The Ledes

Thursday, September 26, 2024

The New York Times:' live updates of Hurricane Helene developments today are here. “Hurricane Helene was barreling through the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday en route to Florida, where residents were bracing for extreme rain, destructive winds and deadly storm surge ahead of the storm’s expected landfall. The storm could intensify to a Category 4, if not higher, before making landfall late Thursday, and forecasters warned Helene’s anticipated large size could make its impacts felt across an extensive area. Areas as distant as Atlanta and the Appalachians are at risk for heavy rains.... Many forecast models show the storm making landfall late Thursday near Florida’s Big Bend Coast, a sparsely populated stretch....” ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post has forecasts for some cites in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina & Tennessee that are in or near the probable path of Helene. ~~~

     ~~~ This morning, an MSNBC weatherperson said Tallahassee (which is inland) would experience wind gusts of up to 120 m.p.h. and that the National Weather Service said expected 20-foot storm surges near the coast would be “unsurvivable.”

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The Ledes

Wednesday, September 25, 2024

The New York Times is live-updating developments in the progress of Hurricane Helene. “Helene continued to power north in the Caribbean Sea, strengthening into a hurricane Wednesday morning, on a path that forecasters expect will bring heavy amounts of rain to Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula and western Cuba before it begins to move toward Florida’s Gulf Coast.” ~~~

~~~ CNN: “Helene rapidly intensified into a hurricane Wednesday as it plows toward a Florida landfall as the strongest hurricane to hit the United States in over a year. The storm will also grow into a massive, sprawling monster as it continues to intensify, one that won’t just slam Florida, but also much of the Southeast.... Thousands of Florida residents have already been forced to evacuate and nearly the entire state is under alerts as the storm threatens to unleash flooding rainfall, damaging winds and life-threatening storm surge.... The hurricane unleashed its fury on parts of Mexico’s Yucátan Peninsula and Cuba Wednesday.“

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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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Jul132011

The Commentariat -- July 14

I've posted an Open Thread for today's Off Times Square. I've added my comment on Kristof's column, which the Times rejected, so you'll have to read it here is #34 on page 2 of the Times comments pages. I've also posted a response to a commenter who says default on the federal debt is no big deal.

Greg Sargent: Democrats, including President Obama & Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, are singling out & isolating House Majority Leader Eric Cantor for his intransigence on taxes, but the ploy may not work. "... the harshness of Reid’s attack on Cantor doesn’t bode well for the likelihood of a deal." Sargent has the full transcript of Reid's remarks on the Senate floor. ...

... Nate Silver crunches the numbers & finds what you already knew: "The Republicans in the House of Representatives are extremely conservative on fiscal matters and are significantly out of step with the public as a whole." ...

     ... NEW. Paul Krugman takes a look at Silver's analysis and observes, "What Obama has offered — and Republicans have refused to accept — is a deal in which less than 20 percent of the deficit reduction comes from new revenues. This puts him slightly to the right of the average Republican voter." CW: Yeah, see my comment on Kristof.

... AND Nicholas Kristof  plays "spot the contradictions" in Republican party fiscal policy. ...

... Greg Sargent: "House liberals are launching an organizing drive inside the Democatic caucus, in an effort to line up Democrats and get them to commit to opposing any final deficit deal that contains any cuts to entitlements benefits, according to a letter I’ve obtained." Sargent reports elsewhere that he hears at least 54 House Democrats have signed on to the letter. ...

... Joan McCarter of DailyKos: as both Democratic & Republican members of the House continue to dig into their respective (and opposing) positions, Speaker "Boehner's choices are shrinking by the minute." ...

... Jonathan Bernstein, in the Washington Post, gets into the weeds & explains how Sen. Mitch McConnell's debt-ceiling go-around could pass in the House. Bear in mind that the whole purpose of McConnell's proposal is that Republicans won't have to vote to raise the debt ceiling, or increase either the deficit or taxes. They can just stand by as Democrats do the deeds while they express shock & horror & Democratic perfidy & profligacy.

New York Times Editors: "In three new rulings, federal judges in different states have acted to block immediate enforcement of measures that restrict abortion rights and women’s access to affordable contraception, lifesaving cancer screenings and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases. These rulings are important victories for women’s health and reproductive rights.... While these rulings are preliminary, each is a determination that enforcing the law would cause irreparable harm and that the plaintiffs are likely to prevail at trial. They do not, however, address other threats to women’s health" by governors (Chris Christie [R-N.J.]) state legislatures & the U.S. Congress.

Seung Min Kim of Politico: "New York Republican Pete King is calling on the FBI to investigate whether Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation hacked into the voicemail accounts of Sept. 11 victims, calling the allegations of the scandal 'disgraceful.'” CW: it may be a watershed moment when one of the Republicans' biggest media hogs lays into Murdoch. ...

... "It Smells of Collusion." Nick Davies, the Guardian reporter who tenaciously pursued the News of the World hacking story, comments on Metropolitan police testimony before a committee of Parliament:

... Jeremy Peters & John Burns of the New York Times: "The decision [of News Corporation] to withdraw the bid for BSkyB ... was made as a contentious family drama played out in recent days. James Murdoch, a leading contender to replace his father as chairman and the driving force behind the News Corporation’s bid to take over BSkyB, argued that the company should press for regulatory approval of the deal.... But Rupert Murdoch and the News Corporation’s chief operating officer, Chase Carey, overruled the younger Mr. Murdoch, consulting him only after the decision was all but final."

