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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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Wednesday
Feb262014

The Commentariat -- Feb. 27, 2014

Internal links removed.

Tom Vanden Brook of USA Today: "The Army has disqualified 588 soldiers as sexual assault counselors, recruiters and drill sergeants for infractions ranging from sexual assault to child abuse to drunken driving, USA Today has learned. The number of disqualified soldiers from what are called 'positions of trust' is 10 times higher than the initial number the Army reported last summer after Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ordered that troops in sensitive positions be screened for previous criminal or unethical behavior.... The Army is moving to get rid of 79 of the soldiers, said ... an Army spokesman. Others could face further action from their commanders, he said." ...

These continued reports paint a very clear picture of why nine out of 10 sexual assault victims don't report their attack and why the military needs a reformed, independent and transparent system of justice. -- Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.)

Two Congressional Heroes Speak Truth to Power

Alan Fram of the AP: "The Senate's top Democrat criticized a pair of billionaire brothers in unusually harsh terms Wednesday, accusing the conservative duo of being 'un-American,' spreading lies about President Barack Obama's health care overhaul and lacking a conscience. In a pair of appearances on the Senate floor, Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., became the latest Democrat this election year to denunciate Charles and David Koch.... The brothers' representatives said Reid's attack was 'disgraceful' and accused him of attacking people hurt by the 2010 health care law. Reid's focus was on television ads that are being used against Democratic congressional candidates, commercials that he said misleadingly criticize the health care law. 'When you make billions of dollars a year you can be as immoral and dishonest as your money will allow you to be,' Reid said.":

     ... Update: Burgess Everett of Politico under the headline "Harry Reid Tempers Koch Criticism." CW: The "tempering"?: "Reid went back to the floor & said, 'I can't say that every one of the Koch brothers ads are a lie, but I'll say this … the vast, vast majority of them are.... It's too bad that they are trying to buy America. And it's time that the American people spoke out against this terrible dishonesty of these two brothers, who are about as un-American as anyone that I can imagine.'" (Video above.) ...

... Update: Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post gives Reid's truths two Pinocchios, concluding that "He would have been on safer ground if he dropped the harsh rhetoric and had simply said that many of the ads have serious problems and even rely on actors, not real people." CW: Maybe so, but I'm still with Reid. ...

... ** Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Texas Arizona), in a New York Times op-ed: "If the president approves the Keystone XL pipeline on the basis of the lobbying and bad science that has been offered to support it, much of his good work will be undone and a business-as-usual atmosphere will settle back on Washington.... As the news media has reported widely, the contractor chosen by the State Department to assess the pipeline's environmental impacts violated federal conflict-of-interest rules to get the job.... That company, Environmental Resources Management, did work for TransCanada, Keystone's parent company, in the recent past and told the State Department the exact opposite on disclosure forms...." ...

... Matthew Daly of the AP: "A consulting firm that helped write an environmental review of the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline complied with federal rules regarding possible conflict of interest, the State Department's inspector general said Wednesday.... A spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, a strong Keystone supporter, said the inspector general's report was the latest study to find no reason for the Obama administration to continue blocking the project.... But Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., a pipeline critic, said the inspector general's review was overly narrow. The report focused on 'whether the State Department followed its own flawed process for selecting a third-party contractor,' Grijalva said. 'The fact that the answer is 'yes' doesn't address any outstanding concerns about the integrity of ERM's work, the State Department's in-house ability to evaluate its quality or whether the process itself needs to be reformed.' Far from inspiring confidence in the project, the report 'is evidence of the problem,' Grijalva said." ...

... By Contrast

Blah, blah, blah, blah. -- Speaker John Boehner, in response to a question about tax increases in Rep. Dave Camp's (R-Mich.) tax reform proposal

I have no hope for [tax reform] happening this year. -- Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Tuesday, on Camp's proposal

... "GOP Loves Tax Reform in Theory. In Reality? Not So Much." Lisa Desjardins of CNN: Republicans, who have spent years clamoring for tax reform, were much less enthusiastic Wednesday when faced with a sweeping tax overhaul plan in an election year, reticent to discuss whether the proposal from House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp, R-Michigan, should even get a vote. Camp's 'Tax Reform Act of 2014' would lower tax rates for most Americans, but presents conservatives with an uncomfortable tradeoff: It raises the tax bill for large banks and the wealthy. ...

... AND Michelle Obama Speaks Truth to My Fat Butt. Helena Evich of Politico: "The Obama administration will unveil the most sweeping update to nutrition labeling on food packages in more than two decades on Thursday -- and Americans are in for a reality check about how many calories and how much sugar they are consuming.... First lady Michelle Obama -- whose staff was key in getting the proposal out of FDA, where the labeling revamp has been in the works for 10 years -- is slated to announce the changes at a Let's Move! anniversary event at the White House with HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg."

