The Ledes

Sunday, October 6, 2024

New York Times: “Two boys have been arrested and charged in a street attack on David A. Paterson, a former governor of New York, and his stepson, the police said. One boy, who is 12, was charged with second-degree gang assault, and the other, a 13-year-old, was charged with third-degree gang assault, the police said on Saturday night. Both boys, accompanied by their parents, turned themselves in to the police, according to Sean Darcy, a spokesman for Mr. Paterson. A third person, also a minor, went to the police but was not charged in the Friday night attack in Manhattan, according to an internal police report.... Two other people, both adults, were involved in the attack, according to the police. They fled on foot and have not been caught, the police said. The former governor was not believed to have been targeted in the assault....”

Weather Channel: “Tropical Storm Milton, which formed in the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday, is expected to become a hurricane late Sunday or early Monday. The storm is expected to pose a major hurricane threat to Florida by midweek, just over a week after Helene pushed through the region. The National Hurricane Center says that 'there is an increasing risk of life-threatening storm surge and wind impacts for portions of the west coast of the Florida Peninsula beginning late Tuesday or Wednesday.'”

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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."

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”

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.”

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The Commentariat -- Aug. 31, 2013

The President's Weekly Address:

Dial-a-Senator. Mark Mazzetti & Michael Gordon of the New York Times: "The White House on Saturday moved to shore up domestic and international support for a possible military strike against the Syrian government.... Secretary of State John Kerry, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and other top aides to President Obama scheduled conference calls for Saturday afternoon with members of the United States Senate, where there was deep skepticism in both parties about the prospect of American involvement in another war in the Middle East, even the limited cruise missile strike under consideration.... There was no sign that the White House planned to seek a Congressional vote authorizing the use of force. In addition to Mr. Kerry and Mr. Hagel, both former senators, Adm. James A. Winnefeld Jr., the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, James R. Clapper Jr., the director of national intelligence, and Susan E. Rice, the president's national security adviser, will participate." ...

I would like to address Obama as a Nobel Peace Prize laureate: Before using force in Syria, it would be good to think about future casualties. Russia is urging you to think twice before making a decision on an operation in Syria. -- Russian President Vladimir Putin, to news agencies

... Michael Falcone of ABC News: "President Obama [Friday] said he has 'not made any decisions' on whether to launch a military strike on Syria, but sought to assure the American public and the international community that if he does, it will be a 'limited, narrow act.... We're not considering any open-ended commitment,' Obama said, adding, 'In no event are we considering any kind of military action that would involve boots on the ground, that would involve a long-term campaign":

Here's the "Government Assessment of the Syrian Government's Use of Chemical Weapons on August 21, 2013." ...

Our intelligence community has carefully reviewed and re-reviewed information regarding this attack. And I will tell you it has done so more than mindful of the Iraq experience. We will not repeat that moment. -- Secretary of State John Kerry, yesterday

... Joby Warrick of the Washington Post: "Unknown to Syrian officials, U.S. spy agencies recorded each step in the alleged attack, from the extensive preparations to the launching of rockets to the after-action assessments by Syrian officials. Those records and intercepts would become the core of the Obama administration's evidentiary case linking the Syrian government to ... the use of outlawed toxins to kill nearly 1,500 civilians, including at least 426 children. Pulling back the curtain on some of the United States' most sensitive collection efforts, the Obama administration released on Friday its long-awaited intelligence assessment [above] of the Aug. 21 event, explaining in rare detail the basis for its claim that Syria was behind the release of deadly gas, the grisly effects of which have been documented in more than 100 amateur videos. The four-page assessment and accompanying map revealed for the first time how communications intercepts and satellite imagery picked up key decisions and actions on the ground." CW: doesn't sound like a Colin Powell smoke-&-mirrors ops to me. ...

... Glenn Thrush of Politico: "Many of the leaks about U.S. strike plans for Syria ... have been authorized as a way for President Obama to signal the limited scope of operations to friends and foes. But a number of leaks have been decidedly unauthorized -- and, according to Obama administration sources, likely emanating from a Pentagon bureaucracy less enthusiastic about the prospect of an attack than, say, the State Department, National Security Council or Obama himself. 'Deeply unhelpful,' was how one West Winger described the drip-drip of doubt. 'They need to shut the f--k up,' said a former administration official." ...

It is clear that the American people are weary of war. However, Assad gassing his own people is an issue of our national security, regional stability and global security. -- House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi

George W Bush couldn't have said it better. -- Digby

... Adam Serwer of NBC News: "... the administration's case that the Assad regime is responsible for the chemical weapons attack is persuasive. Less persuasive however, is the administration's case for a military response.... If Assad was willing to use chemical weapons to maintain his grip on power, it's unclear how 'limited strikes' not aimed at deposing him would dissuade him from doing so again...."

Barton Gellman & Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post: "U.S. intelligence services carried out 231 offensive cyber-operations in 2011, the leading edge of a clandestine campaign that embraces the Internet as a theater of spying, sabotage and war, according to top-secret documents obtained by The Washington Post. That disclosure, in a classified intelligence budget provided by NSA leaker Edward Snowden, provides new evidence that the Obama administration's growing ranks of cyberwarriors infiltrate and disrupt foreign computer networks. Additionally, under an extensive effort code-named GENIE, U.S. computer specialists break into foreign networks so that they can be put under surreptitious U.S. control." ...

