REALITYCHEX.COM - Constant Comments - The Commentariat -- June 2, 2013

The Ledes

Monday, October 7, 2024

Weather Channel: “Hurricane 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

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.”

Page Links

Saturday

Jun012013

The Commentariat -- June 2, 2013

Peter Baker, et al., of the New York Times: "While the White House publicly backed [U.S. Attorney General Eric] Holder as he tried to smooth over the latest uproar amid new speculation about his future, some in the West Wing privately tell associates they wish he would step down, viewing him as politically maladroit. But the latest attacks may stiffen the administration's resistance in the near term to a change for fear of emboldening critics." ...

... CW: while the thrust of this long piece is a sort of post-modern "story about nothing," I'm struck by the assertions from friends or associates of Holder's that he is staying in the job for personal reasons. Cabinet members are supposed to serve the president. Instead, Holder wants to stay on to burnish his record, doesn't like private practice (which made him a multi-millionaire), wants to be AG when he attends an important commemoration, etc.

Cashing In. Juliet Eilperin & Tom Hamburger: "Keystone XL is just one of several upcoming administration decisions providing lucrative work for former Obama advisers on issues ranging from gun control to mining to legalized gambling. Just this week, three of Obama's top former political advisers -- Robert Gibbs, Jim Messina and David Plouffe -- were given five-figure checks to deliver remarks at a forum in the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan, which is in the midst of a campaign to burnish its image in Washington."

Immigrants, Keep Out! (My Friends Excepted.) Josh Israel of Think Progress: "Some members of Congress are taking advantage of a loophole that allows them to keep a select few in the US, even as they oppose broader efforts to reform immigration.... Any U.S. Senator or Representative may file a 'private bill,' proposing relief for a person who has been denied asylum, but still wants to live in the United States.... [For instance,] Rep. Duncan D. Hunter (R-CA), [who] has proposed eliminating the constitutional guarantee that all humans born in the United States will be citizens and vocally opposed deferred action for DREAM Act-eligible young people whose parents brought them to the U.S. illegally," has filed a private bill for a Colombian family that was denied asylum.

Nice to see local papers putting Republican scandalmania in context. Paul Barton of the Tennessean: "Although they denounced the Obama Administration's recent seizure of reporters' records, some Tennessee members of Congress have supported even more powerful tools for snooping on the news media and other Americans, privacy advocates contend.... Among current members of the Tennessee congressional delegation, Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander joined Reps. Marsha Blackburn, R-Brentwood, and Jim Cooper, D-Nashville, in voting for the 2006 reauthorization of the Patriot Act, including its NSL provisions, ['National Security Letters,' [which] ... allow the FBI to order third parties to release information on their customers]." Thanks to Jeanne B. for the link.

** Elisabeth Rosenthal in the New York Times: "While the United States medical system is famous for drugs costing hundreds of thousands of dollars and heroic care at the end of life, it turns out that a more significant factor in the nation's $2.7 trillion annual health care bill may not be the use of extraordinary services, but the high price tag of ordinary ones."

Richard Thaler, in the New York Times: "... an interesting new paper by Marianne Bertrand, Emir Kamenica and Jessica Pan, three economists who are colleagues of mine at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business..., found that traditional views of gender identity, particularly the view that the right and proper role of the husband is to make more money than the wife, are affecting choices of whom to marry, how much to work, and even whether to stay married." ...

... Stephanie Coontz, in the New York Times: "At all income levels, stay-at-home mothers report more sadness, anger, and episodes of diagnosed depression than their employed counterparts.... Back in the 1960s and '70s, a wife taking a job raised the risk of divorce. Today, however, a wife's employment lowers the couple's risk of divorce.... The United States... [has] fallen to last place among developed nations in supports for working families.... Shouldn't we stop debating whether we want mothers to work and start implementing the social policies and working conditions that will allow families to take full advantage of the benefits of women's employment and to minimize its stresses?"

A Catered Affair. CW: I missed Gail Collins yesterday, but she does a pretty nice job on Virginia's Gov. Bob McDonnell & its recidivist attorney general Ken Cuccinelli.

