The Ledes

Thursday, September 26, 2024

The New York Times:' live updates of Hurricane Helene developments today are here. “Hurricane Helene was barreling through the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday en route to Florida, where residents were bracing for extreme rain, destructive winds and deadly storm surge ahead of the storm’s expected landfall. The storm could intensify to a Category 4, if not higher, before making landfall late Thursday, and forecasters warned Helene’s anticipated large size could make its impacts felt across an extensive area. Areas as distant as Atlanta and the Appalachians are at risk for heavy rains.... Many forecast models show the storm making landfall late Thursday near Florida’s Big Bend Coast, a sparsely populated stretch....” ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post has forecasts for some cites in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina & Tennessee that are in or near the probable path of Helene. ~~~

     ~~~ This morning, an MSNBC weatherperson said Tallahassee (which is inland) would experience wind gusts of up to 120 m.p.h. and that the National Weather Service said expected 20-foot storm surges near the coast would be “unsurvivable.”

The Wires
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The Ledes

Wednesday, September 25, 2024

The New York Times is live-updating developments in the progress of Hurricane Helene. “Helene continued to power north in the Caribbean Sea, strengthening into a hurricane Wednesday morning, on a path that forecasters expect will bring heavy amounts of rain to Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula and western Cuba before it begins to move toward Florida’s Gulf Coast.” ~~~

~~~ CNN: “Helene rapidly intensified into a hurricane Wednesday as it plows toward a Florida landfall as the strongest hurricane to hit the United States in over a year. The storm will also grow into a massive, sprawling monster as it continues to intensify, one that won’t just slam Florida, but also much of the Southeast.... Thousands of Florida residents have already been forced to evacuate and nearly the entire state is under alerts as the storm threatens to unleash flooding rainfall, damaging winds and life-threatening storm surge.... The hurricane unleashed its fury on parts of Mexico’s Yucátan Peninsula and Cuba Wednesday.“

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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”

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
Jul242023

July 24, 2023

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Seung Min Kim of the AP: "President Joe Biden is tapping Shuwanza Goff -- a veteran congressional aide who also served as his main point of contact to the House at the start of the administration -- as his new director of legislative affairs, making her the first Black woman to be the White House's chief emissary to Capitol Hill. Goff succeeds Louisa Terrell in the role, a position that is especially vital for a president who spent more than three decades in Congress and takes pride in his connections to lawmakers. Goff comes into the job with deep relationships not just with Democrats but with Republicans, including House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., that were honed over more than a decade on Capitol Hill. In a statement announcing the hire, Biden called Goff a 'proven leader and trusted voice on both sides of the aisle' who played a key role in the biggest legislative accomplishments from the first two years of his presidency ... as well as the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson."

Texas. Chris Boyette & Priscilla Alvarez of CNN: "Texas Gov. Greg Abbott will not be ordering floating barriers to be removed from the Rio Grande, in defiance of the US Department of Justice. 'Texas will fully utilize its constitutional authority to deal with the crisis you have caused,' Abbott wrote in a letter to President Joe Biden following last week's DOJ request to remove the barriers. He added, 'Texas will see you in court, Mr. President.' The showdown between Abbott and the federal government comes as Texas' treatment of migrants who attempt to cross into the US illegally faces increased scrutiny. Biden administration officials have grown increasingly concerned in recent months about Abbott's measures, which have disrupted US Border Patrol operations in the region and put migrants at risk."

Tia Goldenberg & Isaac Scharf of the AP: "Israeli lawmakers on Monday approved a key portion of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's divisive plan to reshape the country's justice system despite massive protests that have exposed unprecedented fissures in Israeli society. The vote came after a stormy session in which opposition lawmakers chanted 'shame' and then stormed out of the chamber. It reflected the determination of Netanyahu and his far-right allies to move ahead with the plan, which has tested the delicate social ties that bind the country, rattled the cohesion of its powerful military and repeatedly drawn concern from its closest ally, the United States.... In Monday's vote, lawmakers approved a measure that prevents judges from striking down government decisions on the basis that they are 'unreasonable.' With the opposition out of the hall, the measure passed by a 64-0 margin." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I couldn't figure out precisely why the opposition "stormed out of the chamber" and was "out of the hall" for the vote, but according to the NYT liveblog, also linked below, "... members of the opposition left the chamber, boycotting the vote they had no chance of winning."

Twitter Isn't Twitter Anymore. Noam Scheiber & Ryan Mac of the New York Times: "Elon Musk has made one of the most visible changes to Twitter since he took control of the social media company last fall: replacing its widely recognized bird logo.... A stylized, black-and-white X appeared on the company's website in place of the blue bird logo. Twitter's corporate accounts also adopted the new branding, which was projected onto the side of the company's headquarters in San Francisco overnight.... 'X' is a term for what Mr. Musk has described as an 'everything app' that could combine social media, instant messaging and payment services, akin to the popular Chinese app WeChat." This is an update of a story linked below. The NBC News story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Wikipedia already is referring to Twitter in the past tense.