... Mark Hosenball of Reuters: "The British government has asked the New York Times to destroy copies of documents leaked by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden related to the operations of the U.S. spy agency and its British partner, Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ).... The British request, made to Times executive editor Jill Abramson by a senior official at the British Embassy in Washington D.C., was greeted by Abramson with silence, according to the sources." ...

... Robert Booth of the Guardian: "The [British] government took more than three weeks to act on authoritative information about the whereabouts of a collection of secret intelligence data leaked by the whistleblower Edward Snowden, despite now claiming the information risks 'grave damage' to the security of British intelligence and armed forces, the Guardian said on Friday. Guardian News and Media's editor-in-chief, Alan Rusbridger, hit back at Downing Street's claims made in the high court that it 'urgently' needed to access leaked intelligence data seized at Heathrow this month from the partner of Glenn Greenwald...." ...

... Rory Carroll of the Guardian: "Microsoft and Google are to sue the US government to win the right to reveal more information about official requests for user data. The companies announced the lawsuit on Friday, escalating a legal battle over the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (Fisa), the mechanism used by the National Security Agency (NSA) and other US government agencies to gather data about foreign internet users." Here's a statement from Microsoft. ...

... How Irresponsible Is This? David Barrett of the Telegraph: "David Miranda, [Glenn Greenwald's partner,] ... who was detained carrying thousands of British intelligence documents through Heathrow airport was also holding the password to an encrypted file written on a piece of paper, the government has disclosed." CW: I think it was contributor Haley S. who said she watched an interview of Miranda & he didn't appear to be very smart.


In an LOL column, Gail Collins encourages you to run for the U.S. Senate. And, hey, just because you live in, say, Brooklyn & have never been west of Buffalo, (New York, that is) don't think you can't be the Democratic candidate for Idaho. CW: I'm sensing Collins is just trying to encourage Anthony Weiner to consider a run. Aah, he's probably already filled out the paperwork. ...

... Meanwhile, There's Trouble on the Other Side of the Aisle. Jennifer Steinhauer of the New York Times: "Despite their careful efforts, some of the best-known and most influential Republicans in the Senate have been unable to shake threats from the right and have attracted rivals who portray these lawmakers as a central part of the problem in Washington. In Kentucky, Mitch McConnell, the party's Senate leader, is fending off a charismatic and wealthy conservative challenger. In South Carolina, Lindsey Graham, one of the Senate's most reliably conservative voices on foreign policy, is being painted by primary opponents as a veritable clone of President Obama. In Tennessee, Tea Party activists have vowed to take out Lamar Alexander, the veteran senator, former cabinet officer and two-time presidential candidate."

Society Page

Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will become the first Supreme Court member to conduct a same-sex marriage ceremony Saturday when she officiates at the Washington wedding of Kennedy Center President Michael M. Kaiser. The gala wedding of Kaiser and economist John Roberts at the performing arts center brings together the nation's highest court and the capital's high society and will mark a new milepost in the recognition of same-sex unions."


Allie Jones of the Atlantic: "Bowing to Tea Party pressure, Alabama State Senator Bill Holtzclaw said this week that he thinks The Bluest Eye, Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison's novel about a little black girl who wishes for blue eyes, should be banned in schools.... The Bluest Eye is on the 11th grade reading list for the Common Core, a set of standards that has been adapted by more than 40 states."

Jonathan Landay of McClatchy News: In Egypt, yellow journalism takes over as media outlets make laughable claims in support of the military regime & against the Muslim Brotherhood. "It's succeeding. A mid-August poll measured support for the breakup of the sit-ins at nearly 70 percent of Egypt's 90 million people, reflecting massive popular backing for the coup.... With almost no professional news outlets to present a balanced picture, the relentless vilification of the Brotherhood and its exclusion from politics could help drive members into the ranks of jihadists, risking a return of the Islamist insurgency that bloodied Egypt in the 1990s and bred some of al Qaida's top leaders." Thanks to James S. for the link.

Local News

Craig Gustafson & Mark Walker of the San Diego Union-Tribune: San Diego Mayor Bob Filner left office Friday. Council President Todd Gloria took over as interim mayor.

News Ledes

Los Angeles Times: "Pope Francis has taken a key step in reshuffling the Vatican's bureaucracy by replacing his much-criticized top aide with a career Vatican diplomat who has seen service on three continents. The Vatican said Saturday that Archbishop Pietro Parolin, 58, currently nuncio in Venezuela, will take office as Vatican secretary of state, the pope's prime minister, on Oct. 15, replacing Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, 78."

Guardian: "University of South Florida researchers began work to exhume dozens of graves on Saturday at a former Panhandle reform school, in the hope of identifying the boys buried there and learning how they died." The Tampa Bay Times story is here.

