carta ~~~

~~~ New York Times: “Bought for $27.50 after World War II, the faint, water stained manuscript in the library of Harvard Law School had attracted relatively little attention since it arrived there in 1946. That is about to change. Two British academics, one of whom happened on the manuscript by chance, have discovered that it is an original 1300 version — not a copy, as long thought — of Magna Carta, the medieval document that helped establish some of the world’s most cherished liberties. It is one of just seven such documents from that date still in existence.... A 710-year-old version of Magna Carta was sold in 2007 for $21.3 million.... First issued in 1215, it put into writing a set of concessions won by rebellious barons from a recalcitrant King John of England — or Bad King John, as he became known in folklore. He later revoked the charter, but his son, Henry III, issued amended versions, the last one in 1225, and Henry’s son, Edward I, in turn confirmed the 1225 version in 1297 and again in 1300.”

NPR lists all of the 2025 Pulitzer Prize winners. Poynter lists the prizes awarded in journalism as well as the finalists in these categories.

 

Contact Marie

Email Marie at constantweader@gmail.com

Constant Comments

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.

Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts. — Anonymous

A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolvesEdward R. Murrow

Publisher & Editor: Marie Burns

I have a Bluesky account now. The URL is https://bsky.app/profile/marie-burns.bsky.social . When Reality Chex goes down, check my Bluesky page for whatever info I am able to report on the status of Reality Chex. If you can't access the URL, I found that I could Google Bluesky and ask for Marie Burns. Google will include links to accounts for people whose names are, at least in part, Maria Burns, so you'll have to tell Google you looking only for Marie.

Monday
Sep052022

September 5, 2022

Then:

And Now:

Afternoon Update:

Alan Feuer & Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "A federal judge intervened on Monday in the investigation of ... Donald J. Trump's handling of sensitive government records, ordering the appointment of an independent arbiter to review a trove of materials seized last month from Mr. Trump's private club and residence in Florida. In a 24-page ruling, the judge, Aileen M. Cannon of the Federal District Court for the Southern District of Florida, also enjoined the Justice Department from using the seized materials for any 'investigative purpose' connected to its inquiry of Mr. Trump until the work of the arbiter, known as a special master, was completed.... Her order would not, however, affect a separate review of the documents by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence seeking to determine what risk to national security their removal to Mar-a-Lago may have caused.... Judge Cannon's ruling ... permitted whoever is appointed to the job to evaluate the documents not only for those protected by attorney-client privilege, a relatively common measure, but also for those potentially shielded by executive privilege, which typically protects confidential internal executive branch deliberations.... In her order, Judge Cannon evinced concern that Mr. Trump might suffer 'reputational harm.'... She also noted that, because of the search of Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trump faced 'unquantifiable potential harm by way of improper disclosure of sensitive information to the public.'" Politico's report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I'm kinda surprised Cannon didn't order Trump never again to make another public statement inasmuch as he "suffers reputational harm" every time his opens his fat lips & the best words come out. More seriously, Cannon seems confused by the concept of three branches of government, and -- as Akhilleus & I both speculated last week -- is not competent to do the judge thing. Moreover, the items she objected to cover matters that the government would never have presented in a case against Trump for the theft of government documents. She claimed that among the items seized were medical records & tax documents; but whether or not Trump lied about his heart rate & taxes is immaterial to the matters of espionage, theft & obstruction.

Pjotr Sauer of the Guardian: "Russia will not resume in full its gas supplies to Europe until the west lifts its sanctions against Moscow, the Kremlin said, as concerns over Russian gas supplies continued to drive up energy prices. Speaking to journalists on Monday, Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin's spokesperson, blamed sanctions 'introduced against our country by western countries including Germany and the UK' for Russia's failure to deliver gas through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline."

Afghanistan. Robyn Dixon, et al., of the Washington Post: "A suicide bomber blew himself up outside the consular section of Russia's embassy in Kabul on Monday, killing a top diplomat, a Russian security guard and four Afghans, according to Russian and Afghan officials. Afghan police reported that Taliban guards at the embassy shot dead the attacker, but his device still detonated. The blast happened as the embassy's second secretary exited the building to read out names to a crowd waiting to hear about visas, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported. The attack against one of the few countries that has maintained an embassy under the Taliban is a blow to the image of the group that took over Afghanistan a year ago and maintains it has control over the country."

~~~~~~~~~~

Will Weissert of the AP: "President Joe Biden is making his third trip to Pennsylvania in less than a week and returning just two days after his predecessor, Donald Trump, staged his own rally there -- illustrating the battleground state's importance to both parties as Labor Day kicks off a nine-week sprint to crucial midterm elections.... On Monday, [President Biden is] attending Labor Day festivities in Milwaukee, in another key swing state, Wisconsin, before traveling to Pittsburgh[, Pa.] for that city's parade.... The unofficial start of fall, Labor Day also traditionally kicks off political crunch time...."