~~~~~~~~~~

The "Trump Tax." Glenn Thrush, et al., of the New York Times: "Jack Smith, the special counsel overseeing criminal investigations into ... Donald J. Trump, employs 40 to 60 career prosecutors, paralegals and support staff, augmented by a rotating cast of F.B.I. agents and technical specialists.... In his first four months on the job, starting in November, Mr. Smith's investigation incurred expenses of $9.2 million. That included $1.9 million to pay the U.S. Marshals Service to protect Mr. Smith, his family and other investigators who have faced threats after the former president and his allies singled them out on social media. At this rate, the special counsel is on track to spend about $25 million a year.... Even the $25 million figure only begins to capture the full scale of the resources dedicated by federal, state and local officials to address Mr. Trump's behavior before, during and after his presidency.... Justice Department officials have long said that the effort alone to prosecute the members of the pro-Trump mob who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, is the largest investigation in its history....

"The main driver of all these efforts and their concurrent expenses is Mr. Trump's own behavior -- his unwillingness to accept the results of an election as every one of his predecessors has done, his refusal to heed his own lawyers' advice and a grand jury's order to return government documents and his lashing out at prosecutors in personal terms." Emphasis added. ~~~

~~~ It turns out Trump is reading his bad press. Phillip Nieto of Mediaite reports that Trump took to Liars' Social Sunday night to write about the "coordinated Hoax" designed "to STEAL ANOTHER ELECTION through PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT at levels never seen before in the U.S. Deranged Jack Smith has already spent over $25,000,000!" In a later post, he wrote, "Just think of it! Between Mueller, Deranged Jack Smith, and Congressional Committees, over 100 Million Dollars has been spent investigating me since I came down the escalator in Trump Tower. Biden is a criminal, and almost no money, by comparison, has been spent investigating him. Get smart, Republicans, they are trying to steal the Election from you!" An hour later he wrote, "Merrick Garland, Deranged Jack Smith, and coordinating Democrat 'Prosecutors' in New York and Atlanta, have become the Campaign Managers for the most corrupt and incompetent President in United States history, Joe Biden! Who would have thought this could happen in our once great Country?" MB: Who, indeed? And funny how Trump seemed to skip the part of the story that said out how the expenditures were the result of his own bad acts.

Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post: "The twice-indicted Donald Trump has a perfect record: He has lost every important challenge in the multiple, major legal cases swirling around him. Sometimes, this has happened at the trial court level; sometimes, it's been on appeal. But eventually, he has lost on every significant issue, civil or criminal, to come up. That ought to tell us something about the former president's ability to navigate the rough legal waters ahead of him -- and how dramatically the excuses his team serves up for the right-wing media zombies fall short in courts of law.... What passes for an argument on right-wing media or for MAGA cult members and lawmakers carries no weight in courts of law." MB: I dunno. "I declassified it in my mind" and "It was a perfect phone call" convinced me.

Marquise Francis & Andrew Romano of Yahoo! News cite the results of a new Yahoo News/You-Gov poll: "Asked how much of a problem racism currently is, just 19% of Trump voters describe racism against Black Americans as a 'big problem.' Twice as many (37%) say racism against white Americans is a big problem. Trump voters and self-identified Republicans -- overlapping but not identical cohorts -- are the only demographic groups identified by Yahoo News and YouGov who are more likely to say racism against white Americans is a problem than to say the same about racism against Black Americans." Via Mediaite.

Presidential Race 2024

Even Ron DeSantis Thinks Ron DeSantis is Bizarre. Tommy Christoper of Mediaite: "New York Times correspondent ... Maggie Haberman revealed that the much-derided anti-LGBTQ video attacking ex-President Donald Trump was produced by a Ron DeSantis staffer and 'passed off' to a supporter for publication. 'To wrap up "Pride Month," let's hear from the politician who did more than any other Republican to celebrate it....' the DeSantis War Room tweeted on June 30, along with a video that would be derided near-universally as bizarre and rabidly homophobic -- yet also oddly homoerotic. The video appeared in the tweet to originate from another account, and merely retweeted and commented on by the official DeSantis campaign account[.] But according to a deep dive on the DeSantis campaign 'reboot' published by Haberman and Shane Goldmacher, the retweet was a subterfuge to conceal the fact that the video was produced in-house[.]"

Report from the Dark Side. Philip Bump of the Washington Post explores how Donald Trump has been able to convince "his base that his indictments were aimed at them: ... [by exploiting] misinformation in the right-wing media, eight years of identifying as the base's voice, claims that the elites are worried about his imminent reelection...."

