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Thank you to everyone who has been contributing links to articles & other content in the Comments section of each day's "Conversation." If you're missing the comments, you're missing some vital links.

Marie: Sorry, my countdown clock was unreliable; then it became completely unreliable. I can't keep up with it. Maybe I'll try another one later.

 

Public Service Announcement

Zoë Schlanger in the Atlantic: "Throw out your black plastic spatula. In a world of plastic consumer goods, avoiding the material entirely requires the fervor of a religious conversion. But getting rid of black plastic kitchen utensils is a low-stakes move, and worth it. Cooking with any plastic is a dubious enterprise, because heat encourages potentially harmful plastic compounds to migrate out of the polymers and potentially into the food. But, as Andrew Turner, a biochemist at the University of Plymouth recently told me, black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid." This is a gift link from laura h.

Mashable: "Following the 2024 presidential election results and [Elon] Musk's support for ... Donald Trump, users have been deactivating en masse. And this time, it appears most everyone has settled on one particular X alternative: Bluesky.... Bluesky has gained more than 100,000 new sign ups per day since the U.S. election on Nov. 5. It now has over 15 million users. It's enjoyed a prolonged stay on the very top of Apple's App Store charts as well. Ready to join? Here's how to get started on Bluesky[.]"

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."

Wherein Michael McIntyre explains how Americans adapted English to their needs. With examples:

Beat the Buzzer. Some amazing young athletes:

     ~~~ Here's the WashPo story (March 23).

Back when the Washington Post had an owner/publisher who dared to stand up to a president:

Prime video is carrying the documentary. If you watch it, I suggest watching the Spielberg film "The Post" afterwards. There is currently a free copy (type "the post full movie" in the YouTube search box) on YouTube (or you can rent it on YouTube, on Prime & [I think] on Hulu). Near the end, Daniel Ellsberg (played by Matthew Rhys), says "I was struck in fact by the way President Johnson's reaction to these revelations was [that they were] 'close to treason,' because it reflected to me the sense that what was damaging to the reputation of a particular administration or a particular individual was in itself treason, which is very close to saying, 'I am the state.'" Sound familiar?