Patricia Mazzei of the Miami Herald: "Congressman Joe Garcia's chief of staff abruptly resigned Friday after being implicated in a sophisticated scheme to manipulate last year's primary elections by submitting hundreds of fraudulent absentee-ballot requests. Friday afternoon, Garcia said he had asked Jeffrey Garcia, no relation, for his resignation after the chief of staff -- also the congressman's top political strategist -- took responsibility for the plot." The Congressman is a Democrat.

Congressional Race

Steve M. of No More Mister Nice Blog has a good post on why prognosticator Charlie Cook was indulging in wishful thinking when he moved the Massachusetts Senatorial race from "leans Democratic" to "toss-up."

Nuns on the Bus. Rebecca Leber of Think Progress: "The same group of Catholic nuns that traveled across the country to protest Republican budget cuts has now turned their attention to immigration reform. Led by Sister Simone Campbell, Nuns on the Bus kicks off their 15-state tour this week at Ellis Island. 'Immigration is at the heart of our Catholic faith,' Campbell said. 'It's about community. We need to welcome the stranger, and treat the stranger as yourself.'"

Huffington Post: "Rev. Dr. Guy Erwin was elected Bishop of the Southwest California Synod of the Evangelical Church in America (ELCA), [Lutheran] on May 31st, 2013 during the synod's assembly in Woodland Hills, California. He is the first openly gay clergy person elected to serve as one of the 65 synodical bishops in the denomination." Via Steve Benen.

James P. Marsh, Jr., a minister, explains in a Washington Post op-ed why he sits out the singing of "God Bless America" at ball games.

... This, also via Benen, is pretty good. Jane Lynch & Jordan Peele perform:

Is religion the kind of right can only be exercised by a natural person? Well, the question nearly answers itself. ... It's not a purely personal right. -- Kyle Duncan, attorney for Hobby Lobby, which is suing "for an exemption from part of the federal health care law that requires it to offer employees health coverage that includes access to the morning-after pill ...

... If "corporations are people, my friend," then surely corporations can have religious preferences, too! Kristen Wyatt of the AP reports.

Calvin Trillin has been trying -- unsuccessfully -- for years to popularize the phrase "Sabbath gasbags" to describe Sunday morning talking heads. I see two problems with his ambition: (1) as he mentions, it is judgmental, so no self-respecting gasbag will so describe himself, & (2) the Sabbath is, um, Saturday (e.g., Italian sabato = sabbath = Saturday). Thanks to James S. for the link.

News Ledes

New York Times: "Three men who made careers on television as 'storm chasers,' videotaping the path of severe tornadoes, were among the nine people killed in Friday's storms and flash floods in Oklahoma. Tim Samaras, 55, who had founded the organization Twistex to track severe storms and record their effects, along with his partner Carl Young, 45, and Mr. Samaras's son Paul, 24, were all reported as victims of the tornado that struck El Reno, Okla., on Friday."

AP: "Firefighting teams in California and New Mexico are battling early season wildfires that have blackened thousands of acres and threatened homes and building, spurring numerous evacuations. Residents of more than 1,000 homes were ordered to leave as erratic winds pushed a wildfire closer to two foothill communities, where officials said five structures, possibly homes, were destroyed Saturday."

AP: "A violent weather system that claimed 12 lives in Oklahoma and Arkansas amid tornadoes and flash floods gave way to clearing skies as the storms trekked toward the East Coast on Sunday. A tornado killed nine people as it charged down Interstate 40 in Oklahoma City's western suburbs on Friday night, twisting billboards and scattering cars and tractor-trailers along a roadway clogged with rush-hour motorists leaving work or fleeing the storm's path. Flash floods in Arkansas killed three early Friday, including a sheriff attempting a water rescue."

AP: "Egypt's highest court ruled on Sunday that the nation's Islamist-dominated legislature and constitutional panel were illegally elected, dealing a serious blow to the legal basis of the Islamists' hold on power."

Reuters: "Shopkeepers and municipal workers began cleaning the streets of Istanbul and Ankara on Sunday after the fiercest anti-government demonstrations in years. Pockets of die-hard demonstrators lit bonfires and scuffled with police overnight but the streets were much quieter after two days of clashes in which almost a thousand people were arrested and hundreds were injured."