Kelly Garrity of Politico: "Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. blamed the media for dragging his campaign Sunday, saying he has been slammed 'even more than President Trump was slammed' by mainstream media outlets. 'I've been really, you know, slammed in a way that I think is unprecedented,' Kennedy said during an interview on Fox News" 'Sunday Morning Futures.'" (Also linked yesterday.)


This Should Fix Everything. Noam Scheiber & Ryan Mac of the New York Times: "Elon Musk said he was about to make one of the most visible changes to Twitter since he took control of the social media company last fall: replacing its widely recognized bird logo. In a tweet early Sunday morning Eastern time, Mr. Musk said that 'soon we shall bid adieu to the twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds.'" Maybe he could rename Twitter "Muskville" or "Das Muskenhangers." At the top of today's Comments, Akhilleus has some much better ideas.

Beyond the Beltway

Florida. Washington Post Editors: "Florida public schools will now teach students that the once constitutionally protected system under which enslavers bought and sold human beings had an apparent upside.... Enslaved Black people 'developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.' The state's public school curriculum developed by the administration of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis ... will now also teach that the race massacres of the 19th and 20th centuries were 'perpetuated by' both Black and White Americans.... The revised curriculum follows the governor's rejection of a new Advanced Placement African American studies course, which his administration claimed 'lacks educational value.'... There is no historical counterargument to the atrocities of slavery or the racial violence that resulted from its abolition. Florida's plan to teach otherwise should alarm Americans everywhere." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I'm convinced that one of the purposes of DeSantis' dis-education campaign is to undermine Americans' faith in another fundamental American institution: public education. The entire right-wing project is to destabilize the country's institutions: the "deep-state" bureaucrats of the executive branch, Congress, the entire judicial system, the "liberal-elite" media, public libraries, whatever. While there is no question that each of the institutions within our system has plenty of room for improvement, together they form the network upon which the country runs. This also of course requires the destabilization and misinterpretation of our basic values as expressed in documents like the Constitution and its amendments and laws that enhance human rights, health and social security.

Way Beyond

Cambodia. Seth Mydans of the New York Times: "The party of the Cambodian prime minister, Hun Sen, declared victory on Sunday in stage-managed parliamentary elections that prepared the way for the first change in leadership since he took office nearly four decades ago. Although the official results will not be confirmed until Monday, the suppression of all meaningful opposition -- often by violence -- meant that Mr. Hun Sen's party was always a virtual lock to sweep the election."

Israel. The New York Times is liveblogging developments in the protests in Israel against PM Netanyahu's efforts to limit judicial oversight. "Labor and business leaders threatened to shut down the nation's economy as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition tries to push a proposal to limit judicial power through Parliament."

Spain. Jason Horowitz of the New York Times: "Spain was thrust into political uncertainty on Sunday after national elections left no party with enough support to form a government, most likely resulting in weeks of horse trading or potentially a new vote later this year. Returns showed most votes were divided between the center right and center left. But neither the governing Socialist Party of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez nor his conservative opponents won enough ballots to govern alone in the 350-seat Parliament." CNN's report is here.

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

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live briefing of developments Monday is here: "A drone struck a skyscraper in Moscow early Monday, shattering glass on its 17th and 18th floors, Russian officials reported. The wreckage of a second drone was found on Komsomolsky Prospect, a thoroughfare in central Moscow. Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said two nonresidential buildings were struck but there were no casualties.... Moscow downed the drones by electronic means, the Russian Defense Ministry said, blaming Ukraine for the attack.... The incident comes after another night of attacks on Ukraine's Odessa region. Drones targeted port infrastructure along the Danube River, injuring six people and destroying a grain hangar, said Oleh Kiper, the regional governor.... Ukraine attacked an ammunition depot in Crimea with drones overnight, the Russian-backed head of the peninsula said.... Ukraine has taken back about half of the land that Russia initially seized in the invasion, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during an interview with CNN. However, he tempered Kyiv's inroads with warnings of a tough path ahead.... Ukrainian pilots will begin training with F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft developed by the U.S. Air Force next month, Ukrainian Defense Minister ​​Oleksii Reznikov told CNN, adding that training sessions would take place across several European countries."

