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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
Jan242011

State of the Union -- Prognostications Part 2

Perry Bacon, Jr., of the Washington Post has yet another preview of the content of the State of the Union address.

Lori Montgomery of the Washington Post: "President Obama has decided not to endorse his deficit commission's recommendation to raise the retirement age, and otherwise reduce Social Security benefits, in Tuesday's State of the Union address, cheering liberals and drawing a stark line between the White House and key Republicans in Congress."

Sheryl Gay Stolberg of the New York Times: "In a series of carefully choreographed appearances on Sunday morning talk shows here, Republicans sought to draw the battle lines for the Tuesday night speech over government spending. With Mr. Obama planning to call for 'investments' of tax dollars in specific areas like education, infrastructure and technology, Republicans insisted that 'investment' was just another name for spending that the nation can ill afford." ...

... Shailagh Murray & Lori Montgomery of the Washington Post draw the same conclusion Stolberg does: "The debate that will define this year and likely set the terms for the 2012 elections began in earnest over the weekend, with President Obama and Republican leaders presenting competing visions to reduce the deficit and grow the economy. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Sunday that Republicans would do everything in their power to stop the new spending increases that Obama said were necessary in a video preview of his State of the Union address...."

The Rebuttal(s)

Garance Franke-Ruta & Chris Good of The Atlantic look at what could/will go wrong when Republican Rep. Paul Ryan delivers his rebuttal to the State of the Union address.

Star-Ledger: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said no.

And, although I've purposely avoided even mentioning it, what kinda fun do you think we'll have with Michele Bachmann's rebuttal to the rebuttal, or whatever the hell she bills her little tea party pout. ...

... Robert Schlesinger of U.S. News on the impending Bachmann fiasco (for the Republican party!). ...

... Dave Weigel, in Slate, says the Bachmann rebuttal is no big deal. Why, one person who gave an alternate SOTU rebuttal was none other than Sen. Barack Obama. With video! Oh, and here's another one Weigel mentions but has the good grace not to embed on his post. Eh, so I'm graceless (you will not be able to watch the whole thing, but just listening to the first little bit gives you a chance to recall what a phony that guy is):

Frank James of NPR addresses both rebuttals, with a little help from other bloggers.

Seating Arrangements, Con'd.

Polson Kannath of ABC News: "Daniel Hernandez Jr., one of the heroes of the mass shooting in Tucson, Ariz., two weeks ago, tells ABC News that he will be sitting, along with his father, Daniel Hernandez Sr., with Michelle Obama at the State of the Union on Tuesday...." ...

     ... Washington Post Update: "The White House released Monday the guest list for the first lady's box at Tuesday's State of the Union address."

... The Washington Post has a photohistory slideshow of State of the Union guests.

Cynthia Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "... there will always be at least one bonehead who will see something nefarious in a simple, if superficial, gesture designed to generate goodwill. In this case, the bonehead belongs to Georgia. U.S. Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.), one of the most rightwing and conspiracy-addled members of Congress, called on Republicans to reject the idea of sitting next to a Democrat...."

Karen Garcia thinks the to-do among members of the House & Senate over getting "dates" for the SOTU prom is pretty funny. Garcia refers to this New York Times article which we linked earlier.

Eric Kleefeld of TPM agrees with Garcia: "The biggest question headed into tomorrow's State of the Union address doesn't seem to be what President Obama will say..... No, the big question is -- which Democrat is sitting with which Republican?" He includes a funny exchange in which Kent Conrad (D-ND) asks Kay Bailey Huchison (R-Texas) to the SOTU prom -- on national TV! -- and she turns him down. Plus, Garcia's instinct on Joe Lieberman was right -- here's Christiane Amanpour asking Lonesome Joe about his SOTU plans:

LIEBERMAN: You know, when I was in high school, I always waited too long before the prom to ask for a date, so I haven't done that yet, but...

AMANPOUR: You've got two days. Tell us now.

LIEBERMAN: I'm going to be on the phone today.

Lee Ross of Fox "News": "Just one day before President Obama’s State of the Union address, it’s still not clear whether Chief Justice John Roberts will attend or, like ...Justice Samuel Alito, skip the event. The recent uptick in collegiality from lawmakers on Capitol Hill in the run-up to Tuesday’s speech contrasts sharply with the lingering controversy from last year’s speech in which President Obama rebuked the justices over a campaign finance decision." ...

... ** Dahlia Lithwick has a terrific commentary in Slate on the chilling impression that will be left if all of the conservative Supremes fail to show up for the SOTU & only the moderate attend. It doesn't help, either, that Justice Scalia is "teaching the Constitution" at a closed-door event for conservative House members.

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