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The best of the best:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/02/opinion/sunday/sabbath-gasbags-speak-up.html?hp

June 1, 2013 |

James Singer

..."The home of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson regards itself as someplace special. But the rules on campaign contributions are pretty much the same as in Texas." (Gail Collins)

That would be Virginia. Yuk. I lived in McLean (two doors down from Kenny Cuccinelli, as many of you know), and I say it is a place to avoid. A few good people, sure, but sooo many right wingers and often just plain mean peeps. I think the comparison with Texas is apt. I.E., I flew my "Peace Flag" on Memorial Day back in the late 80s, and was approached by a group of neighbors who asked me to take it down "because it was unpatriotic and would negatively affect property values." HUH? I did take it down, but only because my wussy husband wanted to keep the peace--not the flag. One of my neighbors at the time was Ken Starr, although he was not in the group. Yes, the comparison with Texas is apt.

Should Kenny be elected guvner, I have several friends who plan to move. Enough is enough. The problems started when Dubya was in office and got lottsa Jesus-freaks in his administration. And they all apparently moved to Virginia. Obama's people seem to shun Northern VA--good idea--choose the more librul suburbs of Maryland and D.C. instead.

To this day, I find it difficult to admit that I lived in Virginia. I usually say "the D.C. metropolitan area" when asked. How sad that such a lovely landscape has been so thoroughly (white) trashed!

June 2, 2013 |

Kate Madison

Jean Stapelton, a wonderfully skilled actress, will always be associated as the wife of Archie Bunker. I loved how her character evolved, albeit slowly, into a woman with a backbone. It seems that Norman Lear never dreamed that the racist, know-nothing father and husband that he created to be the butt of all the jokes would be embraced as a hero by the very same people the show was meant to lampoon. Who woulda thunk?

June 2, 2013 |

PD Pepe

I like James' idea of giving Congresscritters nicknames like the kings of yore. John the Surly. Probably have to go with surnames, since so many have same first name. McCain the Surly. Cruz the Despicable. I like it. The possibilities are endless.

June 2, 2013 |

Barbarossa

We have a winner! The Michele Bachmann runner-up is: Republican congresswoman Marsha Blackburn, who said on Sunday that women "don't want" equal pay laws.

I suggest that the congresswoman's annual pay is immediately reduced to $140,766 since she is fine with women earning 80.9% less than men!

June 2, 2013 |

MAG

I came away from the NYT piece with quite a positive opinion of Holder. He is almost a doppelganger for the President - both in his achievements (1st black AG/ 1st black US Attorney for DC) and his positions on the issues. I really don't see him with a personal agenda contrary to that of Obama. He may exercise a more free expression -see Darrell Issa committee hearing. He is often painted with the same brush of racism (he's arrogant) that is used with Obama. They are both successful, intelligent and competent black men with no sleazy personal baggage. Lord, can't have that.

To me, wanting to be AG at the 50th commemoration of integration at the University of Alabama is perfectly appropriate. The juxtaposition of Vivian Malone Jones standing up for integration and 50 years later her brother-in-law standing in the same place as the United States AG is personally meaningful not only to Holder but I'm sure, it is significant to many others.

Like the President, he is under constant attack. Not enough on prosecution of Wall Street thievery? No question. Playing too fast and loose with the press's 1st Amendment rights? In some measure probably. However, he has been on the right side of big issues many times and I believe one of his most important tasks has been and will continue to be the protection of voting rights, which is very high on my list of liberties.

I sincerely hope he doesn't resign and I do think he has the same persistence as the President. The Republican buzzards would see his exit as nearly as good as getting rid of the President. More importantly, the symbolism would fuel the mob even further toward impeaching Obama. It would play into the covert and overt racism that is in constant play for the Obama presidency. In my opinion, if Holder left, the result would be far more destructive than a personal loss to Holder. Its not worth sacrificing him in the short term for the optics. Whoever "some" and "aides" are in the WH, who want to get rid of Holder, they should be thinking more long term. Thank goodness long term thinking is a characteristic of the President.

June 2, 2013 |

Diane

@Diane-

Many thanks for your thoughts and opinions on Holder. I have not been a fan, but I appreciate having you point out his strengths, willingness to speak his mind on occasion, and ability to think long term. I guess I just keep being angry at him for his refusal to prosecute the banksters--but maybe he woulda if Obama had wanted to.

Also, I agree with you that getting rid of him now would get the Republivultures screaming even louder about impeaching Obama. I am so sick of these psychopathic creeps. 2014 cannot come soon enough, she said hopefully.

June 2, 2013 |

Kate Madison

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