REALITYCHEX.COM - Constant Comments

The Ledes

Monday, October 14, 2024

New York Times: “The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences was awarded on Monday to Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson, both of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and to James Robinson of the University of Chicago. They won the prize for their work in explaining the differences in prosperity between nations, and for their research into how institutions affect prosperity. The laureates have pioneered theoretical and empirical approaches that have helped to better explain inequality between countries, according to the prize committee.”

The Wires

Help!

To keep the Conversation going, please help me by linking news articles, opinion pieces and other political content in today's Comments section.

Link Code: <a href="URL">text</a>

OR here's a link generator. The one I had posted died, then Akhilleus found one, but it too bit the dust. He found yet another, which I've linked here, and as of September 23, 2024, it's working.

OR you can always just block, copy and paste to your comment the URL (Web address) of the page you want to link.

Note for Readers. It is not possible for commenters to "throw" their highlighted links to another window. But you can do that yourself. Right-click on the link and a drop-down box will give you choices as to where you want to open the link: in a new tab, new window or new private window.

Public Service Announcement

Washington Post: "Americans can again order free rapid coronavirus tests by mail, the Biden administration announced Thursday. People can request four free at-home tests per household through covidtests.gov. They will begin shipping Monday. The move comes ahead of an expected winter wave of coronavirus cases. The September revival of the free testing program is in line with the Biden administration’s strategy to respond to the coronavirus as part of a broader public health campaign to protect Americans from respiratory viruses, including influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), that surge every fall and winter. But free tests were not mailed during the summer wave, which wastewater surveillance data shows is now receding."

New York Times: “Improbably, [the political/celebrity magazine] George[, originally a project by John F. Kennedy, Jr.] is back, with the same logo and the same catchy slogan: 'Not just politics as usual.' This time, though, a QAnon conspiracy theorist and passionate Trump fan is its editor in chief.... It is a reanimation story bizarre enough for a zombie movie, made possible by the fact that the original George trademark lapsed, only to be secured by a little-known conservative lawyer named Thomas D. Foster.”

Washington Post: “Comedy news outlet the Onion — reinvigorated by new ownership over this year — is bringing back its once-popular video parodies of cable news. But this time, there’s someone with real news anchor experience in the chair. When the first episodes appear online Monday, former WAMU and MSNBC host Joshua Johnson will be the face of the resurrected 'Onion News Network.' Playing an ONN anchor character named Dwight Richmond, Johnson says he’s bringing a real anchor’s sense of clarity — and self-importance — to the job. 'If ONN is anything, it’s a news organization that is so unaware of its own ridiculousness that it has the confidence of a serial killer,' says Johnson, 44.” ~~~

~~~ Marie: I'll be darned if I can figured out how to watch ONN. If anybody knows, do tell. Thanks.

Washington Post: “First came the surprising discovery that Earth’s atmosphere is leaking. But for roughly 60 years, the reason remained a mystery. Since the late 1960s, satellites over the poles detected an extremely fast flow of particles escaping into space — at speeds of 20 kilometers per second. Scientists suspected that gravity and the magnetic field alone could not fully explain the stream. There had to be another source creating this leaky faucet. It turns out the mysterious force is a previously undiscovered global electric field, a recent study found. The field is only about the strength of a watch battery — but it’s enough to thrust lighter ions from our atmosphere into space. It’s also generated unlike other electric fields on Earth. This newly discovered aspect of our planet provides clues about the evolution of our atmosphere, perhaps explaining why Earth is habitable. The electric field is 'an agent of chaos,' said Glyn Collinson, a NASA rocket scientist and lead author of the study. 'It undoes gravity.... Without it, Earth would be very different.'”

The New York Times lists Emmy winners. The AP has an overview story here.

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. ~~~

~~~ AP Update: “There’s no evidence that a well-known beluga whale that lived off Norway’s coast and whose harness ignited speculation it was a Russian spy was shot to death last month as claimed by animal rights groups, Norwegian police said Monday.... Police said that the Norwegian Veterinary Institute conducted a preliminary autopsy on the animal, which was become known as 'Hvaldimir,' combining the Norwegian word for whale — hval — and the first name of Russian President Vladimir Putin. 'There are no findings from the autopsy that indicate that Hvaldimir has been shot,' police said in a statement.”

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”

Page Links

Saturday

Nov292014

The Commentariat -- Nov. 30, 2014

Internal links removed.

The Case Against Poor People. Robert Pear of the New York Times: "In mounting the latest court challenge to the Affordable Care Act, House Republicans are focusing on a little-noticed provision of the law that offers financial assistance to low- and moderate-income people. Under this part of the law, insurance companies must reduce co-payments, deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs for some people in health plans purchased through the new public insurance exchanges. The federal government reimburses insurers.... In their lawsuit, House Republicans say the Obama administration needed, but never received, an appropriation to make these payments to insurance companies. As a result, they contend, the spending violates the Constitution, which says, 'No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by law.'"