Olivia Olander of Politico: "John Sullivan, the United States' ambassador to Russia, concluded his time in the role and left Moscow on Sunday after almost three years as envoy, according to a statement from the U.S. embassy in Russia. Elizabeth Rood, another diplomat who was the deputy chief of the embassy, will take it over until the ambassador's successor is appointed and confirmed, the statement said. She has been stationed at the embassy since June, but has been nominated to be the next ambassador to Turkmenistan. Sullivan was appointed by ... Donald Trump in 2019, but was asked to stay on by President Joe Biden. 'Following his departure, he will retire from a career in public service that has spanned four decades and five U.S. presidents,' the statement said."

Beyond the Beltway

Nevada. Eduardo Medina of the New York Times: "An investigative reporter for The Las Vegas Review-Journal was found stabbed to death outside his home on Saturday morning, prompting a search for the attacker.... The police believe Jeff German, 69, was in an altercation with someone on Friday that resulted in the stabbing, The Review-Journal reported. Dori Koren, a spokesman for the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, told the newspaper that the police had potential leads on an assailant. A motive was not immediately clear." The AP's report is here.

Way Beyond

** U.K. Pippa Crerar of the Guardian: "Liz Truss will become Britain's next prime minister after winning a resounding victory over Rishi Sunak in the bitterly fought Conservative leadership contest. The foreign secretary, who won 81,326 votes of Tory members, while the former chancellor picked up 60,399 votes takes over from Boris Johnson, who was ousted by his own MPs earlier this summer. But the euphoria of victory will quickly give way to the hard reality of the economic challenges ahead with the country gripped by a cost of living crisis leaving families struggling to pay their energy bills this winter. Truss has said she will reveal plans to support households within a week of taking office, with allies understood to be discussing a £100bn package that could include freezing energy bills. She has already pledged to reverse a national insurance rise even though it disproportionately benefits the well-off. An emergency budget is expected within the first month to set out how she will bolster the economy amid sustained low growth, soaring inflation, flat-lining wages and the very real prospect of recession."

~~~ New York Times: "Britain will learn the identity of its new prime minister at around 12:30 p.m. on Monday (7:30 a.m. in New York), when the Conservative Party announces the results of a hard-fought contest to replace Boris Johnson. Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, remains the heavy favorite over her opponent, Rishi Sunak, a former chancellor of the Exchequer." This is a liveblog. An AP story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: In case you think of the Brits as more hidebound than Americans, the U.K. now has its third female prime minister; they even had a Jewish (by birth) P.M. in the 19th century. In the U.S? None of the above: all of our presidents, except one, were white guys.

Ukraine, et al. The New York Times' liveblogs of developments Monday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live updates are here. The Guardian's summary report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live briefings for Monday are here: "'The Ukrainian counteroffensive is making verifiable progress in the south and the east,' according to the Institute for the Study of War, a U.S.-based think tank. ISW analysts said 'Ukrainian forces are advancing along several axes' to the west of the Kherson region and 'have secured territory' in Donetsk, one of two eastern regions that make up the Donbas area. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday after a meeting of Ukraine's defense, military and intelligence chiefs that 'Ukrainian flags are returning to the places where they should be by right.'"

Chile. Jack Nicas of the New York Times: "For the past three years, Chileans have fought over a path forward for their country in the form of a new constitution, written entirely from scratch, that would transform their society and grant more rights than any national charter before it. On Sunday, voters overwhelmingly rejected that text. The proposed changes had looked to remake one of the most conservative countries in Latin America into one of the world's most left-leaning societies, but Chileans decided that went too far."

News Lede

New York Times: "The Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Saskatchewan said Monday night that one of the two men suspected in a wave of deadly stabbings had been found dead of wounds 'not believed to be self-inflicted.' After more than a day of manhunt that put three provinces on alert, the police said that Damien Sanderson, 31, had been found dead before noon on Monday in a grassy area near a house being investigated on the Cree Nation reserve. And they said his brother, Myles Sanderson, 30, had possibly been wounded.... The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said in statement that the two men had been charged with first degree, attempted murder and break and enter." This is a liveblog.

Marie: Sorry, I lost some of the ledes of the day.

Sunday
Sep042022

September 4, 2022

Late Morning Update:

     ~~~ Thanks to Ruben Bolling for the work & to RAS for the link.

~~~~~~~~~~

Katie Glueck & Michael Bender of the New York Times: "In his first rally since his home was searched by the F.B.I. on Aug. 8..., Donald J. Trump on Saturday lashed out at President Biden and federal agents, calling his Democratic rival 'an enemy of the state' and the F.B.I. and the Department of Justice 'vicious monsters.' In an aggrieved and combative speech in Pennsylvania, Mr. Trump stoked anger against law enforcement even as the F.B.I. and federal officials have faced an increase in threats following the search of Mr. Trump's residence to retrieve classified documents. Mr. Trump's remarks echoed the chain of similar, escalating attacks he wrote on his social media website this week, including posts that singled out one agent by name. That agent has retired, and his lawyers have said he did not have a role in the search." The AP's report -- written in the he-said/she-said style of "journalism," is here.

A New York Times illustrator draws many, many, many pictures of many, many, many documents, secret papers, gift boxes & other paraphernalia of all the stuff Donald Trump stole from you and refused to give back, forcing the FBI to go pick it all up under the authority of a warrant. And don't be surprised if there's more, squirreled away at Bedminister and the Kremlin, Pyŏngyang, Budapest & so forth. Scroll down the page. (Also linked yesterday.)