Dana Milbank: Their "newfound love of activist judges is the latest manifestation of what has been called Obama Derangement Syndrome: The president's opponents are so determined to thwart him that they will reverse long-held views if they believe that doing so will weaken his stature. Republicans have, for example, long deplored the filing of 'frivolous lawsuits.' But at Wednesday's hearings, they were contemplating legislation that would authorize either chamber of Congress to file lawsuits against President Obama -- even though legal experts, including one of the Republican committee members' own witnesses, have said the efforts would fail."

** Peter Beinart has an excellent piece in the Atlantic which eviscerates Dubya's fake "freedom agenda" (elsewhere called the "Bush Doctrine") & knocks New York Times writer Peter Baker's false equivalency re: Bush's & Obama's international policy. (CW: Beinart claims Baker's reporting is "usually excellent"; I would disagree with that. I've spoken to Baker personally about his he-said/she-said domestic political reporting. Baker is, IMO, a rather callow reporter, & false equivalencies are his trademark.) At any rate, the next time somebody tells you Bush was dedicated to making the world safe for democracy, Beinart gives you the goods to refute that claim.

Michael O'Brien of the Atlantic on how the Fed let the international depression happen: On September 16, 2008, the day after Lehman crashed & burned, "... the Fed was just as worried about an inflation scare that was already passing as it was about a once-in-three-generations crisis. It brought to mind what economist R. G. Hawtrey had said about the Great Depression. Back then, central bankers had worried more about the possibility of inflation than the grim reality of deflation. It was, Hawtrey said, like 'crying Fire! Fire! in Noah's flood.'"

CW: While I was deleting those desperate e-mails from Debbie Wasserman Schultz, this happened. Edward-Isaac Dovere & Maggie Haberman of Politico: "The Democratic National Committee ... is $15 million in debt, with an over $8 million bank loan due in June -- an amount that exceeds its current cash on hand. President Barack Obama may be starting to pay more attention to the DNC..., but that attention comes after five years of presidential disengagement, the last year spent prioritizing the independent Organizing for Action that sprouted from his reelection campaign.... The RNC has $9.8 million cash on hand. And no debt."

Beyond the Beltway

Many Arizona businesses posted this sign in their storefronts over the past few days.

Dan Nowicki, et al., of the Arizona Republic: "Facing intense pressure from political and business interests and a growing public outcry, Gov. Jan Brewer announced Wednesday that she had vetoed Senate Bill 1062, the divisive right-to-refuse service legislation. 'Religious liberty is a core American and Arizona value -- so is non-discrimination,' Brewer said." ...

... The New York Times story, by Fernanda Santos, is here. ...

... Gail Collins: "Arizona. Wow. How often do you find yourself saying, 'Go, entrenched interests of the business community!' Yet here we are.... Struggles for human rights always begin with brave men and women who stand up, isolated, against the forces of oppression. But, in the United States, victory really arrives on the glorious day when the people with money decide discrimination is bad for business. Thanks, Arizona."

Robert Garrett of the Dallas Morning News: "A federal judge in San Antonio ruled Wednesday that Texas' ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutionally deprives some citizens of due process and equal protection under the law by stigmatizing their relationships and treating them differently from opposite-sex couples. U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia cited recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings as having trumped Texas' moves to ban gay marriage.... Although Garcia issued a preliminary injunction against the state's enforcing its 2003 law and 2005 constitutional amendment that limit marriage to opposite-sex couples, he stayed it from taking effect until his ruling can be reviewed on appeal. Attorney General Greg Abbott said the state would appeal.... Abbott strongly opposes legalizing gay marriage, as do four of his fellow Republicans in next week's GOP primary for lieutenant governor. So do three GOP candidates in the race to succeed Abbott as attorney general." ...

... Steve M.: "So I guess the Texas governor's race will now be entirely about gay marriage."

Congressional Races

Jonathan Martin & Megan Thee-Brenen of the New York Times: "Republicans are in a stronger position than Democrats for this year's midterm elections, benefiting from the support of self-described independents, even though the party itself is deeply divided and most Americans agree more with Democratic policy positions, the latest New York Times/CBS News poll shows." CW: Obviously, this makes sense only if the respondents have no idea what the parties' policy positions are. I'd say that is the case.

Lynn Bartels & Kurtis Lee of the Denver Post: "Republican Congressman Cory Gardner intends to drop his re-election bid to run for the U.S. Senate seat held by Democrat Mark Udall, lobbing a bombshell that alters Colorado's political landscape for the November elections. Shortly after The Denver Post first reported Gardner's plans, the GOP front-runner in the Senate race, Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck, revealed he was going to run for Gardner's seat in the 4th Congressional District." ...

... Buck, you may recall, is a Tea Party loon. If you don't recall, Josh Israel of Think Progress is here to remind you.

News Ledes

Guardian: "Rebekah Brooks signed off payments to public officials half a dozen times during her editorship of the Sun and News of the World, she told the Old Bailey on Thursday. Brooks admitted sanctioning cash payments to public officials when she believed there was an overwhelming public interest in the information being published, the court heard."

Washington Post: "The parliament building in Ukraine's Crimea was seized by armed men, described by witnesses as ethnic Russian separatists, in a direct challenge to Ukraine's new leaders." ...

