The Ledes

Monday, October 7, 2024

Weather Channel: “H​urricane Milton has rapidly intensified into a Category 3 and hurricane and storm surge watches are now posted along Florida's western Gulf Coast, where the storm poses threats of life-threatening storm surge, destructive winds and flooding rainfall by midweek. 'Milton will be a historic storm for the west coast of Florida,' the National Weather Service in Tampa Bay said in a briefing Monday morning.”

CNN: “This year’s Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine has been awarded to Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for their work on the discovery of microRNA, a fundamental principle governing how gene activity is regulated. Their research revealed how genes give rise to different cells within the human body, a process known as gene regulation. Gene regulation by microRNA – a family of molecules that helps cells control the sort of proteins they make – ... was first revealed by Ambros and Ruvkun. The Nobel Prize committee announced the prestigious honor ... in Sweden on Monday.... Ambros, a professor of natural science at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, conducted the research that earned him the prize at Harvard University. Ruvkun conducted his research at Massachusetts General Hospital, and is a professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School.”

The Wires
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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 -- July 31, 2013

Philip Elliott of the AP: "A deal that gives college students and their parents lower interest rates for loans is heading toward its final vote. The House was expected Wednesday to take up a bipartisan compromise that links student loan interest rates to the financial markets. Immediately, borrowers would see lower rates for classes this year than last, although the costs are expected to climb in coming years if the economy improves as expected."

Patricia Zengerle of Reuters: "President Barack Obama has asked two senior Republican senators to travel to Egypt to meet with its military leaders and the opposition, as Cairo's allies struggle with how to address the turmoil convulsing the country. Senator John McCain and Lindsey Graham, both members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, hope to travel to Egypt next week, Graham said...." CW: Excellent idea. They can make friends with Egypt's military coupsters the way they did with Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi a few years back.

Alan Fram of the AP: "The Senate voted Tuesday to fill all five seats on the National Labor Relations Board and prepared to consider President Barack Obama's picks for top diplomatic and law enforcement posts as the chamber whittled down a pile of stalled nominations. Tuesday's votes included the last of the seven nominees that were part of a bipartisan deal earlier this month in which some Republicans agreed to end stalling tactics. Democratic leaders hope to also push other nominations through the Senate before Congress begins its summer recess this weekend, but some face uncertain fates."

New York Times Editors: "Lurking just behind a military court's conviction of Pfc. Bradley Manning, on charges that included multiple violations of the Espionage Act, is a national-security apparatus that has metastasized into a vast and largely unchecked exercise of government secrecy and the overzealous prosecution of those who breach it.... The government should satisfy itself with a ... moderate sentence and then do something about its addiction to secrecy." ...

... Sari Horwitz & Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post: "The Obama administration on Wednesday made public a previously classified order that directed Verizon Communications to turn over a vast number of Americans' phone records, senior U.S. officials said. The formerly secret order was unveiled along with other documents by Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. as top Obama administration officials were preparing to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee in a hearing on oversight of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)." The order, at least the part that's not redacted, is here. ...

... Tal Kopan of Politico: "Sen. Ron Wyden said Tuesday that U.S. intelligence agencies' violations of court orders on surveillance of Americans is worse than the government is letting on.... On Tuesday, he told Andrea Mitchell..., 'We had a big development last Friday when Gen. [James] Clapper, the head of the intelligence agencies, admitted that the community had violated these court orders on phone record collection, and I'll tell your viewers that those violations are significantly more troubling than the government has stated.'" ...

... John Naughton, in the Guardian, details what we've learned as a result of Ed Snowden's leaks. He adds, "Given what we now know about how the US and its satraps have been abusing their privileged position in the global infrastructure, the idea that the western powers can be allowed to continue to control it has become untenable.... No US-based internet company can be trusted to protect our privacy or data." ...