Ed Pilkington of the Guardian writes about the legal peril in which Trump finds himself. Pilkington doesn't cover any new ground, but what does emerge from his story is that Trump has been hoarding this stuff since he took office. As Ruth Ben-Ghiat, an NYU professor, told Pilkington, "For Trump, records are ... a measure of control -- leverage over enemies and over his inner circle. This kind of leader doesn't recognize the division between public and private. They have a proprietary mode of exercising power in which everything is theirs." And former top White House aide Stephanie Grisham has said, "At the end of each day boxes would be carried upstairs to the White House residence. 'They would get handed off to the residence and just disappear.'" MB: So who knows where the rest of Trump's massive treasure trove may have landed over the years? In a garden shed at Bedminster? In an unlocked basement closet at Trump Tower? The number of people who could gain access to some of this material is beginning to look infinite. And unknowable.

"They're Mine." Marie: Went to the grocery store Saturday morning, walked out with every damned bottle of Marie's Salad Dressing. Some silly employee came running after me, yelling, "Lady, Lady, you can't take those!" but I fixed him by showing him my drivers license with "Marie" written on it in indelible state-printed official letters, then pointing to the bottles that said right on the labels they were mine. Next week, I'm changing my name to "Paul Newman." I do like some of those "Newman's Own" pizzas, salsas & such. Maybe after I've consumed 11,000+ packages of "My Own," I'll change my name again. But it won't be to "Chef Boyardee." Update: Thanks for the support from Patrick, Akhilleus (yesterday) & Forrest (today)! Y'all made me laugh.

Hard Time for Thee But Not for Me. Andrew Kaczynski & Samantha Woodward of CNN run down a number of times when Donald Trump declared that people who mishandled classified information must be imprisoned. "Trump acknowledged in a court filing Wednesday that classified material was found at Mar-a-Lago in January, but argued that it should not have been cause for alarm...." (Also linked yesterday.)

Where Did It All Go, Rick? Shane Goldmacher of the New York Times: "By the end of July, the [National Republican Senatorial C]ommittee had collected a record $181.5 million -- but had already spent more than 95 percent of what it had brought in ... in an enormous wave of spending on digital ads ... to discover more small contributors.... The Republican group entered August with just $23.2 million on hand, less than half of what the Senate Democratic committee had ahead of the final intense phase of the midterm elections.... [Sen. Rick] Scott's enormous gamble on finding new online donors has been a costly financial flop in 2022.... Today, the N.R.S.C. is raising less than before Mr. Scott's digital splurge.... Mr. Scott's detractors accuse him of transforming the N.R.S.C. into the 'National Rick Scott Committee' -- and a vehicle for his presidential ambitions." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I just want to congratulate Mitch & the rest of the GOP Senate leadership for choosing a renowned grifter to manager its money.

Pam Belluck of the New York Times: "As bans and restrictions proliferate across the country, abortion pill providers are pushing the envelope of regulations and laws to meet the surging demand for medication abortion in post-Roe America. Some are using physician discretion to prescribe pills to patients further along in pregnancy than the 10-week limit set by the Food and Drug Administration. Some are making pills available to women who are not pregnant but feel they could need them someday. Some are employing a don't-ask-don't-tell approach, providing telemedicine consultations and prescriptions without verifying that patients are in states that permit abortion.... Some of the practices, like not confirming that telemedicine patients are located in states that allow abortion, may run afoul of anti-abortion state laws or fall into uncharted legal territory, but they may also be challenging to police, reproductive health experts said."

Beyond the Beltway

Texas. Keith Allen, et al., of CNN: "Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said this week that rape victims in his state can take Plan B, a pregnancy-preventing emergency contraceptive known as a 'morning-after pill.'... Emergency contraceptives are intended for use within 72 hours after sex but are most effective if taken within 24 hours.... Texas' abortion trigger-law, which passed in 2021 in anticipation of the repeal of Roe v. Wade, went into effect last month, putting in place new criminal penalties for abortion and offering an exemption only for certain health emergencies."

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al.

The Washington Post's live briefings of developments Sunday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "Europe is urgently preparing for the possibility that Russia will shut off its gas supply entirely ahead of winter, a potential retaliation for their support of Ukraine. [Ukraine President] Zelensky, in his nightly address Saturday, said Europe should respond to Russia's threats with more 'unity' and by 'increasing sanctions at all levels, and limiting Russia's oil and gas revenues.'... Ukrainians line up to donate blood to save 'soldiers who are fighting for us': In Mykolaiv, a city in southern Ukraine close to the front line, hundreds of civilians and soldiers responded to a call for blood donations Saturday...." ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times' live updates for Sunday are here. The Guardian's live updates for Sunday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here.

Marc Santora & Andrew Kramer of the New York Times: "Even as hopes were raised that a permanent presence of United Nations inspectors would help reduce the risk of disaster at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, the war once again endangered the plant's safe operation. After shelling on Friday evening, the plant lost the connection with its only remaining primary external power line, forcing it to use a lower-voltage reserve line to power the cooling equipment needed to prevent meltdowns, the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a statement on Saturday.... The decision to keep monitors at the plant despite the obvious risks underscored what [IAEA Director Rafael] Grossi called the 'unprecedented' peril of the moment. He added that putting independent nuclear experts at the plant will allow for unbiased reports on conditions in real time."