... Washington Post: "Viktor Yanukovych, the ousted president of Ukraine, has asked for and received a security guarantee from Russia, news agencies reported from Moscow. Yanukovych still considers himself the rightful president of Ukraine, according to a statement distributed to Russian news organizations, and believes that his opponents have violated a deal reached last Friday that would have allowed him to remain in office until a presidential election could be held in December."

Washington Post: "NATO defense ministers agreed here Thursday to begin preparing for a complete withdrawal from Afghanistan at the end of this year, as a senior U.S. military official warned that 'the progress we've made is not sustainable' by Afghan forces without an ongoing U.S. and international troop presence. The alliance also expressed strong concern for ongoing events in Ukraine and urged Russia 'not to take any action that could create misunderstanding.'"

AP: "Kerry Kennedy said she doesn't remember anything that happened as she drove on a New York interstate one summer day in 2012 -- swerving out of her lane, hitting a tractor-trailer and blowing a tire -- because she accidentally took a sleeping pill before getting behind the wheel.... Kennedy testified Wednesday, the third day of her drugged-driving trial in White Plains."

Comments Off

Reader Comments (5)

Re: What a state; Isn't funny when you see or read something so wrong your mind reacts without thought?
" Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Texas), in a New York Times op-ed: "If the president approves the Keystone XL pipeline on the basis of the lobbying and bad science that has been offered to support it, much of his good work will be undone and a business-as-usual atmosphere will settle back on Washington."
I read the above and my mind was as stuck as a commuter on the Christie Bridge.
What's wrong? A Democrat from Texas? There has got to be a few unicorns. No, A elected official from Texas saying anything even slightly negative about Texas's drug of choice, Oil, black gold, mother's milk from the land of derricks and refineries.
Course, my good man Raul is from Arizona.
Did not believe my eyes and I was right in my disbelief.

February 27, 2014 | Unregistered CommenterJJG

@JJG: Ooops! Thanks for catching that.

Marie

February 27, 2014 | Registered CommenterMarie Burns

I was pleased to see that Chuck Hagel's reduction in the armed forces is begining with drunks, criminals and "unethical" behavior. If that standard were applied in Congress, I'm afraid you could shoot a cannon in either chamber without damage to life or limb.

February 27, 2014 | Unregistered CommenterDiane

Well, you knew it was coming, and so it has.

Right-wing hysteria about Jan Brewer's reluctance to legalize discrimination against anyone and everyone the Christian right (and any other intolerant person, group, business, organization--but far and away, mostly Christians) hates, has, right on schedule, everted the issue.

According to snotty, black-belt level dickhead Rich Lowry, the real problem with the Arizona bill was that it was about religious freedom and had nothing whatsoever to do with bigotry aimed at gays and lesbians. I'm not even going to print the link--but his latest stupidity is on Politico--you know, that site that has nothing whatsoever to do with supporting right-wing delirium.

But now that the bill won't become law, evil, gay-loving, Christian hating liberals have enshrined institutional discrimination against Christianity. That's right. If Christians can't discriminate, can't fly their Bigots R Us flag and wave it in everyone's face, then, by god, THEY are the victims here.

Again.

Oh, and he has some advice for gays who may (and he's not saying there's any real discrimination against gays...maybe one or two small incidents here and there) have "thought" they were discriminated against: Grow up. Get over it. Go somewhere else. Don't be such whiny babies.

Irrational wingnut backlash. As predictable as a Darrell Issa faux investigation and just as enlightening.

And not for nothin' but isn't there a limit on religious rights, vis a vis the ability of adherents to pursue their beliefs and traditions contra state and federal laws? Native American tribes are legally prevented from use of peyote or other hallucinogenics (decision written by Scalia, natch), and does anyone think Hindu Honor Killings would be tolerated here? Certainly, discrimination is not murder, but the point is that "religious freedom" is not a get out of obeying the law card, as wingnuts believe it should be. Discrimination IS illegal. 'Nuff said.

Still, I'm happy that the tipping point for Brewer was not the law, nor ethics nor morality. Of course not. It was money.

Plus ça bleedin' change.

February 27, 2014 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

It's really pretty sad that we have to cheer Harry Reid's calling out of the Koch/GOP lies about the ACA. This should have been happening all along. Not just by Democrats, but by the media "watchdogs" as well. Instead we've gotten mostly silence from Democrats and shoulder-shrugging "on the other hands" from the media.

Fox "News" is on the job however, with their usual clarion call from the mountaintop declaiming the injustice of it all that Democrats are pointing to the lies being spewed by the Koch/GOP unholy alliance and spread with breathless credulity by Foxbots.

"How dare you call our lies lies".

Nonetheless, leave it to the press, who, even if they can't bring themselves to focus six photons on blatant GOP lies, has no problem criticizing Reid for his employment of "harsh" language in his exposition.

A little like a cop lecturing a mugging victim on the necessity for civility and calm reflection after they've been kicked, beaten up, and hit over the head with a lead pipe. Because conservatives are always such polite, civilized types.

February 27, 2014 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus
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