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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Jun292011

The Commentariat -- June 29

Maureen Dowd interviews New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. She covers a lot of ground: gay rights, women's right to choose and the death penalty, the Roman Catholic church, for starters. I've posted a Dowd comments page on Off Times Square, but you can write on any topic. Karen Garcia, Kate Madison & I have commented on Down's column.

Dana Milbank: "At the core of Obama’s stance [on same-sex marriage] is a logical inconsistency: He believes gay Americans should be fully equal under the law, but by opposing gay marriage he supports a system that denies same-sex couples some 1,300 federal rights and benefits that married couples receive. The civil unions Obama favors as an alternative have little meaning in federal law."

John Dean Knows How to Get Rid of Clarence Thomas: "As the associate deputy attorney general in President Richard M. Nixon’s Department of Justice, I was there when Assistant Attorney General William Rehnquist outlined how to remove a Supreme Court justice who had engaged in conduct not quite as troublesome as that of Thomas.... There is absolutely no question in my mind that Thomas lied his way onto the Supreme Court in 1991 when he denied Anita Hill’s charges that he had sexually harassed her and some of his other subordinates.... His behavior as a justice just keeps sinking lower and lower.... With the Rehnquist memo in hand, [Attorney General John] Mitchell arranged a secret meeting with then Chief Justice Earl Warren, and told Warren that if Fortas did not resign from the court the Justice Department was going to launch an investigation of Fortas’ dealing with a financier...." Mitchell also said he would go after Fortas' wife, a tax attorney. Fortas resigned. Dean ultimately says Thomas, who will fight tooth-&-nail to keep his seat, won't go. CW: But it's worth trying, IMHO. ...

... The Reid Report has links to stories about some of Clarence Thomas's ethics lapses. ...

... Dean says even if it passed, The Supremes would rule unconstitutional Chris Murphy's (D-Conn.) Supreme Court transparency bill. You can add your signature of support anyway at this Daily Kos page.

Marc Ambinder of the National Journal writes that President Obama is purposely stalling on debt ceiling talks to get a better deal. CW: I would call this a loony conspiracy theory, but Ambinder has good White House sources. And it would be nice if Obama was playing to get the best deal for the public.

"Thank you, Mr. Secretary." Jonathan Capehart of the Washington Post: Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who will retire Thursday, was instrumental in the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

McKay Coppins & David Graham in the Daily Beast: "Jon Huntsman Sr. is one of the richest men in the world. He’s also been his son’s best ally."

Most judges will tell you that sentencing is the most difficult thing we do. -- Judge Denny Chin ...

... Benjamin Weiser of the New York Times: Federal District Judge Denny Chin explains how he decided to impose a 150-year sentence on Bernie Madoff.

Harold Meyerson of the Washington Post: "The stories of the Dodgers and the [Los Angeles] Times can be read as parables of a particularly vicious form of capitalism that America has come to know too well the past few decades: a new owner takes over a venerable firm and extracts what he can for himself, decimating the company and damaging the community in the process."

Prioities USA Action, a Democrat-backed unlimited secret donor organization like Karl Rove's Crossroads GPS, answers Crossroads' ads attacking President Obama on his handling of the economy:

Michael Scherer of Time: Democratic pollster & strategist Stanley Greenberg, who has a succession of big wins under his belt, has focus-group-tested President Obama's economic message. Greenberg says the public isn't buying the President's message that he saved the economy, so Obama should change his message to one that has some credibility. What a concept! Obama strategists like David Axelrod disagree.

Right Wing World *

I'm introducing myself now to the American people so that they can know that I have a strong academic scholarly background, more important I have a real life background. -- Prof. Michele Bachmann

Michele Bachmann, rated by PolitiFact as the most untruthful presidential candidate, sticks with her story that John Quincy Adams was a Founding Father. CW: FYI, Adams was 8 years old when the Declaration of Independence was signed, he was a young teen during the American Revolution & was living in Europe, where his father John was a diplomat. He was attending Harvard, not the Constitutional Convention, in 1787. Print story here.

... AND Michael Isikoff on Bachmann Hypocrisy Watch:

     ... Print story here. Isikoff mentions in the print story (but not in the O'Donnell interview) that the Bachmanns also have received $260,000 in federal farm subsidies.