According to Brian Faler & Rachel Bade of Politico, here's what happened to that horrible tax deal Harry Reid "negotiated": "The immigration executive order soured the GOP on the tax cuts for the working poor and middle class sought by Democrats. Republicans worried undocumented immigrants targeted by the order would begin claiming the credits in droves. They found a friend in Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who reluctantly agreed to drop his party's demands to extend expiring parts of the earned income tax credit and its companion, the child tax credit. The decision infuriated Reid's colleagues. 'Everyone felt that Reid had suddenly given the store to Republicans and not gotten much in return,' said a Democratic House aide. The president, with liberal Democratic backing on the Hill, issued the veto threat and the plan imploded, making the tax deal the first major collateral damage of the White House's immigration action."

Tina Nguyen of Mediate: According to the New York Times, "Over all, about 140 million people are expected to shop in stores or online this weekend. That is more people than voted in the midterms earlier this month." Nguyen calls this a "depressing statistic." CW: Evidently, it got too depressing for the New York Times, because as the story stands now, that second sentence is gone. Apprently the Times editors decided that pointing out that Americans are more interested in buying cheap teevees than in voting is not "fit to print."

Niels Lesniewski of Roll Call: "A senator who voted against keeping Harry Reid as the Democratic leader is getting a seat at the leadership table. Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia is taking on the role of policy development advisor at the Democratic Policy and Communications Center. He joins a leadership team that previously expanded in number with the addition of progressive heroine Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts."

CBS San Francisco: "Walmart employees, in the Bay Area and across the nation, are on strike this Black Friday in what may be the largest Black Friday strike ever. They are calling on the retail giant to raise pay to a minimum of $15 an hour and provide consistent full-time work."

God News

Tim Egan: "Considering that it took the Mormon Church more than a century to acknowledge what scholars have long known to be true, it may take another hundred years for the elders in Salt Lake City to proclaim that the prophet, seer, revelator and founder of their religion was the kind of guy who would have to register with the police today before moving into a neighborhood."

God convinces GOP staffer that suggesting the President's daughters look like bar-hopping sluts is "hurtful." Missy Ryan of the Washington Post: Criticizing Malia & Sasha Obama's appearance at the annual Turkey pardoning, "Elizabeth Lauten, communications director for Rep. Stephen Lee Fincher (Tenn.), wrote Friday in a Facebook posting addressed to Sasha, 13, and Malia, 16..., 'Rise to the occasion. Dress like you deserve respect, not a spot at the bar,' Lauten wrote.... 'After many hours of prayer, talking to my parents, and re-reading my words online I can see more clearly just how hurtful my words were.... I pledge to learn and grow (and I assure you I have) from this experience.'" Thank you, God. See also remarks under yesterday's Non-Commentariat by P. D. Pepe & James S.

Beyond the Beltway

"Deep South Justice in Ferguson." Colbert King of the Washington Post: A white-on-black murder his grandmother told King about "gave meaning to the assertion of Chief Justice Roger B. Taney in Dred Scott that the black man has 'no rights which the white man was bound to respect.' The slaying in Ferguson, Mo., of an unarmed, 18-year-old African American, Michael Brown, by a white cop, Darren Wilson, who in turn gets away with it, strikes a raw nerve. It reminds many of the way in which authority is exercised, especially in communities where the central relationship between blacks and whites is the police." ,,,

... Monica Davey, et al., of the New York Times: Competing witness accounts suggest that the public will never know what really happened in the last seconds of Michael Brown's life. ...

... AFP: "The Missouri police officer who killed an unarmed black teen sparking months of protests in the city of Ferguson will never return to policing, his lawyer said. Darren Wilson is currently in discussions with the Ferguson, Missouri police department on the terms and conditions of his departure, attorney Neil Bruntrager said this week." ...

... Update. Christine Byers of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "Citing threats of violence, Darren Wilson, who fatally shot Michael Brown Aug. 9, resigned from the Ferguson Police Department on Saturday. Wilson, 28, whom a St. Louis County grand jury declined to indict in connection with the shooting, had worked for the city's police department for six years.... He said resigning was 'the hardest thing I've ever had to do.'" CW: Shooting at a teenager 12 times: piece of cake. ...

... Smoking Gun: "A police report detailing a fight last month between members of Michael Brown's family over the sale of commemorative t-shirts identifies the late teenager's mother as one of the 'attackers' who beat and robbed vendors selling the merchandise from a tent in a Ferguson, Missouri parking lot. A copy of the Ferguson Police Department report was provided yesterday by city attorney Stephanie Karr. When TSG requested the document two weeks ago, Karr noted that Brown's mother, Lesley McSpadden, was 'described in the report' and had 'specifically requested that the report be withheld from the media.'" ...