... Jim Fallows of the Atlantic: "As long as they operate in U.S. territory and under U.S. laws, companies like Google or Facebook had no choice but to comply. But people around the world who have a choice about where to store their data, may understandably choose to avoid leaving it with companies subject to the way America now defines its security interests.... The real threat from terrorism ... comes from the over-reaction, the collective insanity or the simple loss of perspective, that an attack evokes. Our government's ambition to do everything possible to keep us 'safe' has put us at jeopardy in other ways." ...

... Devlin Barrett of the Wall Street Journal: "The Justice Department acknowledged for the first time in a terrorism prosecution that it needs to tell defendants when sweeping government surveillance is used to build a criminal case against them. The about-face, contained in a Tuesday court filing, marks another way in which the Obama administration is adjusting to revelations by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden about phone and Internet surveillance by the NSA.... The filing suggests a new potential avenue for legal challenges to the surveillance programs." CW: the link may not work for you because of the WSJ firewall; if not, copy & paste part of the first sentence into Google search. ...

... Jerry Markon of the Washington Post: "The FBI tried to enlist the father of National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden to fly to Moscow to try to persuade his son to return to the United States, but the effort collapsed when agents could not establish a way for the two to speak once he arrived, Snowden's father said Tuesday....In a wide-ranging interview, the elder Snowden offered a vehement defense of the young man some have labeled a traitor. He said that Edward, who is holed up at an airport in Moscow, grew up in a patriotic family in suburban Maryland, filled with federal agents and police officers, and that he 'loves this nation.'" There's video of the interview here.

Ginger Gibson & Burgess Everett of Politico: "President Barack Obama arrived at the Capitol on Wednesday morning as part of an effort to rally the troops behind his return to talking about the economy, striking a 'grand bargain' and staying strong in support of the health care law." ...

     ... UPDATE. Jonathan Weisman & Mark Landler of the New York Times: "President Obama on Wednesday offered a strong defense of his potential choice of Lawrence H. Summers to head the Federal Reserve, though he said no final choice had been made.... The president also reassured Congressional Democrats on Wednesday that he would not 'sell out' his party's principles as his White House tries to negotiate a budget deal with Senate Republicans this fall....Lawmakers said mounting Democratic concern over sweeping government surveillance through the National Security Agency was not mentioned."

... Mark Landler & Jackie Calmes of the New York Times: "President Obama, seeking to break a stalemate with Republicans, announced [in Chattanooga, Tennessee,] Tuesday that he would cut corporate tax rates in return for a pledge from Republicans to invest in more programs to generate middle-class jobs":

Dana Milbank: "House Republicans, in their final days at work before taking a five-week vacation, have come out with a new agenda: 'Stop Government Abuse.' A more candid slogan might be: 'Stop Government.' ... The real 'government abuse' is what the House itself is doing: Only four of the 12 appropriations bills have cleared the chamber so far. And because the House plans to be in session just nine days in September, that guarantees that government finances won't be in order in time for the new fiscal year.... In a sense, the inaction on spending is just another sign of the dysfunction in the chamber that has prevented negotiations on an overall budget framework, put bipartisan immigration legislation on ice and created a standoff on the farm bill that will, if not overcome, cause milk prices to jump to as much as $8 per gallon next year." ...

... The Bickersons of the GOP

If he cared about protecting this country, maybe he wouldn't be in this 'gimme gimme gimme gimme all the money you have in Washington' -- or don't have -- and he'd be a little more fiscally responsive and know that the way we defend our country, the way we have enough money for national defense is by being frugal, and not by saying 'gimme gimme gimme' all the time. -- Sen. Rand Paul (RTP-Ky.), on New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie

I find it interesting that Sen. Paul is accusing us of having a 'Gimme, gimme, gimme' attitude toward federal spending when in fact New Jersey is a donor state and we get 61 cents back on every dollar we send to Washington. Interestingly, Kentucky gets $1.51 on every dollar they send to Washington. So if Sen. Paul wants to start looking at where he's going to cut spending to afford defense, maybe he should start looking at the pork barrel spending he brings home to Kentucky. -- Gov. Chris Christie

Sabotage, Ctd. Sophie Novack of the National Journal: "In a talk at the Heritage Foundation on Tuesday, Ted Cruz argued in favor of his plan -- along with fellow Sens. Mike Lee and Marco Rubio and other tea-party members -- to use the continuing resolution debate at the end of September to defund Obama's health care law, emphasizing the importance of grassroots efforts to win the fight.... Cruz emphasized the need for 'unprecedented levels' of grassroots efforts. He called upon individuals to join the fight and pressure their representatives to join in refusing to fund the law.... 'If we're not willing to fight on Obamacare, what are we willing to fight on?'" Cruz asked. ...