Out with the Black. In with the White. New York Times: “Lester Holt, the veteran NBC newscaster and anchor of the 'NBC Nightly News' over the last decade, announced on Monday that he will step down from the flagship evening newscast in the coming months. Mr. Holt told colleagues that he would remain at NBC, expanding his duties at 'Dateline,' where he serves as the show’s anchor.... He said that he would continue anchoring the evening news until 'the start of summer.' The network did not immediately name a successor.” ~~~

~~~ New York Times: “MSNBC said on Monday that Jen Psaki, the former White House press secretary who has become one of the most prominent hosts at the network, would anchor a nightly weekday show in prime time. Ms. Psaki, 46, will host a show at 9 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, replacing Alex Wagner, a longtime political journalist who has anchored that hour since 2022, according to a memo to staff from Rebecca Kutler, MSNBC’s president. Ms. Wagner will remain at MSNBC as an on-air correspondent. Rachel Maddow, MSNBC’s biggest star, has been anchoring the 9 p.m. hour on weeknights for the early days of ... [Donald] Trump’s administration but will return to hosting one night a week at the end of April.”

New York Times: “Joy Reid’s evening news show on MSNBC is being canceled, part of a far-reaching programming overhaul orchestrated by Rebecca Kutler, the network’s new president, two people familiar with the changes said. The final episode of Ms. Reid’s 7 p.m. show, 'The ReidOut,' is planned for sometime this week, according to the people, who were not authorized to speak publicly. The show, which features in-depth interviews with politicians and other newsmakers, has been a fixture of MSNBC’s lineup for the past five years. MSNBC is planning to replace Ms. Reid’s program with a show led by a trio of anchors: Symone Sanders Townsend, a political commentator and former Democratic strategist; Michael Steele, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee; and Alicia Menendez, the TV journalist, the people said. They currently co-host 'The Weekend,' which airs Saturday and Sunday mornings.” MB: In case you've never seen “The Weekend,” let me assure you it's pretty awful. ~~~

     ~~~ AP Update: "Joy Reid is leaving MSNBC, the network’s new president announced in a memo to staff on Monday, marking an end to the political analyst and anchor’s prime time news show."

Y! Entertainment: "Meanwhile, [Alex] Wagner will also be removed from her 9 pm weeknight slot. Wagner has already been working as a correspondent after Rachel Maddow took over hosting duties during ... Trump’s first 100 days in office. It’s now expected that Wagner will not return as host, but is expected to stay on as a contributor. Jen Psaki, President Biden’s former White House press secretary, is a likely replacement for Wagner, though a decision has not been finalized." MB: In fairness to Psaki, she is really too boring to watch. On the other hand, she is White. ~~~

     ~~~ RAS: "So MSNBC is getting rid of both of their minority evening hosts. Both women of color who are not afraid to call out the truth. Outspoken minorities don't have a long shelf life in the world of our corporate news media."

 

Contact Marie

Email Marie at constantweader@gmail.com

Page Links
Thursday
Dec092010

The Commentariat -- December 9

Reuters: "Another 17 U.S. billionaires, including Facebook co-founders Mark Zuckerberg and Dustin Moskovitz, have pledged to give away at least half their fortunes in a philanthropic campaign led by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates. A total of 57 billionaires now have joined The Giving Pledge, which was launched by Microsoft founder Gates and investor Buffett in June."

New York Times: " The Senate has turned down the attempt to move ahead with a defense bill that would repeal the ban on gay troops serving openly in the military. The vote was 57-40, three short of the 60 needed." Washington Post: "A Senate procedural vote to move forward with debate on a bill ending the military's 'don't ask, don't tell' law failed Thursday to earn the 60 votes necessary to proceed.... Senators fighting to end the ban said they would introduce a separate bill to end it. The bill will be cosponsored by Sens. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine), and they said it will have bipartisan support." The Advocate story here. ...

... Ezra Klein: "The bill repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell didn't fail: The Senate did. The bill got 57 votes, not 49.... A procedural failsafe that's theoretically meant to protect the rights of minorities was just used to restrict the rights of minorities.... The diffusion of responsibility that comes from deciding law through complex parliamentary gamesmanship rather than simple majority-rules votes is the problem. What happened today is that a majority of the Senate voted for a bill that the majority of Americans support. The bill did not pass. Neither Harry Reid nor Susan Collins are ultimately responsible for that. The rules of the Senate are."

Ed Vogel of the Las Vegas Review-Journal: "Harry Reid won re-election because he got of a lot of Republican votes.

New York Times: "In a closed door caucus meeting on Thursday morning, House Democrats voted to reject the tax cut deal between the White House and Congressional Republicans 'as currently written.' The internal party vote is not necessarily binding on Speaker Nancy Pelosi ... as she decides whether to bring the measure to the floor.... With strong Republican support, the tax plan could easily pass the House with two-thirds or more of Democrats opposing it." Washington Post: "By voice vote, the rank-and-file Democrats passed a resolution that said the tax package should not come to the floor of the House for consideration." ...

     ... ** Reuters Update: "... Speaker Nancy Pelosi will not bring President Barack Obama's current proposed tax plan up for a vote in her chamber, an aide said on Thursday." ...

... David Herszenhorn of the New York Times: "... many Congressional Democrats are furious both about the prospect of continuing the Bush-era tax cuts, even on the highest incomes, and about the way they were cut out of the negotiations. House Democrats on Thursday voted to block the bill from getting a vote unless changes were made. One change that Democrats are seeking is the extension of a Treasury grant program for renewable energy projects.... Supporters say the program has generated big growth in American clean energy industries. The program is set to expire on Dec. 31."

