The Ledes

Thursday, September 19, 2024

New York Times: “A body believed to be of the suspect in a Kentucky highway shooting that left five people seriously injured this month was found on Wednesday, the authorities said, ending a manhunt that stretched into a second week and set the local community on edge. The Kentucky State Police commissioner, Phillip Burnett Jr., said in a Wednesday night news conference that at approximately 3:30 p.m., two troopers and two civilians found an unidentified body in the brush behind the highway exit where the shooting occurred.... The police have identified the suspect of the shooting as Joseph A. Couch, 32. They said that on Sept. 7, Mr. Couch perched on a cliff overlooking Interstate 75 about eight miles north of London, Ky., and opened fire. One of the wounded was shot in the face, and another was shot in the chest. A dozen vehicles were riddled with gunfire.”

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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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Tuesday
Nov082016

Presidential Election Results

 

CW: So far (9 pm ET), we're looking at a nightmare. The NYT is now (at 9:45 pm ET) giving Trump a 58% chance of winning the presidency. At 10:10 pm ET, the Times gives Trump a 73% chance of winning. At 10:45 pm ET, the NYT is giving Trump a 93% chance of winning. At 11:15 pm ET, the Times gives Trump a 95% chance of winning.

Dow Jones futures dropped 800 points, NBC reports at 12:50 pm ET.

 

*BTW, CNN has called Nebraska for Trump, but NBC has called on 4 Electoral College votes for Trump there, as the state splits its EC vote, and Omaha could still go either way. CNN has now called 4 electoral votes for Trump.

 

If you're interested in election results, CNN is better than NBC.

North Carolina is extending voting time in Durham County for from 20-60 minutes.

Senate Races

 

At 5:15 am ET, Republicans remain in control of the Senate, with 51 Republicans, 47 Democrats and 2 races undecided.

At 10:10 pm ET, the New York Times give Republicans a 93% chance of maintaining control of the Senate.

States are listed in alpha order.

Alabama: Richard Shelby (R) retains his seat.

Alaska: Lisa Murkowski (R) retains her seat.

Arizona: John McCain (R) retains his seat.

Arkansas: John Boozman (R) retains his seat.

California: Kamala Harris (D) won the election.

Colorado: Michael Bennet (D) won re-election.

Connecticut: Dick Blumenthal (D) retains his seat.

Florida: Marco Rubio (R) is the projected winner.

Georgia: Johnny Isakson (R) won re-election.

Hawaii: Brian Schatz (D) retains his seat.

** Illinois: Tammy Duckworth (D) beats incumbent Mark Kirk (R). This is the first Democratic pick-up.

Indiana: Todd Young (R) bests Evan Bayh (D).

Iowa: Chuck Grassley (R) retains his seat.

Kansas: Jerry Moran (R) retains his seat.

Kentucky: Rand Paul (R) will retain his seat.

Louisiana: No candidate won; runoff election December 10.

Maryland: Chris Van Hollen (D) takes open Democratic seat.

Missouri: Roy Blunt (R) won re-election.

** Nevada: Cortez Masto (D) becomes first Latina Senator.

New Hampshire: Not decided; leaning Ayotte (R) Hassan (D).

Oklahoma: James Lankford (R) retains his seat.

Pennsylvania: Pat Toomey (R) retains his seat.

North Dakota: John Hoeven (R) retains his seat.

New York: Chuck Schumer (D) retains his seat.

North Carolina: Richard Burr (R) retains his seat.

Ohio: Rob Portman (R) retains his seat.

South Carolina: Tim Scott (R) will retain his seat.

South Dakota: John Thune (R) retains his seat.

Utah: Mike Lee (R) retains his seat.

Vermont: Pat Leahy (D) will retain his seat.

Washington: Patty Murray (D) retains her seat.

Wisconsin: Ron Johnson (R) has bested Russ Feingold (D).


See also Tuesday's Afternoon Update, which is extensive.

Comments Off

Reader Comments (5)

The Con/Koch concentration on States has paid off. They have delivered voter ID laws and other forms of voter suppression and disenfranchisement, gun rights/intimidation, gutted education and social programs, limited healthcare and bankrupted states, blaming the President. Who pulled the US kicking and screaming out of the bush recession, improving the DoJ and delivered 30 million jobs and as much as he could with both hands tied behind his back. And now this. Shrink the government so that you can drown it in the bath, and blame the other guy. Especially when the other guy is the "other" guy. People said of bush that it wouldn't be so bad, but the world is paying the price for his misbegotten presidency, and will for decades to come, M.E. instability, wars and 65 million refugees aren't going away. And then, SCOTUS. A generation of extremist activism from the bench. I reckon that many of the people who voted trump will not suffer many consequences, although their 401K's might take a hit. They are often older, will not be affected by reduced healthcare or increased costs, unless Ryan scuttles Medicare. They aren't going to serve in the military, they aren't educating their kids anymore, they are often rural so don't give a hoot about the cities. I doubt whether they will even care when he doesn't "build that wall", or "lock her up". There will be some excuse as to why the jobs aren't brought back. They won't even notice if press freedom is curtailed, their alt-right sites will flourish. I have always felt that the Dems have not had their eyes on the ball with State Legislatures. Those Con Governors have laid the groundwork that have made this possible.

November 9, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterGloria

I know we are all sick at heart! What stuns me most is that I truly did not realize the immense size of the "basket of deplorables" in our sick little country! And I really did think that almost all white women, (and, of course, all black and Latinas), would vote for Hillary. All of this, despite my knowing that most American voters are incapable of critical thinking. I guess in that sense I can admit that we got the President we deserve. BOO-FUCKIN'-HOO!

I am going to have a marijuana edible (maybe two) and pile into bed. My sympathies to all of us!

P.S. Perhaps the worst blow I have felt is Russ Feingold's loss to that crazy teapartier, Ron Johnson, in Wisconsin. I am so angry at Wisconsin right now that I do not want to admit it is my native state!

November 9, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterKate Madison

What a disaster!

Much can be blamed on Vote Your Conscience, the Nader Effect of the Libertarians/Greens vote tallies, and those who did not vote for either of the two—but abstained or wrote in someone inconsequential. Such courageous people of honor! hah! I'm looking at you Gov. Baker of Massachusetts, Laura & George Bush, et al.

November 9, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterMAG

So the dog that has been chasing the car all these years has caught it. Now republicans will have to govern. Fasten your seatbelts while you still have them...

November 9, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterNiskyGuy

At this moment I am not sure if I am more ashamed for my beloved country or ashamed of her.

November 9, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterBobbyLee
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