... Rachel Weiner of the Washington Post: "The implementation of the Affordable Care Act would continue during a government shutdown, according to a Congressional Research Service report commissioned by the office of Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.).... Coburn's goal in commissioning this report is to convince his fellow Republicans that threatening to stop the government over Obamacare is a bad idea." ...

... Jon Favreau of the Daily Beast on no-government v. small-government conservatives. The "fundamental philosophy [of no-government conservatives] is ... that since government can't do everything, it should do nothing. So as long as the public continues to see Washington as a dysfunctional circus of petty children, the conservative philosophy of government is vindicated. That is also precisely why no-government conservatives view the successful implementation of Obamacare as an existential threat -- because it would prove that limited government intervention in the market can still be an effective force for good. It is why some Republicans are threatening a shutdown unless Obama agrees to defund the Affordable Care Act...."

Paul Krugman: Larry Summers screwed up, and here's why: "... he is a whip-smart academic, the terror of the seminar room, who likes to play political operator -- and as a political operator, he's a great academic. But there is, I'd argue, a larger issue: Summers did not recognize the extent to which the political world has changed. He's been carefully cultivating an image as a Very Serious Person, in a world where VSPness has gone from a source of cachet to being a liability on both right and left."

"Guns Are for White People." Francis Wilkinson of Bloomberg News counted the depictions of gun owners in three popular gun magazines. Of the 223 pictures, there were only three pictures of blacks, one of a Hispanic & three of Asians. "(Does it still count if they're Japanese soldiers from WW II in an ad for military surplus?)" In one magazine "... both the (light-skinned) black guy and the Hispanic guy are wearing uniforms -- don't worry, folks, they're on our side! The Asian is dressed in a suit and tie and is clearly presented as a law enforcement or high-end security professional." In another magazine both black people are portrayed as "law enforcement officers, one of whom is accompanied by 4 whites."...

... Prof. Harold Pollack in the Washington Post: "I've been more horrified by [George] Zimmerman's race-conservative defenders than I've been by the defendant himself. Their post-trial reaction suggests amazing social distance from African American communities. Many Americans don't understand what's happening in minority communities, or why many residents of these communities are so angered by this verdict." Pollack reports on a Chicago rally for "Justice for Trayvon."

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the Bishop of New York, "clarifies" Pope Francis's remark on gay priests. Via Think Progress:

Local News

Laura Vozzella & Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post: "Gov. Robert F. McDonnell said Tuesday that he will return all the gifts from businessman Jonnie R. Williams Sr. and indicated for the first time that he was not aware of everything the Star Scientific executive had given to his family. McDonnell (R) made the comment in a radio interview one week after announcing that he had repaid $120,000 in loans that Williams had made -- $70,000 to a real estate company owned by the governor and his sister and $50,000 to first lady Maureen McDonnell."

Maggie Haberman of Politico: "Huma Abedin, Hillary Clinton's transition office chief and the wife of embattled New York City mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner, is expected to take extended vacation time from her job with the former first lady in the coming days, sources told POLITICO. The move is not a leave of absence, two sources familiar with the move insisted, and it's not precisely clear when she will depart for her vacation time from her day job." ...

... On Tuesday, the New York Daily News published this article by Olivia Nuzzi, who worked for four weeks as an intern on Anthony Weiner's mayoral campaign as well as this column, in which she describes his experience on the campaign (it wasn't good). In the "news" article, Nuzzi claims, "Anthony Weiner's campaign manager, Danny Kedem, resigned because Weiner lied to him about the timing of his sexting scandal, a source familiar with Kedem's thinking tells me." She also makes various allegations suggesting the campaign is in disarray & six disgruntled campaigners have quit. ...