Setting Social Security up for a Fall. Jackie Calmes of the New York Times: "President Obama’s Treasury secretary and budget director met at the White House with members of his bipartisan debt-reduction commission Thursday morning and agreed that the administration should lead an effort in the coming year to press for the sort of long-term spending cuts and revenue increases that a commission majority recommended last week. Participants said the discussion centered on the need for a deficit-cutting agreement before mid-2011...."

Paul Krugman: because the good stuff in Obama's tax deal runs out in December 2011 & the Republican stuff runs to December 2012, "the tax cut deal makes Obama less likely to win in 2012.... Obama may be buying off the hostage-takers by … giving them more hostages." ...

... Dana Milbank: Congressional Democrats' rebellions against Obama's tax deal lasted about 24 hours. ...

... E. J. Dionne of the Washington Post: President Obama doesn't care about liberal people. ...

Republicans really did use the unemployed as hostages. It's disgusting. -- Chris Hayes, trans. by Steve Benen from the original Twitterese

We're talking about a party that is literally refusing to do anything other than fight tooth and nail to protect unpopular tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires, at the expense of middle-class families. -- Steve Benen, in his own words

CW: Bob Williams of TaxVox explains how the Obama-GOP deal is a huge boon for the rich but raises taxes on the working poor. "The agreement turns on its head [President Obama']s repeated argument that we need to give more to the poor and ask more of the wealthy. No wonder Democrats in Congress are mad." ...

... Austan Goolsbee on the Obama tax-cut deal. Funny, he doesn't mention raising taxes on the working poor:

Carol Lee & John Bresnahan of Politico: "With Capitol Hill increasingly hostile territory for President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden seems ready to take the place of the departed Rahm Emanuel as the one senior administration official who can deliver the White House’s position — good news or bad — to members and senators of both parties."

Brian Beutler of TPM: Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) holds DADT repeal hostage over stupid conditions. ...

... David Fahrenthold of the Washington Post: Harry Reid is bringing four test votes to the floor to demonstrate Republican obstruction of popular programs: "[1] A bill that would send $250 checks to Social Security recipients.... The Senate voted 53 to 45 - seven short of the needed 60 votes - on a measure to bring the bill to the floor for debate. [2] A bill that would require states to give police and firefighters' unions 'adequate' collective bargaining rights.... That proposal failed ... on a 55 to 43 vote. [3] The DREAM Act, a proposal that would provide a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants who came to this country as children and grew up to attend college or serve in the military.... [Thursday vote] [4] A bill that would provide long-term medical care for" 9/11 responders. Thursday vote.

Your Tax Dollars Wasted. Eric Lipton of the New York Times: for-profit colleges (i.e., fake on-line "universities") are raking in federal dollars under the post-9/11 GI Bill. "Some members [of Congress] say they want to place tighter limits on how much these colleges can collect in military benefits, a move certain federal officials say they would welcome.... The Department of Education [is] proposing regulations that would cut off federal aid to colleges whose graduates have extremely low loan repayment rates. Amid this debate, the industry’s powerful lobbying forces are pushing for even more...."

Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court sounded conflicted Wednesday about whether Arizona's attempt to revoke the licenses of businesses that knowingly employ illegal immigrants intrudes on federal law or complements it. The case pits Arizona against an unusual coalition of challengers that includes the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, civil rights groups, labor unions and the Obama administration. But that high-powered group faced a barrage of skeptical questions from the court's conservatives." ...

... Dahlia Lithwick has more.

Mideast Peace Process, Illustrated:

Ashlee Vance & Miguel Helft of the New York Times: "On Wednesday, anonymous hackers took aim at companies perceived to have harmed WikiLeaks.... MasterCard, Visa and PayPal, which had cut off people’s ability to donate money to WikiLeaks, were hit by attacks that tried to block access to the companies’ Web sites and services. To organize their efforts, the hackers have turned to sites like Facebook and Twitter. That has drawn these Web giants into the fray and created a precarious situation for them. ...

... Glenn Greenwald debates WikiLeaks critic-twins John Burns of the New York Times & Jamie Rubin, formerly of the State Department. Print & audio. ...

... The Letterman Files -- "David Letterman: Agent of Influence." Robert Booth of the Guardian: "Satellite broadcasts of the US TV shows Desperate Housewives and Late Show With David Letterman are doing more to persuade Saudi youth to reject violent jihad than hundreds of millions of dollars of US government propaganda, informants have told the American embassy in Jeddah. Broadcast ... on Saudi Arabia's MBC 4 channel, the shows are being allowed as part of the kingdom's 'war of ideas' against extremist elements." ...

... The New York Times' complete coverage of the latest WikiLeaks dumps is here. ...

... Jon Stewart struggles to characterize Julian Assange:

... Guardian: "Russia has suggested that Julian Assange should be awarded the Nobel peace prize, in an unexpected show of support from Moscow for the jailed WikiLeaks founder."

Justin Elliot of Salon: "Money-hungry" Newt uses Christmas, Pearl Harbor disaster, run for presidency -- whatever-- to hawk his wares. As an example, "In the past few days, Gingrich has been using his Twitter account to promote what he calls 'Gingrich Productions 12 Days of Xmas Presents.'"

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