The Ledes

Friday, September 27, 2024

The Washington Post's live updates of developments related to Hurricane Helene are here: “Hurricane Helene left one person dead in Florida and two in Georgia as it sped north. One of the biggest storms on record to hit the Gulf Coast, Helene slammed into Florida’s Big Bend area on Thursday night as a Category 4 colossus with winds of up to 140 mph before weakening to Category 1. Catastrophic winds and torrential rain from the storm — which the National Hurricane Center forecast would eventually slow over the Tennessee Valley — were expected to continue Friday across the Southeast and southern Appalachians.”

Mediaite: “Fox Weather’s Bob Van Dillen was reporting live on Fox & Friends about flooding in Atlanta from Hurricane Helene when he was interrupted by the screams of a woman trapped in her car. During the 7 a.m. hour, Van Dillen was filing a live report on the massive flooding in the area. Fox News viewers could clearly hear the urgent screams for help emerging from a car stuck on a flooded road in the background of the live shot. Van Dillen ... told Fox & Friends that 911 had been called and that the local Fire Department was on its way. But as he continued to file the report, the screams did not stop, so Van Dillen cut the live shot short.... Some 10 minutes later, Fox & Friends aired live footage of Van Dillen carrying the woman to safety, waking through chest-deep water while the flooding engulfed her car in the background[.]”

The Wires
powered by Surfing Waves
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.”

Help!

To keep the Conversation going, please help me by linking news articles, opinion pieces and other political content in today's Comments section.

Link Code:   <a href="URL">text</a>

OR here's a link generator. The one I had posted died, then Akhilleus found one, but it too bit the dust. He found yet another, which I've linked here, and as of September 23, 2024, it's working.

OR you can always just block, copy and paste to your comment the URL (Web address) of the page you want to link.

Note for Readers. It is not possible for commenters to "throw" their highlighted links to another window. But you can do that yourself. Right-click on the link and a drop-down box will give you choices as to where you want to open the link: in a new tab, new window or new private window.

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.

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."

Contact Marie

Click on this link to e-mail Marie.

Page Links
Friday
Jul292011

The Commentariat -- July 30

I've posted an Open Thread for today's Off Times Square.

The President's weekly address:

     ... The transcript is here. ...

     ... Binyamin Appelbaum of the New York Times: "Mr. Obama ... laid the blame for the impasse squarely on House Republicans in his weekly address, which largely repeated his remarks on Friday as the stalemate gripped Washington."

... Republican senators say "compromise." This video was produced by Senate Democrats:

... "The Tea Fragger Party." Conservative Kathleen Parker of the Washington Post: "Fragging: 'To intentionally kill or wound (one’s superior officer, etc.), esp. with a hand grenade.' The behavior of certain Republicans who call themselves Tea Party conservatives makes them the most destructive posse of misguided 'patriots' we’ve seen in recent memory.... The Tea Party was a movement that changed the conversation in Washington, but it has steeped too long and has become toxic. It’s time to toss it out." ...

... Steve Benen: "... Boehner has spent at least two weeks tending to the self-esteem of right-wing lawmakers, telling them how great and important they are, and reinforcing their belief that they’ll never have to compromise with anyone on anything. And today, instead of slowly trying to acclimate his caucus to reality, Boehner will lead them into yet another chest-thumping tantrum. Boehner, at this point, seems principally concerned with his political survival, no matter the consequences for the rest of us." ...

... Ezra Klein: "Boehner has spent the past two days wasting his political capital assembling an irrelevant coalition of conservatives.... Boehner has not been governing. What should have happened Friday is obvious: Having failed to pass a conservative resolution to the debt crisis without Democratic votes, he should have begun cutting the deals and making the concessions necessary to gain Democratic votes." ...

... AND Klein reviews opinions on the Constitutional option. ...

... Jonathan Chait of The New Republic reviews how we got in this mess, & he seems to make Washington pundits the fall guys. Obama initially wanted a clean bill but the punditocracy talked him into linking the debt limit to deficit reduction: "... the deficit hawks who represent the center of Washington establishment thought badly underestimated the danger entailed by tying high stakes negotiations involving the Republican Party to a cataclysmic event. Happy visions of Bob Dole and Tip O'Neill danced in their heads, oblivious to the reality of what they were facing." CW: but hasn't Obama repeatedly asserted that he "never listens" to the bobbleheads? Well, at least Obama didn't listen to me; I've said all along he should insist on a clean bill.