David Seifman of the New York Post: Howard Koeppel, "the gay car dealer who opened his home to Rudy Giuliani in 2001 during his humiliating divorce battle, says the former mayor offered to preside at his wedding if same-sex marriage were ever legalized -- but is now ducking his calls to make good on the offer.... Mayors of New York City retain the right to conduct weddings even after leaving office."

* Where people don't make history; they make up history, even if they're, like, scholarly.

Local News

Rachel Weiner of the Washington Post: "Wisconsin Democrats got a bit of good luck ... that increased their chances of taking over the state Senate.... On Monday, Wisconsin’s Government Accountability Board voted unanimously to keep state Rep. John Nygren (R-Marinette) off the ballot in a recall election against state Sen. Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay), saying that the GOP lawmaker fell short of the 400 valid signatures required to qualify.... Now Hansen will face David VanderLeest, (R) a weaker opponent with a long court record. He’s been accused of domestic and child abuse by his ex-wife, and been taken to court for code violations in the buildings he owns." ...

... Meanwhile, in Paul Ryan's district, Sean Sullivan of the National Journal reports, "Highly touted 1st District Democratic recruit Rob Zerban said Tuesday that he will be posting 'a big number' when he reports his 2nd quarter fundraising figures to the Federal Election Commission."

St. Pete Times: Florida "Gov. Rick Scott acknowledged Tuesday what his staff had refused to disclose: He flew to Colorado over the weekend to attend a secretive policy retreat hosted by powerful conservative donors Charles and David Koch.... Also attending the retreat near Vail were Republican Govs. Rick Perry of Texas and Bob McDonnell of Virginia, and Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli." ...

... Adam Smith of the St. Pete Times: "Political robocalls are nothing new in the final weeks of a campaign season, but for the first time anyone can recall, [Florida Gov. Rick] Scott has the state GOP paying for regular recorded calls touting his day-to-day accomplishments. It's part of his continuing effort to bypass the traditional media and communicate directly with voters." ...

We are all used to getting robocalls during campaign season, but to continue to get them AFTER the election is unprecedented and extremely disturbing! … Funny how a guy that preaches limiting government intrusion in our private lives is DOING JUST THAT with this harassing robo-phone campaign. -- Republican Steve Allbitron of Palm Harbor

Margot Roosevelt of the Los Angeles Times: "An emotional battle over a traditional soup has split California's Chinese American community as environmental and animal welfare groups push the Legislature to ban the sale and possession of shark fins. The bill passed the Assembly last month, 65-8, but is running into trouble in the Senate."

News Ledes

President Obama on LGBT Pride Month:

     ... Here's the transcript.

President Obama spoke at an event observing LGBT Pride month this afternoon. New York Times: could be awkward! ...

     ... Update: "After months of saying his position on same-sex marriage is 'evolving,' President Obama on Wednesday traded that language for comments that stopped just short of endorsing the notion that gay people have the right to marry."

The President's Press Conference:

... President Obama held a press conference this morning. New York Times post-presser report: "President Obama said Wednesday that he believed Republicans would concede to tax increases as part of a deficit reduction package in time to avoid a default on the nation’s debt. 'Call me naive.... But my expectation is that leaders are going to lead.' Mr. Obama repeatedly mocked tax breaks that he said were for 'millionaires and billionaires, oil companies and corporate jet owners,' saying that voters would not look kindly on Republican lawmakers who defended them at the cost of cuts in popular programs like health care, education and food safety." ...

     ... The transcript of the President's remarks, including the Q&A, is here.

New York Times: "Less than a week after same-sex marriage was legalized in New York, the Rhode Island State Senate on Wednesday evening approved a bill allowing not marriage, but civil unions for gay couples, despite fierce opposition from gay rights advocates who called the legislation discriminatory. The bill, which already passed in the state’s House of Representatives and which the governor [Independent Lincoln Chafee] said he was likely to sign, grants gay and lesbian couples most of the rights and benefits that Rhode Island provides married couples."

WLS Chicago: now that the Blagojevich trial is over, the House Ethics Committee may begin its investigation into whether or not Rep. Jessie Jackson, Jr., offered to raise campaign funds for then-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich in exchange for Blagojevich's appointing Jackson to fill Barack Obama's Senate seat.