Valerie Hopkins & Ivan Nechepurenko of the New York Times: "Thousands of Russians on Saturday stood for several hours in snaking lines amid a heavy police presence to pay their respects to Mikhail S. Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader, who died on Tuesday. Many Russians blame and revile Mr. Gorbachev for the breakup of the Soviet Union, but people of all ages, many of whom stood solemnly clutching flowers outside Moscow's famed House of the Unions, said that they had come to thank him for something severely restricted today in Russia: freedom.... For many, the funeral was a vivid reminder of the rights that Russians have lost under the leadership of ... Vladimir V. Putin and as a result of the almost complete dismantling of Mr. Gorbachev's legacy, culminating with the six-month-old war that Russia is prosecuting in Ukraine to take back former Soviet territory." (Also linked yesterday.)

     ~~~ Jim Heintz & Vladimir Isachenkov of the AP: "Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who often has been critical of the Western sanctions against Russia, was the only foreign leader who attended the farewell on Saturday. The U.S., British, German and other Western ambassadors also attended."

It Was the Economy, Stupid. Paul Krugman of the New York Times: "... in the 1950s, and even into the 1960s, many people around the world saw Soviet economic development as a success story; a backward nation had transformed itself into a major world power. (Killing millions in the process, but who's counting?)... After 1970, however, the Soviet growth story fell apart, and by some measures technological progress came to a standstill.... I don't know if it's widely appreciated just how poorly the Russian economy performed during the Boris Yeltsin years. But the numbers are sobering.... [Several factors may have] contribute[d] to the post-Gorbachev economic disaster.... The problems of the 1990s culminated in a financial crisis in 1998. After that, the Russian economy finally stabilized and resumed growth; unfortunately, it did so under the leadership of a guy named Vladimir Putin. It's doubtful whether economic recovery required the fall of democracy, but that's how it worked out.... The sad historical truth is that Gorbachev's political legacy was, to an important degree, poisoned by Russia's economic failure."

News Ledes

Washington Post: "Ten people were killed and at least 15 were injured in a rash of stabbings that put the entire Canadian province of Saskatchewan on alert while police attempted to track down the two suspects, authorities said Sunday. The suspects, named by police as Damien Sanderson, 31, and Myles Sanderson, 30, remained at large hours after authorities started receiving reports from about 5:40 a.m. local time of people being stabbed at the James Smith Cree Nation and in the village of Weldon." The Guardian's story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times is live-updating developments.

AP: "NASA's new moon rocket sprang another dangerous fuel leak Saturday, forcing launch controllers to call off their second attempt this week to send a crew capsule into lunar orbit with test dummies. The inaugural flight is now off for weeks, if not months. The previous try on Monday at launching the 322-foot (98-meter) Space Launch System rocket, the most powerful ever built by NASA, was also troubled by hydrogen leaks, though they were smaller. That was on top of leaks detected during countdown drills earlier in the year. After the latest setback, mission managers decided to haul the rocket off the pad and into the hangar for further repairs and system updates. Some of the work and testing may be performed at the pad before the rocket is moved. Either way, several weeks of work will be needed, according to officials." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The real solution to the problem would be to invent a pipe & hose material that does not spring leaks under the stress of severe weather & other conditions, a material that we could use in the plumping (oops!) plumbing of our homes & buildings so that we would never, ever have to winterize our homes again. For all the useful experiments NASA may conduct, sturdy plumping (oops! again) plumbing could be its greatest contribution to humankind.

Saturday
Sep032022

September 3, 2022

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Valerie Hopkins & Ivan Nechepurenko of the New York Times: "Thousands of Russians on Saturday stood for several hours in snaking lines amid a heavy police presence to pay their respects to Mikhail S. Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader, who died on Tuesday. Many Russians blame and revile Mr. Gorbachev for the breakup of the Soviet Union, but people of all ages, many of whom stood solemnly clutching flowers outside Moscow's famed House of the Unions, said that they had come to thank him for something severely restricted today in Russia: freedom.... For many, the funeral was a vivid reminder of the rights that Russians have lost under the leadership of ... Vladimir V. Putin and as a result of the almost complete dismantling of Mr. Gorbachev's legacy, culminating with the six-month-old war that Russia is prosecuting in Ukraine to take back former Soviet territory."

A New York Times illustrator draws many, many, many pictures of many, many, many documents, secret papers, gift boxes & other paraphernalia of all the stuff Donald Trump stole from you and refused to give back, forcing the FBI to go pick it all up under the authority of a warrant. And don't be surprised if there's more, squirreled away at Bedminister and the Kremlin, Pyŏngyang, Budapest & so forth. Scroll down the page.

"They're Mine." Marie: Went to the grocery stores this morning, walked out with every damned bottle of Marie's Salad Dressing. Some silly employee came running after me, yelling, "Lady, Lady, you can't take those!" but I fixed him by showing him my drivers license with "Marie" written on it in indelible state-printed official letters, then pointing to the bottles that said right on the labels they were mine. Next week, I'm changing my name to "Paul Newman." I do like some of those "Newman's Own" pizzas, salsas & such. Maybe after I've consumed 11,000+ packages of "My Own" I'll change my name again. But it won't be to "Chef Boyardee."