... Tara Bernard of the New York Times: Whatever deficit deal emerges, the parties have all agreed Social Security is "on the table" (CW: make that the operating table, surrounded by doctors wielding dull scalpels), even though it has not contributed to to the deficit. CW: in fact, the Congress has routinely borrowed Social Security funds to reduce the deficits in annual budgets. That's why Social Security, though technically in the black, is actually out of money. It's got nothng but monthly receipts & a fistful of IOUs from Treasury.

Actually, No.John Judis of The New Republic: Barack Obama twists Abraham Lincoln's words & deeds 180 degrees to fit a narrative that grievously mischaracterizes the former President. See also Ta-Nahisi Coates column here, and John Farrish's comment (#3) here. I hope somebody buys Obama an accurate biography of Lincoln for his (Obama's) birthday, which is this coming week. ...

... Last December historian Eric Foner contrasted Obama's & Lincoln's reactions to their mid-term election "shellackings":

Charles Blow writes a very affecting column about his grandfather Fred Rhodes who was recommended for a Silver Star for bravery in action during World War II, but certainly because he was black, did not receive one.

Josh Gerstein of Politico: "A New York Times reporter need not testify in court about who gave him details on a top-secret CIA program targeting Iran, a federal judge has ruled. In May, federal prosecutors subpoenaed Times reporter James Risen to testify against former CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling, who's accused of revealing top-secret details about a CIA effort to undermine Iran's nuclear program. Prosecutors allege that Sterling was a source for Risen...."

CW: I linked an item on this earlier in the week, but it bears repeating. Steve Benen: "... an unexpected religious coalition [is] trying to influence the outcome of the debt-ceiling fight on Capitol Hill. This coalition, made up of several different Christian denominations [is] looking out for those [poor people] likely to be hurt the most by the Republican crisis.... Congressional Republicans, who traditionally present themselves as allied with religious morality, continue to believe cutting public investments is paramount, whether Jesus would pursue a similar course or not."

News Ledes

New York Times: "The top two Republicans in Congress said Saturday that they had begun new talks with President Obama and their fellow Congressional leaders to try to find a way to end the debt limit fight that is threatening to throw the federal government into default in just a few days.... Senator Mitch McConnell [R-Ky.]... said during a news conference ... that he expected a deal soon." The Reid bill won't pass the Senate because 43 Republicans will vote against it, which means the vote on cloture will come up short. ...

     ... Update. The story has a new lede: "New budget talks between top Congressional Republicans and President Obama made progress late Saturday, suddenly stirring optimism that a last-minute deal could be reached to avert a potential federal default that threatened significant economic and political consequences." Majority Leader Reid delayed the vote on his compromise bill until 1:00 pm ET Sunday.

... At 6:05 pm ET, Harry Reid said McConnell's assertion that there would be "a deal soon" is not true; Reid said no progress has been made today. No link. ...

... At 3:12 pm ET, the House voted down the Reid bill. Big surprise. Majority Leader Eric Cantor is making a speech; says there are no planned votes tomorrow, but warns that could change. New York Times item here. ...

... The Hill: "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has revised his plan to raise the debt limit in a last-ditch bid to attract Republican support. The biggest change is that Reid would give the president almost unilateral power to raise the debt limit, borrowing an idea introduced by Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)."

Washington Post on the upcoming Senate votes on a debt limit bill. Reuters on the same.

New York Times: "The leadership of the Libyan rebels acknowledged late Friday that a group of their own soldiers had killed their top military commander, contradicting statements made a day earlier as the rebels scrambled to avoid tribal revenge attacks that could divide their ranks. The death of the commander, Gen. Abdul Fattah Younes, has shaken both the rebel leaders trying to oust Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi and their Western supporters by revealing divisions and intrigue within the rebel forces. The shifting and elliptical accounts of General Younes’s death have raised new questions about the rebel leaders’ credibility."

New York Times: "Employees of The New York Post, Rupert Murdoch’s irreverent and hard-charging city tabloid, were told Friday to keep any documents that may pertain to the kind of illegal activity that has led to arrests and a widening investigation at the News Corporation’s British newspapers.... The directive was the clearest sign yet that the company’s lawyers believe the scope of two early-stage investigations in the United States ... could broaden."

Comments Off