... CW: A couple of days ago. I linked a Smoking Gun report that after the announcement that Darren Wilson would not face charges, Brown's stepfather had repeatedly urged a crowd of protesters to "Burn this bitch down!" Assuming the reports are quasi-accurate, with parents like this, that poor kid had a tough row to hoe.

... Brendan James of TPM: "Red State editor Ben Howe jumped on Twitter the day before Thanksgiving to share his take on a grand jury's decision not to indict Ferguson, Mo. police officer Darren Wilson in the killing of unarmed teenager Michael Brown. The conservative editor's takeaway on Wednesday was brief but clear: He tweeted that, if he were in Wilson's position, he would have "shot Mike Brown right in his face.'" CW: These jerks really know how to set an appropriate tone, don't they? ...

... Digby: "What you're talking about are the rules of combat where a soldier in a war zone is charged with killing the enemy and the enemy is charged with killing him. It's kill or be killed. Policing in the streets of America is supposed to be different. Or it used to be anyway, with the police having a very strong obligation to de-escalate situations with unarmed citizens, not shoot them down in the street. 'Kill or be killed' is a very dangerous credo for the authorities to have in a so-called free society." ...

<... KTVI St. Louis: "Demonstrators boycotting Black Friday targeted several malls in the St. Louis area Friday afternoon. The movement was organized on social media...." ...

NBC 5 Seattle & AP: "Black Friday turned into a day of protests at malls across the country after a grand jury decision not to indict Officer Darren Wilson earlier this week. Protesters in a St. Louis mall blocked shoppers and forced some stores to close. In Seattle, demonstrators forced Westlake Mall to close early on the busiest shopping day of the year and tried to disrupt the city's traditional tree lighting ceremony."

Best Holiday Headline. TPM: "Masturbating Passenger Causes Premature Landing For Virgin Flight."

No Commentariat Today

Sorry, my power has been out since late Wednesday night/early Thursday. At first I heard it would be restored in a couple of hours; then Saturday; then Sunday; now the story is maybe Monday.

The Internet connections were down in town, but obviously I found one that's up today. However, I've got stuff to do that precludes my working on Reality Chex.

I might try to do some postings tomorrow, but I'm not promising. Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. No turkey for me. But hummus!

News Ledes

Your Holiday News Report.

KHOU Houston: "A reserve deputy constable with Harris County (Texas) Precinct 6 has been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Kenneth Caplan was taken into custody Wednesday morning, authorities tell KHOU 11 News. Caplan is accused of shooting a 20-year-old woman who was driving on the 610 Loop at Stella Link about two weeks ago." ...

... WXIA Atlanta: A "man ... killed [a] dog while firing multiple gunshots into a Chevy Suburban that was loaded with children. Witnesses say the shooting began with road rage and ended up with the gunman following the SUV to a strip mall on Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard. 'About five minutes later, they pulled back through,' said one of the victims, who asked not to be identified. 'They just rolled right up; they pulled a gun out and started (shooting).'" ...

... Fox 13 Tampa: A Pinellas Park (Florida) man who "had run-ins with Pinellas Park police 34 times since 2012" shot himself dead during a domestic dispute after he threatened to kill one of the family dogs. "Police say he cocked the gun, lowered the hammer, and then for some reason turned the gun around toward his face right as it fired. Based on witness statements, investigators believe it was an accident. 'It's a shame. It's a damn shame. I never figured him to be irresponsible with a handgun,' next door neighbor Dallas Collins said." CW: seems Collins is an excellent judge of character. ...

... CNN: "The busiest shopping day of the year also saw a major boom for gun sales, with the federal background check system setting a record of more than 175,000 background checks Friday, according to the FBI. The staggering number of checks -- an average of almost three per second, nearly three times the daily average -- falls on the shoulders of 600 FBI and contract call center employees who will endure 17-hour workdays in an attempt to complete the background reviews in three business days, as required by law, FBI spokesman Stephen Fischer said." CW: Merry Scary Christmas.

New York Daily News: "... Gov. Mario Cuomo [D-N.Y.] ... spent Thanksgiving at a Manhattan hospital with a serious heart condition. The 82-year-old Cuomo, the father of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, was last seen in public at his son's re-election celebration the night of Nov. 4. He was hospitalized several days later."

Comments Off

Permalink

Email Article

Wednesday

Nov262014

A Shocking Executive Order

Washington, D.C.
October 3, 1863

By the President of the United States of America.

A Proclamation.

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consiousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom. No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the Unites States the Eighty-eighth.

By the President: Abraham Lincoln

William H. Seward,
Secretary of State

Comments Off

Permalink

Email Article