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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The Commentariat -- June 28

I've posted an Open Thread on Off Times Square. Kate Madison, Karen Garcia & I have posted comments on David Brooks' column. Looks as if the moderators dumped both Madison's & my comments, so you'll have to read them here. Update: my comment came up on Page 3 at #56; no sign of Madison's comment.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is seeking co-signers for his letter to President Obama, the final paragraph of which I've reproduced here. Please consider signing. I've signed. Thanks to commenter Waltwis for the link. He's signed, too:

Please do not yield to outrageous Republican demands that would greatly increase suffering for the weakest and most vulnerable members of our society.  Now is the time to stand with the tens of millions of Americans who are struggling to survive economically, not with the millionaires and billionaires who have never had it so good.   

CW: I'm linking to usually-liberal Gene Robinson's column not because I agree with it -- I don't -- but because it's a perfect example of Beltway pundits not knowing what they're talking about when it comes to economics, then buying into Republican talking points. He says -- get this! -- that because of the state of the economy, this would be a terrible time to remove tax breaks for the rich. Idiot! ...

... The fact is you can’t tax the very people that we expect to invest in the economy and create jobs. -- Speaker John Boehner ...

... Really? Take a look, Messrs. Robinson & Boehner, at this chart which Ezra Klein publishes in today's Washington Post:

... AND Annie Lowrey of Slate on tax cuts for the rich: "... those who say that every tax cut pays for itself are simply wrong." In fact, even in instances where tax cuts increased revenues coming from the rich, overall tax revenues decreased.

Legal scholar Rick Hasen, writing in The New Republic, sees some teensy slivers of a silver lining in the Supremes' 5-4 decision striking down part of Arizona's campaign finance law; to-wit: "the Roberts Court seems to have retreated from the suggestion that all campaign finance laws, aside from disclosure, are in constitutional trouble.... The Court confirmed that Citizens United did not overturn the law related to contribution limits.... Justice Kagan, who dissented in today’s Arizona case, has emerged as a forceful intellectual voice for the constitutionality of reasonable campaign finance regulation.... The Court did not level a death blow to public financing laws.... Lump sum payments should be okay."

Your Daddy Owns You. Dahlia Lithwick in Slate, on Justice Clarence Thomas's dissent in Freedom Club v. Arizona: "Thomas launches into what is surely one of the oddest, most discursive examinations of the Joys of Puritanical Parenting." CW: under Infotainment, I linked to a satirical article in which Thomas supposedly claims he's only 3/5ths of a Justice. But in real life, Thomas seems to long for ye good old days when children & wives were chattel. So, more or less the same thing, just different groups of enslaved people -- uh, groups which, conveniently enough, do not include him.

New York Times Editors: "It appears as though there are sufficient votes in the State Legislature to pass a marriage-equality bill in New Jersey — a positive change from last year when the freedom to marry was defeated in the Democratic-led State Senate. The obstacle is Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican."

Economist Adam Hersh in Think Progress: Republican governors & legislatures have been slashing state budgets, usually claiming the cuts with spur their states' economic growth. "But the data actually show the opposite of their claims to be true: steep spending cuts are hampering economic recovery in some states, while other states that resisted cuts or increased spending are now seeing declining unemployment rates, faster private-sector job creation, and stronger economic growth." Thanks to Bob M. fo the link. Here's a graph that makes Hersh's point:

Prof. Pam Luecke reviews Reckless Endangerment by Gretchen Morgenson & Joshua Rosner, about the genesis of the financial crisis. The authors finger James Johnson, Fannie Mae's CEO from 1991 to 1998, as the “anonymous architect of the public-private homeownership drive that almost destroyed the economy in 2008.” ...

... Neil Irwin of the Washington Post with five reasons the Swedish economy is "growing rapidly, creating jobs and gaining a competitive edge. The banks are lending, the housing market booming. The budget is balanced." CW: maybe the reason the Swedish government has made such good policy decisions is that women make up nearly half the parliament and hold half the ministerial positions.

Annie Lowrey in Slate: another cost of big cars & SUVs: they kill people.

Mayors Against Illegal Guns, NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg's group, has produced this effective ad. Via Ben Smith:

 

Right Wing World *

Gene Kessler of the Washington Post: Michele Bachmann exaggerates or just makes stuff up, even in her announcement she's running for president. ...