Here's the glam shot of Nuzzi to which Morgan objected.... Hunter Walker of TPM: "TPM called Weiner's communications director Barbara Morgan to discuss an unrelated story Tuesday and she went off on a curse-filled rant about Nuzzi, describing her as a fame hungry 'bitch' who 'sucked' at her job. Morgan also called Nuzzi a 'slutbag,' 'twat,' and 'cunt' while threatening to sue her.... 'Fucking slutbag. Nice fucking glamour shot on the cover of the Daily News. Man, see if you ever get a job in this town again,' said Morgan. When asked whether the claims in Nuzzi's stories were true, Morgan suggested many of them were 'bullshit. ... And then like she had the fucking balls to like trash me in the paper. And be like, "His communications director was last the press secretary of the Department of Education in New Jersey,"' Morgan said. 'You know what? Fuck you, you little cunt. I'm not joking, I am going to sue her.'" Morgan later claimed she thought the TPM interview was off the record. CW: Nah, nothing incompetent about you, Barb. ...

... Seth Masket of Pacific Standard: Bill "Clinton's scandal was probably worse [than Anthony Weiner's], as it involved a) actual physical contact with another person and b) lying under oath to keep it a secret.... [So] why are liberals tossing Weiner aside? Why not? Unlike Clinton in 1998, Weiner is far from indispensable. There are other competent people running for mayor. He has no political power today, and no particularly impressive record from his days as a member of Congress to draw upon. His main activity then was to antagonize Republicans -- certainly a valid goal for some, but hardly the sort of thing you go to the wall to defend." Via Jonathan Bernstein. ...

... Maureen Dowd on Anthony Weiner & "friends." ...

... Feminist Susan Jacoby, in a New York Times op-ed, on the sex lives of women who sext. CW: I think I'll write something about this tomorrow.

Karen Kucher of the San Diego Union-Tribune: "An eighth woman alleging that [San Diego] Mayor Bob Filner made unwelcomed sexual advances toward her came forward Tuesday evening, telling KPBS that Filner in 2011 grabbed her hand and gave a 'saliva-filled kiss' after a business meeting. Lisa Curtin, director of government and military education at San Diego City College, said that she met with Filner, who was then a congressman, to discuss use of property near the Naval Training Center.... The eight accusers, all respected professionals in the San Diego community, all have said that Filner isolated them in some manner, complimented or proposition[ed] them and then attempted to kiss or touch them without consent." ...

... Craig Gustafson of the Union-Tribune: "The [San Diego] City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a cross-complaint against Filner seeking indemnity for all damages the city may have to pay as a result of a sexual harassment lawsuit filed against the mayor earlier this month."

Gubernatorial Race

Reuters: "Former White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley, the son and brother of former mayors of Chicago, formally announced on Tuesday he is running for governor of Illinois in 2014.... The announcement sets the stage for a fight for the Democratic nomination for governor between Daley and Governor Pat Quinn. Daley has been criticizing Quinn for months, saying that the governor has failed to lead a state facing a financial crisis over mounting costs of public sector pensions."

News Ledes

Still Armed. Still Dangerous. Los Angeles Times: "An armed George Zimmerman, acquitted of all charges in the shooting of Trayvon Martin, was pulled over by police in Forney, Texas, three days ago and given a warning for speeding and released, according to media reports. TMZ ... and CBS11 in Dallas-Fort Worth both reported Wednesday that Zimmerman was pulled over just before 1 p.m. on July 28 while traveling westbound on Highway 80." ...

     ... Update. TMZ has the dashcam video of the traffic stop, which you could watch to waste four-&-a-half minutes of your time on this earth.

Reuters: "O.J. Simpson was granted parole on Wednesday on several charges related to his role in the robbery of two sports memorabilia dealers at a Las Vegas hotel, but the former football star will remain in prison at least until 2017 on other charges."