News Ledes

Alabama. New York Times: "An Alabama woman whose brief disappearance this month drew national attention and prompted sprawling search efforts across the state said through a lawyer on Monday that she had faked the entire ordeal -- including her abduction and her claim of seeing a toddler on the side of a road. The woman, Carlee Russell, 25, said through her lawyer, Emory Anthony, that she had not been kidnapped on July 13 in Hoover, Ala., and that she had not seen a baby on the side of an interstate that night -- a detail that she had shared with a 911 dispatcher before being reported missing." The AP's report is here.

Florida. New York Times: "The chief of public safety for Miami-Dade County, Fla., suffered serious head injuries from a self-inflicted gunshot late on Sunday and was hospitalized in Tampa, the authorities said on Monday. Alfredo Ramirez III, who serves in a dual role as the public safety chief and the director of the Miami-Dade Police Department, the largest police department in the Southeast, was in stable condition after undergoing surgery on Monday, officials from Miami-Dade County and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement said."

Comments Off

Reader Comments (10)

Elon looking to replace the Twitter bird? Great idea. Just like when Coke decided to change the formula for the most successful soft drink in history. You can still find jokes about the “New Coke” fiasco floating around.

But since he’s already screwed the brand, might as well go whole hog, give someone else the bird, and get a new creature logo.

Corporations making big changes like this usually spend millions on consultants’ fees, but I’ll go ahead and offer some carefully thought out options for free. Cuz I’m that kinda guy.

So here go some alternate options for New Twitter creature logos.

Rat
Pigeon
Weasel
Anteater
Mosquito
Vampire Bat
Platypus
Okapi
Star Nosed Mole (because why not?)
Blobfish
Pink Fairy Armadillo (could work, right?)
Venezuelan Poodle Moth
Penis Snake (just imagine THAT logo!)
Myotonic Goat (grab it before some other company does!)
Aye-Aye (for the CEO in need of yes men)
Tsetse Fly
Hairy Frog (it’d be memorable)

And if nothing else works…

MUSK OX!

That’ll be $75 million, please. (I know I said “free” but I didn’t mean FREE. Jesus.)

July 24, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

AK: I have to wonder: Will vetted posts on that forum now be "X Rated"?

July 24, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterBobby Lee

OR–––since Elon is in love with his own musk he might very well want to get his name in there–---call it MMB's for Musk's Message Board and dispense with creatures that twitter or bite you in the ass.

July 24, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterP.D.Pepe

BIBI'S BOTCHED BEGIINIGS: from David Remnick

"No man is a hero to his director of communications and policy planning. David Bar-Illan, a former concert pianist and editor of the Jerusalem Post, was without illusions about Netanyahu even as he pledged abiding loyalty to him. When I asked Bar-Illan how Netanyahu won the ultra-Orthodox vote despite his rigorously secular life style, Bar-Illan said, “Finessing his being secular was nothing compared to other things, like adultery. One thing is to have an affair with a shiksa—but a married woman! With a shiksa, even the rebbes do it. But a married woman! Now Bibi’ll go to synagogue on Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, maybe he’s gone to the Western Wall, or he’ll say the phrase ‘With God’s help.’ But he’s not fooling anyone.”

July 24, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterP.D.Pepe

Looks like Musk is mush and X marks the spot. How disappointing!

July 24, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterP.D.Pepe

@P.D.Pepe: "MMB" would be good with me; those our my initials. I guess I'd have to think of the "new Twitter" as "Marie's Message Board."

July 24, 2023 | Registered CommenterMarie Burns

And I thought 'X' was the signature of the illiterate.

July 24, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterForrestMorris

Bobby Lee,

I’m guessing the X thing is Musk’s idea for making the operation he ran into the ground hip and cool. It already was hip and cool (for some people) until he took over. In the HBO series “The Wire” a drug kingpin taking business courses at night runs into a problem of sagging sales. After consulting with a teacher, he realizes that he needs to do what plenty of corporations do when a product is under performing: change the name. Same crap, different name.

Musk is just another drug dealer.

July 24, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

I have suggested this to the DeSantanist campaign as a rally theme song.
Randy Newman's, Sail Away
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p77609cWO4U

July 24, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterDan

@Dan: Yeah, here's one for Trump, though I change the first two lines to

I had a friend named Rambling Don,
He used to steal, dissemble and con.

July 24, 2023 | Registered CommenterMarie Burns
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