 

... AND PolitiFact looks into Bachmann's appearance on CBS News' "Face the Nation." They give her three "Barely Trues," a "False" and a "Pants-on-Fire." And they are being really generous. For instance, the PolitiFact people don't seem to understand the complete falsity of Bachmann's claim that the Affordable Care Act would kill 800,000 jobs. What the CBO actually said is that 800,000 people might quit working for health insurance if they could get it another way. But that doesn't eliminate the jobs themselves -- it just takes those workers out of the job market & thus makes the jobs available for unemployed workers. Major difference. Includes video. ...

... ** PLUS, Best of All, There's This from Stephanie Condon of CBS News: "Speaking from her home town of Waterloo, Iowa on Monday, Bachmann told Fox News, 'John Wayne was from Waterloo, Iowa. That's the kind of spirit that I have, too.' As the Washington Times first noted, however, the actor John Wayne was born nearly 150 miles away in Winterset, Iowa. John Wayne Gacy, Jr. -- the serial killer -- was born in Waterloo. CW: yep, I would agree that Bachmann has that serial killer spirit. ...

... Ed Kilgore of The New Republic wonders if Bachmann, who had a low threshold to jump ("Are you a flake?"), can stand up to media scrutiny, particularly of her long-held, hard-right Christian fundamentalist views. Kilgore notes that Republican elites will not go after her religious views & Republican voters will not be reading Matt Taibbi. So who will question Bachmann?

* Where the truth is the enemy of the good.

Local News

Rick Scott. Even scarier than this unretouched photo of him.Don Van Natta & Gary Fineout of the New York Times: Florida Gov. Rick "Scott’s sinking popularity has Republican politicians and some strategists worried that his troubles could hamper their chances of tilting the state’s 29 electoral votes back into their column in 2012. President Obama won Florida by 2.8 percentage points in 2008."

 

Stephen Colbert -- and Rick Scott -- want you to help out Rick Scott (segment begins about 1:45 min. in):

     ... Unlike the canned letter Scott provides you to send to your local newspaper editor, Colbert's canned letter allows you to fill in some of your very own words.

News Ledes

President Obama in Iowa today, speaking on the critical role of manufacturing in the U.S. economy:

Politico: "The Obama administration will not move forward on a controversial proposal to have 'secret shoppers' pose as patients to investigate how difficult it is for Americans to obtain primary care."

New York Times: "The legal adviser to the State Department said Tuesday that the Obama administration might have been better served if its officials had consulted more closely with Congress on American involvement in Libya, but defended the administration’s position that it was not required to seek explicit Congressional authorization for the venture. Repeating the administration’s position that the United States role in Libya is “limited,” Harold H. Koh, the legal adviser, testifying under sometimes frosty questioning by members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that it was the administration’s first belief that it was not required to seek Congressional approval for the mission there under the Vietnam-era War Powers Resolution...."

President Obama toured the Alcoa Davenport works in Moline, Illinois, Bettendorf, Iowa, after which he spoke on the critical role manufacturing plays in the American economy. Update: Related New York Times story here. See video above.

New York Times: "Christine Lagarde was named Tuesday as the new managing director of the International Monetary Fund, taking on one of the most powerful positions in global finance as a worsening debt crisis in Greece rattles financial markets worldwide."

ABC News: "Rep. Gabrielle Giffords made her first public appearance in front of a crowd since being shot in the head Jan. 8, rising from her wheelchair to hug and kiss her husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly, when he received the Spaceflight Medal."

Los Angeles Times: "A 50,000-acre wildfire raging through tinder-dry ponderosa forest sent up towering plumes of smoke, rained down ash and forced the mandatory evacuation Monday of Los Alamos, home to the nation's premier nuclear weapons research lab."

Washington Post: In a 5-4 ruling, "the Supreme Court on Monday struck down part of Arizona’s public campaign finance law, the latest in a series of its rulings holding that the right of political speech trumps government efforts to restrain the power of money in elections. The court rejected Arizona’s system of providing additional funding to publicly funded candidates when they face big-spending opponents or opposition groups." You can read Roberts' majority opinion & Kagan's dissent here (pdf).

AP: "Workers across Greece walked off the job Tuesday at the start of a 48-hour general strike as lawmakers debate a new round of austerity reforms, which must be passed if the country is to get crucial bailout funds."

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