Washington Post: "The economy grew faster than expected over the spring, according to new data released Wednesday morning, easing fears that government spending cuts would undercut the recovery's momentum. The nation's gross domestic product increased at a 1.7 percent annual rate during the second quarter of 2013, almost twice as fast as many economists had predicted."

Reuters: "The trial of Bradley Manning ... is scheduled to move into the sentencing phase on Wednesday ... [when] prosecutors and defense attorneys will call witnesses to address Manning's motives and the effects of his actions."

AP: "A 25-year old college student has reached a $4.1 million settlement with the federal government after he was abandoned in a windowless Drug Enforcement Administration cell for more than four days without food or water, his attorneys said Tuesday. The DEA introduced national detention standards as a result of the ordeal involving Daniel Chong, including daily inspections and a requirement for cameras in cells, said Julia Yoo, one of his lawyers."

Serious Lowlifes. ABC News: "A United Airlines customer service representative and his girlfriend have been charged with grand theft and commercial burglary for allegedly stealing luggage from San Francisco International Airport in the aftermath of the Asiana Airlines Flight 214 crash."

New York Times: "The number of civilians killed or injured in Afghanistan rose by 23 percent in the first six months of 2013, according to a United Nations report on civilian casualties, reversing a decline last year and signaling the challenge Afghan forces face as they take over all combat duties from American soldiers."

Comments Off

Reader Comments (7)

In re Diane's comment on yesterday's thread:

Yo, sistah! If Larry Summers/shit is nominated by Obama as Fed Chairman, I think we should organize a demonstration in front of the little old White House. Larry is a high IQ nit-wit--a misogynist with zero to none emotional intelligence. I hope Barry knows bettah! Especially since Janet Yellen is available. And the guys on "the Street" fear and respect her. I will be sad, pissed and ready to roll if Larry gets the nod.

July 31, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterKate Madison

Weiner's communications director Barbara Morgan... Yesterday on my Facebook page someone posted a video of a hillbilly dancing with a raccoon, with the comment, "Words fail me." I thought that was apt and this is it, this is what we're reduced as a people. But then I read your bit about Morgan's tirade. And I'm reminded of the words of Charles Pierce: "This is your America. Cherish it." Jesus, could Weiner and his bunch be any trashier?

July 31, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterNancy

How refreshing to see the kind of quality people surrounding mayoral candidate and serial flasher Anthony Weiner. As my mother used to say, show me your friends and I'll tell you who you are. New Yorkers must be proud to have such a fine, upstanding (oops) fellow running for mayor.

July 31, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Yes, indeed, "words fail me" of late. And the words coming out of Morgan's mouth disgust and sadden me to such a degree that I'm off to pull a whole lot of weeds and pretend they are the hairs on the heads of all these nincompoops.

@Marie: Am looking forward to your possible piece on the sex lives of women who text sex. (am quite a fan of Susan Jacoby).

July 31, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterPD Pepe

Re McDonnell's moral "logic:" If I understand this sanctimonious Republican's logic correctly, he would have bank robbers get off scott free if they return their loot...or by extension, the wall street banksters who fleece many more millions avoid penalty if they do the same... or a joyrider making all right by simply returning the purloined car once he has had it use....thus, neatly enough, in all cases by returning what was illegally or illegitimately taken from another making full and sufficient restitution for the ethical breach while at the same time implying an apology for a crime without ever admitting wrongdoing or experiencing any guilt for having done so.

Such anyway would seem to be the nub of the ethics courses taught at Regent University. Must be a modern (evangelical?) version of old-fashioned confession, conveniently sans penance.

Oh, let us sing the praises of the Modern Man, who has left all traces of guilt behind!

July 31, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes

A profile of a classy Barbara Morgan who's done worthwhile things:

http://www.salon.com/2013/07/31/meet_the_other_barbara_morgan_a_really_nice_astronaut/

July 31, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterBarbarossa

One wonders if Barbara Morgan eats with the same mouth she talks with/

July 31, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterRoger Henry
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