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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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Sunday
Apr242011

The Commentariat -- April 25

This Republican President. Ezra Klein: "... The White House’s [budget] plan is, if anything, substantially more conservative than the Simpson-Bowles [Catfood Commission] framework." ...

... Paul Krugman: "... the only major budget proposal out there offering a plausible path to balancing the budget is the one that includes significant tax increases: the 'People’s Budget' from the Congressional Progressive Caucus, which — unlike the Ryan plan, which was just right-wing orthodoxy with an added dose of magical thinking — is genuinely courageous because it calls for shared sacrifice." Here's a link to the CPC budget, which has a very readable overview. Comments are activiated on the Off Times Square page, and I've posted mine. ...

     ... NEW. For a delicious taste of incomparable parody, I direct you to Krugman Comment #36, the work of one Winnie Regressivita. (You have to be at least a semi-regular Times comments reader to appreciate the art of the comment.) Please recommend it, and no, I didn't write it. But I wish I had.

     ... Update: I've also added a comments page for Ross Douthat's column on Off Times Square. Have at it. Update 2: My comment, which I submitted within minutes of the time Douthat's column went up, has been "disappeared." I guess the moderators didn't like my definition of Douthat's Hell, but you can read my comment in Off Times Square. Update 3: now there are more excellent comments on Douthat. Like mine, Akhilleus' comment likely won't make the Times cut because it's too true.

Ryan Lizza of the New Yorker writes a long, riveting piece about the evolution of Barack Obama's international policy.

Peter Finn of the Washington Post: "A cache of classified military documents obtained by ...WikiLeaks presents new details of the whereabouts [of Al Qaeda leaders] on Sept. 11, 2001, and their movements afterward. The documents also offer some tantalizing glimpses into the whereabouts and operations of Osama bin Laden and his Egyptian deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri. The documents, provided to European and U.S. news outlets, including The Washington Post, are intelligence assessments of nearly every one of the 779 individuals who have been held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, since 2002." New York Times story by Charlie Savage, et al., here.

Peter Finn & Anne Kornblut of the Washington Post: "... the failed effort to close Guantanamo was reflective of the aspects of [President] Obama’s leadership style that continue to distress his liberal base — a willingness to allow room for compromise and a passivity that at times permits opponents to set the agenda."

The Republicans are looking at this as just another opening to force the president’s hand, to hold everything hostage again. The White House shouldn’t cave, and the Republicans shouldn’t count on that. The White House needs to be tough on this one. -- Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) on the vote to raise the debt ceiling. McGovern also said House Democrats would vote against a GOP-Obama deal with too many GOP cuts attached to it.

Michael Grunwald of Time wants to ask Fed Chair Ben Bernanke why he's failing. "I’ve described Bernanke as the most transparent Fed chairman ever — which, granted, is a bit like being the most intelligent Real Housewife ever — and I think it’s really cool that on Wednesday he’ll hold the first press conference in Fed history." So maybe Grunwald will ask Bernanke that question at the presser, OR ...

... Grunwald could read Paul Krugman, who already knows the real answer: "... what we’ve had is a much downsized version of the policy, more than offset by other government actions — a lot like the fiscal stimulus. And we’re supposed to be surprised that it proved disappointing?" ...

... Benjamin Wallace-Wells profiles Paul Krugman in New York magazine. The print version, which saves your clicking through, is here, but it wanted for some punctuation when I called it up.

"He Broke the Law." Glenn Greenwald has a terrific post on President & Constitutional Scholar Obama's stunning pre-trial declaration that Bradley Manning was guilty as charged. ...

... M. J. Lee & Abby Phillip of Politico cite experts who agree with Greenwald. ...

... Teddy Partridge of Firedoglake compares President Obama's statement & the follow-up/cover-up with President Richard Nxon's declaration that Charles Manson was guilty of murder -- while the jurors were still deliberating. A big difference: the Manson "jurors were not in a directly subordinate relationship to the commander-in-chief, as any jurors in a possible Bradley Manning court-martial would be."

Marcia Dunn of the AP on the launch of the Shuttle Endeavor this Friday, which Mark Kelly, husband of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, will captain. Giffords & the Obama family will attend.

Rose George in a New York Times op-ed: the shipping industry is rife with abuse of crews, because of the system of “open registries” [which] are used by over 60 percent of shippers, up from 4 percent in the 1950s. Under the flags of convenience system, registries have been divorced from government oversight."

Jonathan Cohn of The New Republic: it isn't just Medicare, Medicaid & the Affordable Health Act the GOP has voted to end/dismantle. The Ryan/Republican budget, already voted in by House Republicans, will end the food stamp program (now know as SNAP) as we know it.

"They Lied." The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee whacks Republicans who promised during the 2010 campaign to preserve Medicare, then voted to gut it shortly after they took office:

... Meanwhile, Alexander Bolton of The Hill reports that "Senate Democratic aides expect Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to force Senate Republicans to vote on the Paul Ryan budget plan. Reid hasn’t made a formal decision yet, and won’t until he returns from an overseas trip."

It’s like a big hustle. It’s like being a car salesman. Don’t go out there and say things unless you can back them up. How dare you? That’s awful to do. To just go out and speak and say these terrible things? Unless you just wanna get over and get the job. It’s crazy. -- Actor Robert De Niro, on Donald Trump's birther tour

Right Wing World *

Rick Hertzberg: "For the Donald, thinking less and less seems to be working more and more." ...