Ashley Strickland of CNN: "The launch team for the uncrewed Artemis I mission has recommended a 'no go' for Saturday's launch attempt after battling fueling issues. The team is awaiting the official word from the launch director on the status of the launch. Shortly before 5 a.m. ET, mission managers received a weather briefing and decided to proceed with loading propellant into the rocket. The countdown clock resumed at 7:07 a.m. ET. There was at least a 30-minute delay after a liquid hydrogen leak was detected at 7:15 a.m. ET in the quick disconnect cavity that feeds the rocket with hydrogen in the engine section of the core stage. It was a different leak than one that occurred ahead of the scrubbed launch on Monday." MB: @ 11:19 am ET, CNN reported on-air that the launch was a no-go.

Hard Time for Thee But Not for Me. Andrew Kaczynski & Samantha Woodward of CNN run down a number of times when Donald Trump declared that people who mishandled classified information must be imprisoned. "Trump acknowledged in a court filing Wednesday that classified material was found at Mar-a-Lago in January, but argued that it should not have been cause for alarm...."

~~~~~~~~~~

When a Speech Proves Its Point. Jana Winter of Yahoo! News: "President Biden's fiery speech in Philadelphia denouncing ... Donald Trump and what he described as'extreme MAGA ideology' has sparked online calls for violence, including death threats against the president, according to documents obtained by Yahoo News. Biden's remarks also prompted immediate concerns from senior counterterrorism officials who said they fear that calling Trump supporters extremists would be viewed as a call to arms and would only inflame an already volatile threat environment.... By Friday afternoon, posts on forums popular among white supremacists and far-right extremists called for the assassination of Biden, and named Jewish administration officials including Attorney General Merrick Garland, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas as potential targets. Declarations of civil war were also appearing, according to documents detailing some of the threats.... Site Intelligence Group, which tracks online extremism activity, issued several threat alerts detailing calls for violence in response to Biden's speech.... 'Users advocated for Biden to be murdered and predicted violence if he continues speaking about the topic.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: It seems a very strange thing for political actors to immediately prove their opponent is right. ~~~

~~~ Networks Not Worried about Fascists. Paul Farhi of the Washington Post: "While President Biden warned the nation about threats to democracy in a prime-time address on Thursday, ABC was airing a game show, 'Press Your Luck.' As Biden spelled out his objections to former president Donald Trump and 'MAGA Republicans,' NBC was broadcasting a rerun of 'Law and Order.' CBS skipped the speech to show a rerun of 'Young Sheldon.' The networks' rejection of Biden's speech -- delivered in front of Philadelphia's Independence Hall, washed in dramatic red lighting as Marines stood guard -- marked an unusual moment in the long relationship between the White House and the nation's most powerful broadcasters.... People involved in negotiations over Thursday's address said the networks deemed Biden's remarks as 'political' in nature and therefore decided not to televise it.... White House officials had earlier tried to counter the impression of partisanship, with one telling NBC News that it was 'not a speech about a particular politician or even about a particular political party.'... Biden's speech was carried live on CNN and MSNBC, but it was not aired on Fox News...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Always good to remember that the suits who bring you "Press Your Luck" are not all that bright. ~~~

~~~ Fascists Not Worried about Fascists. Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "The insurrectionists of Jan. 6 busted into the Capitol, hit police with fire extinguishers, flagpoles, bats, stun guns and pepper spray; they threatened to kill the vice president and tried to overthrow the 2020 election. And now, they want an apology. MAGA Republican leaders have fomented violence, attacked the rule of law and deceived tens of millions of people into rejecting the outcome of free and fair elections. And now, they, too, want an apology. I'm sorry, but these authoritarians have some terribly tender egos. They need to pull themselves up by their own jackboot-straps." Milbank offers his own "apologies. ~~~

     ~~~ digby assesses the responses of wingers & the press to President Biden's speech. Marie: IMO, it's political speech when you warn that your opponents are frivolously spending taxpayer dollars, for instance; it's not political speech when you warn than your opponents currently pose a genuine threat to our system of government (and, no, mask mandates are not threats to our system of government). There a vast difference between political speech and a Constitutional duty to try to protect the public from a clear & present danger. And, as noted above, like bread rising in an old bakery, that clear & present danger immediately proved itself.

Jim Tankersley of the New York Times: "Slowing job and wage growth, alongside rising labor force participation in August, is [are?] good news for President Biden and his hopes for a smooth transition to a more stable economic expansion. The jobs report on Friday was the first of the summer to support the case Mr. Biden and his economic aides have been making for months: that the economy is beginning to step down from a high-growth, high-inflation expansion coming out of the pandemic recession but avoiding another recession." (Also linked yesterday.)


Charlie Savage & Alan Feuer
of the New York Times: "The F.B.I.'s search of ... Donald J. Trump's Florida club and residence last month turned up 48 empty folders marked as containing classified information, a newly disclosed court filing shows, raising the question of whether the government had fully recovered the documents or any remain missing.... The list and an accompanying court filing from the Justice Department did not say whether all the contents of the folders had been recovered. But the filing noted that the inquiry into Mr. Trump's handling of the documents remained 'an active criminal investigation.'... The list suggests the files Mr. Trump took to his Florida home were stored in a slapdash manner and appeared to underline concerns that he had not followed rules for protecting national security secrets. It also offered the clearest indication yet that promises by Mr. Trump's team that all sensitive records had been returned were untrue.... In all, the list said, the F.B.I. retrieved 18 documents marked as top secret, 54 marked as secret, 31 marked as confidential, and 11,179 government documents or photographs without classification markings." ~~~

     ~~~ Tierney Sneed of CNN: "US District Judge Aileen Cannon on Friday released a detailed inventory from the Mar-a-Lago search that the Justice Department previously filed under seal in court. The search inventory released showed that classified documents had been mixed in with personal items and other materials in the boxes in which they were stored. Federal investigators also retrieved more than 11,000 non-classified government documents. One box containing documents marked with confidential, secret and top secret classification identifications also contained '99 magazines/newspapers/press articles,' according to the inventory from last month's search filed in federal court in Florida....The court filing also provided a breakdown of the type of markings on the classified material taken from Mar-a-Lago, including 18 documents marked top secret, 54 documents marked secret and 31 documents marked confidential. In addition, federal investigators collected more than 48 empty folders with a 'classified banner' and 42 empty folders marked to return to the staff secretary or military aide." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Gosh, what do you supposed happened to the contents of all those empty folders that had once contained classified documents? It does not seem likely the folders were empty when they left the White House. Maybe the feds should check around at West Palm Beach U-mail stores to see if anybody came around with batches of paper & requests to "Mail these to V. Putin at the Kremlin, Moscow, Russia."

"A Crock of Shit." Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "Former Attorney General William P. Barr dismissed ... Donald J. Trump's call for an independent review of materials seized from his Florida home on Friday -- and said an inventory of items recovered in the search last month seemed to support the Justice Department's claim that it was needed to safeguard national security. 'As more information comes out, the actions of the department look more understandable,' Mr. Barr told The New York Times in a phone interview, speaking of the decision by the current attorney general, Merrick B. Garland, to seek a search warrant of the complex at Mar-a-Lago.... 'I'm not sure the department could have gotten it back without taking action.' Asked what he thought of the argument for the appointment of a special master, an independent arbiter to review the material that could delay the investigation, Mr. Barr laughed. 'I think it's a crock of shit,' he said, adding, 'I don't think a special master is called for.'" ~~~