"Jews Are Abandoning Obama!" More on the meme that won't die. Adam Serwer: "The phrasing in this poll [by John McLaughlin & Pat Caddell] is comically skewed towards eliciting the most negative responses possible. As always, the game is to perpetuate the sad conservative meme that this time, really this time, American Jews are going to abandon their liberalism and vote Republican because Obama is a huge anti-Semite. The only thing this poll reveals is how badly some want to keep this storyline going." ...

     ... Ron Kampeas of JTA calls the poll what it is: a push poll.

Chris Bray photos.Christine Zap of Yahoo! News: "Thirty years ago, the first space shuttle launched into the stratosphere. Chris Bray and his father Kenneth watched -- and took a picture. Then last Friday, the shuttle Atlantis took its final trip. Again, the Bray men were there. And again, the two snapped a photo to capture the moment. The side-by-side photos, which are up on Chris Bray's Flickr photostream, immediately went viral on the Web."

Right Wing World *

"We Must Rewrite the Constitution Because 'Elections' Haven't 'Worked.'" -- Mitch McConnell:

     ... Ian Millhiser of Think Progress has the print story. (Thanks to Bonnie for the link.) The balanced budget proposal which McConnell is advocating for is what Ezra Klein rightly calls "The Worst Idea in Washington." Of course, if you think California state government is working well, you'll love McConnell's proposed amendment to the Constitution. It would effectively end any oppotunity ever to raise revenues. ...

... All 47 Senate Republicans introduced a constitutional amendment to balance the federal b udget.... This is quite possibly the stupidest constitutional amendment I think I have ever seen. It looks like it was drafted by a couple of interns on the back of a napkin. Every senator cosponsoring this POS should be ashamed of themselves. -- Bruce Bartlett, policy advisor to Presidents Ronald Reagan & George H. W. Bush

Dana Milbank: Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), Steve King (R-Iowa) & Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) say the U.S.'s defaulting on its debt payments is no big deal. Treasury could pay some stuff and forget about everything else.

Sarah Palin cannot stop repeating gun imagery, despite the trouble it has visited on her. Here she talks about "reloading," and the person she is, well, taking aim at is the POTUS. It is irresponsible to puy this woman in front of a microphone:

* Where facts seldom intrude.

News Ledes

President Obama & Vice President Biden met with Congressional leaders late this afternoon. New York Times post-meeting report: "President Obama threw the deadlocked budget negotiations back to Congress on Thursday, telling Republicans and Democrats to try to work out an agreement to avert a government default, and suggesting that more ambitious efforts to cut the deficit had hit a wall.... The president said he might summon the leaders to the White House over the weekend if there was no progress; he has scheduled a news conference for Friday morning to argue his case publicly."

New York Times: "China, the United States’ biggest creditor, urged the United States government on Thursday to act to protect investors’ interests, highlighting rising concerns around the globe about the protracted budget talks taking place in Washington."

This process is confirming what the American people think is the worst about Washington: that everyone is more interested in posturing, political position and protecting their base than solving real problems. -- President Obama, near the end of yesterday's meeting with leaders

Los Angeles Times: "President Obama abruptly left debt negotiations with congressional leaders Wednesday at the White House when a top Republican said there was no longer time to engage in the large-scale deficit reduction discussions.... The flare-up came at the end of the nearly two-hour session during which House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) told the president that Congress should instead consider a series of debt ceiling votes based on spending cuts that already have been identified." ...

... Global Warning. AFP: "President Barack Obama and Republicans prepared for more tough talks Thursday to avert an August debt default, after Moody's held out the threat of downgrading the sterling US credit rating. The credit ratings agency sparked worldwide concern when it placed Washington's triple-A debt rating on a downgrade watch because of rising prospects that bitterly divided US leaders would fail to strike a deal." ...

... Guardian: "America's debt crisis reached a critical stage on Thursday as lawmakers remained deadlocked over whether to raise the US debt ceiling, and Moody's threatened to downgrade the country's credit rating.... The dollar lost ground against most major currencies after Moody's and Chinese ratings agency Dagong both put the US on negative watch."

NEW. DOJ Screws up Again. New York Times: "The federal judge presiding over Roger Clemens’s perjury trial declared a mistrial Thursday, saying the government allowed the jury to hear inadmissible testimony that prejudiced it against Clemens."

Bloomberg News: "The Environmental Protection Agency’s powers to set clean-water standards would be limited under legislation passed by the Republican-led U.S. House over threats of a veto by the Obama administration. The bill blocks the EPA from tightening water pollutant limits without a state’s consent if the agency previously approved the state standard. The measure, which passed 239-184 yesterday, is part of an effort to rein in what Republicans say is an agency’s regulatory overreach threatening the economy. Sixteen Democrats joined Republicans to support the measure."

NEW. Guardian: "MPs have dispatched the deputy serjeant at arms of the House of Commons to Wapping to deliver a summons in person to Rupert Murdoch and his son James to insist they turn up to give evidence to a select committee over the phone- hacking scandal.... Rebekah Brooks, the chief executive of News International, agreed on Thursday morning to attend and face MPs ... Tuesday...." though she warned she wouldn't say much.

     ... CNN Update: "The FBI has launched an investigation into Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. after a report that employees or associates may have attempted to hack into phone conversations and voice mail of September 11 survivors, victims and their families."

AP: "A suicide bomber concealing explosives in his turban blew himself up inside a mosque in southern Afghanistan on Thursday during a memorial service for the president's assassinated half brother, officials said. At least four people were killed."

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