Politico: "A current and a retired Supreme Court justice on Wednesday declined to criticize Justice Clarence Thomas for not recusing himself from cases critics say he has a personal interest in because of his wife’s employment. Justice Stephen Breyer and Sandra Day O’Connor, who stepped down in 2006, defended the high court’s deliberate vagueness regarding ethical matters when asked about spousal conflicts of interest by an audience member during a forum at the Aspen Ideas Festival in Colorado."

Politico: "The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday upheld the health reform law’s requirement that nearly all Americans buy insurance, the first appeals court to rule on the constitutionality of the law. The panel of three judges — two nominated by Republican presidents — upheld the mandate 2-1, with one GOP-nominated judge ruling in favor of the mandate and the other dissenting. The ruling marks the first time a Republican-nominated judge has ruled in favor of upholding the mandate."

New York Times: "France confirmed on Wednesday that it has provided weapons to the Libyan rebels, the first instance of a NATO country providing direct military aid to the forces seeking to oust Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi."

AP: "Bank of America and its Countrywide unit will pay $8.5 billion to settle claims that the lenders sold poor-quality mortgage-backed securities that went sour when the housing market collapsed. The deal, announced Wednesday, comes after a group of 22 investors demanded that the Charlotte, N.C. bank repurchase $47 billion in mortgages that its Countrywide unit sold to them in the form of bonds." ...

     ... New York Times Update: "Bank of America announced plans on Wednesday to set aside $14 billion to pay investors who bought securities it assembled from mortgages that later soured, an agreement that the company expected would lead to a second-quarter loss of $8.6 billion to $9.1 billion."

Washington Post: "Leading congressional Democrats immediately recoiled Tuesday from a new proposal to cut $600 billion in Medicare spending over the next decade — in part by raising the eligibility age. Sens. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) unveiled the proposal as part of a bipartisan effort." CW: bipartisan, my ass. Note these two jokers are ending their illustrious Senate careers in January 2013.

Los Angeles Times: "The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved a resolution Tuesday authorizing U.S. involvement in the NATO-led mission in Libya, a small step forward in a stubborn legal stalemate between Congress and the White House over the war. If adopted by both chambers of Congress, the resolution would permit U.S. involvement for up to one year, but would restrict any expansion of the nation's role. Four Republican members of the committee joined the Democratic majority to pass the measure on a 14-5 vote."

Los Angeles Times: "The [California] Legislature passed an austerity budget Tuesday night that would cut from universities, courts and the poor, shutter 70 parks and threaten schools but would not — by officials' own admission — restore California's long-term financial health. The UC and Cal State systems would face about a 23% funding cut, among the steepest in the proposal. Cash grants for the needy would fall, a program to help thousands of teen mothers get an education would be suspended and hundreds of millions of dollars would be siphoned from mental health programs.... Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed the first one but is expected to sign the new package before a fresh budget year begins Friday."

New York Times: "Nine suicide bombers managed to elude several rings of security and reach one of the capital’s premier hotels, which was busy with guests, many of whom had come from the provinces to the city for a conference on the transition of security responsibility to Afghan control.... By Wednesday morning, the nearly six-hour attack at the hilltop Intercontinental Hotel had ended, leaving at least 21 people dead, including two police officers, nine Afghan civilians and one foreigner, a Spaniard, according to the Interior Ministry. At least five of the suicide bombers blew themselves up and three were shot dead from helicopter gunships by NATO troops."

AP: "Greek lawmakers began voting Wednesday on new austerity measures needed to secure crucial bailout funds as protesters opposed to the bill clashed with riot police outside Parliament." ...

     ... Washington Post Update: "The Greek parliament on Wednesday approved a controversial package of tax hikes and spending cuts, clearing the way for $17 billion in international emergency loans needed to stave off a possible default."

AP: "Thousands of British schools will close and travelers will face long lines at airport immigration this week when three quarters of a million workers go on strike — the first blast in what unions hope will be a summer of discontent against the cost-cutting government's austerity plans."

AP: "A federal judge on Tuesday scheduled an emergency hearing about whether prison authorities should stop forcing the Tucson shooting rampage suspect [Jared Loughner] to take anti-psychotic medication, as a new filing provided more details about his bizarre behavior behind bars."

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