~~~ Trump, Under the Bus. Alex Griffing of Mediaite: "Former Trump Attorney General Bill Barr on Friday smacked down various defenses of ... Donald Trump when it comes to the FBI's execution of a search warrant at his Florida estate. During an appearance on Fox News's America Reports, Barr argued that Trump taking 'classified material' with him to a 'country club' was just as unprecedented as the federal government raiding a former president's home -- swatting down the notion that the raid was an unwarranted political move. Barr also took issue with Trump's defense that he already declassified the documents, arguing that doing so would be 'an abuse' that 'shows such recklessness that it's almost worse than taking the documents.'... 'You know, they jawboned for a year. They were deceived on the voluntary actions taken. They then went and got a subpoena. They were deceived on that,' Barr continued, laying out the FBI's cause for the raid.... '... he facts are starting to show that they were being jerked around.'" Barr also said the whole idea of a special master was a "red herring." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Azi Paybarah of the Washington Post: "'What people are missing,' Barr told Fox News, is that documents, regardless of whether they were classified, 'still belong to the government and go to the archives.' The other documents that were seized, like news clippings, were 'seizable under the warrant because they show the conditions under which the classified information was being held,' Barr said."

Tierney Sneed & Marshal Cohen of CNN look at what they call "revelatory moments" in Thursday's hearing on Donald Trump's request for a special master: "Trump attorney Chris Kise stressed to the judge that this was an 'unprecedented situation' and there was a need 'lower the temperature on both sides.'... Later in the hearing, James Trusty, another attorney for Trump, argued..., 'So we are in a situation where, literally, they have taken a -- we have characterized it at times as "an overdue library book scenario" where there is a dispute -- not even a dispute, ongoing negotiations with NARA about archives that has suddenly been transformed into a criminal investigation.'" And so forth. MB: As Ken W. pointed out, more or less, in yesterday's Comments thread, if you stole 11,000 books, including a Gutenberg Bible & an original Shakespeare folio, from the library & refused to return them, it's unlike the librarian would treat the matter as an overdue book squabble. ~~~

     ~~~ Update. I see where George Conway agrees with Ken & me.