... Andy Borowitz: "A threat to the fledgling presidential campaign of Donald Trump emerged today, as a group of activists charged that Mr. Trump is not eligible to hold the nation’s highest office because his hair does not originate from the U.S. The group, who call themselves 'Balders,' claim that the hair-like substance that crowns Mr. Trump’s head is from a foreign country, which would mean that the candidate is less than one hundred percent American."

One Way to Cover up a Lie -- Erase It. Nick Carbone of Time: (1) on the Senate floor Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) asserted that more than 90 percent of Planned Parenthood's services were abortion-related. (2) Confronted with the fact that the number is closer to 3 percent, Kyl issued a statement that his remark was "not intended to be factual." (3) When that "excuse" proved to be a ridicule bomb (see, e.g., Colbert below -- about 2 min. in), he just had the remark erased from the Congressional Record.

... Or You Can Go into Hiding. Cameron Joseph of the National Journal: "Republicans who used seniors’ rage over health care changes to sweep into office last fall are now facing the same type of heat over the same issue: Modifications in Medicare and Medicaid. Many who voted for the plan House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., laid out to privatize the programs in future years have been in constituents’ crosshairs during Easter recess town-hall meetings. Others have simply avoided meeting with constituents."

Rick Santorum wants to be President so he can screw up EVERYTHING:

     ... Tanya Somanader of Think Progress lays out Santorum's Choice: "Failure to raise the debt ceiling would force Congress to make devestating cuts that would eviscerate basic government services (including national security and social safety net programs), would increase unemployment and retard economic growth, and would erode confidence in the U.S. Treasury bonds creating widespread panic in global financial markets. But if Congress pays Santorum’s 'price,' it would not only jeopardize popular provisions such as insurance pools for people with pre-existing conditions but 'cripple existing Medicare programs' by preventing the government from making payments to cover seniors. What’s more, as the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office noted, defunding health care would actually increase government spending by $5.6 billion by 2021 and, ironically, increase the federal deficit anyway."

* Where facts never intrude.

News Ledes

"Preposterous Charges." Jay Carney defends the President against Franklin Graham's conspiracy theories:

AP: "Proponents of California's same-sex marriage ban filed a motion Monday seeking to vacate the historic ruling that overturned Proposition 8 because the federal judge who wrote it is in a long-term relationship with another man. Lawyers for the ban's backers said that Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker should have removed himself from the case, or at least disclosed his relationship status, to avoid a real or perceived conflict of interest."

AP: "U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson ordered an immediate end to [NFL] the lockout Monday, siding with the players in their bitter fight with the owners over how to divide the $9 billion business. The fate of the 2011 season remained in limbo: The NFL responded by filing a notice of appeal questioning whether Nelson exceeded her jurisdiction, seeking relief from the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis. Hours later, the league filed a motion for an expedited stay, meaning it wants Nelson to freeze her ruling to let the appeals process play out."

AP: "Republican Gov. Haley Barbour bowed out of presidential contention Monday with a surprise announcement just as the 2012 campaign was getting under way in earnest, 18 months before Election Day. The Mississippi governor said he lacked the necessary 'absolute fire in the belly' to run." Barbour's full statement is here. ...

... BUT National Journal: "Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, whose outspoken libertarian views and folksy style made him a cult hero during two previous presidential campaigns, will announce on Tuesday that he's going to try a third time. Sources close to Paul ... will unveil an exploratory presidential committee.... He will also unveil the campaign’s leadership team in Iowa."

AP: "House Speaker John Boehner said Monday that Congress should 'take a look at' repealing the multibillion-dollar tax subsidies enjoyed by the major oil companies. The Ohio Republican told "ABC World News" that the government is low on revenues and that oil companies "ought to be paying their fair share." A gallon of gasoline exceeds $4 in some parts of the country." Video here.

Politico: "In a real victory for supporters of same-sex marriage -- and marking what seems like real marginalization for its foes -- a major law firm has reversed course and will refuse to represent the House of Representatives in defending the Defense of Marriage Act." ...

... Politico: "Former Solicitor General Paul Clement resigned Monday from his law firm, King amp; Spalding, over the firm's abrupt and belated decision to stop defending the Defense of Marriage Act on behalf of the House of Representatives."

Wall Street Journal: "The U.S. Supreme Court refused Monday to consider an early legal challenge to the new federal health-care law before the case has been fully litigated in the lower courts. The justices, without comment, rejected Virginia Republican Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's bid for early Supreme Court review." TPM story here.

AP: "Taliban militants dug a lengthy tunnel underground and into the main jail in Kandahar city and whisked out more than 450 prisoners, most of whom were Taliban fighters, officials and insurgents said Monday. The massive overnight jailbreak in Afghanistan's second-largest city underscores the Afghan government's continuing weakness in the south despite an influx of international troops, funding and advisers."

 Al Jazeera: "Syrian troops backed by tanks and heavy armour have stormed the southern town of Deraa and also Douma, a suburb of the capital Damascus, resulting in many deaths and dozens of arrests. Security forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad, the country's president, have also continued a crackdown in the coastal town of Jableh for a second day.An activist said late on Monday that 18 people had been killed in Deraa alone."

However, the government insists the army was invited in to rid the town of gunmen.

... Haaretz: "The Obama administration is drafting an executive order to freeze the assets of senior Syrian officials and bar them from engaging in any business dealings with the United States...."

AP: "A Jordanian security official says Syria has sealed the border with Jordan and is preventing people from leaving the country. The Jordanian border crossing lies close to the southern Syrian town of Daraa, where government forces were launching a sharp crackdown on protesters Monday. Some of the fiercest protests against the Syrian regime have taken place in Daraa."

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