Comments Off

Reader Comments (9)

WTF? We must fire missiles at Syria because "America needs to keep our credibility?" Holey Jeebus! You guyz are gonna have to talk me off the ledge. I am beyond horrified! What are these "smart guys" thinking? That our credibility is worth sending missiles into Syria--which will undoubtedly kill innocent civilians (women and children included)? Or are innocent civilians just "collateral damage," the price of keeping our fuckin' "credibility?"

Assad has already killed thousands of Syrians by means other than chemical weapons, and we hardly blinked. Haley S. says that watching videos of children dying of chemical poisoning is unbearable. I certainly agree. But I have also watched videos of children dying being burned alive by bombs. Is that any less gruesome or unbearable?

We have no business inserting ourselves into this horrible, awful, incomprehensible religious civil war. John Kerry says this is "different" from Iraq. How? The Sunni/Shia civil war is still raging there. Have you noticed, Mr. Kerry? Does Obama think we can somehow give advantage to the Sunnis--among them several Al Qaeda groups and weaken the Shites? We knocked off that evil Sunni, Saddam Hussein, did we not?

Oh please, DO NOT DO THIS! And, Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden, shut the fuck up. Talk me down, please!

August 31, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterKate Madison

Our military-cybersecurity bureaucracies have gotten so bloated in their exponential growth during these last decades it's literally out of control. Manning, Wikileaks and Snowden are the most visible examples. I think Obama realizes that these machines have run amok and there's no pulling them in now, so anybody that points out its flaws blowing whistles has to be silenced lest our enemies know we're driving with no headlights. The explosion of amoral contractors muck raking millions of dollars and sucking on Uncle Sam's pork tits has compromised our national security, and thus we find ourselves in absolutely ridiculous scenarios such as this one:

Despite all the money in the world fed to it, our military cannot even establish a secure computer network that houses all of our dirty secrets during our forays across the border. We should reconsider Manning's charges if it's this easy...

Bring on more Snowdens and Mannings, our incompetent 'leaders' deserve it.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/justinesharrock/exclusive-army-admits-to-major-computer-security-flaw

August 31, 2013 | Unregistered Commentersafari

@safari: You raise an important point that has never occurred to me -- that the government, or the Army specifically, was complicit in Manning's crimes. As I recall, a former C.O. had warned that Manning was "unstable" or something & said he shouldn't be given a security clearance. But the Army did it anyway.

A soldier wouldn't have to be deemed unstable, tho, to be tempted -- for whatever reason -- to reveal classified data. Given the low level of education of our soldiers & the stunningly low level of vetting by the government, I don't know why we have any secrets.

In Manning's case, what the government did was to put a kid in a candy store, then punish him for sampling the fudge. It's tantamount to entrapment. It most certainly represents gross incompetence on the Army's part. Yet only Manning pays.

Marie

August 31, 2013 | Registered CommenterMarie Burns

Re: Firing missiles at Syria. Kate and I are in sync. If the US pulls the trigger, "stupid is as stupid does."

August 31, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterBarbarossa

Looks to me we are all on the same page here re: Syria. One of my fears is Assad's motley military missiles hits one of our ships and sinks it. Probably unlikely, but what if? Then we are in full fledged war.

I, too, find the argument for "punishing" the Assad regime for using, if that is indeed the case, chemical weapons certainly understandable as far as protocol, but that protocol doesn't hold justification as far as the U.S. is concerned since we have used same in Vietnam (think Agent Orange) and were complicit with Saddam's use of same when we were once allies–-sort of––during the Iran debacle. Yes, yes, I understand we did not do this on our OWN people, but if you think of the slow poisoning of Americans due to pesticides, oil spills, coal fumes, foul waters, etc. it gives one pause. In wars, the use of chemical weapons is not cricket–-it's cowardly and nasty and it's internationally verboten. Bombing on the other hand is far game and if that method kills more people than those cowardly chemicals, so be it. It is what it is, as the military so often says. So Kate––can't talk you down. I wish I could.

August 31, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterPD Pepe

@ Ak: Thank you so much for answering my tech question. I appreciate it.

August 31, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterPD Pepe

There must be something they’re not telling us.

Why, for example, would we ever get involved in a civil war where both sides likely wish they were fighting us rather than each other? Or is it that we expect whoever wins this 8th-century-fueled squabble to invite us to open a McDonalds on every street corner once the dust settles? Or is it that we think we’re Jesus—like Boris Karloff in “The Lost Patrol”—and we’ll save the heathens?

I just don’t get it.

August 31, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterJames Singer

I personally think that 99% of people in the U.S. of A. would be
vehemently against getting involved in another civil war, beyond
the one we're still fighting in this country, that is. It's that other
1% I'm not sure about. Does someone have something to gain from
this? Just sayin'.

August 31, 2013 | Unregistered Commenterforrest morris

I remember the brain washing, flag waving, and careful (lie filled) consensus building that took place before the Iraq debacle. It worked pretty well as everyone sat down in front of their TeeVee to watch a little Shock and Awe.

This time is different. the level of anti-war sentiment is much greater and not just in this column. If Obama gives in to the neocons and goes ahead with a strike I believe his personal cost will be much greater than G.W. Bush has experienced. The audience for million dollar speeches from the first black ex-president may shrink considerably.

August 31, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterRoger Henry
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