"The Mold Room." Rosalind Helderman & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "... behind a simple door [in a basement area workers dug out after Donald Trump purchased Mar-a-Lago on the cheap], is a large closet-type space that workers once called 'the mold room' in honor of leftover stonework molds deposited in the corner.... Today, staffers think of the room more like the former president's personal closet.... It is here, in this windowless nook, where some of the nation's most sensitive secrets allegedly were stashed. The raid exposed anew the potential risks of keeping highly sensitive material at a club that hosts weddings, galas and other large events, where outsiders are common and many employees -- as well as some visitors -- are foreign nationals.... People familiar with the matter said the [surveillance] video [the FBI obtained] showed various people coming in and out of the larger storage area. People close to Trump said a variety of Mar-a-Lago and Trump staffers had access to that area beneath the public living room. Access to the closet where the documents were kept was more restricted, they said.... [Two people] agreed that only one key existed to the lock on the closet's door. A single locked door -- even one with only one key -- hardly meets the exacting specifications required by federal regulations to physically store classified documents.... ~~~

~~~ "People who have visited the club since Trump left office said they were allowed in without so much as an identification check.... According to documents filed with the Labor Department, the club got permission to hire 87 foreign waiters, cooks and housekeepers for the season that began last fall and ended this spring. The company has asked to hire 92 more to start in October.... [Joel Brenner, a] former counterintelligence officer, said the U.S. government has special rules are in place to prevent foreign nationals from having access to classified documents.... Mar-a-Lago has experienced a number of embarrassing security lapses while Trump was president and since he left Washington."

Quelle Coincidence! Jamie Gangel, et al., of CNN: "Within a week of the FBI search of ... Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows handed over texts and emails to the National Archives that he had not previously turned over from his time in the administration, sources familiar with the matter tell CNN. Meadows' submission to the Archives was part of a request for all electronic communications covered under the Presidential Records Act. The Archives had become aware earlier this year it did not have everything from Meadows after seeing what he had turned over to the House select committee investigating January 6, 2021. Details of Meadows' submissions to the Archives and the engagement between the two sides have not been previously reported.... The source familiar with the discussions said that the Archives considered Meadows to be cooperating, even though the process started slowly."

Annals of Journalism & "Journalism," Ctd. Ramon Vargas of the Guardian: "A White House correspondent for CNN -- whose new leader wants the channel to adopt what he considers a more politically neutral voice to its coverage -- has departed the network after calling Donald Trump 'a dishonest demagogue' on the air. John Harwood announced his exit from CNN on his Twitter account Friday, a day after he spoke favorably of a nationally televised speech by Joe Biden in which the president said that Republican forces loyal to his Oval Office predecessor, Trump, imperiled American democracy.... 'The core point [Biden] made in that political speech about a threat to democracy is true,' Harwood said on CNN after the address, which was in primetime.... 'We're brought up to believe there's two different political parties with different points of view, and we don't take sides in honest disagreements between them. But that's not what we are talking about. These are honest disagreements. The Republican party right now is led by a dishonest demagogue.' By midday Friday, the 65-year-old Harwood tweeted that he was out at CNN.... According to the Hollywood Reporter, which cited an anonymous source with insight into the situation, Harwood learned 'last month' that he was out at the channel."

Beyond the Beltway

Texas. David Montgomery & Miriam Jordan of the New York Times: “Eight migrants drowned and 37 others were rescued as they tried to cross the raging waters of the Rio Grande to reach the United States, administration officials said on Friday. The migrants were among scores of people crossing the river near Eagle Pass, a town in southern Texas that has become a major entry point for migrants in the last year. After heavy rains, the Rio Grande is several feet higher than normal, and law enforcement officials have reported making a number of rescues, including some over the last weekend as migrants struggling to keep their heads above water were being dragged by turbulent currents. Rick Pauza, spokesman for the Customs and Border Protection office in Laredo, Texas, said in a statement that the authorities were continuing with the aid of the local fire department and sheriff's office to search for possible survivors."

I believe people should just, just be ready to get out on the streets with pitchforks and torches with how low the liberal media has become. People need to decide "Am I going to put up with this? Am I going to tolerate this, taking somebody that gives money to churches or cancer research and use that as a hit piece in the media?" I'm appalled. It's disgusting. -- Tim Michels, Wisconsin GOP gubernatorial nominee ~~~

Wisconsin Gubernatorial Race. Scott Bauer of the AP: "The Republican candidate for governor in Wisconsin endorsed by Donald Trump is calling for people to take up 'pitchforks and torches' in reaction to a story that detailed his giving to anti-abortion groups, churches and others -- rhetoric that Democrats say amounts to threatening violence. Tim Michels, who co-owns the state's largest construction company, faces Democratic Gov. Tony Evers in the battleground state. If Michels wins, he will be in position to enact a host of GOP priorities passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature leading into the 2024 presidential election. Evers has vetoed more bills than any governor in modern state history and is campaigning on his ability to serve as a check on Republicans. Michels, a multimillionaire, this week reacted strongly to a story published by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel detailing charitable giving by he [his!] and his wife's foundation, some of which went to anti-abortion groups and churches that have taken anti-gay positions." MB: "Democrats say"?

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al.

The New York Times' live updates of developments Saturday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live updates are here. The Guardian's latest summary report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live briefings for Saturday are here: "The European Council president accused Moscow of using 'gas as a weapon,' after the Russian energy giant said it would not reopen the Nord Stream 1 pipeline on Saturday as planned because of a leak.... Russia is holding funeral rites Saturday for Mikhail Gorbachev, laying the last Soviet leader to rest without an official state funeral.... Vladimir Putin, who disdained Gorbachev over the collapse of the Soviet Union, will not attend. Adored in the West but controversial, and at times despised, at home, Gorbachev was reportedly distraught over Russia's war in Ukraine.... The Biden administration has asked Congress to approve an additional $13.7 billion in aid for Ukraine's defenses."

Jeff Stein & Emily Rauhala of the Washington Post: "The leaders of the Group of Seven industrialized nations announced Friday that they will impose a price cap on Russian oil, aiming to undercut the Kremlin's finances while keeping energy flowing to the West. The price cap plan, a top priority of U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen, aims to slash the huge energy profit Russia is using to finance its war in Ukraine without creating price shocks that could cripple the global economy." ~~~

~~~ Stanley Reed of the New York Times: "Gazprom said on Friday that it would postpone restarting the flow of natural gas through a closely watched pipeline that connects Russia and Germany, an unexpected delay that appeared to be part of a larger struggle between Moscow and the West over energy and the war in Ukraine. The Russian-owned energy giant had been expected to resume the flow of gas through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline on Saturday after three days of maintenance. But hours before the pipeline was set to reopen, Gazprom said that problems had been found during inspections, and that the pipeline would be closed until they were eliminated. It did not give a timeline for restarting. The announcement had the hallmarks of a tit-for-tat move. Earlier on Friday, finance ministers for the Group of 7 countries said that they had agreed to impose a price cap mechanism on Russian oil in a bid to choke off some of the energy revenue Moscow is still collecting from Europe."

Argentina. Almudena Calatrava & Daniel Politi of the AP: "Judicial and law enforcement authorities were investigating Friday whether a Brazilian citizen who appears to have tried to assassinate Argentina's politically powerful Vice President Cristina Fernández was a lone gunman or whether he was part of a larger organization.... The only reason the assassination attempt failed was because the handgun misfired, President Alberto Fernández, who is not related to the vice president, said Thursday night in a national broadcast in which he declared a national holiday Friday in light of the incident. (Also linked yesterday.) A New York Times report is here.

News Ledes

CNN: "The launch team for the uncrewed Artemis I mission has recommended a 'no go' for Saturday's launch attempt after battling fueling issues. The team is awaiting the official word from the launch director on the status of the launch. Shortly before 5 a.m. ET, mission managers received a weather briefing and decided to proceed with loading propellant into the rocket. The countdown clock resumed at 7:07 a.m. ET. There was at least a 30-minute delay after a liquid hydrogen leak was detected at 7:15 a.m. ET in the quick disconnect cavity that feeds the rocket with hydrogen in the engine section of the core stage. It was a different leak than one that occurred ahead of the scrubbed launch on Monday." MB: @ 11:19 am ET, CNN reported on-air that the launch was a no-go.

New York Times: "A pilot who threatened to crash into a Walmart in Tupelo, Miss., on Saturday morning, then flew erratically for several hours, was taken into custody after landing in a field, officials said. The plane landed in Benton County, about 50 miles northwest of Tupelo, and the pilot was taken into custody without injury, said Connie Strickland, a dispatcher for the Benton County Sheriff's Department in Mississippi. She did not identify the pilot. The Federal Aviation Administration said a Beechcraft King Air 90 landed in a field after taking off from Tupelo Regional Airport and circling the area. The FAA said only the pilot was in the plane. The agency said it was coordinating with local law enforcement agencies and would investigate the flight." ~~~

~~~ CNN is live-updating the story of the crazy young man in a flying machine who threatened to dive into the Tupelo, Mississippi Walmart.The latest at 1:00 pm ET: "A small plane that circled for hours Saturday morning over Tupelo, Mississppi, and surrounding areas landed in a field in Ripley, Mississippi, the FAA said. A source told CNN the pilot, who police said threatened to crash the stolen plane into a Tupelo Walmart, is in custody." ~~~

     ~~~ CNN @ 11:15 am ET: "A pilot who police said threatened to crash a small plane into a Walmart in Tupelo, Mississippi, Saturday morning is still airborne. A government source familiar with the situation tells CNN the aircraft is flying over the Holly Springs National Forest. Tupelo Police are no longer in communication with the pilot, the source says. 'At this time the situation is ongoing with TPD and all Emergency Services in our area on alert,' Tupelo Police said in a news release earlier Saturday morning. 'With the mobility of an airplane of that type the danger zone is much larger than even Tupelo.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Update: At 11:37 am ET, CNN is reporting on-air that the plane is down & the pilot is in custody. It doesn't appear the plane landed at an airport. The plane was stolen & the person who flew it & threatened to crash it was an employee of the Tupelo airport.

Washington Post: "Serena Williams said what is in all likelihood her goodbye to tennis Friday night at Arthur Ashe Stadium, 23 years and 22 Grand Slam titles after winning her first here at the U.S. Open. She lost to Australia's Ajla Tomljanovic in a tense, 7-5, 6-7 (7-4), 6-1 match full of the signature power and fight she has employed to rule women's tennis for the past two decades.... After the final game, Williams held her hand over her heart and mouthed 'I love you' to the thundering spectators on their feet in Arthur Ashe Stadium, the site of six of her Grand Slam titles. Her signature twirl and wave followed some time after as she choked back tears, thanked the crowd, then paid tribute to her family -- her mother, Oracene; sisters Venus Williams nd Isha Price; and husband, Alexis Ohanian, all standing in her player box."